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MGM charging practices changed perhaps?

Discussion in 'LV Strip Hotels' started by sporty8705, Mar 30, 2014.

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  1. sporty8705

    sporty8705 VIP Whale

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    I checked my mom in on Sunday, March 23, and she had 2 myVegas nights from her and 2 from me, for a total of 4 nights. The lady upgraded her from the West Wing to the Grand King for free, and we tipped her. The lady took 100 on my debit card and said that was all she would take and no we couldn't not leave a deposit.
    Two days later my sister and I check in, they took 100 deposit for my room, 100 for my sisters room and they also charged me 196 for her two nights and resort fees and taxes. So they had 496 on hold, not a big deal. The day before we left they sent another charge through for 100, in addition to the 496 that they were "holding." they had no idea where it came from. I checked out and they gave me the statements stating that they were releasing the charge back to my debit card. I get home and happened to check my bank account and in addition to the "hold" of 496, they had sent through 396 more, so the MGM was "holding" 496 and they had also charged me 496 through the account, so they MGM had almost 1k of my money.

    Moral of the story is that they neglect to tell you that instead of simply holding the money and then releasing it or letting it expire without going through, now it is customary to have them charge the full amount and then refund it 2-3 days after you check out, so beware if your planning on having the funds drop off or come back not charged, they will charge you and then 2-3 days later refund it back. At least that is what the bank told me and what the MGM told me after I called them to ask what had happened.
     
  2. TIMSPEED

    TIMSPEED Money’s on the way, with CashNetUSA

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    Across the street at The trop, they did the same thing to us...
    "Charged" $200 on a "comped" room...took them a week to refund the "hold".:rolleyes2:
     
  3. Username

    Username VIP Whale

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    You are much better off using a credit card.
     
  4. LV2GAMBLE

    LV2GAMBLE Certified LOW Roller

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    Personally, I would not want to put the 'hold' on my debit card because i may want to have access to my funds (should I need them). Therefore, I always use a credit card for the room 'hold'. I know I will not need to the amount they are tying up. I continue to watch my account (almost daily) to watch for it to 'fall off' I think on our last trip it took about 7-10 days to drop off.
     
  5. Amn1410

    Amn1410 Low-Roller

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    I work for an online retail company, and we take authorizations immediately. I'm sure that mgm released them quickly, but the cc company is making interest off that money, so they tend to hold on to it for quite a while. The cc company will say it hasn't been released, when it actually has just to make a little more off u
     
  6. joshrocker

    joshrocker VIP Whale

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    While this is true, a lot of people don't have a credit card.

    Actually holding that amount of money is a little crazy, especially on a "comped" room. I always thought they just held the deposit amount unless something bad happened. This is a good point for people to be aware of in case they are using their debit card for their hotel stay.
     
  7. sporty8705

    sporty8705 VIP Whale

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    Credit cards I can understand, but this was my debit card, my bank said if they would fax them info they would release it, but MGM never did. It would have been different if they had said oh we will charge it then reverse the charges, but that was never said.. and I use my debit card at Pechanga, Pala hotels in my area and not once has it been charged then reversed... bank said it is a new Vegas practice now.
     
  8. Amn1410

    Amn1410 Low-Roller

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    Generally most hotels will tell you that it takes up to a month for debit card. The mirage did when I accidentally Gabe them mine last year
     
  9. sporty8705

    sporty8705 VIP Whale

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    They told me it will be refunded 2 days after check out, not charged, then refunded. My issue is that they had 496 on hold in addition to sending all the charges through. If I had a credit card, it would be a totally different issue, but I do not have a credit card and cannot get one.
     
  10. Malibugolfer

    Malibugolfer High-Roller

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    This may have something to do with your multiple reservations-bookings. Four total. That is just a guess.
    Like has been said before, using a debit card can hold up your cash for weeks. 2 day turnaround on a DC would be highly unusual.
    Get a credit card if at all possible or use cash for the deposit(s).
     
  11. Amn1410

    Amn1410 Low-Roller

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    The hotel shouldn't have told you that it would refunded in 2 days since they have no control over that. That is solely in the hands of the bank
     
  12. DeMoN2318

    DeMoN2318 The DERS

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    Did the charge actually clear? or is it just pending?
     
  13. Knucklehead69

    Knucklehead69 Low-Roller

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    I normally try to opt out of deposit/house charge (See my thread on MGM room deposits) but... When I cannot I always pay the deposit in cash. When you check out they hand you the unused amount back in cash. No waiting for charges to drop and guaranteed to leave Vegas with some cash in your pocket! :beer:
     
  14. sporty8705

    sporty8705 VIP Whale

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    They charged it and it was pending, so both, they had double the money in a sense because they were holding it, and had charged it too.



    They would NOT allow a cash deposit anymore. I tried that too, no more cash deposits, because as they said if you trashed the room before check out and then you check out, get your cash back, they have nothing to get their money back. sorry
     
  15. Amn1410

    Amn1410 Low-Roller

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    So there were two separate lines on your account? If it was "pending" it was just an authorization, not a charge. The bank would not know whether or not it was a valid charge or not, so they would tell you that it was a charge. If there was a line that was charged, then a line with the amount that said "memo" or "pending" then that was a mistake on their part by charging it in the first place. It is strange that would ever happen, since I'm sure that their system is advanced enough that they would have to manually send the authorization through to actually charge it.
     
  16. LV_Bound

    LV_Bound VIP Whale

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    Nice way for them to make money.
    You say about $1000 total?
    Figure they do this 1000 times a day that is a cool million they have collecting interest. Factor in that its probably more and include all the Vegas hotels MGM owns that is a sweet racket they have there. :wink2:
     
  17. weluvvegas

    weluvvegas Casino Countess

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    usually in my experience managing a hotel front desk - the auth is placed upon check in and any charges are posted during night audit - but only for the amount of the actual charge. The deposit amount could take 5-10 business days to go back into your account. Sounds like someone there made a posting mistake and possibly manually posted a duplicate charge.

    As far as no cash deposit, we didn't have cc's for many years. I found that if you challenged it a bit - they would eventually back down and let you "no post" to the room and not even have to leave cash at all. I can't believe they said no cash, that's crazy. The agent has to do a little bit more paperwork when taking a cash deposit so possibly this person was just being lazy?

    We only had a problem with this at TI several years ago right after MGM sold them. Even got a manager involved and they would not make the exception to the no rule. Since we didn't budget the bankroll for additional deposit funds, we would go back every day and get the cash back from the previous day. It was definitely a hassle!
     
  18. sporty8705

    sporty8705 VIP Whale

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    Yes there was the pending for 496, then someone sent through an additional 496, so yep about 1000 of my money they had, lol.. i now know that they will charge and then reverse it, thus taking more time, but i wish they had said so or someone messed up big time.
     
  19. DeMoN2318

    DeMoN2318 The DERS

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    As long as you get your money back it should be all good right?

    You’re just upset/annoyed with the inconvenience? Or the slyness by them not telling you?
     
  20. nostresshere

    nostresshere Mr. Anti Debit Card

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    If you travel, a credit card is the best way to avoid all this crap.

    Debit cards are nothing but trouble.

    Credit cards are free, and some will actually give you cash back, miles, etc.

    If you credit is so bad you can not get one, well...
    Or, if you can not manage your credit card, well...

    Otherwise, I personally feel it is crazy not to travel with credit cards.
     
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