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I think I've been to domestic hotels where the cleaning charge was like $5 per item. A bag of laundry could contain 20 items and, with exchange rates, etc. that could add up to a lot of $$$.

A business should be able to charge what the market will bear. A hotel cannot continue to charge $110 for a bag of laundry -- just like Harry's Bar cannot continue to charge $25 for a slice of lemon meringue pie -- if people were not willing to pay those prices.

I have read that people either charge by the piece or by the pound. It is likely that this hotel charged by the piece and that is how the price mounted to $110 so quickly.

Simple thing to do next time is have a look at the laundry price list, expensive lesson. Some times it is cheaper to have throw away clothes rather than have a hotel wash them.

Capo: The difference is that Harry's show's prices on the menu. You know what the cost is before ordering. Harry's can't hand out menus without prices and then charge whatever they think each table is willing to pay at the end of the meal. Kolumel implies no prices were posted or provided. That's a BIG difference. <BR><BR>I find it hard to believe you would roll over and play dead and pay whatever amount the merchant decided to charge. I hope if I ever go into a service business, all my customers are like you.<BR>

The tone of many of the replies to my query is so rude that I am not going to continue the discussion. Thanks to Alice and the other civil people who replied. Alice -- If you know an address where I can write post facto to the GdF, I'd appreciate your posting it.

"huh?", what's interesting is that even though Harry's Bar posts it's prices on their menu, even that didn't stop someone from complaing here recently that they'd been ripped off by a $25 piece of lemon pie. <BR><BR>If you don't know the cost of something -- a good or a service -- before ordering, if prices were not posted, then what would you do? And what would you recommend anyone else do? <BR>

Well it looks like Kolumel is one of those posters who will only listen to what he/she wants to hear. Without him/her providing the salient details we'll never really know whether he/she was really ripped off or not.<BR>Nothing to see here, time to move on.<BR>

I will never forget the time my son's godfather (from Argentina) came for dinner at our house in Chicago. Rather sheepishly, he asked me if I minded if he put some things in the washing machine. Of course I didn't. He was staying at the Ritz Carlton and said he could buy new socks at Marshall Field's for what they wanted to charge him to wash them at the hotel.Lesson: It's not just in Italy, folks. I once had to pay $10 to have children's pjs laundered in Hawaii (they were badly soiled) I should have thought to throw them in the trash can--they were hardly worth $10.

Has anyone else noticed that Kolumel spelled backwards is Lemulok - a grotesque character on StarTrek The Next Generation. Coincidence? I think not.

What can you do?<BR>Chalk it up to experience.

Capo: Haven't you ever gone to a restaurant and had the waiter rattle of 10 different "specials" without mentioning prices? Sometimes it's awkward to ask the price, due to guests being present or other circumstances. If the average pasta entre on the menu is $20, you can assume the specials will be more expensive but not 3 times the price of the regular entres. If I ordered a pasta "special" and the bill was $60, I would dispute the bill with the establishment and the credit card company if need be.<BR><BR>I recently ordered something over the internet and the shipping charges were not calculated at the time of order. I assumed the shipping would be about $5, it turned out to be $7. If I had been billed $30, I would disputed the bill. The key is what is fair and reasonable? <BR><BR>Happens all the time and I've very rarely had an unpleasant suprise like $110 for a bag of laundry. If I did, I would investigate if that was fair and reasonable and if not I would dispute it. <BR><BR>Frequently when traveling, especially to foreign countries, we sometimes aren't as aware of all the right questions to ask, as we would be at home. That doesn't give the merchant the right to steal. Does it?<BR>

Next time my family goes out to eat and my son orders a "hamburger" should I complain because the American Club in (Sheboygan, WI.) doesn't charge what I'd pay at McD.'s?? <BR>

Don't get me wrong. I think it would be a wonderful world if everyone charge what I felt was a "fair" price. People are charging $450,000 for houses in Seattle and I don't feel that's "fair and reasonable" at all. They, however, probably do. <BR><BR>We obviously have a very different philosophy. I would NEVER assume shipping charges for something I bought. If I did, and they were much higher than I assumed, I wouldn't be happy, but I'd learn my lesson and not do it again.

Kolumel: GROW UP.<BR>Mommy, he charged me too much. how come? Gee, mommy, why did that man take advantage of me? That has never happened before, mommy. I didn't think I had to ask the price. Isn't everyone fair. Boohoohoo.

Hey Capo: $450,000 for a house sounds fair and reasonable to me, 2 bedroom condos are going for $700,000 and up here in Manhattan.<BR><BR>I guess we beat this topic to death, be well.

I paid about 130 Euro to have 9 items pressed only at Villa D'Este in Italy so I could be presentable to eat in the hotel restaurant. They weren't washed or dry cleaned, just pressed. I WAS NOT RIPPED OFF. I didn't have to send it to be done. I had a price chart. The average price at a 5* hotel was about 9 Euro to wash a pair of underwear. I went to a shop in Sicily and bought new underwear for 6 Euros/ea. and thought I came out ahead! In Italy to have one item of laundry done ran from about 9 to 12 Euro. I thought it would be less expensive in Spain because the hotels were, but no, it was 15 Euro to send a shirt or pants to the laundry. I thought it was very expensive, but I have no one to blame but myself as I chose those expensive hotels. Kolumel was not ripped off, just treated like every other hotel guest! Kay

I guess that Kolumel was taken to the laundry.

<BR>you are right, capo, about businesses charging what the market will bear. but, you see, that is the problem with capitalism. under capitalism, businesses will charge as much as they can get, not what is fair. <BR><BR>under communism, we would not allow a hotel to charge an outrageous $110 for one bag of laundry. instead, we would determine a fair price for this bag of laundry and forbid any businesses from charging more than this fair price. that way, people like kolumel would be protected from capitalist greed.