My wife and I got a "great deal" at the Essex House Hotel in South Beach in April through the Travelzoo Top 20. We paid $79 which was an excellent price. The hotel was fine, nothing to complain about. After our trip I noticed a charge on my credit card of $22. I called the hotel to find out what this was. Apparently there is only one person at the hotel who can answer this question and he is very hard to get a hold of. When I finally was able to talk to him he told me the charge was for the use of the mini bar in the room. There was absolutely no way that we took anything from the mini bar during our stay. I told him this and he said that the only thing I could do was to dispute it with my credit card company. I have filed a dispute and now I have to go through the hassle of writing a letter and trying to get this incorrect charge reversed. Our "great deal" at the Essex House turned into a not so great deal after all. Stay away from this place. They are trying to screw me.

What type of minibar was it? It it's an honor bar, you will successfully dispute it. The other kind is more difficult, because if you simply move an item, even without taking it, you are automatically charged.

Why would you say SCAM in caps? Why is the hotel "trying to screw you?" Minibar disputes occur on a daily basis in every hotel which offers the service. Take a deep breath and politely work with the hotel and/or credit card company and you'll get it resolved.

Yes, it was an honor bar. I hope the dispute is successful.

The reason I put SCAM in caps and say that the hotel is trying to screw me is because that is exactly is going on here. I realize that it is only $22, and most people probably wouldn't go through the hassle that I have had to in order to get their money back. The hotel has not been easy to work with regarding this. What kind of merchant tells its customers to "take it up with their credit card company and dispute the charge" when there is a service disagreement? Instead of resolving this with a simple phone call, over the past 3 months I have had to call the hotel several times, call my credit card company, and now have to write a letter to my credit card company stating my position. What a waste of time!

I suggest that you write a letter to the General Manager.

Didn't you have the opportunity to review the charges upon checkout? While I agree that they have no right to charge you for something you didn't use, you should also be responsible enough to check all your charges. I know, you shouldn't have to and should be able to assume they are competent and honest but you just can't. I've had the same problem as you a few times, even at upscale hotels but I always catch it at checkout.

Having worked in hotels, including front desk and back office management, I think it is something of a scam too.

Why? Because getting answers about the billing has been so hard. Any clerk (front office or accounting dept.) should have been willing and able to answer the question. Any business who tells you "take it up with your credit card company" has already proved themselves to be unresponsive to your complaint, and they are now going to dig their heels into the ground and hope the card company rules in the hotel's favor.

As for reviewing the bill -- "late charges" are added to hotel bills all the time after the guest has reviewed it and checked out, often for mini-bars, last minute meals, phone calls, or damages.

A lot of hotels add the charges after the room is cleaned,sometimes hours after a guest checks out.If there was a fridge/minibar in the room I stayed in,I will NOT leave the hotel until they have checked it out.Even if it means a slight delay for me and they have to send someone up to the room right then and there.While I am waiting, I jot down names and times,just inc ase.

I, too, worked in a luxury hotel's rooms division. When someone disputed a minibar charge with us, we investigated and usually ended up crediting the guest's account. It's too bad the Essex isn't cooperative but I stand by my statement that this hardly constitutes a "scam" or "screwing" someone.

On our first trip to South Beach, we stayed at the Tides. They tried to stick us with over $100 worth of bogus mini bar charges. It was a veritable party. They had the sheet listing what had been consumed. The only thing I could deduce was that they had mislabeled the room number, which was entirely believable, since they slipped someone else's bill under our door.

Having to fight it made us feel cheap and dirty (particularly since they overcharged us in two other ways), but they did reverse it.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I stayed at the Essex House in February, and had a great stay. I would highly recommend it to anyone.

One error, and a relatively small one at that, is hardly a hotel trying screw you.

As a follow up to my original message. This past weekend I stayed at the Westin in St. Louis. At checkout we were charged $28 for parking (which we originally requested but later cancelled), and $5 for a bottle of water from the mini bar (which we didn't have). I explained that neither of the charges were legitimate. Before I could even finish my sentence, the desk agent had erased both items from my bill. My wife and I couldn't help to laugh at the difference between the Westin and the Essex House. If the Westin was like the Essex House they would have told us "too bad, take it up with your credit card company".

I stand by my original comments. A hotel that makes you dispute a minibar charge with your credit card company instead of just taking care of it on the spot is trying to screw you.

This isn't a scam, and for all the aggravation it's caused you, it isn't even an attempt to screw you, because that would take effort and thought. It's merely an example of bad customer service; they should have just removed the lousy $22 charge, no questions asked. Your best recourse is to vote with your feet and never darken their door again.