Legal Question in Mediation in California

Hotel Fraud

My fiance and I stayed at a best western in Northern California from 12/20/08 to 12/24/08. On January 1st we were charged $700 for breaking a tv in the room. The tv worked while we were there, I remember turning it off as we were leaving the room to check out on our last day there.

They charged us the $700 dollars without notification and charged us a week after we had checked out.

My fiance had to call his bank and ask where the money had gone, and had to call the hotel himself to ask them why they charged us the $700 dollars.

When he tried to explain to them that the tv worked fine while we were there... they said that we couldn't prove it and they wouldn't refund the money.

Is there anything we can do?

He paid with his debit card... and I'm afraid that they may continue to charge us for other things. We're going to close his account at that bank so they can't charge us more money.

But, is there anything we can do to get the $700 back?

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Heather


Asked on 1/06/09, 3:06 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
George Moschopoulos The Law Office of George Moschopoulos

Re: Hotel Fraud

This is a bit of a tough situation because the amount of the claim is relatively small and you are out of state. Ordinarily, this would be a small claims matter. You may consider hiring an attorney on a limited basis to write a well worded letter to refund the money. However, this could cost almost as much as the charge on the card. Perhaps your banking center can be of more help through their fraud protection line.

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Answered on 1/06/09, 3:54 pm


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