Could be these hotels are using the automated sensors that I've been hearing about. Things like weight plates or RFID sensors of some sort that will detect if you've even moved something. Some people are probably eating things and then replacing them later. Others might just be picking them up to look at them. And some of those sensors could be on the fritz.

Obviously it is the RFID.
But I can't wait to see the day hotels start charging you for food and water that you kept in your suitcase.

These hotels are the ones that use automatic sensors in their mini fridges. Usually the error occurs when a person moves stuff in the mini bar or picks something up.

I stayed at a Hilton in Minneapolis and was charged $4 for a snack I did not eat. I will admit to perusing the snacks, but decided none were worth the $4 and passed, so I always thought they had the motion detector to find I had touched the food, but I consumed none of it.

A quick discussion with the front desk clerk had that amount refunded immediately.

Some minibars have weight sensors built in. Even if you pick something up and put it back, you may get charged for it. It's never happened to me but I've been warned about this by front desk staff.

As for those bottles of water they leave on your desk, which I've seen for up to $6: Totally underhanded. A hotel room is your home for the night, and I don't appreciate strangers leaving things lying around in my home which don't belong to me. I've been charged for water which I never took, but as the article says it's easy to clear that off your bill.

So I wonder if this would allow you to clean out the minifridge for free with just a simple word to the front desk...

Not that I would condone such actions.

I read somewhere (maybe here) that some hotels charge you for even opening the mini-bar. I think sometimes hotels take liberties in assuming you're going to be using X service or product.

Just this weekend I stayed in a hotel who charged me $36 for valet parking when I hadn't valet parked as I'm perfectly capable of walking from my car to the door. When I brought this up they took the charge off no arguments whatsoever. I thought this was kind of odd, but maybe its not all that uncommon. This same hotel also had sensors under all the items in the mini-bar and there was a sign that said don't even move the items or you'll be charged.

I get dinged for this about once every 2 weeks or so. Although i do not disagree that people might be 'replacing' stuff in the mini bar, i get billed for the 'untouched' bottles of water in the room. The front desk is very efficient about 'removing' the charge if you dispute it while checking out, but if you notice it later, it can be a hassle getting them on the phone. Marriott's are usually not so bad about this,but Hilton properties are another story altogether.

Sensors that detect movement are likely triggered by the opening and slamming of the fridge door, or the cabinet above or below, perhaps even vacuuming.

Hotel's aren't going to want the labor to manually enter fraudulent charges, but if the sensors automatically computer-generate charges that are perhaps only challenged (and credited) 25% of the time - that leaves a lot of new 'revenue'.

Hell, with the mark-ups, even if you actually consume the products, the hotel is way ahead.

@WiglyWorm: I'm sure it would "allow" you to get the charge temporarily removed, but what happens when the cleaning service goes into your room an hour later and finds that the fridge is in fact empty?

@crabbyman6: they put a sign up that says that?! ridiculousness!

what if you want to use the fridge for food you purchase outside of the hotel? or your kids bump the damn thing and something shifts. are they charging you to rearrange it after you leave? b.s.

This has been going on for many years, well before RFID.

I stayed at a non-chain hotel in Montreal once in 1991 and they tried that game with me; the minibar had a tamper seal which I moved but did not break. Of course they removed the charge with no hassle.

I used to work in a hotel during college in the summers and the truth is, the front desk workers don't want guests to be making a scene in the lobby, so charges for anything will typically be taken off upon request.

I travel quite frequently for work. As of late, I have been noticing that I've been charged for in-room Internet a couple of nights per trip. I usually browse for a free WiFi signal, but that's it. If there aren't any 'free' signals, I just wait until the next day at the office. Same goes for the in-room cat5 cable. Once I plug in and am asked if I want to connect for a daily fee, I decline and shut down my laptop. Either way, the front desk immediately removes any of these disputed charges, no question(s) asked. Makes me want to almost be unethical and start to use the services only to deny it later.

A bunch of us stayed long term at a Marriott near Heathrow about 5 years ago. They had a mini-bar with photo sensors under the product.

One of my co-workers discovered that, if you removed a product, and then colored the sensor in with a black Sharpie, you would be charged for the first time you removed that product but it would not detect the subsequent times....

I'll never forget the time that my friend Mike first got over there and removed all the items from his mini-bar so he could put a pizza-box in there. He put all of the mini-bar products in a bag and took them down to the front desk. They removed the charges, of course, but he had a three-page receipt with all of the mini-bar items and all of the refund credits...

@fjordtjie: The sign also said not to put outside food or drink in the fridge, not that any would fit with all the little scales in there, sorry to rain on your parade even more. The hotel also advertised that its rooms had mini fridges, but this was the only fridge in the room and I was afraid to even look at it or be charged $7 for a pack of M&Ms.

I've definitely seen this. In my case it was a charge for the room safe that had never even been touched, much less used.

most of the higher end hotels has motion sensor inside the fridge. I was staying at a hotel in Aruba. They have a notice on top of the fridge. I was disappointed that I can't store my stuff in there like I alway do.

I stayed at the W Chicago Lakefront and was charged $15 a day for internet access that I never used. I disputed and they took it off, but it made me wonder. It was especially odd because I was staying there as part of a convention and the W had offered all of us free internet access.

On arrival, wrap the minibar in duct tape and drape with crime scene tape.

Yup. "Charge removed instantly without argument or hesitation" is a dead giveaway that the employees know the charges are fake and are embarrassed.

Yes, they certainly do this. On 2 separate occasions, the Omni hotel in Dallas did this to me and my boyfriend. (We dismissed it as a mistake after the first time, but stopped patronizing the hotel after it happened twice.)

The 1st time: we were billed for supposedly drinking a bottle of Evian - $8! Sorry, but my trashy ass sticks with free tap water, thanks. When we protested, they removed it.

The 2nd time was not a minibar story, but related. When we arrived at our room, there was a tray on the floor next to the door with a half-eaten dessert sitting on it. We called the desk to have someone come get it, because knowing my clumsy ass I'd trip while walking out of the room and do a face-plant into it. They came and picked the dessert up - and billed our room for it! Once again, we protested, and it was removed from our bill. But that was enough for us. No more Omni. You'd think a pricey hotel could afford to handle billing properly.

The Viceroy in Santa Monica charge me $25 for items from the 'Body Bar' that I didn't use. I got the charge removed after being grilled for a bit.

No mini-bar horror stories here, but the hotel I stay at on my annual trips to Foxwoods charges $1 per night for the hotel safe. Even if you tell them ahead of time that you don't want to use the safe, they charge you for it and you have to ask them to remove the charge when you check out.

Thank you, Lord ... I no longer have to business travel. What a viper's pit of iniquity and doing people dirt. On the rare occasions we do travel, for pleasure, we stay here ... [www.vrbo.com] (or) [www.cyberrentals.com]

Have never had a problem, have stayed in GREAT real estate, and completely avoid the idiot management of hotel chains.

For instance ... [www.cyberrentals.com]

Just offer to call the police and let them sort it out. If the hotel doesn't want you doing that, then they'd better do a little bit better than just taking the false charge off the bill. Use the situation to gain a benefit if they want to play games like this.

Anyone who's ever stayed at a hotel other than Motel 6 has encountered the in room mini bar. This is not a new phenomenon; it's been around for years. I am astonished that people still don't understand how they work.

If you touch something or move it, it charges you. It does not magically add a charge to your room for any other reason. Hotels are not randomly charging you for untouched items. They charge you when the sensor is activated. So, if you don't want something: Don't touch it, dumbass! Are you 9 years old where you have to touch everything?

Also, if you are tempted by something in the minibar refrain from looking at the price list until after midnight because the later it gets, the better the prices appear to be. That $6.00 beer that is a total rip-off at 9p.m. seems like a pretty good deal at 1:30 in the morning.

I wonder if they'll start charging for luggage like the airlines.

Walk me through this, Consumerist.

The charge appears on the hotel bill. You go to the front desk to dispute it.

If they DON'T argue with you, then the charge on the bill is evidence of some nefarious scheme to bilk you of more money.

If they DO argue with you, then the hotel's customer service is poor and you won't be going back to them.

So, tell me Consumerist, how exactly should a hotel behave in this situation? From the way I see it you've painted a no-win situation for the hotel.

How about this for an alternate theory?

Maybe it was an honest mistake. Maybe the hotel management has recognized a pattern wherein customers who complain about mini bar charges -- rightfully or otherwise -- don't return to the hotel. (The honest ones get insulted that the hotel accused them of 'theft' and the dishonest ones don't want to push their luck with subsequent visits.) So the hotel simply eats the cost of a Snickers bar or a shot of whiskey or whatever, the customer remains happy, and the hotel gets more return business.

What a concept, eh?

@fjordtjie:

I just stayed at the Westin Market Street in San Francisco, and they have additional mini fridges available upon request that you can use for personal storage - gratis, no charge.

On checkout, though, I did get dinged for a $5 energy bar that the minibar sensors claimed I took, but once again, there was no hesitation on the removal of the charge.

Incidentally, the stay was fantastic, made even better by the $109/night Hotwire rate. Great, great experience.

@sgodun:
So, tell me Consumerist, how exactly should a hotel behave in this situation? From the way I see it you've painted a no-win situation for the hotel.

My thoughts exactly. This is an example of GOOD customer service - although the companies that manufacture the minibars should figure out a better way to avoid false positives. RFID proximity, instead of weight, perhaps?

@InsaneNewman:
@sgodun:
It really isn't good customer service if the hotel tries to screw you up front. I see the main scam being the piss-poor way they 'monitor' your mini-bar use. They know it sucks so they gladly give credit to anyone who askes for it but not once have I ever heard them address the situation up front. Either employ a reasonably accurate method or drop the practice.

happened to me at Marriott Inner Harbor (Baltimore, MD). I never questioned the charge (client was footing the bill). I wondered what would happen if you just unplugged the fridge and took all of the items out.

What really annoys me is the hotels that add a $10-15 'convenience fee' that gives you wi-fi access and access to 'self' parking. Why not just add that to the rate? It makes it a nightmare for when I'm traveling for work and have to explain why the price of my room goes up 10%, since it didn't mention any of that when I booked it...

@smirky: It really isn't good customer service if the hotel tries to screw you up front.

Agreed. But there's exactly 0% proof here that the hotel has tried to screw anyone out of anything. That's the point that's being missed here. People are ASSUMING things based off

@smirky: I see the main scam being the piss-poor way they 'monitor' your mini-bar use. ... Either employ a reasonably accurate method or drop the practice.

This is another no-win situation for the hotel. The "honor system" will clearly result in a loss leader for the hotel, so some method of monitoring the mini bar must be used. There's already a huge amount of outrage over the use of automated systems like RFID tags so let's put that one on the shelf. Even things like proximity RFID tags won't work. What if you want to show something to your husband/wife/whatever which forces you to leave the RFID tag range -- then you put it back, untouched? You can't go by weight either; a resourceful scammer could simply drain a bottle and refill it with water. I suppose hotels could put small vending machines into each room but I think it's fair to say that having a vending machine in a private area is just begging for trouble. Full sized PUBLIC vending machines get abused and they're sitting in the open; imagine what trauma will befall a small machine in the comfort of a private room!

All of which leaves manual checking, e.g., hotel employees monitoring the mini bar. As my original post stated: Maybe it was an honest mistake. Any system in the known universe which relies upon the actions of a human being will only be as accurate as that human being, and let me tell you, we're not a very accurate bunch of people.

@TVGenius:

Because adding that "fee" up-front would make them look more expensive compared to the other hotels that add the fee afterwards. : )

@TVGenius: What really annoys me is the hotels that add a $10-15 'convenience fee' that gives you wi-fi access and access to 'self' parking. Why not just add that to the rate?

Because not 100% of a given hotel's patrons require wifi access and/or parking. It may be an annoyance to you but to the reasonable percentage of people who aren't forced to pay $10-$15 "convenience fees" for things they don't need, it's a money saver.

@smirky:
Sorry, I guess I wasn't clear... I was specifically referring to the practice of quickly removing disputed charges as good customer service... I absolutely agree that the fact that there are so many false positives needs to be addressed.

I disagree with the Consumerist's depiction that "we've noticed that whenever refunds are instantly credited with no argument - the probability that something shady was going on increases dramatically"... this implies to be that in spite of all the complaints about bad, slow, unresponsive customer service, Meg enjoys the difficult fight, rather than simply being happy that the hotel is doing the right thing. (And I understand this feeling, as I always feel strangely let down when I gear myself up for a fight with a rep, only to have them agree with me... I mean, where's the fun in that?) That's OK, but decent service =/= shadiness.

@sgodun: But there's exactly 0% proof here that the hotel has tried to screw anyone out of anything.

When a business knowingly has a system that is inherently flawed against the customer yet continues to use it, that IS trying to screw the customer.

Do I think they are manually adding the fees? Not at all but they happily offer a service that not only has a horrible track record for accuracy but one that also only favors the business when mistakes occur.

I stayed in a Wyndham in Chicago once and we found some mini-bar charges on our bill when we hadn't even taken the key to the mini-bar. They must think that my lock picking skills are better than they really are.

This happened to me at the Flamingo hotel in Vegas last month. I checked my credit card bill when it came in weeks later and there was a $4 charge for the bottled water in my room. Funny thing is that I don't drink bottle water. What a scam, but it must work well.

@sgodun: The customer service is great. So is WebLoyalty's (Reservation Rewards) customer service.

There is possibly statistical evidence that shows that these charges are happening at a rate that the hotels should be aware of them. If they are adding them deliberately, that's fraud. If they aren't, then they need to be taking extra precautions to make sure that customers aren't being charged for mini bar items they didn't consume, i.e. confirming the charges with the customer before trying to bill them. THAT would be even better customer service and would probably create a lot more repeat customers. If they are willing to bill for charges that they are even suspicious are wrong, that's no better than the WLI* scam, as Consumerist is implying.

However, I don't agree that the evidence--anecdotal as far as I can tell--indicates anything is up.

They tell you that you can't use the fridge for your own stuff? To hell with that. That is something I would dispute immediately and be aggressive about. If they're worried about keeping minibar stock straight, they'd be welcome to come up and get all the food out of there that second.

Of course, I usually stay at hotels too cheap for minibars.

@sgodun: Good customer service might be instituting a system that doesn't routinely make these kinds of mistakes. But they routinely DO make these mistakes, and as others have pointed out, the mistakes are almost invariably in the direction of making the hotel money on stuff the guest didn't use. The hotels have a choice between fair and efficient systems or mistake-ridden systems, and they go with the latter to make more money. It's not so cool.

I also stayed at the W in NYC and noticed a huge charge (like $100) tacked onto my bill. I requested an itemized list and they listed what amounted to almost every drink in the mini bar. I disputed it and they removed it quickly. The W seems to be major offender for this.

I was sent to a conference two years ago at Disneyworld and stayed in the Swan resort. I brought my own snacks (I know of minibars but am not rich enough to stay in hotels that have them). One of my snacks happened to be the same brand as in the minibar but in a completely different package. Even a visually impaired person could tell the difference.

Before checking out, I checked the bill and found that they billed me for the item from the minibar although I never touched it. Housekeeping must have seen it in the trash but didn't verify that it was missing (or the same packaging) as in the minibar. It took a week of calls and faxes between the office manager and the Swan resort to remove the unauthorized charge.

RFID. SchmarFID. They'll charge you for bringing your own snacks anyway.

@The Rude Bellman: Living up to our name today, aren't we?

@InsaneNewman:

If they're giving up _too_ easily, that means that they know something shady is going on.

Example story my father told me from his college days (back in the late 40s). Local bar had a condom machine in the men's room - with nothing in it. So, you put your dime (remember, late 40s) in, and got squat. If anyone went to the bartender and complained, they immediately got a refund. The bar was counting, however, on the fact that very few people would be willing to go up to the bartender and say "I tried to buy a condom, and it didn't work," so the bar just got free money.

Here's a fun one. Staying at a luxurious overseas hotel, I needed to print my boarding passes for my return flight.

Hotel charged $15 for any amount of time up to 15 minutes of internet access in their office center. Also, $3 a page to print. While expensive, we accepted this price, despite the internet cafe next door charging something like 50 cents per hour. (Being slightly paranoid, but worried about potential keystroke loggers at the cafe.)

But the kicker was that the hotel printer was set up default to print a cover page and they dared charge me for the cover for each boarding pass. They wanted us to pay almost $40 to get 4 pages. A lot of arguing finally got them to drop the cover page charges, but that's simply usurious.