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Prestigious doctor pays for $2000 hotel stay with expired credit card, then accuses hotel of stealing his money when employee reaches out about the past due bill

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    Doctor Skipped out on Bill
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    Back at the end of January we had a guest check in for a few nights and the departure date was the first of February. Our credit card readers are chip and pin, so the guest inserts the card themselves and the front desk no longer touches the card. As it turns out, his card was expiring at the end of January, so his card gave authorization at check-in, but on
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    the check-out day we were unable to process payment because the card was now expired. We gave him the benefit of the doubt that he did not know his card had expired, so we emailed him to let him know (no phone number on file). He send a reply that his card was really
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    not expired, and we were trying to scam him. We asked him to please review his card statement and see that he was not charged, and if the card number was the same we would only need his new expiration date to process payment. He refused to do this. We sent him a link to a secure
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    form to provide payment, which he ignored. We looked him up and he is a Vice President, Chief Health Informatics Officer for the region. He clearly had the money. His bill was just under $2,000. We tried contacting him by phone through his employer, but since his position with the hospital was regional, we couldn't find a direct
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    extension for him. We reported his rewards account with the hotel chain, but as a low level member with no points, that didn't do anything. If he had enough points I would have been able to take them as payment. We wrote off the charges in April. I really wanted to send it to
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    Collections, but our Accounting department said it wasn't a high enough amount for that. We ended up finding out the travel company that booked his room, and after getting in contact with them, he finally called us, still insisting his card was not expired and it seemed like a scam. He ended up doing the secure form
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    to provide payment, and he provided a completely different card number, not the one he insisted wasn't expired. We already called every nice hotel in the city, and just outside the city, so he will have a hard time getting a hotel in the area since he didn't pay us for months after his check out. This got settled
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    some time towards the end of May. This will be one of those interactions I never forget. He clearly had a prestigious job that I imagine payed well, he could clearly see he hadn't been charged, got the receipt showing balance due from the automated email, and multiple emails from
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    different people at the property, and only after contacting the travel company did he finally pay. I truly do not know what his problem was or why it took literally months to settle his bill. One of the worst guests I have ever had to deal with.
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    Repulsive_Army5038 19 hr. ago My local, non-hospitality workplace has the same problem. Lawyers are very picky and will argue the smallest detail - you said you would come Wednesday, you came Friday, I'm not paying. Yes sir, there was a hurricane Wednesday, we came as soon as the roads were clear. Here's your bill.
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    Doctors will wait 6-8 months to pay. It's like they don't pay "tiny" $1k bills, only $5k+ bills. Grrrrr. On the other hand, are the people in trades who own their own businesses and are making BANK. They are ringing my phone to pay before my guys are finished working, because they don't want to owe anybody. I appreciate it, but until I get an amount, I can't take your money.
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    snootnoots 15 hr. ago Don't you understand that they can't be bothered with such petty concerns as paying their debts? They save lives, you! Have some respect! /s Please note that I didn't say they can't be bothered with such petty concerns as money, because most of them are perfectly happy to be bothered with it when they're getting paid.
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    69vuman 20 hr. ago Surely your property DNR'd him and all your sister hotels, too. Good luck, Dr.
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    Legitimate_Shade OP 14 hr. ago Sure did, and one of the hospitals he works for as a regional is right in the downtown city area. I think he'll have trouble at any decent hotel between downtown and the airport if he has to come back.
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    Thin5kinned Mods5uck 16 hr. ago You know this guy already had the new card in his possession. Mine always arrive 2-4 weeks before they expire. Activate the new one and the old one will be deactivated. He thought he would get a free stay and hoped you would let it slide because it would be too much trouble to collect.
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    SkwrlTail 21 hr. ago Always amazed by the willingness of people to commit fraud - and not just petty fraud either! - over a hotel bill...
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    Nocturnal Misanthrope 18 hr. ago • We look at every in-house guest every Monday, and if they are between $800-$1000 balance, we charge the card and re-auth. Might be a good time to look at something like that.
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    Legitimate_Shade OP 18 hr. ago Our system doesn't do well with that. When it reauthorizes it does the full amount again, which has caused too many issues for Accounting. It's not a long stay hotel, but gets a lot of business travelers that stay for extended amounts of time. I used to at previous properties, but for whatever reason our system was set up differently and it causes more issues, so Accounting said it's just not worth it.
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    Less-Law 9035 · 20 hr. ago A lot of people have book sense but no common sense. Some attorneys I worked for could blow your mind in court with their expertise and knowledge of the law, but try to have a regular conversation outside of the office or courtroom about non-legal things? No. You couldn't get away from them fast enough.
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    Empty_Mulberry9680 19 hr. ago He thought it was a scam, when he could just look at the credit card to see the expiration date? And has probably gotten a new card? Although quite honestly that's the level of stupid I expect from C-suite execs.

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