Dealing with an unexpected charge during hotel bookings or stays can be stressful. Whether it’s a billing error, an unauthorized transaction, or a fee for services you never used, these charges can add up and disrupt your travel budget.

Fortunately, you have the option to dispute the charge and, if successful, get your funds back. Understanding how the dispute process works—what evidence to gather, whom to contact, and when to escalate the issue—can significantly improve your chances of a successful resolution.

In this article, you’ll learn how to dispute a hotel charge and discover a method to protect your payment card information and minimize the risk of online fraud and excess charges.

What Is a Hotel Chargeback?

A chargeback is a process your bank or card issuer initiates after you dispute an incorrect or unauthorized hotel charge. You can file a dispute before, during, or after your stay if you feel you were incorrectly charged for a service you never received or an amount you didn’t authorize. 

If your chargeback is approved, your bank or credit card issuer will reverse the disputed amount to your account. However, this process isn’t immediate—it typically involves the following stages:

1. Investigation—The bank reviews your claim and evidence to determine if the charge was incorrect. It then issues a chargeback request against the hotel if your claim has grounds.
2. Hotel’s response—The hotel can accept or challenge the chargeback attempt. To do this, a hotel typically needs to submit a rebuttal letter and evidence.
3. Decision—The bank reviews the hotel’s evidence and decides whether to refund the disputed amount to you or uphold the charge in the hotel’s favor.

When Can You Dispute a Hotel Charge?

You can dispute a hotel charge you believe is incorrect or unauthorized. However, since banks may deny claims for valid charges—such as non-refundable bookings or fees outlined in the hotel’s policy—it’s important to ensure you have sufficient grounds for a dispute. 

Here are some situations where disputing a hotel charge may be justified:

• Unexpected charges—A hotel may charge you for unused amenities like spa treatments, minibar items, parking, or movies. It's the hotel's responsibility to clearly outline these charges at check-in, especially if they were included in your booking.
• Dissatisfaction with the service—The hotel might not match its advertised description. It could look different from the photos, have non-working amenities, or offer poorly maintained rooms with dirty sheets, foul odors, or pests.

• Card fraud or unauthorized charges—This includes transactions you didn’t authorize, which may happen if someone stole your card and used it to make hotel bookings. 
• Excessive charges—Mistakes like double charges on your payment card, incorrect room rates, or extra charges for services can happen with hotel bookings.
• Cancellation charges—Hotels typically enforce strict cancellation policies, but issues can arise if they fail to honor them, whether due to errors, oversight, or charging you despite a timely cancellation that shouldn’t have incurred fees.
• No-show charges—If you miss check-in without canceling, the hotel may charge a no-show fee. You can dispute this if you have a valid reason or if there’s a misunderstanding about the cancellation policy.

How To Dispute a Hotel Charge

To dispute a hotel charge, follow these steps:

1. Review your bill carefully
2. Contact the hotel directly
3. Prepare to dispute the charge
4. Dispute the charge with the card issuer

1. Review Your Bill Carefully

Go through your bank or credit card statements and check the transactions related to your hotel booking. Look for these details:

• The amount you were charged vs. what you had expected to pay
• The transaction date and whether it aligns with your stay dates
• Any additional or duplicate charges

If the charge seems incorrect, compare it with your hotel receipt, booking confirmation, and cancellation policy to determine whether you have valid grounds to dispute.

2. Contact the Hotel Directly

Before escalating the dispute to your bank or credit card issuer, try resolving the issue directly with the hotel. This can speed up the resolution of billing errors or service-related complaints.

Front desk staff can often assist with minor billing issues like duplicate or incorrect charges. However, if they’re unable to resolve the problem or provide a clear response, escalate the matter to the hotel manager or billing department, as they have the authority to handle payment disputes.

3. Prepare To Dispute the Charge

Once you’ve identified an incorrect or unauthorized hotel charge, collect all relevant documents to support your dispute claim. These may include:

• Email correspondence with the hotel, including exchanges related to reservations, cancellations, billing disputes, or complaints about your stay
• The link to the hotel’s cancellation, refund, and billing policies from their website or your booking confirmation
• Proof of cancellations and modifications, including emails, cancellation confirmation numbers, or screenshots showing when and how you canceled
• Photos or videos of the room showing it was unclean, had broken amenities, or didn’t match the description in the hotel’s advertising
• A copy of the documentation showing what the hotel had advertised
• Alternative booking receipt in case you had to book another hotel due to issues with your stay
• Call logs and notes detailing the date, time, and details of your conversation with the hotel staff or customer service

4. Dispute the Charge With Your Card Issuer

If the hotel refuses to resolve the issue or ignores your request, your next step is to dispute the charge with your bank or card issuer. Depending on the bank or financial institution that issued your card, you might be able to file your dispute online, over the phone, by sending a letter, or in person.

When filing a dispute, it’s important to: 

• Do it within the prescribed time limit—You generally have at least 60 days from when the charge appears on your bank statement to file a dispute^[1]. However, this time limit might vary, so it’s best to check it with your card issuer.
• Provide sufficient documentation to support the dispute—Your bank will determine the validity of your claim based on the supporting documents, which is why you should be as thorough and specific as possible when documenting the issue.
• Wait for the refund to process if awarded one—If the hotel gave you a refund, consider waiting 3–10 business days for it to appear on your account before filing a dispute to avoid committing chargeback fraud.

During the dispute process, you might be awarded temporary credit by your bank or card issuer. If you successfully dispute the hotel charge, you’ll keep the credit. However, if the bank sides with the hotel, you’ll have to give it back. In that case, you might be able to appeal the outcome, and the card network will step in and review the evidence from both sides before making a final decision.

Potential Challenges in the Charge Dispute Process

The payment dispute process is an essential tool for protecting yourself from hotel billing errors or unauthorized charges on your credit or debit card. However, it can be lengthy and take months to resolve. The dispute resolution also depends on following strict timelines and gathering sufficient evidence to support your claim, which may not always be available. This is why, if possible, it might be best to avoid having to file a dispute altogether. 

One way to protect yourself from unauthorized charges is to use virtual cards for online payments. These cards come with unique 16-digit numbers, expiration dates, and security codes that help protect your real card details from theft in case of data breaches.

While some banks like Capital One and Citi offer virtual cards, they often have limited control features. Dedicated card providers like Privacy provide advanced protection with bank-level security and spending controls, helping you avoid charges that might lead you to file a dispute. 

Privacy Virtual Cards—A Safer Way To Book Hotels Online

Privacy is a leading virtual card provider, trusted by over 250,000 users and accredited by the Better Business Bureau^® (BBB). When you connect your bank account or debit card to Privacy, you can generate unique and reusable virtual cards for safer online transactions. 

Privacy offers three types of virtual cards, each designed for different use cases:

Privacy offers the following card controls to help you avoid billing errors that could lead you to having to file a dispute:

• Custom spending limits—Set a maximum spending cap for each card, and Privacy will automatically decline any transaction exceeding the limit. This can help you avoid hidden fees, duplicate charges, and billing mistakes.
• Pause or close cards—You can pause or close a card anytime, and Privacy will block future charge attempts. This helps avoid accidental charges if the merchant fails to process your cancellation properly.

Can You Dispute a Charge on Privacy?

You should always try to resolve any charge issue with the merchant first. However, if the charge was made using a Privacy Virtual Card and the merchant doesn’t resolve it, you can dispute the charge directly through your Privacy account. Here’s how to do it:

1. Log in to your Privacy account on the web or mobile app
2. Select the transaction you want to dispute
3. Click Open Dispute at the bottom of the pop-up and follow the prompts to submit your claim

Privacy’s fraud protection team will review your case and, if valid, initiate a chargeback against the merchant on your behalf.

Convenience Features Offered by Privacy

Privacy offers several features that make online payments more secure and convenient:

Getting Started With Privacy

If you’re a U.S. resident over the age of 18 with a valid checking account at a U.S. bank or credit union, you can start using Privacy in four simple steps:

1. Sign up for Privacy 
2. Verify your identity by providing the required KYC information
3. Link a funding source
4. Request and generate your first Privacy Card to start making secure online payments

Privacy offers four monthly plans, as outlined in the table below for reference:

References

^[1]Federal Trade Commission. https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/sample-letter-disputing-credit-and-debit-card-charges, sourced February 11, 2025

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