Like Stefano said, you should threaten to change your credit card company pronto. It is for this service that we pay stupid to the point of illegal amounts of interest on credit cards. Do not settle for anything less! If you can go to the bank, all the better. Bring some scissors and cut it in half in front of them, they will probably change their mind. If they don't, there's hundreds of CC companies just dying for your business!

Just tell the credit card company that you are not paying for that transaction, c/c companies used to be no problem with disputes like this but problems are arising due to most of the 'call centres' are now in India. If the c/c co does not help then 'name and shame' them too. BTW, Direct line are also shite bags along with Vagina media.

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Got the e-mail address, name of the employee/description? Got a receipt for the transaction?
I'll write in spanish to the management for you, if you like.

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Thanks for this kind offer. There is a reservations email address on the web by which I imagine we might be able to get hold of the address of the management. Unfortunately I don't have a name or useful description of the employee, other than he is a he. I don't have a receipt - I tried to ask for one - but of course if this chap was setting me up then he wouldn't have given one even if he did understand what I was asking for. BUT I have found that I do have a hand written invoice which in the extreme should be able to be used to identify who the employee is.

Stretcher Monkey I shall like to take you up on your offer of assistance and I will contact you further about this off-line. Many thanks.

Noel.

I can't help wondering that even if I did have a receipt, that the hotel or employee could simply argue that the receipt is for the credit card transaction and not for a cash payment....?


Yes Sjoerd, I've certainly learned that lesson. The crazy thing is that I obviously did have enough cash on me - but not much more - so I only chose to pay by credit card because I wasn't sure when I'd be sure of being able to get hold of some more cash... In future I plan to hide a certain amount of cash on the motorcycle somewhere to be there only for real emergencies - if I'd done this then I am sure I wouldn't have worried about settling in cash in the first instance.

Noel.

Thanks for your support. I will in the first instance be taking Stretcher Monkey up on his offer of writing to the hotel in Spanish. If ultimately nothing comes of it then this could indeed be useful if not fun.

Noel.

Euros 82.50 (£68.89) - a useful amount of money, but I guess it's the principle of the matter that is more important.

Noel.

This is a legitimate credit card transaction - chip and pin, so there is no disputing that. What I do dispute though is (a) that I was told that the transaction didn't go through and/or (b) that I didn't receive the goods and services for the transaction - I am not sure where the law stands on that one?

Noel.

Thank you everybody for your responses to my posting. Initially my thinking was that I'd simply have to take this on the chin as experience, and posted here only as a warning to fellow travellers, and hey if just one of you didn't stay over at the hotel given this HUBB thread, then it would be the hotels ultimate loss in short changing me. I guess my first reaction was to blame the hotel, but perhaps to begin with blame should only be pointed at the employee as we have yet to know what response the hotel management will have. I know this isn't the right attitude but initially I was simply going to let this one go, but with all the feedback which I've had on this thread I at least owe it to all of you to take this one step further (which I shall do with the offer of help from Stretcher Monkey), and hope that before too long I'll be able to post back with better news.

Many thanks, Noel.