advice- really expensive phone call!

Hoping someone might have some ideas. My husband stayed at a brand name hotel in penang recently. He used his calling card to call Hong Kong- probably about 1 hour in total. Upon checkout, he found out that the hotel still charged him for phone "usage" even though he was using a calling card. The bill came to US$200!! As he didn't have a lot of time to argue b/c his flight was about to leave, he paid the phone bill via credit card. Do we have any recourse at all? Calling the credit card company, etc. It seems absolutely ridiculous that a hotel can charge US$200 for one hour of phone usage. Any suggestions appreciated.

I am assuming that if he was using a calling card then he was ringing a local number in Penang to connect to use to the calling card. If so, US$200 sounds like a lot for the equivalent of making a 1 hour local telephone call (as opposed to an overseas call). It is a difficult one as hotels are known for charging extortionate rates for calls. Were the rates for local calls clear from the hotel information in the room? If so, then they are probably entitled to charge the advertised price even if it is over the top in which case your best bet would be to complain on a moral level that this is unacceptable pricing. If they are a chain hotel, this may help your case if you really kick up a fuss (eg: in a letter perhaps copied to their head office hotel).


I would not have thought calling the credit card company would help as it is a legitimate charge in that your husband signed the bill (not a fraudulent transaction).

I also use my calling card a lot when I travel abroad. Usually the charge is about 3 to 5 USD for the 'local' connection. It sounds like your husband was actually making an overseas call, rather than calling the local calling card number.

Our calling card company claims that the number my husband called is a toll-free number in Penang. However, when my husband checked out of the hotel, the front desk said that it was not a toll-free number. Husband called the hotel today, argued his case. The hotel said it would look into it and call us back. My husband's company has a contract with the hotel, so hopefully they will come to an amicable arrangement. If not, will certainly follow some of the suggestions listed above. Definitely a wake-up call to double-check with a hotel before using a calling card overseas!