Recently we went away for a short stay in Detroit and stayed at one of the large casino hotels. It was lovely, very upscale. We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the hotel!
When we checked into our room on the 12th floor we unpacked and grabbed our little travel cooler to put our sodas and adult refreshments into the hotel’s refrigerator.
Upon opening the fridge we noticed it was not empty; it was a fully stocked mini bar complete with alcohol, soda, tea and Red Bull. Pretty convenient? Yes. Pretty expensive?
While prices were not noted, we knew the answer was yes! Because we usually bring a small cooler with our own beverages in it to enjoy at a hotel we knew we were not going to used anything in the mini bar but we wanted to keep our stuff chilled so I removed 4 cans from the fridge and replaced them with our cans.
When we checked out the next day I put their unopened cans back in the fridge and it looked just like how we had found it upon check-in.
Fast forward 2 days when I happened to be looking at our online bank transactions because I was paying bills. I noticed a $10.60 charge on the account from the hotel
we had stayed at in Detroit. I was perplexed as to what this charge was for; I knew that neither of us had bought anything at the hotel. I called and spoke to a very friendly
person at the front desk who explained that the charge was for items we consumed from the room’s mini bar. I explained to her that we had not used anything from the mini bar
and she quickly issued a credit to our bank account. She didn’t ask questions, which led me to assume this happens often. I really did not think much more of it until last night.
We were catching up on some of our DVR’d shows and were watching CSI Cyber. The episode was based around a murder at an upscale hotel and during the investigation they figured out someone was making it appear as if the murder victim was still alive in the room by manipulating the hotel’s electronic system including the mini bar. What? Jim and I looked at each other and it was as if
a light bulb went off in our heads and it clicked that is why the hotel had charged us! They explained on the show that some hotel mini bars have automatic sensors in them that can tell when
you remove anything from the fridge; if you do, your bill is automatically charged. Pretty ingenious, except for in our case all we did was move the items and not consume them.
We did a little research and found that this is indeed true. A post in the Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinel explains the issue in detail and confirms that many hotel chains use this sensor system. It also says that up to 90% of the charges are in error.
Photo credit: Rick Wood of jsonline.com
90%? Imagine out of that 90% the amount of people that do not notice these small charges; it must add up to quite a hefty amount.
We are sharing our story with you so that you are aware of the practice and are careful when you stay at a hotel with automatic minibars with sensors. If you do move anything,
be sure to check your bank or credit card for charges to show up a day or two after you check out. If you notice an error call the hotel to have it corrected.
