The Park Hotels, Chennai — Misuse of credit card

Address: Chennai, Tamil Nadu

I had stayed with my family at The Park Hotel, Chennai from the 3rd evening to 7th morning of January 2015 to attend my cousin's marriage function. We had 2 rooms which was complimentary from our host (my cousin's family). During check in the receptionist had asked my dad for his credit card. We enquired why the credit card was needed and he said it was for "safety". He scanned the card and assured us that without prior permission or approval no amount will be debited from the card. After 4 days when we checked out from the rooms, we asked the receptionist at the lobby on how much we are to pay for room service. He said "Let me verify with the host" and after a while told us that we need not pay anything. My dad still asked how much is the estimate of the amount for our rooms alone. He replied "Sir, it goes to the common pool and will be paid by the host. No problem, you may leave" and we drove back to our native city. After 10 hours my dad got a message that an amount of Rs. 9, 900 has been debited from his card on behalf of the park hotels. He immediately called his bank manager and requested him to block the card. They had misused the credit card by debiting money without any consent from us. My dad wrote an email to the hotel authorities explaining the situation and they told us that the amount was payable by us and instead apologized for not having informed us at the time of checkout. It is not a matter of paying the amount, we are aware that we spend a good deal on room service and my dad was more than willing to pay if it went beyond a limit that it burdened our host i.e. his sister. The issue is that the hotel management had misused the card. My dad tells me that the failure of the receptionist to give the estimate for our rooms shows that they will show an incremented amount to our host as well. It is pathetic on how the hotel management treat its customers by backstabbing them.