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Hotel Telephone Charges - and how to avoid them...
We’ve all heard the horror stories of hotel bills massively
inflated from the occasional use of the hotel telephone, but in
this day and age of Internet connections, laptops and expected instant
communication it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to
ensure that your hotel stay doesn’t include some time on the
hotel telephone. Some estimates suggest that around 2% of a hotel’s
income comes from telephone surcharges and rates and with many hotels
feeling the pinch on the bottom line, so too are they looking for
more innovative ways to part you from your money. So here’s
a few thoughts and suggestions to consider before you plug in or
pick up. |
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When you first check in to your hotel make sure that you are totally
aware of the charges that you are likely to incur if you need to
use the hotel telephone system during your stay - even if you don't
anticipate doing so (you never know when you may have to make a
call). Normally there will be small notices or small pyramid cards
placed near the actual telephone itself as well as notices inside
the customer information book that most hotel rooms provide for
their guests. If you are not totally satisfied that you understand
the explanation of the charges in your room, talk to someone at
the front desk and pay particular attention to any surcharges or
taxes that might not otherwise be made clear. In some countries
it is not mandatory to include local and government taxes on price
tariff but these will be included in your final bill, so make sure
you are made aware of all the charges you are likely to incur.
Understand the boundaries that define a free call versus one that
you have to pay for. Generally speaking, free calls will be permitted
from room-to-room within the hotel, as well as to the switchboard
of the hotel itself. Anything outside of the hotel is normally a
paid-for call, including local ‘freephone’ telephone
numbers – so if you’re planning on ordering a pizza
or something else using a freephone number, make sure you factor
in the cost of the telephone call as well.
Some hotels have differing interpretations of what constitutes ‘local’.
There may be different tariffs depending on the actual distance
from the hotel itself. In some cases hotels charge more for a call
to the other side of town than one, say, just down the road from
the hotel. Make sure that your definition of local is the same as
the hotels.
Long-distance phone calls can be particularly worrying when it comes
to how quickly charges can mount up. In many cases there are likely
to be a number of ancillary charges, such as connection fees, taxes,
etc that you should be aware of before making that call.
In cases of both long-distance and local calls, make sure that there
are no set minimum fees that you need to pay. Some hotels have been
known to set rather exorbitant minimum call fees on a per call basis,
so two or three short phone calls could result in a nasty surprise
when it comes time to check out of the hotel. |
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