Reply to post: Re: "Sounds like a lawsuit"

Hotel guest goes broke after booking software gremlin makes her pay for strangers' rooms

Alan Brown Silver badge

Re: "Sounds like a lawsuit"

"After a stunt like that on a credit card:

1. Everything will be refunded. That is part of your credit card agreement."

It was on her debit card

- There's a (voluntary) scheme here in the UK which gives similar rights to credit cards (but it's voluntary and banks have been known to not honour it)

- There's no such scheme in in the USA - if a scammer dings your debit card you're on the hook no matter what. (Yes, even if it's visa debit and suchlike)

So yes, lawsuits aplenty, and I'd imagine a PCI compliance audit for the hotel for a fundamental breach of the rules about handling card details.

It would have been easier if it was charged to her credit card as Visa would have shut down the hotel gateways quickly (being on the hook for card-not-present fraud). With debit cards requiring the issuing bank to OK the transaction there are no pending transactions to raise alarms.

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