Mysterious bill

Mysterious bill

I would like to have your readers share an experience I just
had with my credit card a few weeks ago.

When I checked my latest account, I noticed with surprise that
a five-star hotel in Jakarta, where I once spent a night (and
paid for it with my credit card), later on had claimed an
unidentified charge which was then deducted from my account
without any permission, signature or notion from my side.

After I contacted the hotel manager, I was told that this
charge was obviously made due to an error, as I had been
suspected of having taken a hotel bathrobe with me without paying
for it. Only after my request did it turn out that obviously I
was charged instead of some other guest who stayed next to my
room. The charge was made based on what they call a "signature on
file."

Is it not strange, if not illegal, that a hotel (or whomever)
is able to claim payments without letting the customer know,
after he already paid and left? What would have happened if I had
not found out coincidentally about this mysterious event?

The manager explained to me that this is the usual practice,
as hotels often become victims of clients who wish to carry some
"souvenir" along. However, to me it seems that this practice is
going much too far, especially if it hits other customers who do
not have any connection to the case in question, due to a badly
organized (or was it on purpose, in order to get the bathrobe
money back, without caring from whom) cashier management?

WERNER WASMUTH

Bandung, West Java