Can a hotel legally do this?

My mother booked herself a hotel room (VA). The person gave her the price, and my mom booked the room and paid for it. At 8 pm last night, the manager of the hotel calls to say "there has been a mistake; you were quoted the wrong price, you will need to pony up an extra $200-some odd dollars". Please note this was done roughly 10 days AFTER the deal was sealed.

Can they legally do this?
Can they charge her cc the additional amount without her permission?

I'm advising her to hold firm and not give in. Has anyone experienced this?
Additional Details
Thanks to all of you who gave civil, intelligent answers.

Anita Boxabiskits, can you possibly understand that I don't want to give away the actual details of where she's staying, alone? Are you really that dense? I gave the pertinent details; I'm sorry you can't understand the question.

BIG THANKS to the rest of you. You confirmed my initial thoughts.

WRG

If they accepted the original payment then they accepted the contract. If they are breaking the contract they need to refund her money.

If they charge her CC then simply call the CC and dispute the charge.

killintimer

Hopefully your mom has the quoted price in writing somewhere. If so, I do not see how they can even try this.

Whatever the outcome, she should alert the Better Business Bureau and the hotel chain's home office.

Elwood P. Dowd

Anita is right (and her answer is civil too). There is a lot more to this than the little you have posted. In fact, I'll bet you that most of the people who said you have a claim would reconsider if they knew your little left-out detail about this being just a reservation for a future stay.

Barking at people trying to help you is low class.

jimbo

You have not made it clear if your mother stayed in the hotel and 10 days later they came up with this amount or are they asking for this amount before she goes to stay there. Your answer to these questions will enable us to give a legal answer and not just emotional; answers.

Papperman

get a lawyer.

Civil Cases have been wrong for so many things, but this is where our Judicial system got it right.

This isn't coffee spilling suing, this is suing based on being scammed!

Jamie

if the room was paid for they can not increase the price of the room
when a mistake is made the one that made the mistake has to take the loss not the person that did nothing wrong/..

Pork Patty

I agree with Anita Boxabiskits too. There is not enough information to answer. The people who told you that your mother has a claim all ASSUMED that this stay was complete. That was an important detail, missing from your original question. I wonder what else is missing?

A lawyer would have to review the actual evidence supporting this transaction to offer an opinion. Only the people whose "mother works in the law" (!), or are otherwise pretending to have legal knowledge, would offer an opinion on the information in your question.

Anita Boxabiskits

Gee, it depends upon all the facts you left out of your question. Whenever I read a question like this, I wonder if the questioner is trying to fool me, or is just not thinking when she posts.

Doug J I

You need to have paperwork or documentation stating what the original agreed price was. Otherwise it's just your word against theirs.

Hopefully this transaction was done by credit card so you have record of the original transaction. Go to the hotel to check in, if they don't let you, then call the police. Have a copy of the transaction to show the police. The police will force the hotel to let you stay in the room you paid for.

knowitall

No they cannot and she can dispute the charge on her card.

Drake

Yea,
Im pretty sure its a scam!
Do not give the money if the deal was made do not pay any extra!
If it was the wrong price they would phone you in less then a day!
And Legally a hotel cannot do this!

Hope this helps your mother and have a great time in VA

Alea iacta est

if there was an actual written contract then yes your mother can take the hotel to court.

destinbury

well unlike the dude above me with the dumbest answer in the world, they cant do that. once you "seal the deal" its over. If you took this to a courtroom, the judge would say that once you payed the price they accidentally gave you, it wasn't your problem anymore. It was their problem for not figuring it out sooner.

Trisha

I actually used to work in a motel and if the room was only reserved under a quoted price, legally the hotel can change the price. However, if the room was already paid for, they cannot.

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