Submitted 21 hours ago by DrunkEngineer@lemmy.world to aboringdystopia@lemmy.world
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1945959030851035223.html
Guests report getting billed hundreds of dollars for smoking, based on the readings of an “algorithmic” smoke detector. The sensor manufacturer, Pell, markets its product as a way for hotels to unlock new revenue streams.
Yet another huge win for those who choose to never leave their basements.
I miss my basement.
I stayed at a “hotel” in Denver a few years ago. It was advertised as a hotel on Hotels.com, and we booked because we thought it was cool that the unit had a full kitchen and was like a condo. We thought it would be the best of both worlds, hotel amenities and Airbnb style room. We get there, and it’s basically an apartment building that they’ve turned into a hotel. They have no staff on site, and I had to download an app to check in and do a face scan. Super not privacy friendly. Then one day we stayed in and we’re having a few drinks and conversing. This was 5 guys. We weren’t being beligerant or loud, just talking. It was maybe 4 pm, and not quiet hours. I get a text saying there was a noise complaint. Then we bailed and got another text saying there was a 2nd noise complaint. They threatened us with a $500 fee the 2nd time. I told them we were no longer in the room, so it wasn’t us. We later found what we assumed was a bug device that notified them if we went over a certain decibel level.
I never got charged, but I was ready to fight tooth and nail with my credit card company if they did. It was very weird, and I would never book with that company again.
Do you happen to have a description of photo of the bug device? Interested to find out whether I am running into a similar situation myself.
tritonsensors.com/uses/hotels/
I didn’t take a photo, but it was like this.
lol fuck year people and these hotels. It’s not about not smoking, it’s about charging more money.
How is this a plus for guests wtff
Devils advocate, I guess the room won’t smell like shit
I tend to huff arsenic trioxide when I stay at a hotel. Will the hotel smoke detectors fine me for that?
Anyone got a mirror of the article that is not geoblocked?
Do archive pages work for you? Give this a try: archive.ph/2uKUX
Sounds like an easy lawsuit. Record the entire stay, test different variables like a hair dryer, candle, fan, soldering smoke, medical equipment like nebulizer, steamer, etc. If they fine you, simply find a lawyer and request a $5M settlement fee. Boom, early retirement.
Sounds like a great way to abuse front desk staff by proxy.
Wow. That is… that is some horseshit.
Couldn’t that be interpreted as a confession that their air is at least as unsafe as staying with a heavy smoker the whole night, in terms of PM 2.5 and other hazards?
It’s the Hertz AI scam in a different sector. I suspect every major rental company will have a version of this soon, and that none of them will be auditable or appealable.
That was a very annoying read. I could feel the tiktok plug even before it was posted. This sucks, but oh my cod I hate the internet now.
This is the one time I’m gonna be that jagweed and say I liked it. I’ve never once been on TikTok and I never will. But I was happy to see it in logical and streamlined format.
I don’t visit any of those sites either, in part because the formatting makes telling a story so challenging.
Looking onto a page like this, it’s like one story was needlessly chopped up into little bits. Instead of several paragraphs formatted with the purpose of telling a smooth, coherent story, it’s cut into chunks whose only parameter is character length. Outside of modern microblog-style social media, that format doesn’t happen much. The result is scrolling and scrolling to read something that could’ve been put into a few paragraphs in a single blog post.
Put altogether, it comes off as chunky and without any clear flow. Microblog formatting is not conductive to story-telling. It’s not a criticism of the writer (I assume they were doing their best within the limits imposed), but of the formatting that breaks the flow that story-telling relies on.
My thoughts exactly and while I hate making cliché comments, I’m surprised this isn’t being talked about more in this thread. Felt like I was missing an adblocker, and I was glad it was only 13 tweets.
Yay! Fraud!
Isn’t this a textbook candidate for a class action suit?
Some lucky lawyers will get rich off of this.
Don’t forget about the lucky customers that might get almost half the fee back.
always put a bag over the smoke alarm!
now THAT’S illegal
Yet another way your country fucks over it’s citizens
This is why I preemptively destroy the hotel room.
I beg the Death Asteroid to rain down on us.
Ah one step closer to “Fuck you, pay me” business style.
Better refuse to pay the bill unless the item is removed. If they don’t remove it, contact your bank and block the payment.
A lot of hotels will require a card to put on file at check-in. The paper you get after your stay is typically an invoice, not a bill to be paid. They tell you how much they charged you, it’s up to you to dispute if you disagree with something.
I'd hire a lawyer and hit them for reimbursement of the $500 fee, my legal fees, slander for claiming I'm a smoker, punitive damages, and any another other monetary penalty I could think of. I'm sure I could find a lawyer that would be salivating over this.
dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
I have never seen a more clear cut example of a perfect use case for a credit card chargeback.
Fun fact: You can’t dispute part of a charge. If you charge this back and win (you probably will) the hotel loses out on everything, for your entire stay. It also stacks up against them and raises their rates the more they get. An even vaguely concerted effort by people who have been ripped off by this would probably get the hotel in question booted from their credit card processor.
I imagine it’s damn difficult to run a hotel if you can’t accept credit cards. Just saying.
imrighthere@lemmy.ca 20 hours ago
They disputed it with their bank, the bank sided with the hotel because of the sensor report. Just saying.
dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
Sounds like they also need to find a new bank, then.
CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 hours ago
How do you prove to the bank or in a court of law that you didn’t do something? The hotel is alleging that their algorithm detected smoking.
Besides setting up a camera which seems to be very invasive, how would you fight this?
ook@discuss.tchncs.de 20 hours ago
Surprise, banks also pull disgusting shit. Who would have thought about that.
LilB0kChoy@midwest.social 19 hours ago
They tried that. If the credit card denies it you could have a lawyer send a letter threatening legal action but that’s all going to be at an extra cost unless you know and attorney or they think they could make enough to o do it on spec.
halcyoncmdr@lemmy.world 10 hours ago
Or you pay monthly for a law service. Those types of letters are exactly what those programs are intended to cover.
InvalidName2@lemmy.zip 18 hours ago
In two different cases where I’ve disputed part of a charge/order, the credit card company returned the money for the entire order like you said. I was surprised they did that, and didn’t realize that was the norm.
On the one hand, I never wanted anything I extra that I didn’t deserve. On the other hand, both times this has happened to me, the companies at fault really, really went out of their way to deserve it. Not necessarily scam level deserved it like this hotel’s smoke detector scam, but still.
0x01@lemmy.ml 19 hours ago
Many credit card software providers also charge for the investigation of chargebacks, to the tune of hundreds of dollars, even if the chargeback is reversed.
dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 18 hours ago
Accumulating a history of chargebacks against you as a merchant, even if the consumer ultimately loses them, also counts against you and will raise your rates. The processors don’t like dealing with merchants that they perceive as excessively risky.
I have to deal with this in my business and the whole thing is really a pain in the ass.
Brkdncr@lemmy.world 17 hours ago
That’s not where it ends though. They can send you to collections.
Happened to me from Verizon after I returned their modem and they said I didn’t.
Many different collectors called and wouldn’t the same track# and photos to show it was returned. It eventually went on my credit, which took a slight hit for all of 2 months.