Chargeback time! I would 1000% make them take this to court, and they'd lose.
this post was submitted on 19 Jul 2025
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When travel reporter Zach Griff checked into The Pell, a JDV by Hyatt property in Rhode Island, he expected a relaxing stay with his wife and 9-month-old daughter. Unfortunately, he left on a sour note after the hotel charged him a $500 smoking fee following his stay.
The problem? Griff says he’s never smoked a day in his life, let alone in a hotel room while staying there with his family.
Griff, a senior reporter at The Points Guy, took his story public on social media after the hotel allegedly charged him the $500 fee based on readings from an air quality sensor. The sensor data was supplied by a third-party company called Rest, which claims hotels can easily collect fees from smoking events.
Why did he pay? Or does the hotel have access to his card and can charge whatever they wish at will?
Isn't that how the US does it?
You give your credit card and they charge whatever they want. Always found that very weird in the US.
A lot of things are weird in the US
It's supposed to be in case you destroy property.
Restaurants are weird in the US too - why do you need to take my credit card to another room?
Also weird that the restaurant pays the staff the absolute bare minimum and you need to supplement their income based on how much you order.
I'm not sure what's confusing here. You pay exactly the price you see on the menu.
(Plus ~10% tax based on which state and town/city you're in. Plus ~15-20% tip. Plus sometimes a mantatory "gratuity" or whatever they're calling it. Plus parking sometimes, unless you remember to validate it if the place supports that. Look it's a lot of random things and even I can't keep track of it anymore.)
After reading and understanding the fineprint, I've now forgotten what I wanted to order in the first place. LOL
Wireless card readers are relatively new tech. I see them more and more as time goes on. New places usually give their waitstaff mobile readers, but there's little motivation for older restaurants to upgrade their whole POS systems. POS systems have pretty long life expectancy. At least the older ones do.
Or does the hotel have access to his card and can charge whatever they wish at will?
Of course they do. He had to use it to pay for his stay. Hotels don't take cash.
The crazy part to me is how the sensors company advertises as a selling point how much "smoking fine revenue" increases with their product
(not from the reporter but another guest covered in the story)
charged $500 for vaping
Yeah I think this is where Rest's scam will come undone. While you could, in theory, claim you didn't know your sensors could make faulty detection from hairdryer use, claiming to accurately be able to detect vaping will not survive a technical inquiry.
Example (not specifically about Rest but vape detectors in general):
Several things can trigger a false alarm, including aerosols from cleaning products, emissions from cooking stoves in kitchens, and vibrations.
Spray-on deo, hair spray, baby powder, perfume etc are all likely to create false positives yet the hotels just charge instantly from a single detection event.
https://vapecould.com/blogs/news/vape-detector-an-in-depth-look-at-the-pros-and-cons
The article says they have a 9-month old, I've seen Dyson purifiers kick on due to baby powder in the air being a contaminant so that could also explain some of it.