Hotel fraud
This is complicated but I hope people can advise:
A friend who was staying with me reserved a room for a visiting work colleague at a Santo Domingo hotel last week, using her Visa card as guarantee as requested by the hotel.
When the colleague checked out, he paid the bill in cash (US$300) but the management is charging my friend's card anyway. It seems that the receptionist on duty pocketed the cash payment, and passed on a visa voucher with my friend's visa details with a forged copy of the guest's signature to the accounts department. She had actually left the country before the colleague checked out.
At this stage the impression is that one individual receptionist pocketed the cash dollars and that the hotel management is not in on the scam - because the manager e-mailed her a scanned copy of the voucher with the forged signature. If the manager knew what was going on presumably he wouldn't have entered into e-mail correspondence with her, and just let the transaction go through.
Meanwhile I've advised my friend to block any visa payment to this hotel in her home country if that is possible.
My question is, who can we denounce this to? ASONAHORES? Or would this only be the case if it is systematic fraud by the hotel as opposed to an individual employee, as seems to be the case? What can I do to help?
I'm not sure about posting the name of the hotel here, but wonder about warning future guests. Even if the hotel itself is not to blame it is clear that one employee at least is swindling the guests.
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