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It was ridiculous. So a bottle of water, say, was something like $7 in the mini bar, and then there was a "$50 restocking fee" on top if you took anything out o
by petercooper 3y ago
It was ridiculous. So a bottle of water, say, was something like $7 in the mini bar, and then there was a "$50 restocking fee" on top if you took anything out of the minibar in a certain day. Naturally, all minibar use was immediately banned when I discovered this ;-)
- floren 3y agoMandalay Bay has a little sign on the minibar indicating that if you even pick something up, you're liable to get charged -- they claim to have weight sensors, presumably so you can't drink a $15 bottle of water, then run down to CVS an hour later and buy a replacement. This might just be bullshitting, but I took great care not to even touch the damn thing... which is exactly what you want on your vacation, a little zone of the room that'll cost you money if you touch it.
- Nextgrid 3y agoThey indeed have weight sensors - that’s how the mini fridge detects that something has been taken so it can charge you. The concept isn’t evil in itself, it’s just that the pricing applied to it is predatory. The warning is there for your convenience more than anything else and is often out of an abundance of caution. I’ve seen similar ones where you can pick up and put it back within a certain time and not be charged - I’m pretty sure all these machines have a grace period to avoid spurious charges in case it gets bumped/etc, so it is safe to pick up items and put them back within a reasonable timeframe. In practice feel free to pick up (and even replace items, if it’s literally the same and they won’t be able to tell) and just play dumb and contest the charges at the front desk, they’ll have to waive them if they can’t decisively prove you actually took any items.
- solardev 3y agoWon't be long until manufacturers start making different SKUs for different hotel chains, like they do for price matching retailers
- HWR_14 3y agoThe "reasonable timeframe" listed last time I was in that situation was 6 seconds.
- justinclift 3y agoWonder if the sensors are still able to send data if you pull the fridge's power plug first? eg battery backup or similar
- silisili 3y agoThis is strange in that it -feels- illegal. Could you imagine if grocery stores did that? What if you just want to inspect it closer or look the back or something?
- TonyTrapp 3y agoHow far away from civilization (or the next supermarket) do you need to be for these prices and fees to make any sort of sense, that anyone even remotely thinks about taking a single drink? I've never seen something like that in Europe.
- Operyl 3y agoIt’s more so “how drunk are your guests.”
- petercooper 3y agoBeing a casino, I assume that the targets are people who are either drunk or totally indifferent to prices while they're on vacation or, as is common in Vegas, on an employer-expensed conference junket. My solution was to go to the convenience store (still located in the casino) which was expensive (a guy in front of me nearly had a meltdown at paying $15 for a can of lager) but at least had no "restocking fees." A Target with more sensible prices is about a 10 minute walk from MGM Grand, however, in case anyone here ever winds up there.
- TylerE 3y agoHotel prices on even basic food/snacks are so high now it's often cheaper, even with a good tip, to just do like a grocery store/pharmacy door dash on your first day there.
- ChefboyOG 3y agoIn my experience, the minibar's level of use is proportional to the sobriety of the guests + their understanding of the prices. So, basically, drunk people and children.
- isk517 3y agoYeah, the only times I've heard people talk about having to pay for using the minibar it one of two stories, either; 'I was drunk and just wanted something to snack on' or 'I left my kids unattended in the room for a half hour'.