Charged A Full Month For A 10 Day Stay - Is This Usual?

[Sortapundit]

My partner and I have been renting a studio at Sutti Mansion II in Thonglor for the last four months, and on July 10th we'll be leaving to return to Mongolia for the summer. Our leaving date was agreed several weeks ago.

The bill for July was just slipped under my door, and I notice they're trying to charge me the full month's rent for July, even though we'll be leaving a third of the way through the month. Before I go down to reception and go through the farce of trying to communicate, is this normal?

Edit: when I say 'normal' I mean is it an acceptable charge that I have no hope of escaping, rather than 'is this the kind of shit they try to pull all the time, the cheeky buggers?'

Edited June 28, 2012 by Sortapundit

[harrry]

Stupidly probably yes.

[MrRealDeal]

It's not especially normal but it's possible it's actually cheaper ...... if it was more than 15 days it would be cheaper almost everywhere. Paying by the month is about half as much as by the day. It's possible it's a mistake as well ..... Be NICE but insistant if you think you are correct. If you were actually paying by the week or the day it would seem to me you would have paid once or twice already ? Or used a card in which case they will do whatever they do and it's between you and the bank in the end, just be NICE ..... it goes way further than getting flustered.

[harrry]

You could decide to leave early if there is no one months notice clause. If you are dealing with the owner it may get a result.

[Sortapundit]

You could decide to leave early if there is no one months notice clause. If you are dealing with the owner it may get a result.

Nah, no option of that. There's a one month notice clause (which we gave), and I'm still waiting on my Mongolian visa so we have to stick around until the 10th.

The annoying thing is that they made it nice and simple when we moved in in mid-February. They simply divided the rent by the days of the month and charged us for the days we'd be there. It seems a little cynical to charge for a full month now they're holding our security deposit ransom

[Darrel]

The annoying thing is that they made it nice and simple when we moved in in mid-February. They simply divided the rent by the days of the month and charged us for the days we'd be there.

If you paid pro-rata for your first month then I see no reason why you shouldn't pay pro-rata for the last month as well.

Either way, I would not expect to pay a daily rate for a partial month at the end of the stay of several months.

[meand]

The security deposit puts you in 100% screwed territory. Otherwise, there would be options. I bet a boss or manager charged you like that, and if they are smart he wont even be there when you leave. So maybe talking sooner than later is better. Ultimately, with that deposit, they are going to do what they please.... if you really feel strongly about it, I bet you could raise hell in the lobby and get it back, but how much are things worth is the question I always ask myself. Another thing you should consider is a lot of this stuff happens because many people just pay it. In other words, put up some fuss and you may get out of it... but they do it because many don't. It's really up to you

Edited June 28, 2012 by meand

[Sortapundit]

The annoying thing is that they made it nice and simple when we moved in in mid-February. They simply divided the rent by the days of the month and charged us for the days we'd be there.

If you paid pro-rata for your first month then I see no reason why you shouldn't pay pro-rata for the last month as well.

Either way, I would not expect to pay a daily rate for a partial month at the end of the stay of several months.

Pro-rata! God, I was staring into space trying to remember that term

Yeah, when you put it like that it makes perfect sense. Doesn't seem fair to apply different rules to either end of the contract.

Meand, I'll have a polite word with them and see if they back down. It's a shame they have me over a barrel with the deposit, as that's already been allocated to a debt to my girlfriend's sister (and, this being Thailand, there was already a decent chance they'd find a reason to avoid returning it).

[meand]

A polite word will never work, but I think you know that. Let us know how it turns out, wish you the best.... be firm and polite at the very least I think one of the best little nuggets I have read in the forums recently was a guy posted about putting a couple or a few months rent up front (ie put the cash in front of the decision makers face), and then say you're willing to put that down for the months occupied, but with no deposit. I can see that working in many situations. Good luck.

[Heng]

Is there a contract?

I've had tenants (both local and foreign) try to rationalize all kinds of reasons why they shouldn't have to pay rent or at least deserved a discount.... in most cases it's usually the type of folks that think they should pay less at hotels for checking out early.

[PattayaPhom]

Read the contract

[transam]

Read the contract

And it's usually on a monthly basis.

[dave111223]

Does the apartment offer different rate periods? (ie Daily, Weekly, Monthly?)

If so just go and tell the reception that you will pay the weekly rate for the last 2 weeks of your stay...shouldn't be a problem.

But if it's a place that only offers monthly rentals...then obviously you'd have to pay a full month

[solentstu]

If you have been paying a monthly rate then they should prorata your last month so you just pay for the days that you are there in the last month. We had a similar problem in Patong earlier this year and after us refusing to pay for time after we had checked out they finally agreed.

Good luck

[Nonja]

I had a slightly different problem with The Yesterday Hotel in CM: paid for the whole month but told them I would leave in 2 weeks time: then tried to stay 2 nights extra: no way. They wanted 2,400 BHT per night for the 'extra' 2 nights.

[Darrel]

I had a slightly different problem with The Yesterday Hotel in CM: paid for the whole month but told them I would leave in 2 weeks time: then tried to stay 2 nights extra: no way. They wanted 2,400 BHT per night for the 'extra' 2 nights.

That's just plain theft. You should report them.

Having paid for the month the month is yours.

[GreenSnapper]

I had a slightly different problem with The Yesterday Hotel in CM: paid for the whole month but told them I would leave in 2 weeks time: then tried to stay 2 nights extra: no way. They wanted 2,400 BHT per night for the 'extra' 2 nights.

That's just plain theft. You should report them.

Having paid for the month the month is yours.

Incredible. But so very "Thai".

Would that be possible in any other SE Asian country? I don't think so.

[w11guy]

What does your contract say? If you rent monthly then it would be normal in any country to charge the full month's rent. Usually the daily and weekly rate is more expensive, so maybe one month is cheaper than 2 weeks, so that is why the charged one month. You could demand to pay 2 weeks instead and end up with a bigger bill. But it all depends on your initial agreement.

[yoshiwara]

I had a slightly different problem with The Yesterday Hotel in CM: paid for the whole month but told them I would leave in 2 weeks time: then tried to stay 2 nights extra: no way. They wanted 2,400 BHT per night for the 'extra' 2 nights.

That's just plain theft. You should report them.

Having paid for the month the month is yours.

Incredible. But so very "Thai".

Would that be possible in any other SE Asian country? I don't think so.

Disagree. The original contract was terminated. You were asking for a new agreement to stay an extra 2 days.

If there is no rebate on ending agreements early, then there was no need to tell them anything, but since you did, there is an unavoidable ouch.

[Darrel]

Disagree. The original contract was terminated. You were asking for a new agreement to stay an extra 2 days.

If there is no rebate on ending agreements early, then there was no need to tell them anything, but since you did, there is an unavoidable ouch.

You appear to have missed the important point: they paid for a full month saying that they would only stay for 2 weeks, but then decided to stay for 2 extra days for which they had already paid in the full month, and were asked to pay again for the same 2 days.

Having paid for a month they are entitled to stay for up to a month without extra payment, regardless of when they said they would leave. The room is theirs for all the prepaid time. Just the same as if they paid for a month and then gone somewhere else for a week in the middle of that month; the room is still theirs until the last day of the month and they can use it or not as they wish.