High and dry: Using a hotel hair dryer costs woman around $1,000 in Australia

Travellers among us may have had the experience of having been overcharged by a hotel for some minor reason. It certainly is a pain to argue with the hotel management for a refund while they throw all sorts of terms and conditions you unknowingly accepted.

Charging for some genuine reason is still understandable. But a woman staying at a hotel in Australia was shocked as she was charged almost 1000 USD after she used a hairdryer.

The woman, referred to in the local media by the pseudonym Kelly, hadbooked a room at Novotel Perth Langley before a music concert.

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As the hour of the concert approached, Kelly had a shower, styled her hair and then was in for a shock.

She was greeted by firefighters in her room. They went back but three days later, when she was leaving the room, she found that the hotel charged her about $940 extra. When she asked the hotel management, she was told that she was charged a fire department call-out fee.

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Apparently, on the day she used the hair dryer,a fire alarm had been set off due to whichthe hotel had to call the firefighters. Kelly tried to convince the hotel management to reverse the charge, but they didn't budge.

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"They sent no email, I called the hotel, (reception) said it was in their terms and conditions,” she lamented as quoted by the New York Post.

“So if you’re at a buffet and the alarm goes off are they going to charge you for burning your toast?” she added.

She sent emails to the hotel and called them repeatedly. After a while, the hotel reportedly stopped taking her calls and didn't even let her talk to a manager.

However, a manager refunded the charge a few days later.

(With inputs from agencies)