I stayed at this hotel from 4 Apr 2017 for 4 nights. During the check-in process, they will ask you for a deposit of AUD 10.
Unlike the other hotels in the world, this hotel actually make a charge to your credit card, and they would say that they will pay back to you within 2-5 days after you check out.
I wrote to them on 19 Jun 2017 to ask for a deposit pay back as I still didn’t receive it like 2 months after I checked out. May of Reception Team replied after 7 days on 26 Jun 2017 that the amount should have been released back to my credit card, and so ridiculous is that she says “you will not be notified on when the amount is released”. (I checked my credit card statement every month and I just don’t see the money back!!!)
I wrote to them for 2nd time on the same day and I DID NOT hear back from them since then.
Maybe they think that clients are easy to forget or focus on such small amount after check out so they use this trick again and again. If they get caught, then they may refund it to you (or just ignore you totally like in my case). If they don’t, you can imagine how much profit they will earn from this scam every day from clients around the world.
It is not a big deal (AUD 10) to be focused of, but it is the INTEGRITY of the hotel, and Mantra at Russell has put a big shame on Australia’s hospitality.
I have read the negative comments about its scam from other travelers before I check in, but you never know how bad it is until you are one of the VICTIM.