NYC hotel tries charging guest $500 for smoking in room but she wasn’t there at the time, now management are changing their story

A woman has taken to TikTok to warn people of a scam she claims hotel managers are currently trying on her to con her out of $500. Staff at the M Social Hotel in Times Square charged the extra money after claiming a smoke report indicated that someone had been smoking in her hotel room, the only problem is that neither the woman or her friend were in the room at the time.

“I really wish we weren’t making this video right now,” Rhay states at the beginning of the clip, “but unfortunately, I don’t know what else to do.” She goes on to explain that, after being out of their hotel room for the entire day, her and her friend returned to find a note telling them they would be charged an extra $500 for smoking in their room. Seems like they’re trying to rival Airbnb for ridiculous charges.

Rhay claims that cannot be possible as neither of them were anywhere near the hotel at the time the smoke report picked something up. Also, neither of them smoke. Despite this, a manager dismissed Rhay’s complaints and claimed that there was nothing they could do except contact their bank.

Is this a scam?

If Rhay’s telling the truth then at the very least the smoke detectors are faulty and need to be looked at. However, she and the rest of TikTok think something bigger might be at play here. It seems like the establishment is purposefully trying to squeeze some extra cash from guests, knowing they can do nothing about it. Rhay even has timestamped photos proving they weren’t in the room at the time. 

Checking the reviews on Google and TripAdvisor shows that this has happened to multiple other people who also claim they don’t smoke. Viewers told Rhay to contact the police and lawyers to take the hotel to court over the situation, “Based on the other reviews, call the cops for sure,” wrote one, “It’s a scam. They’ve done this so much. Please pursue it.” Thankfully Rhay seems determined not to let this go.

The M Social changes its story

In another video Rhay says the hotel got back to her but rather than backing down they changed the story. They are now claiming that the detector picked up smoke between 10-11am, conveniently a time when she was in the room. The inconsistent information certainly makes the hotel look even shadier than it already did, if anyone was on the fence about whether this was a scam before, they weren’t anymore.

In her most recent post, Rhay confirmed that the hotel bill she received had taken off the $500 (plus $45 tax) which is great news. However, this doesn’t change the fact that many others have been supposedly scammed by this company. “It’s so sad that it takes social media to make them do the right thing.” Hopefully the increase in watchful eyes will mean charges like this are less likely to happen to others in the future.