Miami hotel charged woman $626 for emptying a minibar she did not touch. One phone call saved her

Tammy Morley and two of her friends had meticulously planned their South Florida visit. They had an amazing time at the reggae concert at Bayfront Park and stayed until its end at around 11 p.m. Two or three days later, Morley was back at home in the Bahamas when she received an invoice from the hotel for $626.59. She was charged for every single item in the minibar, including snacks, according to a report by WSVN-TV on July 24, 2026. Morley was shocked because she hadn't taken anything from the minibar and grew suspicious after noticing the timestamp on the bill.

The $626 shock

When Morley received the invoice, she was baffled, especially because the hotel accused her of emptying the minibar all at once. "I didn’t take any item out of the minibar because who does that?" she asked. Additionally, every single item was removed at 7:24 p.m., which made her more suspicious. Morley confessed that she knew how high mini-bar prices were and would never pay for it. "I’m sorry, I’m from the Bahamas. We know that those things are ridiculously priced," she explained. Morley tried to deal with the problem on her own but was stuck until her friend recommended getting help from 'Help me, Howard.'

A happy ending

Howard Finkelstein, an American attorney, spoke to the news outlet and said that the hotel must prove Morley took the items. But since she said she did not, it could be a ''mix-up.'' He added, "Now she just has to convince the hotel, and if she can’t convince them, she can contest the charges with the credit card company." When the news outlet reached out to Morley's hotel, they said in an email, "After a thorough internal review, we have issued a full refund of the $626.59 minibar charge." On top of that, Morley was offered a free night stay for next year's concert. She was grateful that the issue was resolved in time.

Minibar or money trap?

Minibars have been quite a nuisance for travelers. In 2007, TripAdvisor surveyed 1,600 travelers worldwide and found that 86% of travelers agreed that minibar prices were too high. One-quarter of the respondents reported disputes with a hotel over the minibar charges. It also showed that men (32%) were more likely to get into a disagreement over the minibar bill compared to women (22%). Additionally, 34% of travelers said they were charged wrongly for items in the minibar, ever since the introduction of motion and weight sensors. Similarly, half of respondents (45%) said they had been charged two to three times the usual amount. While the hotel never revealed who took the items from Morley's minibar, or whether it was a mistake, she almost had to pay $626.59 for something she never even used.

'It was bogus'

Meanwhile, people in the comment section also called out the hotel for their bogus charges, and a few others shared tips on how to avoid minibar charges. For instance, @watchinyoutube commented, "I used to tell them to empty the minibar before I arrived. Best tip ever." @gingerbreadgal30 added, "This happened to me in Vegas during checkout. We removed a beer to chill our water bottle and didn’t know they had sensors. The manager checked our room, and we were cleared to leave without the bill."

More on Scoop Upworthy

Hotel refused him a room claiming he was 'one year late' for the Olympics. When he pulled up the booking details, the hotel realized they messed up

Hotel kicked out a solo female traveler at 3 am after canceling her room mid-flight. Her viral video triggered an apology that only made things worse

Guest left stunned after hotel charges him for electricity usage and dubs it 'energy recovery fee'