Just Ask Georgia: 10/23/2024

Georgia, I have a question,

My husband and I went on vacation with my best friend and her husband. When we arrived at the resort, we were given a $200 voucher for services due to an inconvenience we had experienced (not our fault, not the resort's). We thanked the front staff, talked about it with each other, and said each couple had $100 to spend how they wished. However, my best friend said they weren’t interested in dealing with the” hassle” a resort credit would cause.

Five days later, we are on the plane coming home. My best friend mentioned to me that I owe her $25. I ask why. She said she had been keeping track of how much of the hotel voucher we had used, and we had used $25 over our allotted amount—even though they did not use any of their portion of the voucher. I laughed and thought she was kidding. She’s not. What should I do?

Voucher Overspend

Dear Voucher,

That is like her saying, “Hey, I have this coupon here...but I’m not going to use it...but you need to pay me for it anyway.” I’m surprised she didn’t let you spend the whole thing and then ask for $100—which may have been what she was hoping for in the first place.

This is ridiculous. You didn’t take anything away from her - she said they wouldn’t use it. Honestly, if anything, she owes you the $75 she didn’t spend, as it could have been used elsewhere instead of thrown in the trash.

With love, Georgia