Can you get held at immigration for not paying hotel bills in Philippines?
A friend of mine booked a cheap lodge in Philippines through booking.com. But the day before his flight, he found a nicer hotel to stay and even found some last minute bad reviews of this cheap property and its owner. So he decided not to stay at this lodge but forgot to inform them that he will no longer stay. A few days later the lodge contacted him by text message, threatening him that they will file a case at immigration regarding this unpaid hotel bill, probably for a no show fee. My friend ignored the text but the lodge seems to be aggressive and they keep on texting him every month, not to remind, but to threaten him that they will file a case at the immigration.
Our concern is that every text message that the lodge will send my friend, they will give him a different case number with immigration, so we are not sure if this text is true or just plain scam. The last text he got was few days ago and claims that they have already filed the case and that my friend will be held at the immigration and can never leave Philippines until he settles this bill.
Best Answer
It is unlikely that he will be detained at immigration for a small amount like 50$. If he didn't give the hotel any identifying documents, such as a passport, it is unlikely they can even do anything about it because they can't prove it is him just by name.
Pictures about "Can you get held at immigration for not paying hotel bills in Philippines?"
Mga Immigration Nightmares sa Philippine o Immigration Abroad | Offload Blacklist atbp | daxofw
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: RODNAE Productions, Karolina Grabowska, Karolina Grabowska, John Guccione www.advergroup.com