# $250 hotel incidental charge for "unauthorized" tampering with HVAC controls
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [July 15, 2025, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863 "2025-07-15T03:53:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 8
### Author:  [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2025, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/141 "2025-07-16T22:43:35Z")
> [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](#):
>
> When someone wins over $1199 at one time (instead of multiple wins adding up to $1200+), the slot locks up and a slot tech and security guard is automatically paged. Management and suit(s) will be paged if the win is 5K and over.
It’s a Federal thing. For winnings of $1,200 or more a [W-2G](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw2g.pdf) is filled out and copies are given to the gambler and the IRS. In addition, $5,000 or more 24% withholding is levied. This is true for table games as well as the machines. You’ll often see keno payouts of $1,199 for this reason.
As a slot mechanic I was never involved in that part of the process. I simply verified that the win was true and witnessed the cash being paid out. The largest I dealt with was $13,000, a lot of $100 bills.
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### Author:  [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2025, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/142 "2025-07-16T22:47:00Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#):
>
> I’m new to the gambling, why would you do that?
Like you didn’t already know the answer was… TAX EVASION!
> [@crowmanyclouds](#):
>
[ ](https://media.tenor.com/caaF8LQb3PAAAAAe/innocent-me.png)
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/143 "2025-07-17T00:30:08Z")
> [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](#):
>
> I’ve been kicked out of a few casinos, but only for 24 hours or one week. Never permanently trespassed. One did tell me not to come back, but they didn’t make me sign anything. It wasn’t a formal banning. I did stop coming for a few years. Now i’m coming back.
Just to make sure I understand this, the casino kicked you out and told you not to come back? And you laid low for a couple of years, but now you’re coming back, except that you play low stakes so they probably won’t pay attention to you. And all this is okay because they didn’t make you sign a paper acknowledging that they told you to get out and not come back?
As they say, “What part of NO don’t you understand?”
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### Author:  [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/144 "2025-07-17T00:46:54Z")
“It was like that when I got here! I was going to report it when I checked out!”
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### Author:  [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/145 "2025-07-17T01:45:24Z")
So we moved @MW_Degen_Gamblr up, from tampering with a HVAC system to Tax evasive. Hmmm?? 🤔
Wow.
Pretty broad interp, guys.
Give him a break. He was ranting about getting caught and hit with a fine.
He said he won’t do it anymore and will pay up.
as your friend Mom, I’ll need to see a receipt, tho’ 😊
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/146 "2025-07-17T04:30:06Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#):
>
> So we moved @MW_Degen_Gamblr up, from tampering with a HVAC system to Tax evasive. Hmmm??
He’s the one who brought up limiting how much he looks to get paid out at casinos by that very particular amount of money. He kind of invited it upon himself.
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### Author:  [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/147 "2025-07-17T05:14:51Z")
Yeah.
😉
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### Author:  [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/148 "2025-07-17T07:24:30Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#):
>
> As they say, “What part of NO don’t you understand?”
Around here, they the casinos _have_ got in trouble for it, but _no_ means “but it’s ok as long as you keep putting in money” and thirdly, “the **code** is **more** what you’d call ‘ **guidelines** ’ than actual rules”.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/149 "2025-07-17T09:13:28Z")
“Around here” means…?
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### Author:  [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/150 "2025-07-17T09:28:25Z")
I think Australia. Look at the poster’s username.
Around here (Alberta, Canada), hand-pays start at $250, but since there is no tax on gambling winnings, you just get hand-paid in cash and sign a receipt.
Unless it’s horse racing, where, for any amount won, no signature on a receipt is necessary when you cash your winning ticket. Well, if you win big enough, the track may have to cut you a cheque, for which you may have to sign a receipt, but that is rare.
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### Author:  [@Gordon\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_G)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/151 "2025-07-17T10:59:10Z")
I am somewhat surprised that the majority here supports the hotel, and seems to have no problem with the extortionate $250 price. Out of curiosity and to set the tone, what class (price-per-night) was the hotel?
I _do_ agree with scudsucker, though can sympathize with OP’s forgetfulness, if that’s what it was.
> [@scudsucker](#):
>
> If you knew the cheat code to put it at that temp, surely you could have used the code to put it back what it was, on your way out?
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/152 "2025-07-17T11:07:42Z")
> [@Gordon\_G](#):
>
> the majority here supports the hotel, a
It’s tough to be sympathetic to somebody who views low-paid service workers doing their jobs as “snitching ass housekeepers” and “wenches.”
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### Author:  [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/153 "2025-07-17T11:18:21Z")
Yep.
And especially when apparently there was no interim step of telling the staff that the room was too warm and asking if that could be fixed. There’s an arrogance there that makes sympathy a tough sell.
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### Author:  [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/154 "2025-07-17T11:28:37Z")
> [@saje](#):
>
> And especially when apparently there was no interim step of telling the staff that the room was too warm and asking if that could be fixed.
The first thing a professional gambling whale that, seems to only be a, player of slots would do.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/155 "2025-07-17T11:29:34Z")
He probably should have left a better tip for the cleaning staff when he checked out.
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### Author:  [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/156 "2025-07-17T11:39:53Z")
> [@Gordon\_G](#):
>
> I am somewhat surprised that the majority here supports the hotel, and seems to have no problem with the extortionate $250 price. Out of curiosity and to set the tone, what class (price-per-night) was the hotel?
Have you read the explanations for why people are supporting the hotel, including why $250 is not “extortionate” from either a legal or an ethical perspective?
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### Author:  [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/157 "2025-07-17T11:41:56Z")
It may have been the HVAC system itself which did the snitching. It may have had the ability to log changes and alert the hotel when a thermostat was changed to a temp that is out of bounds.
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/158 "2025-07-17T11:51:09Z")
I am flabbergasted that anyone takes the hotel’s side in this. Yes, the OP personally is a bit of an unsympathetic character. But that doesn’t alter the corporate crappola here.
These newfangled thermostats are simply corporate enshittification writ large. Made convenient through the wonders of creeping computeriziation. What next, timers on the showers? Temperature limits to no hotter than tepid, not for safety but purely for cost savings?
This is pure nickel-and-dime enshittification and should be resisted by all hotel guests all the time.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/159 "2025-07-17T12:06:03Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> What next, timers on the showers?
I would have absolutely no problem with this, and no problem with fining anyone trying to bypass the showers. Don’t like it? Go to another hotel. I’d gladly pay less for timed and tepid water. I feel we all should be using resources less. But you always have a choice to go to another hotel or stay home. That’s how it is in the airline industry, and, while nickel-and-diming annoys me, I get it, and I like paying only for the services I need when I end up with a lower overall fare. (I usually travel very light.) I do miss Southwest’s free baggage, though, even though I’m typically carry-on only.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2025, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/160 "2025-07-17T12:21:29Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> This is pure nickel-and-dime enshittification
Often, even usually, but not in this case because there **are** excellent mechanical reasons not to let the guests run the AC nonstop.
Even nice hotels have these locks, they’re just less problematic because good construction helps the units cool their rooms efficiently. Paper thin walls mean your unit is also trying to cool the neighbors and the parking lot.
Personally, I’ve never stayed in a hotel where you were locked out of switching the fan (not the compressor) from “auto” to “on.” I also like white noise and constant air movement.
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