I found this article interesting from news.com:

MORE than half of Australian travellers have tried to cheat hotel minibars with tactics such as replacing bottled water with tap water, a survey by TripAdvisor, the travel booking engine company, has found.

High prices are the main drivers of mini-bar fraud. up to 86 per cent of travellers worldwide thought minibars were too expensive, the Herald-Sun reported.

“Travellers are scared of hotel mini-bars because of sky-high prices,” said Michele Perry, director of communications for TripAdvisor. “By lowering prices and double-checking bill charges, hotels could provide a mini-bar service that travellers would embrace.”

Up to 59 per cent of Australians have tried to get their own back by consuming, say, bottled water from the bar and then trying to replace it.

Yet despite the expense, travellers are prepared to pay for the convenience with one in two survey respondents saying ease of access was the main motivator for plunging into the mini-bar. Nine per cent of surveyed travellers blamed drinking alcohol for their min-bar splurges.

A quarter of all travellers had had disputes with hotel staff over minibar charges, with men more likely than women to complain.

New motion and weight sensor technologies introduced by some hotels as a means of tracking mini-bar patronage has led to accusation of mini-bar fraud. Sixteen per cent of travellers have been billed for simply adding items to a hotel room mini-bar/fridge or for moving contents around. Seven per cent said that they had been charged for merely storing their own items in a mini-bar/fridge.

Have you done the swap on items in your hotel mini-bar or had a dispute with a hotel over your mini-bar bill? Share your experiences.

I've been a victim of this, opening a bottle of beer and finding only water.  I usually buy my own beer at the local bottle shop and just ppo it in the fridge.  Way cheaper.

I got billed for 40 cigarettes in the Hyatt in Dubai - heck I don't smoke, have never smoked and didn't even have the kind of a good time that would make me want to smoke.  I reckon some pesky member of staff raided the minibar and I got billed - and then waived.  I hate minibars in rooms and would prefer if the space was taken u with something more useful like, maybe, a shelf full of secondhand books.

Yeah, books are a good idea..... books that don't look like they were picked out of a $1 sale is an even better idea....

I like having a little fridge. I just think they should leave it empty

I LOVE minibars. All that goodness in such a small space.

Proper bars would be like your paradise then!
hehehe

YUP, says he sipping chamomile tea.

heh heh

I'm a sucker for the beer and toblerone chocolate bars. I have never drunk the spirits and stay away from the wine cos I'm a bit of a wine snob and refuse to pay sky high prices for ordinary plonk... Phil always eats the Pringles chips.

This is a bit off the radar but I remember withdrawing money from an ATM in Madrid and then seeing a sum much less on my statement when I got home. It happened twice but has never happened again. It was circa 94!

Agree about the quality of the wine. Better to get from room service or smuggle in if you're having drinks in the room. Problem for me is that I am such a greedy pig there is a good chance I end up eating ALL the chocolate, Pringles and everything else I can find at some jet lagged hour.

Yes. I always carry a bottle opener with me.

I like to pop in to local delis and buy anything that looks a bit foreign and interesting... 

In Lithuania the mini bar is just a bottle of label-less vodka and a piece of bread. Works just as well.

I try not ot eat that stuff but usually succumb to the Pringles at a moment of weakness.

I usually go to the local supermarket and then store the stuff I buy in the minibar...

Yeah, I do that too.  Some minibars don't have room to add your own stuff so you have to drink all the beer to make it fit!

I hate it when they have specially made stuff with the hotel label on it so that there is no way you could replace it

The best way to deal with mini bars:

As soon as you get into the room, empty the fridge and hide the stuff in your bag.  As a diversion, remove any of the toiletries from the bathroom so that you can have a "double" complaint.  Call reception and complain about the fridge being empty, gross inconvenience etc etc etc.  Someone will come and re-fill it and leave you some complimentaries for your trouble.  

Hey.... that's a good idea actually. I don't think that would work in the places with fridges which track the change in weight, but it would work in those that don't. The toiletries bit is a good idea.... like the room was raided of all its goods. 

Maybe even mess things up a bit, too, so that it looks like the maid service hadn't been through? Thoughts?

that is a good idea, but may get a poor maid fired because of it.

It's bad karma to rip off the mini bar.  If you do it, the credit card you used on check in will be stolen and sent to Russia.  You have been warned.

haha that is one way to look at it, they should make signs saying that and place them in hotel rooms!

I'm a big believer in keeping one's karma account in balance.  If I find money on the street, I pass it along to the next reasonable charity that is collecting funds (e.g The Salvos). Ripping off the mini-bar sounds like small beer, but it all adds up and someone will rob your house or steal your car.

Keep karma in balance.  Peace be with you.

whoa Erik just got all hippie on us there

Yeah, I'm a libertarian hippie.

Well I totally agree with the Karma thing, I have seen instant karma happen so many times that it keeps me in check

I do believe that karma comes back to you, so despite all the palaver above, just do good and it will be returned to you.  Do bad, and you'll get what you deserve.

I worked with a guy many years ago that threatened to leave the company if he did not get a $ 2,000 "stay bonus".  We begrudgingly paid him, and about a week later, after the cheque cleared the bank, he tendered his resignation anyway.  Seems he had a new job already to go and just wanted to shake the money tree a little.  He gave two weeks notice, and whilst working though his notice period late one night, he went to the ATM down the street and withdrew some $ 500 in cash.  He didn't see the three thugs following him back to the office, and was mugged in the stairwell in the garage.  He was punched and kicked, and robbed of his cash and credit cards.  He had to go to the emergency room.

I've believed in Karma ever since.....

wow good story! Yeah that would be enough to make me believe!

It's all true, too.

Instant Karma - great band

*nodding head*

their is a band named that??

Yep

If you are in a hotel with a mini bar the chances are theres a pub within a stones throw.

ah very true, but it is all about the convience of the mini bar that is the issue