Becca

How do you handle it when you think something's been stolen from you in your hotel room?

When I was packing to leave, I discovered a small cassette-player was missing. I last remembered seeing it when I put it back in my carry-on when getting off the plane, but I hadn't used it since, so I was reasonably certain I had it when I checked in to the hotel.

Yes, I was stupid to leave it in the bag in my room, but I guess I thought no one left in the world uses cassette players.

In any case, I went to the front desk and reported it missing. They wanted me to call security, which I went back up to my room to do. Security said no such thing had been turned in to lost and found and said that if I wanted to file a claim, I had to come down to their office. I had 5 minutes to make the airport shuttle and so I let it go. I imagine I could have written a letter once I got home, but it seemed pointless by then, for something I couldn't prove was stolen and something that wasn't all that costly to replace.

I couldn't decide whether to leave a tip for the maid -- feeling she was first "suspect" but also fearing that I was making an unfair assumption. Someone had also come in to fix a drippy shower head, and all kinds of people have access to hotel rooms. And there was always the possibility that it had gotten lost, dropped, or stolen somewhere else.

But I felt pretty helpless and I also felt that the hotel did not want to make it easy to investigate or be very helpful.

Question: how many of you have been ripped off in a hotel -- for anything, no matter how small? And what -- if anything -- did you do? What _can_ you do that would make any difference? Seems to me, you're probably out of luck most of the time.

Sherlock

Did you tip the maid?

moral dilemma

This is one of those toughies. If it were me, I would follow up with the hotel in the event that a pattern emerges and it helps them catch the guilty party. But I wouldn't assume that it was the maid or the maintenance guy. Who knows, could have been at the airport. And I would have gone ahead and tipped the maid since I wouldn't want to penalize a potentially innocent party. It's hard to feel good when someone steals from you. In these types of situations I just figure (hope) that there really is some kind of kharma thing that catches up with them.

Howard

First of all, you say you are not 100% sure that the cassette player was stolen from your room. So, it's kind of hard to convey a strong case to the hotel.
However, why do you say, "I also felt the hotel did not want to make it easy to investigate or be very helpful"? They asked you to call security, who in turn asked you to file a report. What other action did you expect?
Believe me, hotels do not ignore claims of theft. They cherish their reputations too much to ignore them.
Further, it's very doubtful that the housekeeping person is the guilty party. She knows that she'd be the first one suspected.
When you returned home and felt that there was a strong possibility that it was stolen from your room, you should have immediately written the hotel, explaining that you had to catch the shuttle and therefore there wasn't follow up on your initial contact with the hotel security before you left.
It's still not too late.....if you really feel that it was stolen (and your sounds like you're really not sure that it was).

John

I agree with Howard , and certainly hope that you tiped the maid since she is the LEAST likely person to have stolen anything if indeed it was stolen from your hotel room. The problem is that you aren't even certain that you had it when you checked into the hotel. I'm not sure what else you wanted the hotel to do.
And I confess to still using cassette players.

Patrick

Not really a helpful answer here, but an observation. I can't believe the number of times I have "peeked" into hotel rooms that were being occupied, but the door was standing wide open. The maid was in the midst of cleaning it, but she was down the hall somewhere or certainly not in the room. Your room is very likely to be left open and unattended with all your stuff on display for fairly short periods of time. The opportunity for other guests or staff or total strangers wandering through the building to steal from your room is enormous.

OliveOyl

If you see that at a Hyatt I hope you'll call housekeeping! Maid carts are supposed to be placed blocking access to guest rooms...both for the maid's safety as well as that of the guests belongings, and rooms never to be left open and unattended.

With the card key system which most Hyatts and other majors use, the locks can be "read" showing which keys have opened that door since that guest checked in. Thus, if something is missing from a room and the only other key used in that lock was the maid's...and it happens several times with the same maid...au revoir! Fortunately maid theft is practically never a problem. None-the-less, no matter what quality hotel we are staying at, anything of value, including airline tickets, is kept in a locked bag if we aren't in the room. Just a good practice...this tip courtesy of hotel management! ;>

Becca

FYI, I did tip the maid. I know they are the lowest rung on the ladder and work very hard for little money. I also felt -- as someone mentioned -- that she had the most to lose if she'd actually lifted something.

Howard: I had already checked out of my room, and the desk declined to call security for me and told me I should have called before I left the room. I had to go to a friend's room to call security (the one lobby house phone was being used). Security's "invitation" to come to his office involved 2 different elevators and a complicated set of directions to some office through the kitchen, past the double doors, etc. etc. etc.

I really don't think it's being imperious to wish that the desk had called security and someone had come up to the lobby to talk to me. I don't mind filling out a report, but why couldn't the desk clerk or the concierge have provided that form on the spot?

The very fact that I wasn't 100% certain that the time of the cassette-player's "departure" was while I was at the hotel explains why I didn't make a big deal of it. But my discomfort with the whole event prompted me to ask others about their response or experience.

I guess what occurred to me was that even if I HAD been 100% certain, and even if it had been a much more expensive or important item, I could see that I might have been very frustrated by the hotel's response. It would have been just my "word" against no one's in particular that something was gone. I really felt that unless I were ready to devote a lot of time and maybe legal energy to the incident, the response would be just a huge institutional shrug of the shoulders: "it happens."

John

I disagree with your final conclusion. Reputable hotels that I know want to know what is going on. I think just relating what happened in a letter, including your uncertainity of did it really happen , is worthwhile for them to note to see if any pattern of events starts to appear. Agree that it's unlikely you would get any results but it could be helpful for others who follow you. Also agree that in situations such as this it's near on impossible to identify who it might be unless there is some pattern that emerges. And I'm glad to see I"m not the only one still listening to casstes.

Patrick

Olyve Oil, yes I have seen that at Hyatts where I frequently stay. I'm not so sure that the cart is always blocking the door, but even if it is, it certainly wouldn't take much for me to roll a car a foot and enter an unlocked room!
I must admit that I have been known to "steal" an extra soap or wash cloth from one of those carts on more than one occasion, and they are often left unattended by an open room for a pretty long time. The reason I am aware is that I have looked for the maid to ask for whatever I want, sometimes poking my nose into the open room thinking she's in there, but find no one.

Howard

Becca, now that you've told many more details, I'll have to say that you should write to the hotel--even at this late date--and complain about the shoddy treatment by the clerk at the front desk. It's outrageous that you were treated that way. Since you imply that there was only one house phone in the lobby area, I assume it was not a large hotel. Thus, you probably couldn't go to an assistant manager's desk, as there probably wasn't one. If you had been able to phone security from the lobby, I'm sure it was have been a simple walk to the security office from there.
If it ever happens again and you are treated that badly, find the assistant manager, manager on duty and/or the concierge. If none of those exists, ask to see his/her supervisor. (There's got to be someone in charge!)

lotstein

I think I may have had a small magnifying mirror stolen out of my hotel room in the last two days. Yes, it is small, but I have to go out and buy another one and the maid came into my room without permission. I stay six days at a time at this same hotel for over the last year and never have the maids come and clean until I finally leave. So, a maid had to have come into my room, chech my stuff and steal the item. I plan on checking through my luggage a third time before I call management. I never leave my jewelery and now I won't leave my laptop ever again. I wonder if there is some way that we can lock the doors from the maids??? Thank you for the information that anyone opening the door to my room had access to it. When I call management, I will inquire about that bit of information and see if any one but myself entered that room in the last three days.

cd

Please, This is 11years old!

DebitNM

Puh - leeeze is right!

Michael

lotstein,

and how was the rest of your trip?

happytrailstoyou

I know this is an old post, but the question is just as relevant today as it was eleven years ago.

How do you handle it when you think something's been stolen from you in your hotel room?

I would suck it up because I would never claim that something was missing from a hotel room unless I was absolutely, positively certain that it was there when I left, that it was not there when I returned, and that it had not been removed by a travel companion.

HTTY

happytrailstoyou

PS It is an insult to hard-working hotel employees to suggest that they steal from guests who don't tip them. Nobody would choose to clean up hotel room messes unless they needed the money so earned badly.

HTTY

DebitNM

I agree with htty; and anyone who knows that these hardworking people have to contend with some pretty icky rooms to clean AND that going through each person's "stuff" would take forever to get through their assigned rooms. And in most hotels, when the rooms is being cleaned, the doors are left ajar. It would be pretty hard to clean, go through suitcase, do all the rooms on their list in a normal shift. Give these folks a break; would YOU want their job??

Michael

Any valuables should be placed in a locked suitcase.

suze

I find it highly unlikely the maid would have stolen a tape recorder. Her job is worth a lot more to her than the price of a used cassette player.

And no, I have never had anything stolen from my hotel room. But then I don't have valuables laying around either.