ThomasW

Was wondering what you guys would advise to do in my situation.

Here is what happened, i would try and keep it strictly facts rather then my thoughts.

I booked myself into a hostel in Poland for two nights, was a nice place with good reviews ect..... on the first evening decided to extend my stay for a extra night which I paid for. Was cheap about 7eur a night.

It was a typical hostel environment, with us leaving junk and bags all over and under our beds to try and claim them as ours.

All was fine, until the final night, when i returned from a day out I noticed my bed was made which is unusual for hostels. but did not think much of it... after a hour or so I decided to plug in my laptop and discovered the charger and adaptor was missing..... So was my toilet bag, boxer shorts (which i left on the bed) and a tripod which i buried under the blankets.

No one else stuff was missing, I assumed the cleaners simply packed them up when they made the bed, so I asked reception and he knew nothing but let me search the laundry room ect and I found nothing... The receptionist claimed they were stolen by a guest, and the cleaner has been there for five years and never stole anything. I doubted one of my roommates would of taken my boxers, charger or toilet bag.... having a 6:45am bus there was not much more I could do:

Jump forward a week and I got a email that they found my missing gear, but want me to pay for postage by international transfer, all up the cost of fees and freight would be worth less then my tripod and would like them back.


Thoughts?
Should I just pay and get my stuff back..
Should I try and argue that it was them that lost/stole it, so up to them to return it...
Should I share my story on all the review websites.... tempted to do this either way.

Goldens

If you want it back then you should just pay.
Stuff is stolen by other guests at hostels all of the time. Did they not offer a locker for rental?
My kids have used hostels extensively and always lock up their stuff. People will take anything.

You could post a review on hostelworld but since the stuff was not locked up it wouldn't carry much weight. I would not accuse anyone unless you have proof.
Sorry this happened to you.

You will get more responses if you hit the yellow triangle on your post and ask the moderators to move this to the Europe forum. Hardly anyone checks this part of the forum.

november_moon

If you want your stuff back, then pay to get it shipped to you. You could try to get the hostel to pay for it since they were the ones that misplaced your stuff, but you probably won't get far - maybe offer to split the cost? Sounds like it was an honest mistake on their part, so I wouldn't blast them for losing your stuff initially. They are doing the stand up thing by letting you know they found it. They could have just as easily kept it, sold it, or tossed it out and you would have never been the wiser.

janisj

The hostel didn't have lockers? I'd never stay in a hostel where I couldn't secure my things.

Anyway - if you want it back and the stuff is worth the postage costs - then pay for it. If the stuff isn't worth the postage - let them keep or donate it.

MissGreen

If the stuff was stolen, anyone could of done it.

Just pay to get your stuff back.

doug_stallings

The problem here was really yours. You didn't lock your stuff up, so you pay or you don't get it. (Even fancy hotels often ask you to pay postage these days.) It's not unusual to have confusion at check-out when there are a lot of people. It sometimes takes a while to locate and identify the stuff cleaners pick up when they clean rooms.

Katzgar

what doug said

suze

If you want the stuff back, then pay the charges. I agree that your position is extremely weak because you left your stuff laying out, unsecured. It's not the fault of the hostel, so I don't see how giving them bad reviews is fair.

TC

What Suze said.

sparkchaser

Hivemind all up in this thread. Good.

If you want your stuff back then you really have no choice but to pay for shipping. If it's cheaper to just buy new items, then do that and let the hostel sell your stuff on eBay.

Nobody is to blame for your foolishness but yourself.

TC

<i>"let the hostel sell your stuff on eBay"</i>

Maybe you can buy your stuff back once it shows up on eBay. If you're lucky it will be offered with free shipping.

sparkchaser

I like the way you think!

lincasanova

You could also put out a plea to anyone going to that city if they will pick it up for you and ship it once back in the usa. Thorn Tree or even here would be a good place.