Drunk SC causes significant damage

[bhskittykatt]

So I had to take photos for this one. I had heard there was "a leak" in one of the ballrooms, but I just learned the real story.

A few days ago, one of our guests decided to get completely sloshed. He then decided to take a bath. While the bathtub was filling, he passed out.

The water overflowed and leaked into one of the ballrooms below. Pics show what happened next.



The ceiling actually caved in slightly, though it seems it got a patch-job before I got pics. Because we have all-new dark-blue carpets in the guest rooms and hallways upstairs, these bled onto the carpet below. You can see square outlines in the right pic; this happened right before a big conference was using the space so tables had already been set up, etc, and some of those were damaged. It really fucked up their con; they were using all the rest of our banquet space so there wasn't room to move them.

Fortunately, that ugly-as-sin carpet is already on its way out; if this had happened after the new black-and-white carpet installed, it would be even worse! Right now, that's some fairly permanent-looking damage to that carpet...

Haven't heard yet, but I hope we go after the SC for damages. He's part of a big group that's staying for several months, and they're getting a super-cheap rate that's probably not gonna cover these repairs. Whether we go after the individual SC or his boss, someone needs to pay imho.

This is part of the same group that got drunk and started a fight with a(n also drunk) wedding group a couple weeks ago and police needed to be called. Soooo have not been thrilled with these guys...

[earl colby pottinger]

Costs

Charging him for the carpet that you were going to change anyway would not be fair.

However, there is probably water damage to his room, the ceiling below needs to be replaced, and any extra costs to the con and tables is all his fault.

Does he have enough money t pay all that?

[bainsidhe]

I agree with Earl except about the cost to replace the carpet downstairs. It's not like they were replacing the carpet the next day. Even old and ugly carpet is worth something.

In addition to whatever loss from the con, there may be a continuing business loss until the carpet is replaced. This is wedding season, after all. Also, will the hotel have to pay a premium to have the carpet replaced on short notice?

Whether it's the SC or his boss that's held responsible, may depend on who's paying the room. Hopefully you can go after the deeper pockets.

[eltf177]

Your management definitely needs to start getting together a list of damages to go with the police report (I'm hoping there is one), pictures and your own companies reports...

[WishfulSpirit]

Don't most tubs have overflow drains? Seems like that would be a good investment for hotels, who serve a variety of people whose chosen recreation may include mind-altering substances, or who may have children who decide to turn the bathroom into a lake.

PS Is the guest OK? Passing out and drowning in a tub is something that can happen one a person has had a few too many.

[bhskittykatt]

PS Is the guest OK? Passing out and drowning in a tub is something that can happen one a person has had a few too many.

I don't think he was actually in the tub when he passed out...sounds like he started filling it and then wandered back to bed.

and I'm not sure why our tubs don't have overflow. They are pretty old, though. We replaced a lot of bathroom fixtures in the remodel but kept the old tubs.

[dalesys]

... I'm not sure why our tubs don't have overflow...

Most hotels/motels I've stayed at have a high enough flow rate it seems they could fill the tub with the drain open, let alone through the restriction of an overflow.

Road trip! Mit zience experimunch!

[Sapphire Silk]

Charging him for the carpet that you were going to change anyway would not be fair.

However, there is probably water damage to his room, the ceiling below needs to be replaced, and any extra costs to the con and tables is all his fault.

Does he have enough money t pay all that?

Oh, I disagree! Even if you are planning to replace a carpet, you want to replace when you're ready, not when you're forced into it.

Until they can replace it they have to deal with the risk of mildew, mold, bad odors, and lost business if potential customers no longer want to rent the ballroom.

[HotelMinion]

SMH. Water damage is nothing to mess with. Reminds of when we had to close the restaurant in this one hotel I worked for. People were PISSED.
And then there was the guy who overflowed his tub taking a shower TWICE. He didn't know it would affect the one below. Still makes me facepalm.

[Chromatix]

In both Japan and Finland, it's common for the bathroom (and in Japan the bathroom is almost always separate from the toilet) to have a waterproofed floor with a drain. It seems like an even more prudent architectural feature than a mere overflow drain for the tub.

[MrSmiley]

Once had a guy that took a hot shower and then stepped out for some reason and left the room... shower was running all day. Aside from all the energy waste, the wallpaper in the room peeled itself off and furniture warped from the heat.

[Shalom]

Do these tubs have the old-style stopper mechanism that's located outside the tub? (The kind where you have a sort of plunger in a chrome-plated tube right next to the tub, like this:
)
If so, the overflow is built into that "tower". The stopper part (inside that chrome "chimney"
)
is hollow and reaches up to just below the top, and if you overfill the tub, it runs through that hole at the top of the stopper, through the middle and down the drain. That's fine until someone who doesn't know how it is supposed to work comes along and puts an actual plug in the drain hole; there's no overflow opening in the tub itself, so it just runs over.

The page that picture comes from is here, in case someone needs more info. I did take one of these apart once just to see what was inside, and was Enlightened. Wondered how those worked for years, I did. Decades.

Edit: Apparently the thing is called a "standing waste"..

[Seshat]

Aside from people who are drunk overflowing the tub, there's also the possibility of medical reasons for people to pass out either in the tub, or after starting a bath.

When I (win the lotto and) remodel my bathroom, I'm putting in that slightly-slanted floor and a floor drain.

[Shangri-laschild]

I did take one of these apart once just to see what was inside, and was Enlightened. Wondered how those worked for years, I did. Decades.

I took my drain pieces apart for the same reason

I have yet to ever deal with an overflow drain that could actually prevent the bathtub from overflowing. As a result I tend to hate them as the only effect I ever notice from them is they keep me from filling the bathtub more than barely 2/3 full and mean I have to re-add water more often when taking a bath