You can't charge me for stolen stuff....

[slick]

says the crazy lady that yapped my head off on the phone for 10 minutes.

Apparently, said lady stayed at the hotel on Saturday. I had found her kids (I am unsure of whether or not they were 19 or older or whatever the legal smoking age is), smoking inside because it was too cold outside. I told them to stop it or I will charge them for smoking indoors, and they did (the lady tried to argue with me on how she thought she had a smoking room, but took it back when I told her that I was going to write up the desk clerk that checked her in for lying to her).

The next day, they left, along with ALL 4 sets of towels from the room. Sometimes a towel goes missing, we overlook it, but every single towel in the room, hell no, you are getting charged for it.

We charged her $25 for the missing towels and sent her a letter to tell her this. She hasn't received the letter yet, but since its a bank card, she checked the balance online or something and saw that she was charged $25 more than she thought she was supposed to be charged.

I tried explaining to her that it was because all the towels were missing from the room, but she wouldn't listen, she kept repeating "he (thats me) told me I wasn't going to get charged for smoking in the entry". After finally listening to me when I raised my voice, she says "we didn't take any towels, and even if we did, you can't charge us for those". I asked her why she felt that and she said "once I leave and have my receipt, its final". So I ask her if she thinks its right that she can take whatever she wants from the room and not get charged for it, and she says "if you don't catch it before i leave, you cant charge me".

I told her to stop bothering me with this and call the credit card company or bank to refute the charges, as we are not going to help her (what kind of stupidness beliefs does she live off of?)

I guess what she wants us to do is inspect the room when they vacate it and come to the front for a receipt, and then, if we discover vandalism or theft, add it on to the bill and then have them sign it That kind of system is really going to go over well.

[LifeCarnie]

All charges are final?

Yeah right.

A bunch of friends and I once stayed in a seedy little hotel during a ski trip to Colorado. The place was dive and the carpet in the room was trashed, not to mention it looked like it had been their 20 years. Being college students, we really couldn't afford much better.

Three months after we got home, my friend found out that there was an unexplained $3000.00 charge on his credit card. When he called the hotel for an explanation, they told him that they charged him for trashing the rug in the room.

$3000.00 would have carpeted several rooms, they weren't that big.

It took him six months and the help of the Colorado Attorney General's office (the state where the hotel was located) to have the charge removed from his card.

[LewisLegion]

Along those same lines, a shoplifter could tuck something under his shirt, and if he isn't caught with it before crossing the sidewalk in front, it's not stolen and he can't be arrested for it.

If a burglar makes it across your porch without being caught with that TV, its not a crime.

If someone gets out of your driveway with your car and you don't catch 'em, its not stolen.

Wow, the fun that could be had if that were actually the case. This woman is demental.

[AmericanZero8503]

$25 dollars for four towels...that's not bad.

On a school trip we left at about 6 AM and not realizing it, I walked out with a pillow. Later my coach told us that the school had been charged $30 for it. I paid the school back...and it is now the most expensive pillow I own.

[slick]

It was actually $25 for 4 sets of towels, 4 bath towels, 4 hand towels, and 4 wash cloths (they left the bath mat behind).

Our pillows costs us around $7, so if one goes missing, we feel $10 is fair to charge.

Its stupid how excessive some hotels get with the charges. The way I figure it, get what you are entitled to and a small percentage for inconvenience, thats all, $30 for a pillow is excessive.

And $3000 for carpet in ONE room, give me a break, that hotel needs to be shut down. Stupid places like that give us decent hotel operators a bad name.

[smileyeagle1021]

My roommate had an experience once where a group of high schoolers on a school field trip paint balled in the room and the school district tried to pull the, we're not responsible, you'll have to go after the kids card, it finally went to court where the judge said that at the district had legal guardianship at the time and would have to pay for the damage, i don't remember how much it was though.

though on the subject of excessive damage, the only charge I agree with being excessive is smoking in a non-smoking room... if a hotel could get away with a 10k charge on it I'd support it... being someone who is allergic to tobacco and knowing that quite a few other people NEED rooms that haven't been smoked in smoking in a non smoking room goes beyond being rude and inconsiderate, for the matter it goes beyond douchebaggery, I can't even think of a strong enough word to describe it.

[napoleana]

$25 for a set of towels? That's sounds like encouraging theft to me. ;P

[Bluenomi]

The last hotel I stayed in had a price list in the room for all the stuff that gets nicked with a note saying these charges will be added to your bill if required. They charged $25 per towel!

[Boozy]

$25 for a set of towels? That's sounds like encouraging theft to me. ;P

Agreed. An entire set for that price is a steal.

If guests knew that ahead of time, my guess is that you'd be getting a lot of people telling you they were taking them, and feel free to charge them for it.

[blas]

Would that be the reason why I'm noticing a lot of hotels have the lamps and TVs literally STUCK to the tables and entertainment centers?

Now if only they had little waterproof detectors on the towels and washrags.

I remember an episode of the Golden Girls where they were at a hotel and Dorothy caught Sophia trying to steal a lamp or something from the hotel but it was mounted to the table.

[Misanthropical]

I have admired some of the pictures on the walls in the hotel we were staying at once, but I never thought of stealing them.

[slick]

Just an update. The lady called the 1-800 number and left a complaint. I just saw it in the system, and luckily for me, because the lady is dumb and just blathered on with misinformation, I think this one will be deleted.

She starts by stating that she didn't know she was in a non smoking room as the room isn't marked, that one can be cleared up by taking a picture of the door that says "NON SMOKING ROOM", and for the fact that she asked for a non smoking first floor room at check in.

She then states that no one was smoking inside, they were smoking outside. Wrong again, they were smoking inside, near the exit, that still counts as inside.

She states that she was told she wasn't going to be charged for the smoking, but was charged $25 for it. Wrong, the folio clearly shows that the $25 was for the stolen towels, we didn't lie, we charged you for something different.

She states that the room was only $91 total, and the receipt will show that. Wrong again. Room was $84.60 plus 12.5% tax making it $95.18. She would have had an itemized receipt if she actually checked out in the morning by coming to the front desk, which she did not do. Where she pulled the $91 from, I don't know.

She states that she was charged $120.18 AND $25. You fail. There were two charges on her card. One for $95.18 (room), and the other for $25 (stolen goods). $95.18 + $25 = $120.18. Its clear she is just making crap up with all the numbers she is pulling out of her ass.

She threatened to call the bank and tell them that she did not authorize any of the charges for the stay if we do not remove the $25 "overage" charge (thats the way she put it). I think she fails to realize that she signed a registration at check in, that states she will pay all the charges, and has her signature and imprint of credit card. And no, she stole those towels, she's not getting her $25 back.

[ajr1971]

though on the subject of excessive damage, the only charge I agree with being excessive is smoking in a non-smoking room... if a hotel could get away with a 10k charge on it I'd support it... being someone who is allergic to tobacco and knowing that quite a few other people NEED rooms that haven't been smoked in smoking in a non smoking room goes beyond being rude and inconsiderate, for the matter it goes beyond douchebaggery, I can't even think of a strong enough word to describe it.

We are bastards about that at my hotel. We clearly spell out on the registration they sign at checkin, that a $150.00 charge will be added if we catch them smoking in a non smoking room. Just had a guy this week want to know what they extra $150.00 charge on his card was for, so I told him.

First he denied it, then he said it was only one cigarrette. Truth was, housekeeping found 6 styrofoam cups full of butts all over the room. It reaked, we had to shut it down for 2 days to be deep cleaned. Once I spelled all that out, he admitted it, but threatened to call his lawyer. I told him to go for it, and also told him he was horribly inconsiderate to the hotel, and to anyone who would be staying in there afterwards. And, when I asked him why he didn's ask for a smoking room, he said he thought they smelled.

Seriously??

[slick]

Thats the number one response I get when I ask a smoker why they didn't get a smoking room if they wanted to smoke, "because they smell".

And they wonder why we charge for smoking in a non smoking room, or require a CC for a room.

[hotelnpa]

Wow..isn't she setting a good example for her kids?

We charge for theft of towels also. We charge $60.00 for the entire set.

If they smoke in a non-smoking room, we charge $150.00.

If they trash the room, first we take pictures for proof and then charge anywhere from $50-$300, depending on the damage.

Also we used to just take deposits on local cash paying guests, but now we are taking deposits on all cash guests because lately, the out-of-towners have been trashing the rooms. However, our deposits are only $50.00, so if a cash paying guest causes more than $50.00 in damages, it is impossible to collect the rest because most of the time, if they trash the room, they leave without coming to the desk. But atleast we have $50.00 from them.

I suggested we up the deposit, but the manager doesn't want to scare away business because guests already complain that the $50.00 is too much.