Hotel cleaner disposed of my property

Mark_Hewitt

Lets start by saying I'm not too bothered and I'm not taking it any further - too much hassle. Just curious what my rights may have been.

I've just had a two night stay in a travelodge, I brought with me on the first night food (crisps, pot noodle etc, all healthy stuff!) and that which I didn't eat I put back in the Sainsbury's bag, tied the top and left it on top of the table.

Next day came back to the hotel and found it had all gone! I talked to the receptionist and she said I needed to talk to the manager the next day, which I couldn't be bothered with as it was only a few quids worth of stuff, but I'm interested now in what the hotels legal responsibilities would have been if I had wished to complain.

the_insider

This is a tricky one, no idea what the legalities of it would be but when I worked as a chambermaid I would treat any carrier bag on the table or the floor that was tied at the top as rubbish, and anything else as 'still in use'. Be interesting to see if anyone's got an answer!

shellsuit

It must have been obvious that someone was still staying there as all your other stuff would have been there, so the cleaner need only to have emptied rubbish from the bin, nothing else!

If it had been me, I would have wanted the stuff replacing.

It's obviously different if the room has been vacated, but in this case it hadn't.

Mark_Hewitt

shellsuit wrote: »

It must have been obvious that someone was still staying there as all your other stuff would have been there, so the cleaner need only to have emptied rubbish from the bin, nothing else!

If it had been me, I would have wanted the stuff replacing.

It's obviously different if the room has been vacated, but in this case it hadn't.

Yes, all the rest of my stuff was there, toiletries, phone charger etc. The place where I put the bag was on the desk area immediately above the bin.

the_insider

When I stay in hotels for work I take food with me and the room would be awful if the cleaner didn't throw the bags of rubbish away until I moved out. If it doesn't fit in the bin then I leave them on the desk above the bin. So looking at it from both sides I can see how it might have happened.

Mark_Hewitt

the_insider wrote: »

When I stay in hotels for work I take food with me and the room would be awful if the cleaner didn't throw the bags of rubbish away until I moved out. If it doesn't fit in the bin then I leave them on the desk above the bin. So looking at it from both sides I can see how it might have happened.

I quite often leave bags for the cleaners to remove, but if I can't put them in the bin, they go beside the bin, so it's very obvious!

LittleMissAspie

I'm sure there was a thread on here once about a woman who'd left her toiletries in a carrier bag and the cleaner had thrown it all away. As far as I'm concerned the cleaner should empty the bin and that's it. It's not his or her place to decide what else is rubbish.

Freddie_Snowbits

I would write to the CEO and get the theiving maid sacked. Throwing away good wholsome food like that is absoultley disgraceful

italiastar

Freddie_Snowbits wrote: »

I would write to the CEO and get the theiving maid sacked. Throwing away good wholsome food like that is absoultley disgraceful

Wind up merchant!

fluffnutter

I'd have eaten it. I love pot poodles.

shaun_from_Africa

Personally I would write a polite letter to the manager explaining what happened and suggest that it may be advisable for him to have a word with the cleaners to ensure that this sort of thing doesn't happen again.
Tell him (or her) that next time it may be something far more valuable (or tasty) that gets binned.
I wouldn't ask for any compo, but you never know, they may just send you a voucher or something similar.

I must admit that I also do the same as the_insider, and any bags of rubbish that don't fit in the bin usually get knotted and left beside or near the bin so I can understand how this mistake could have happened, especially with the cleaning staff often being rushed to get each room done.

Not holiday related, but a fair few years ago when moving house in the UK, we had loads of bin bags full of rubbish that were destined for the local tip. Unbeknown to me, my other half decided to clear all of her shoes out of a wardrobe and guess where she put them? Yes, in a knotted bin bag so they would be kept clean.
And have another guess where that knotted bin bag of shoes finally ended up? Yes, dropped off in a skip at the local tip.
At least my household insurance company believed me and were were given enough of a payment to replace most of them.