Theft from hotel room

marleyboy

I would not care if the hotel dont intend to take it any further, I would happily reply with "I WILL!".

Mankysteve

Could have been another member of staff who pinched that member of staff card.

richiehp

matrix11 wrote: »

HSBC
What is not covered.
Theft of personal belongings or valuables from a locked room, safe, motor vehicle or caravan unless there is evidence of forcible and violent entry....

confirmed by a call to said insurer

True. There is no way the hotel would cover your theft. Think about it. If hotels were held responsible for theft in their rooms, anybody could claim the same and get some money back while it is a total lie.

esuhl

richiehp wrote: »

Unfortunately, you are responsible for leaving your valuable belongings in your room. Most if not all of the hotels don't take responsibilities for such theft.

vikingaero wrote: »

The lock audit showed that the room was accessed by a member of staff who denies any wrongdoing.

It could be that the staff member accessed the room for turning down the beds and left the door insecure.

I don't think the hotel are automatically responsible, unless they have shown negligence. If the manager is permitting or turning a blind eye to thefts, or knowingly employing people who have a criminal record for alleged theft, that would probably be considered negligent, in which case they may be liable for your loss. And I would guess that staff have a duty to keep your room secure if they are cleaning it. I'd find it completely unacceptable if my room was unlocked and left unattended while I was out.

Those "we are not responsible" signs have more-or-less no validity in law. If the law says the hotel are responsible for something, a sign won't change that. And if a member of the public stole a coat from a public area, the hotel wouldn't need a sign to state that they can't be held responsible.

Theft is a criminal matter, so I would definitely get the police involved (and get a crime reference number so you know they have actually logged the incident). With only circumstantial evidence, though, I wouldn't hold out too much hope of getting the laptop back. Letting the hotel know that you are involving the police and posting messages online about the alleged theft might give them a bit of incentive to "smooth things over" if they have a guilty conscience...

alisonmeyers

I know how frustrating it is to have something like a laptop stolen (not the same, but I had a phone nicked from a Hotel Room during a business trip, it wasn't even mine but the nightmare of trying to get all my numbers/data back was a total headache for months :mad:). But you don't have anything that can conclusively prove that it was this member of staff that stole your stuff - only that they were negligent when it comes to leaving their card around, or not closing the door properly, etc. Surely the hotel would do best to acknowledge that part, even if they won't replace the full cost of the laptop itself?

Stephb1986_2

The only thing I can think of doing is looking at the box that the laptop came in and seeing if there is any serial numbers on the box there usually is, and contact the manufactures telling them that it's stolen and if it comes in for repair or anything to contact you.

Steph xx

esuhl

alisonmeyers wrote: »

{Y}ou don't have anything that can conclusively prove that it was this member of staff that stole your stuff - only that they were negligent... Surely the hotel would do best to acknowledge that part, even if they won't replace the full cost of the laptop itself?

If they admit negligence, then the OP could sue for damages arising from that. Unfortunately there's probably no proof... But it'd be worth getting the police to investigate. If the hotel has suffered a number of similar thefts and done nothing to rectify it's poor track record (if this is the case), then perhaps that would be considered negligence by the courts...