Travelodge Damages Bill

mrweal

Hello all.

Looking for some advice as my girlfriend has just received a bill from a collections agency for £2000 for damages to the hotel room.

MY gf and her friend had spent the night in a Travelodge. The following morning they awoke to a flooded room. All their belongings were soaked and it was clear it had come from their rooms bathroom.

Upon check out they attempted to bring this leak to staffs attention but the hotel is unmaned at times. Which meant they could not bring the leak to anyones attention.

Now they have been sent this letter and I am looking for advice on what to do.

I have advised so far that they write to both parties (travelodge and the collection agency)

is there anything else I can advise?

BlueAngelCV

So did they not report the issue at all? Was it completely unmanned or was there just no-one at the desk for a few minutes. With something like that I would have at least left a note or called back later.

Where did they think the water was coming from? You say the bathroom but was something leaking?

I agree that they should write to both parties and advise that they take no responsibility for the damage. If it was a leak then it should be clear that they didn't cause it. What are the hotel alledging they did to cause the damage?

mrweal

They couldnt as no one was available to talk too.

They were not sure. The floor was soaked and had happened almost overnight. The hotel alledges that they had flooded the floor.

BlueAngelCV

Didn't they investigate at all? Look and see where the water was coming from?

I'm sorry but the fact that they left without reporting it sounds fishy to me. If I woke up to find my hotel room flooded & my property soaking wet I would kick up a fuss. If no one was there why didn't they call later?

If it was a leak from the bathroom then it should be easy enough to show that they didn't cause it - ask for evidence.

However, my first thought would be that the left a tap on and it overflowed. It all just sounds dodgy to me.

mrweal

I have now had a full chat about it.

They reported the leak to a member of house keeping who said they would report it. They looked around the bathroom to try and find signs of a leak but found nothing.

The incident was reported and they checked out shortly after housekeeping was told thinking that was enough.

George_Michael

I agree.
If I awoke to find that all my belongings had been soaked,I would have at least contacted the hotel/website/call centre at the first available opportunity.
Even if I had no intention of trying to claim for any damage caused to my property, I would certainly want to ensure that Travelodge were fully aware of the problem and that it was nothing to do with me.

As it now stands, I can see your girlfriend having a very hard time disputing the cause of the damage, especially as it must be a fair while since she left the hotel.

George_Michael

Upon check out they attempted to bring this leak to staffs attention but the hotel is unmaned at times. Which meant they could not bring the leak to anyones attention.

They couldnt as no one was available to talk too.

They reported the leak to a member of house keeping who said they would report it.

Something just doesn't sound right to me.

mrweal

They got there things together to go as soon as they woke up. While they were getting ready house keeping came round and were informed of the problem.

Its also taken them over 3 months to finally contact her. With no contact from Travelodge prior to this collections letter.

meer53

Have they not had a bill from the hotel ? If a collections agency is chasing them then they've already had a chance to sort it out with the hotel surely ?

mrweal

George_Michael wrote: »

Something just doesn't sound right to me.

At first i thought they hadnt been able to speak to someone. I have spoken to both my other half and her friend and they did speak to housekeeping.

It was after this that they left the hotel.

shaun_from_Africa

I would have thought that any charges would have been taken from the card used as payment (I think that just about all hotels now require a card as surety), and only if this wasn't sufficient to cover the bill then it being handed to a collections agency.