Unclaimed belongings "disposed of" by gym

SebD

Not sure if this is the right forum section but have lost approaching £500 worth of possessions left at the gym (it was in a locker, so must have been "found" by staff - prior to it's "disposal).

Do I have any right to claim compensation (not that I can even prove that it was left there, in the first instance)?

Thanks.

vuvuzela

How long had your things been in the locker ? Are you still a member there ?

pinkshoes

Was the locker allocated to you as part of your membership?

How long was this "stuff" left in the locker?

Can you actually prove it was in there?

There's usually a sign up saying don't leave valuables in lockers, and items are left at owners own risk.

SebD

vuvuzela wrote: »

How long had your things been in the locker ? Are you still a member there ?

Thanks for replying.

This particular chain of gym's lockers are operated by an individual member's membership-card (so, would the gym not know what locker is used by which member - as it's a computerised system? Seems to me a pretty easy security facility to incorporate into a computer-based locker system). The thing is, the gym made no attempt at contacting me (or any other members, for that matter) that, when the closed lockers were opened and examined at the end of the day, as they always are, that some clothing and a large amount of cash was found in that particular locker. I bet if it had been evidence of illegality (say, dubious pornographic material, drugs or the makings of a bomb) that had been left in the locker, I'd have been "contacted" by them (or the boys in blue) quickly enough. Designer clothes and hard-currency is clearly a different matter with the staff at this particular gym.

Yes, membership is still ongoing (will that make a difference?).

McKneff

SebD wrote: »

Not sure if this is the right forum section but have lost approaching £500 worth of possessions left at the gym (it was in a locker, so must have been "found" by staff - prior to it's "disposal).

Do I have any right to claim compensation (not that I can even prove that it was left there, in the first instance)?

Thanks.

So what is the point of this thread then.

Idiophreak

Do they have signs up stating that lockers will be emptied each night? Most places I've been to do.

Why did you leave your stuff there?

SebD

pinkshoes wrote: »

Was the locker allocated to you as part of your membership? I know of no gyms that can do that as they would need a dedicated locker for each and every member (even those members who only go to the gym once or twice a year) but the provision of a (non-dedicated) locker is part of the membership agreement.

How long was this "stuff" left in the locker? I'm not sure that matters in this instance as the gym should (in my opinion at least and possibly legally) have made efforts to contact the owner of the "stuff".

Can you actually prove it was in there? Apart from a witness who attended the gym with me, no - how could I do that?

There's usually a sign up saying don't leave valuables in lockers, and items are left at owners own risk. There is also a sign in almost every elevator stating "Users of this equipment do so entirely at their own risk" - Not so, the owner IS liable. Ditto if you park your car in a car park and it claims "Vehicles are parked here at the owner's risk" - Again, false, the owners have a responsibility if they are charging for the parking facility. Ditto when you leave your coat in a cloakroom - their sign stating that "We will not be held responsible blah, blah....." is not correct, said cloakroom IS required to exhibit a duty of care and CAN be held responsible. Simply putting a sign up does not absolve anyone from responsibilty

Thanks for your reply but I am hoping to obtain factual advice, rather than opinion and/or guesswork.

SebD

McKneff wrote: »

So what is the point of this thread then.

I was hoping for some helpful, factual, advice. Isn't there another thread you could be submitting unhelpful, pithy, comments on?

Idiophreak

SebD wrote: »

I'm not sure that matters in this instance as the gym should (in my opinion at least and possibly legally) have made efforts to contact the owner of the "stuff".

Of course it matters. If you left it there for 10 minutes while you stepped out to take a call, things are quite different than if you'd left it there for 6 months and they assumed it was abandoned.

Did you ask the gym why they didn't attempt to contact you?

SebD

Idiophreak wrote: »

Do they have signs up stating that lockers will be emptied each night? Most places I've been to do.

Why did you leave your stuff there?

Thanks for the reply.

It was left their inadvertently due to lapse of memory. Does the reason have a bearing on what I should do?

SebD

Idiophreak wrote: »

Of course it matters. If you left it there for 10 minutes while you stepped out to take a call, things are quite different than if you'd left it there for 6 months and they assumed it was abandoned.

Did you ask the gym why they didn't attempt to contact you?

I can't imagine a member of staff taking the trouble to open my locker and dispose of the items while I was out for 10 minutes, taking a call, can you?

The gym sort of dried-up when I asked why they hadn't attempted contact, but simply reiterated that the items had been disposed of.

I'm hoping to be advised what I should do in order to make good my loss (I'm not hoping to gain anything - simply not lose anything due to the gym having made no attempt to discover the owner (or contact the owner, if their locker system DOES tell them).

Thanks again.