Ipad stolen from hotel room

peachyprice

You'd think if they knew it was a staff card they'd know which member of staff the card belonged to.

browneyedbazzi

The hotel is liable for losses suffered by customers unless they have a valid exclusion clause that is properly notified to customers before or at the time they enter into the contract. There's fairly good case law on hotels seeking to exclude liability for items stolen from a room (Olley v Marlborough Court Hotel is a very similar stated case where someone took a key from hotel reception to steal an expensive fur coat).

It's not good enough to just have a sign up near the reception or a clause buried in the small print Ts and Cs either - someone seeking to rely on an exclusion clause has to show they took reasonable steps to bring it to the attention of the other party (Parker v South Eastern Railway Co).

OlliesDad

I am not 100% sure, but I believe that if an employee does something not in line with their job then it is them who are responsible unless the hotel has been negligent in some way.

Therefore, as surely the hotel can tell who it was who stole the ipad, the police will take relevant action to either recover the item or take through the courts.

Jeff_Bridges_hair

Out of interest did you have your ipad set up to automatically upload to iCloud? If so then your pictures will be safe(unless theres naked celebs on there )

lammy82

If the hotel are not disputing that there has been 'suspicious access' to the room, then I imagine it would be in their interests to reimburse the OP as a goodwill gesture. This is the sort of thing that can seriously affect a hotel's reputation if not handled sensitively!

So OP I would look online for the best price for the same model iPad (maybe a 2nd hand/refurbished one, as you're not entitled to a brand new one which would be betterment) and send the quote with a polite covering letter to the hotel manager.

Sorry to hear about your sensitive information and pics being on there, but I would steer clear of this in the letter and just stick to the basic facts.

They might agree, they might not, but I think a formal request for a reasonable amount to the hotel is the right starting place.

mvteng

Have you checked findmyiphone (assuming you had it loaded).

shaun_from_Africa

browneyedbazzi wrote: »

The hotel is liable for losses suffered by customers unless they have a valid exclusion clause that is properly notified to customers before or at the time they enter into the contract.

This is why the disclaimer signs at many garage carwashes, "the management are not responsible for any damage incurred due to the use of this car wash" or similar wording are also totally worthless if only displayed on or near the machinery itself.
By not having such a disclaimer viewable near to the till, they are trying to include terms into a contract after that contract has been completed by the giving and acceptance of payment.

POPPYOSCAR

gik wrote: »

Do you have a link to legislation that confirms your understanding? I don't recall any Hotel I've stayed in displaying such a sign.

From memory I think I read it on a travel website some time ago.

Other posters have now confirmed this is correct and have quoted the relevant legislation.

Perhaps many hotels do not put up such a sign as it may be a rare occurrence and they may be prepared to make good any loss to their customer in such an event over and above the £50.