Travelodge - letter from CRS debt recovery

techno12

Hi.

Today I received a letter from CRS debt recovery saying I owe Travelodge £113, due to bashed walls and broken mirror from a stay I made at the start of the month.

Of course, this is a complete shock as I did no such thing. 

I stay in a lot of Travelodges - they're my goto cheapo chain (I have 4 bookings coming up over next month or two), review them all on TripAdvisor.
For this one, I wrote that the room was tatty, which was surprising as it's a new build, and thinking about it I think there were some deep gouges in one of the walls. Don't recall mirror being cracked though but it may have been along one corner. Again, as I stay in so many it's hard to tell them apart ;-)

So, as I didn't cause this damage what's the best course of action? Write a letter to both the agency and Travelodge denying responsibility?

Cheers!

user1977

I would just respond to the agency. Doubt they'll pursue it given the amount and if they know it's going to be defended.

MalMonroe

It's strange that they've gone straight to debt recovery without anyone contacting you - albeit mistakenly -  to let you know that they think you caused the damage and how much it's going to cost to rectify. 

How are they going to prove that you caused the damage that, ironically, you commented about in a review? They aren't. Unless you were caught on camera - or independent witnesses saw you - and even then it'll be difficult to prove.

I would write a letter to the agency with a copy to Travelodge explaining the situation and telling them that you are not the guilty party. If they wish to take anything further, they are going to need some proof.

[PS I know we should be able to voice our opinions but I think that might signal an end to my Tripadvisor reviews if I were in a similar situation.]

techno12

Thanks for the replies - yeah I'll send those letters this eve.

You think they'd realise I'm a regular (100+ bookings) customer and give the benefit of the doubt. Maybe the room wasn't checked correctly prior to my visit, maybe a cleaner bashed the mirror after I left. Who knows. As you said, impossible to prove anything.

I guess the lesson to take from this is, going forward, to take a nice widescreen photo of the room prior to checking out. Just in case similar random bolt from the blue letters appear.

I'll update this thread once it's been resolved.

FeaturelessVoid

MalMonroe said:

It's strange that they've gone straight to debt recovery without anyone contacting you - albeit mistakenly -  to let you know that they think you caused the damage and how much it's going to cost to rectify. 

How are they going to prove that you caused the damage that, ironically, you commented about in a review? They aren't. Unless you were caught on camera - or independent witnesses saw you - and even then it'll be difficult to prove.

I would write a letter to the agency with a copy to Travelodge explaining the situation and telling them that you are not the guilty party. If they wish to take anything further, they are going to need some proof.

[PS I know we should be able to voice our opinions but I think that might signal an end to my Tripadvisor reviews if I were in a similar situation.]

Because civil cases are determined on the balance of probability, not beyond a reasonable doubt.

I actually agree that it is unlikely that a judge would side with the claimant unless they have some particular good evidence to show it more than likely was the OP, but you, again, don't seem to understand how things work, especially not the legal system.

techno12

I have an outcome for this.

I'd received an email from Travelodge saying that the claims company would drop the case, but they didn't admit to being wrong - just said they had an obligation to recover costs incurred from damage etc.

Today I have a letter from CRS saying the case is dropped, due to my letter of response.

I'd written letters to both CRS and Travelodge, and included my Tripadvisor review. In that review, as well as the unusually tatty room, I'd mentioned that the shower gel dispenser was empty.

So, it looks like the room wasn't turned over correctly, ie if they didn't bother to refill the shower gel, then what else didn't they bother to do? Answer, check for damage. So when I left and the room was turned over correctly next time the blame was pinned on me.

Anyway, thanks for the replies - I'm now taking a photo of each room when I stay, just in case ;-)

bris

No court order no debt recovery, ignore it until you see a court order.