Real life MMD: Do I punish the cleaner?

2456722

Comments

  • £200 worth of toiletries? i take stuff i can dump after and have more space to bring goodies back so i think just accept the loss and take cheap stuff next time!
  • zigzigzag
    zigzigzag Posts: 64 Forumite
    Personally, considering how much of an impact (presumably) losing £200 would have on the cleaner, and considering that I (though not happy to lose £200) could relatively easily recover from this, I would not take the money. It would be a totally different story, however, if the cleaner had purposely stolen the bag! (I know that that is a possibility, but I'll take their claim that it was an honest mistake at face value.) But every mishap has a lesson: maybe taking less-expensive toiletries on holiday (eg Superdrug own brand stuff is really nice, and very cheap, and much of it is even cruelty-free); or buying a travel-bottle set and decanting your normal toiletries into smaller bottles. For things like cosmetics, I find it false economy to buy cheaper stuff, in which case I would try to take less of it with me on hols. Thanks for your post, I can learn lessons from this - I'm really sorry it happened to you. Holidays are a prime time for things of all sorts to go missing....
  • I wonder? Was there any attempt made to rescue the make-up bag from the bins? Was it really 'thrown out' or did she steal it, and come up with an excuse when caught? Yes, I would most certainly get my money back for it. It's the Hotel's job to train this person to work effectively, so she should be the one to take it up with the hotel if she is unhappy to have them deduct the cost from her wages. How many more things might she throw away if she's not taught to be carefull? You go for it girl, get your money. You'll be doing future guests a favour.
  • PasturesNew
    PasturesNew Posts: 70,698
    Name Dropper Photogenic First Anniversary First Post
    Forumite
    £200's a lot, but (I've never stayed in a hotel, so don't know what happens) I'd have thought "if it isn't in the bin, it's not rubbish" and even so if I were a cleaner then I'd still be wary that things might have fallen into the bin.

    Cleaner's probably a bit dodgy... although it does depend how "scruffy" the package appeared and how oddly placed it might have been. I'd have thought it's weight would have indicated it's not empty/rubbish and as a cleaner I'd have erred on the side of caution.

    Offer to go halves, for a compromise. Dodgy cleaner's still got away with it though ... for £200 I'd expect the hotel manager to pick through the bin bags with his teeth looking for it.
  • shellsuit
    shellsuit Posts: 24,749
    First Post Photogenic First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    Someone picked a carrier bag with £200 worth of stuff in it and binned it because they thought it was rubbish?

    What a joke!

    For a start, I'm assuming none of the bottle and containers were empty, so the weight of the bag should have been a give away that there were things in it!

    And why 'bin' it anyway. The bag should have been left on the side somewhere for the guest to dispose of if that's what they wanted to do.

    If if had been binned, why didn't they make the cleaner go and search through the bins?

    I'd want the money back, and I wouldn't care if it came out of her wages ~ she should have kept her mucky hands to herself.

    Sounds like a con job to me!
    Tank fly boss walk jam nitty gritty...
  • zzzLazyDaisy
    zzzLazyDaisy Posts: 12,497
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    No, I would not insist on the cleaner reimbursing me - she'll be lucky if she earns that in a month and the hotel management are being very unprofessional if they have put that suggestion forward - it is not for the guest to decide how to deal with staff.

    I any case I would never take that value of toiletries on holiday.

    Having said that I would never stay at that hotel again and I would warn my friends about what happened, and would probably also post on tripadvisor.

    In my view the fault lies with the hotel and its lack of training and/or supervision of its staff.
    I'm a retired employment solicitor. Hopefully some of my comments might be useful, but they are only my opinion and not intended as legal advice.
  • I'm inclined to think if you can afford to have £200 pounds worth of toiletries then you can afford to lose them! But also, I would consider the fact that £200 is likely to be that woman's earnings for months, and as it's impossible to tell whether the hotel are just trying to put you off I wouldn't risk leaving her up the creek!
    When I was on living in Thailand I left my wallet at a bus stop with a months salary in it (being paid cash has it's downsides!) and although it was irritating that I got the wallet back minus the money I just hoped that whoever took it needed it/enjoyed it/spent it one something fun! Life's too short to worry about things like that!
  • dors01
    dors01 Posts: 59
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    For a start off your on holiday so circa £200 is excessive for just toiletries
    OK the main point is that the cleaner/maid should NOT have thrown anything away apart from obvious rubbish (such as old tissues etc) anything else should be left as it is.
    So lesson 1, if you take something valuable on holiday put it in the safe, if you can afford to lose it leave it out
  • bluebeary
    bluebeary Posts: 7,904 Forumite
    firstly if i had spent £200 on toileteries i would not expect them to leak, id maybe keep them in a bag which is obviously for toileteries, one of those with the waterproof lining, padded things ?

    my holiday toileteries consist of deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, shampoo, soap and a scrunchy, razors ? maybe about £25 max

    the cleaner was just doing her job, it should be the company held responsible
  • In all the hotels abroad I've ever stayed in only items deposited in the waste bins were taken away as rubbish and so in this instance I would have to suspect the worst. If Turkish hotels dock their staffs' wages for missing items then that is the risk the cleaner took - and lost.
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 342.5K Banking & Borrowing
  • 249.9K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.4K Spending & Discounts
  • 234.6K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 607.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 172.8K Life & Family
  • 247.4K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.8K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards