I am most certainly not the first person to have had something stolen while at a hotel. But I always thought it would be something from my room, not from my parked vehicle.
Last week, I spent several days in one of my favorite cities. The hotel I was in was not my favorite: I have been in it a few times before, and each time became ill. This year was no exception, and I spent most of my time in the hotel room trying to get well and minimize contact with others.
Wednesday morning was when my presentation was scheduled, so I was very surprised when a co-worker found me after breakfast to tell me our vehicle had been broken into. The right rear window had been broken out. It appeared the perpetrator had tried to jimmy the lock by slipping something between the molding and glass on the Ford Escape, but finally inserted a bar of some kind and shattered the window to gain entrance.
If you’re familiar with small SUV-like vehicles, you know they often have no way to hide items from view. I had thought of that, and had spread a dark blanket over the items stored in the vehicle. We parked under a light in the parking lot, in a visible location near our rooms.
What came up missing was a combination of work items and personal items. I lost one of my ham radios, a couple of coats, and a sleeping bag. My raincoat I will miss the most, because it carries with it the most miles and smiles. The coat itself is not valuable, but the memories it holds are dear to me.
When we reported the theft to the hotel, they looked at us knowingly and said yes, that has been a problem. There was no surprise. It turns out that neighboring hotels have put up signs in the parking lots warning their patrons of this problem, and they inform their guests at check-in to not leave anything in their vehicles.
Our hotel did not do these simple things.
We are standing in front of the front desk, in a lobby thoroughly disrupted because of remodeling, while the hotel staff tell me they know it’s a problem. So let me fully understand: instead of protecting your customers by investing in warning signs, remote cameras, telling us of the problem, and implementing more frequent patrols, you instead invest in a prettier lobby so you can attract more customers? There is something faintly spiderish and predatory about this behavior that frankly upsets me.
While I’m not blameless in this incident, the lack of caring and the lack of due care by the hotel mean I will never again patronize their establishment. They have put themselves ahead of their customers, and I choose to not support that behavior.
And I miss that raincoat and the memories it holds.
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The power of ‘word of mouth’ means business cannot afford to be so lax. Especially when a customer (you) may have a blog or similar media at their disposal. And lets face it, most people do nowadays.
I agree with Scribbler… and once in a while I'll read the Craig's List "Rants" (craigslist.com). There are often horror stories about a restaurant or hotel experience (and a lot of junk too). I do take into consideration that the poster might be a disgruntled employee – but you can usually tell by the writing style and thought put into it which are most-likely valid.
I didn't find rants on CraigsList. What I noticed was a lack of information directly applicable (or identifiable) as useful for travelers or visitors to the area. I see travel services, but those are for folks wishing to leave that area. Am I missing something, or is there really not a category where visitors can check-up on a city before arrival?
Try TripAdvisor or Yelp! Both have reviews of various cities and their venues.
Great advice. Since returning, I've read reviews of the hotel I stayed in…and I'm going to make this a regular practice before I travel! Thanks