Might want to think twice before staying at Mariott hotels

[Cameramonkey]

If you follow Lehto's Law on youtube you probably saw this.

TL;DR: They lose his luggage and after he wins, they appeal and find a loophole to not pay what is truly owed.

Guy gets to a San Fran Mariott and his room isnt ready. He has them hold his bags so he can go explore while he waits. They give him a claim check.
Rando walks in and claims to have lost his check and wants his bags. So without even checking his ID or getting his name, an employee walks him back and lets him pick out 4 bags.
Guy gets back and presents his check and of course, his bags are gone.
He sues in small claims for $8k because thats what everything was worth.
He gets a judgement for the max of $5k
Here is where it gets unbelieveable:
Mariott appeals and references an obscure state law from the 1870s that limits liability to $250 per bag. Judge finds for Mariott and reverses the first decision.
He writes a lengthy letter explaining why. Says his hands are tied and he would give him it all if he could. So he gets creative and gives the guy interest on the money to soften the blow at least. (still only $1500 or so)
Now Mariott is rightfully catching hell because they have zero common sense and created a massive PR blunder by stiffing the guy when it was obviously their fault.

 

[Flingarrows]

I’m Marriott lifetime platinum- but I don’t leave my bags with anyone…


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Twangbanger]

Keep your bags in your car while looking.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Keep your bags in your car while looking.

Unless you took an Uber or the shuttle.

 

[Twangbanger]

Unless you took an Uber or the shuttle.

Guess he should have taken a later shuttle.

 

[Cameramonkey]

I’m Marriott lifetime platinum- but I don’t leave my bags with anyone…


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Im already a Hilton Honors Diamond member. I think I have a Mariott Bonvoy membership, but only because they signed me up without permission when I stayed with them. That mildly annoyed me because I was only staying there because my Hilton property wasnt available.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Guess he should have taken a later shuttle.

And not worn that short skirt, either.

Or maybe they just should have had his damn room ready on time.

 

[Ingomike]

maybe they just should have had his damn room ready on time.

Do we know what time this occurred? Was it check in theme or earlier?

 

[Twangbanger]

And not worn that short skirt, either.

Or maybe they just should have had his damn room ready on time.

Everybody wants to live in a society of laws. Until the laws don't favor them

 

[Bugzilla]

That is why I stay in my camper.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Do we know what time this occurred? Was it check in theme or earlier?

irrelevant. (and they dont say)

Guy had a contract with them to perform a regular courtesy service. (they have claim checks so it wasnt just an exception) They were CLEARLY negligent. And after losing, rather than do the right thing they weasel out of it. (even though they were still not required to pay back $3,000 of it or so) Should have just accepted the responsibility and counted their blessings that they werent on the hook for all of it)

Steve mentions that the first lawsuit wasnt even a blip on the radar.

And its not like Mariott International cant afford it.

 

[KokomoDave]

I learn so much watching Leyto's Law.

 

[cosermann]

Marriott clearly spent, and lost more engaging in this (legal costs and loss of goodwill) than it was worth.

 

[Ingomike]

maybe they just should have had his damn room ready on time.

Do we know what time this occurred? Was it check in theme or earlier?

irrelevant. (and they dont say)

You accused them of not having the room ready on time but we do not know if it was not ready on time. That was the basis of the question.

And yes, it is their fault they mishandled the luggage and they should have taken care of their customer. That said who has two grand per suitcase in four suitcases?

 

[Indyhd]

I just cant believe that any employee would walk someone back there without even asking what his luggage looked like and how many bags, and just let him pick and choose what was "his."

 

[Ingomike]

I just cant believe that any employee would walk someone back there without even asking what his luggage looked like and how many bags, and just let him pick and choose what was "his."

Maybe an inside job…

 

[WebSnyper]

Maybe an inside job…

Especially if someone knew he had high $ stuff. Someone would have stolen my bag and probably returned it after opening it up and probably slipped an extra $20 in it feeling bad for me and how I dress... purple really may not have been needed there.

 

[Twangbanger]

Marriott clearly spent, and lost more engaging in this (legal costs and loss of goodwill) than it was worth.

It's always in the interest of corporations, but especially low-margin commodity ones, to defend precedents which limit liability. This is some corporate lawyer earning their pay.

I'm guessing they felt this "PR self-own" was worth it on some level, because if they're not going to defend the principle of limiting liability to some dollar level, then you either have to trust and train your staff with handling personal property, the value of which may in some cases greatly exceed the revenue from the guest's stay...or do away with the customer convenience of issuing claim checks altogether.

Frankly, after having seen the yellowed notices in hotel rooms about either locking your valuables in their safe, or accepting the possibility of loss above a certain level...this case does not surprise me one bit. Those laws have been around forever, and are totally designed to "protect the House."

I just cant believe that any employee would walk someone back there without even asking what his luggage looked like and how many bags, and just let him pick and choose what was "his."

Dumb kid. I can totally envision some distracted kid letting a customer do this. They probably didn't even consider the possibility of the customer getting the wrong bag. Going a bit further, the person probably thought they were being "customer focused," because the person said they forgot their claim ticket. I can very reasonably surmise that the employee thought the risk of the person getting the wrong bag was small, but if the employee tells that customer they're out of luck with no claim ticket, they have 100% chance of getting a bad "customer service review" from an angry Karen. So worst case, the kid was an idiot, and best case, they actually thought it through and made what seemed to be the lowest-risk choice. I have totally been in situations in Hotels where the kid behind the desk had absolutely no management support on the night shift, and seemed no older or more responsible than my high school kid.

 

[Cameramonkey]

You accused them of not having the room ready on time but we do not know if it was not ready on time. That was the basis of the question.

And yes, it is their fault they mishandled the luggage and they should have taken care of their customer. That said who has two grand per suitcase in four suitcases?

It included a macbook pro and Ipad pro.

Maybe an inside job…

According to the video, unless the employee had an accomplice, it wasnt.

 

[KokomoDave]

Everyone KNOWS to stay in a Holiday Inn Express because you gain so much insight into the inner workings of man and the world.