Left wedding/engagement ring in hotel

[Anonymous]

OP here again. Marriott's policy regarding lost property is finders keepers. Other than allowing a guest to contact housekeeping, there is nothing more they will do and they have no formal process for guests to report something lost or stolen. I'm stunned. I'm not accusing the housekeeper of stealing the rings. Suppose the subsequent guest found the rings and turned them into the front desk, a manager, the breakfast bar lady or anyone else on the staff and that staff member decided to keep them. How would anyone know that happened if the guests were never asked about it? What if whoever took them had a change of heart and left them somewhere a staff member would find them but since there was no record of them being reported missing they didn't know who the rings should be returned to. There are a hundred different scenarios where my rings could be found but since there's no record, no report, no follow up, no nothing, I never get my rings back. If nothing else, I would think their security officer would use this as an opportunity to remind people that even if something is left behind, taking it is theft. I will NEVER stay at a Marriott again. The emails I sent/received are below. I called Customer Care again but I have little expectation that I'm going to get anything different.

Dear [OP],

Thank you for your response. We have closed the customer issue reported below. If you have any additional questions, please contact the Customer Care Guest Experience Supervisor team at 402-000-0000.

Regards,

[Marriott Supervisor]
Marriott Guest Experience Supervisor
[phone]
[e-mail]
===================================================

Ms. [Springhill Suites Manager],

Thank you for your response but I am very disappointed. Marriott is supposed to highly value customer service and there is much more that could be done that would at least indicate Marriott appreciated how devastating this loss is.

In the voicemail I left for you and in my conversation with [Housekeeper], I asked that the people who stayed in the room the night we checked out be contacted to see if they had seen the rings. Has anyone contacted them?

Does Marriott have a process that allows guests to formally report lost/stolen property? If my rings were found subsequent to your email to me, how would anyone know they were mine? Does anyone in the Springhill Suites Wheeling even know to be on the look out for a sapphire and diamond engagement ring. When property is reporting missing, isn't there a form that can be completed describing the items? What is Marriott's policy on found property? When property is turned is as found, what processes are followed? What efforts are made to determine the owner? How long is it kept? What is it's ultimate disposition?

There is significantly more that could be done by Marriott with little effort. I left the rings on the desk lamp but someone took the rings and kept them. That is theft. There are very few people who had access to the room after we left and it would not be at all difficult to talk to them and gently remind them that taking the rings is theft.

Unfortunately, what I'm left with is that Marriott condones a "finders keepers" policy and sees no difference between a guest leaving a pair of socks and leaving valuable jewerly. It seems housekeepers are Marriott's first and only recourse to finding lost/stolen property.

[OP]
======================================

[OP]
I am sorry that we do not have your ring. Our records indicate that [Housekeeper], our housekeeping manager, spoke to you on Monday about your ring. She has checked with the housekeeping associate that cleaned the room. She has also gone up to that room with the help of our other associates to look again on Monday. Nothing was found.

Once again I apologize for not finding the ring.

Thank you

[Springhill Suites Manager in Wheeling]

[Anonymous]

Hotel GM here and I am very sorry for your loss. I would feel the same if either of my rings were lost. I have read all of the responses and I am confused at this point as to your goal with the hotel. It is unacceptable that the hotel did not call you back when they received your message. All messages should be returned, regardless of the gravity. Your last post is the hotel's response. Unfortunately, the hotel did not find your ring. They also explained some of the steps they took. While your suggestion to contact the previous guest is smart, there is no guarantee that the previous guest either returned the hotel's message or provided the hotel with a method of contact. Personally, as a hotel GM, I would attempt to contact the previous guest and let you know the outcome, but candidly, the guest that stayed after you would have turned in "found property" if they wanted you to have it. I don't believe they would say, "oops, you're right, i have the ring right here". If you want reimbursement for the ring, I suggest you ask the hotel to file an incident report with their insurance company, but I imagine that the insurance company will not pay because you forgot the ring, there is no proof it was stolen. (if it was in the guestroom safe and then missing, that is closer to theft). You certainly should share your concerns regarding the GM's slow response to you with Marriott corporate guest services, but other than that, what is it you hope will happen?
I am truly sorry for your loss and it is a shame that the GM did not respond quickly to you.

[Anonymous]

OP, I know this may be of little comfort to you but in my family when we lose something of value, we always say that maybe whoever took it/ found it needs it more than us for desperate circumstances.

[Anonymous]

OP, you screwed up. YOU lost the rings. It's YOUR fuckup.

Sometimes we make mistakes and something nice happens so we don't have to live with the mistakes. Sometimes you have to live with your mistakes.

No one is to blame but Y.O.U. You were careless. Stop complaining about the hotel, and get a grip that you lost the rings and you should be more careful in the future.

[Anonymous]

Oh how will you ever recover from your devestation.

[Anonymous]

OP - if you are super desperate, why not just drive back to Wheeling. Yea, it's a 5 hour drive one way, but you'll have the ability to talk face to face with housekeeping, the manager, maybe even revisit the room (assuming it's not occupied) to see if maybe it fell behind the bed or whatever. You can also file the police report since you'll be there in person. Then maybe the police can do some interviews.

Just another thought since all your attempts are coming to a dead end.

[Anonymous]

OP, I am so sorry this happened to you - all of it. That you forgot your rings, that Marriott has such a lousy policy (who ever heard of finders keepers regarding personal property like diamonds!) But to those of you who are reaming out OP, lay off. This is hard enough on her without you all laying into her that it was her fault. I think she gets that. What she needs now is common human decency from this board and from the hotel staff. I hope you get both very soon.

[Anonymous]

OP, I totally get why you feel the need to vent but I think your outrage at Marriott is a little misplaced. Their policy is not 'finders keepers' - they did a minimalist job on looking for your ring but did not find it. That's unfortunate, but it's not hte same as encouraging or condoning theft. It would have been nice if they turned the place upside down and contacted every person who stayed on the same floor as you to inquire about it, but I wouldn't expect that --- particularly since they were not the ones at fault here. I posted earlier about leaving my blackberry at a 5-star hotel here in DC - the hotel staff was totally wonderful as were my colleagues who hunted for it, but it was only found when I went over and happened upon it behind some sound equipment. I don't blame anyone else for not finding it earlier. What happened to you was unfortunate but blaming someone other than yourself for their loss is as irresponsible as leaving expensive valuables behind in the first place.

[Anonymous]

We all know that the housekeeper probably kept it. s/he was the person to enter the room after you check out and how can you not notice the rings when you clean up the room.

I have left numerous things in the hotels (GPS charger while driving cross country, shirts in the closets) and got all the items back by calling the hotel. The front desk personnel called the housekeeping and they in turn took the items to security. I received the GPS charger in the mail and was able to pick up other things.

I'm sorry you lost the rings. I hope you get them back.

[Anonymous]

Op here. I'm sorry if I've confused people about what I'm trying to accomplish. I'm not blaming the hotel that my rings are gone. I accept full responsibility that I left them behind. That was my screw up. What I was expecting from the hotel was a good faith effort to address my requests to contact the guests who stayed in the room after us and what their policy on lost/found property is. Those requests are reasonable and could be met with minimal effort on their part. The hotel did not even make a minimum effort to locate my rings. I was the one who contacted housekeeping - and I had to do that twice since my first call went unreturned.

If you think the hotel did all they should have done, I don't think you understand customer service or security. If the hotel had attempted to contact the guests who stayed after us and there was no response, at least I knew they'd tried and my experience with them would have been positive. If they had procedures that collected information from me about what was lost and my contact information, at least I would have known that if they were found, I would have a chance of getting them back. Again, I would have left feeling positive about the hotel. On the security side, not contacting the subsequent guests sends a message to the staff that no one checks to see if things turned in to them actually make it to lost & found. Not having procureds to attempt to match reports of lost items with items found indicates the hotel isn't interested in returning lost items to their owners. Since the hotel doesn't care, why should the staff care? Why shouldn't the staff just keep items they find?

I'm not looking for the hotel to reimburse me for my loss. I don't want money. I want my rings. If the hotel didn't follow a finders keepers policy, I might have had a chance of getting them. I started out being upset about their lack of response. Add to that their lack of policies and procedures that encourages staff to keep what they find.

I appreciate the supportive words, especially thoughts people have to make themselves feel better about losing something like this.

[Anonymous]

OP-

What a bummer. I'm really sorry for your loss. When I lose things I tend to get very frustrated/angry with myself. My only advice is not to be too hard on yourself. Accidents happen. If you don't get the rings back, forgive yourself for your oversight.