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So a hotel I stayed at a week ago is now claiming I broke their TV

F

foidulus

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 15, 2007
904
1
Stayed at a hotel about a week ago in Lille France, was decent for the price, however I just got an email stating that I dropped their TV and they expect me to pay for it:mad: I did no such thing, however I don't know if I have any recourse. What can one do in these cases without consulting a lawyer(which would cost more than the TV), or am I just going to have to shell out the cpl of hundred euros to buy a new one....

For what its worth I paid cash for my stay, hopefully that means they cannot come after me.

Also, the name of the hotel is Hotel de Londre in Lille France, avoid!
 
As long as they have no recourse, and you live outside the EU, just dispute it on your credit card.
 
When they charge you, dispute it through your credit card company. That is their job.
 
He says he paid cash -- so no credit card is involved, presumably. If he lives within the EU, perhaps there is an appropriate consumer protection agency he could contact.
 
foidulus said:
Stayed at a hotel about a week ago in Lille France, was decent for the price, however I just got an email stating that I dropped their TV and they expect me to pay for it:mad: I did no such thing, however I don't know if I have any recourse. What can one do in these cases without consulting a lawyer(which would cost more than the TV), or am I just going to have to shell out the cpl of hundred euros to buy a new one....

For what its worth I paid cash for my stay, hopefully that means they cannot come after me.

Also, the name of the hotel is Hotel de Londre in Lille France, avoid!
Click to expand...

Well, did you drop it or not?

If you dropped it, pay for it. If you didn't, email them back that you didn't do it.
 
Ignore it, but if they have your credit card number, keep an eye out for any unauthorised charges and instruct the credit card company not to pay. They have no right to charge you if they said nothing at the time. If the TV is broken, it could just as easily have been dropped by a cleaner after you left.
 
Well I do like to throw TVs around hotel rooms, which is why I always pay cash, check in as "Mr Smith" and wear nose glasses.

But I have already said too much.
 
gnasher729 said:
Well, did you drop it or not?

If you dropped it, pay for it. If you didn't, email them back that you didn't do it.
Click to expand...

I didn't drop it, I even said as much in the original post....

I somehow doubt that my emailing them claiming I didn't drop it will satisfy them.
 
It might be worth sending them a brisk yet civil reply informing them that you definitely didn't drop their TV and don't appreciate being asked for the money to replace it.

The delay of a week in contacting you is unreasonable anyway; if you had damaged the TV, surely that damage would have been seen by whoever made up the room immediately after your departure. I would've thought a dropped TV would exhibit external damage and if there is none, then it's all the more reason to question their decision to point the finger at you as the phantom TV destroyer a full week after you left!

I suppose you could do nothing but that's not in my nature, I'd have to respond to their email!
 
Who'd wanna' watch French TV anyway? LOL You shouldn't have a problem, and as others have posted, keep a close eye on you CC billing online, since that's quicker than waiting for your monthly bill to show up next month; or call the toll free number and monitor the CC on a daily basis...
 
totally a scam, dont even bother responding. it would cost them more to pursue you for there tv money then it would to replace it, and if it was really expensive they have insurance
 
I have never been in a hotel where the TV wasn't bolted down to the table in some manner.
 
A week later? How many people would have stayed in that room after you?

They're surely covered by insurance anyway. Email them back stating that you didn't do it, and you're not paying.
 
If you do mail them back you should make it clear that you won't be returning to their hotel again. They should expect some damage and should be covered for anything that happens (not saying that you damaged anything). Surely the loss of a customer is worse for them than a broken TV. All seems pretty stupid on their part.
 
foidulus said:
... or am I just going to have to shell out the cpl of hundred euros to buy a new one....
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Why on earth would you consider paying if you did nothing wrong?

Anyway, waiting a week smells fishy. Maybe they're just accusing everyone who's stayed in the room recently? Working backwards in time until someone owns up (or feels intimidated enough to cough up)?

Tell them firmly it wasn't you. They can go bug someone else.
 
rdowns said:
I have never been in a hotel where the TV wasn't bolted down to the table in some manner.
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Yes, they know all about you. They do that in advance as soon as they hear you're checking in.

That they accused you of it one week later is very odd. They should have contacted you immediately. Also, I agree, being accused of having dropped the TV is a very odd charge. It would not be easy for you to do something like that unnoticed, would it? :p
 
I had a similar thing happen to me in Canada. I was accused of making more than $200 of long distance calls to Boston. I don't even know anyone in Boston. I explained this, they called the numbers in question. Come to find out it was the maid using my phone.
Now that is bad maid service.
 
It reeks of being a scam. The hotel should have checked your room before you settled your bill on check-out. If they didn't, then quite simply, it's their problem and not yours.

As skunk suggested above, leave reviews on travel websites to warn future travellers.
 
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