I hate it when the guests at the hotel lose something. Instead of just owning up to the fact that they lost their item, they blame the housekeeping staff.
The housekeeping staff is an easy target for multiple reasons:
1. They clean the rooms.
2. They aren't from America
3. They speak Spanish.
It seems as if when any of the guests hear "Hola" instead of "Hello," their racist alarm goes off.
People losing things is nothing new, it happens every day, but it takes a different level of asshole to immediately assume that housekeeping stole something from them.
Tracker
One Wednesday, my front desk agent transferred a call to me from a previous guest. The guest claimed that his iPod was stolen.
Tracker: I need to report something to you.
Working Girl: What would you like to report?
Tracker: I stayed there a few weeks ago and I brought my iPod. I don't have my iPod now and I am in Indiana. I have a tracker on my iPod and I know that it is still in California. One of your housekeepers has it.
Working Girl: Does your tracker say where it is in California?
Tracker: No, but I know that one of your housekeepers has it.
Working Girl: WELL OKAY. I'LL BE ON THE LOOK OUT FOR IT.
This is just one example of stupid and racist. This guy has one cheap ass tracker if it only tells him that it is in the state of California. There are roughly 38 million people in California according to the US Census Bureau and this guy somehow narrowed it down to 8 Mexican people who just so happen to work at the same hotel. He didn't factor in that he took a cab to the airport and it could be in the cab, that he was at the airport and that it could be there or the fact that he was on a plane to Indiana and it could be there. Those are just a few places it could be, I'm not factoring in the fact that he left the room at some point during his stay or the fact that he had stayed with us 2 weeks prior to his phone call.
But somehow our Spanish speaking, Mexican housekeepers took his iPod.
Earrings
I came into work on a Monday about a week ago and had plenty of notes on my desk about a guest who claimed that housekeeping stole her precious, family heirloom earrings.
The first thing we did was check to see who cleaned the room. When I checked that I found out the guest had a DO NOT DISTURB sign on her door. NO ONE CLEANED THE ROOM. Just to double check, I watched the security cameras from the time she left the room to the time she came back, no one entered the room. Just in case the camera gave me a blind spot, I downloaded the lock information.
*Note* Most hotels can download a report on the use of a room lock. It tells you what keys have been used, and when they were used. So if you plan on lying like this...don't. Technology is a son of a bitch and you will get caught in a lie.
On the lock information we found that no one entered the room. Her key was the only key used. from sun up to sun down. So unless her earrings grew legs and walked off, her earrings have just been misplaced.
But somehow our Spanish speaking, Mexican housekeepers took her earrings.
Necklace
I've talked about our cash paying guests before, the ones who want no paper trail because they are hiding something from someone. I got a strange phone call from one of those guests.
Necklace: I'm sure you know who I am.
Working Girl: Don't think I do.
Necklace: Well that's unfortunate.
Working Girl: Okay...
Necklace: Well I stayed on Saturday night and I left an arrowhead necklace. The necklace isn't worth anything to anyone, at least it shouldn't be. The woman I was with that night gave it to me--uhhhhhhhh-- my girlfriend. It means a lot to me. I'm offering $100 to whoever finds it, no questions asked. Forget it, $200. NO. QUESTIONS. ASKED.
Working Girl: Well I'll ask housekeeping to see--
Necklace: Yeah, I'M SURE housekeeping knows about it.
It's safe to say that his necklace was never found, or it was never here. My front desk agent and I actually think that since OBVIOUSLY the woman he was with wasn't his wife and maybe it was his "uhhhhhhhhh girlfriend," she took it. Either because she was a prostitute and he stiffed her or his wife actually gave him the necklace and uhhhhhh girlfriend took it because she is sick of being the other woman and she hates that bitch!
Granted, our idea is pretty far fetched but it is way more plausible than one of the housekeepers taking something that has no value and they don't even know what it is.
But somehow our Spanish speaking, Mexican housekeepers took his necklace.
It really angers me when people assume that the housekeeping steals. I'm not saying that no housekeeper in the hotel industry steals and that every single guest is wrong but I am saying that jobs are hard to come by. It would be a damn shame if one of my housekeepers lost their job over no more than $200 bucks.
I don't want to get into a heated debate about racism in America or immigration or any of that shit. I only want people to understand that housekeeping doesn't want your used shit. My housekeeping staff drives better cars and owns better electronics than most of the guests who stay at the hotel. Get off your high horse and realize you're absentminded.
No comments:
Post a Comment