InterContinental Hotels: Priority Club & Inter-Continental Ambassador - Holiday Inn Richmond (I64)

I recently completed a stay at the Holiday Inn in Richmond, VA this past week and need opinions on something that happened.

During my stay, I was going through my gift cards to see what the balances were on each one. I thought I put them away each night/morning so they were out of view. I checked out Thursday morning and didn't get home until early Friday morning.

I went to get one of the cards for a shopping trip Friday morning and realized that a couple cards weren't there. I searched through all my bags and double checked the rental car before I returned it. After exhausting all my options, I talked with customer support for the cards and found that three of the cards (2 Visa/1 Mastercard) had already been pretty much used up on small purchases.

There is a total of seven cards missing:

2 Visa GC - 1 for $20 and 1 for $40
1 Mastercard GC - $50
TGIFridays GC - $25
2 Target GC - $25/each, but were already used up
1 American Express GC - only had 68 cents on it

I called the hotel and explained what was going on and they stated they would launch an investigation into what happened. The manager said that I would not hear anything until Monday at the earliest, but she called back an hour or so later to tell me that the GM approved a replacement GC for the original $110 amount I had called about. I did not notice the other cards were missing until I sat down and started looking through them. I am debating on whether to mention these new items to the manager in the morning. She did mention that they are usually not responsible for items that are stolen from a room.

Sorry if it all seems confusing, I'm still trying to understand how they accessed the cards. I had them sitting on the desk in the room, but they were covered up and in a pile of papers.

Anyone have any advice on how to move forward on this? I spent about 2-3 hours tonight sitting there trying to get all the information about the cards. Should I just be happy that the hotel is sending me a card and be done with it?

Any questions, let me know.

Thanks, Zach

The $110 is a goodwill gesture. Nothing to indicate the staff stole the gift cards. The hotel did not even require a police report.

I know for a fact that I did not throw the cards out and they were sitting in a pile on the desk in the room. I did realize that is my fault for thinking they were safe. I was also able to look up transactions on the cards and see that there was no way that I could have made the purchases. They weren't even at stores that I would normally go to.

Finally, why would the hotel ask if I was going to press charges if they did not feel that the staff was involved?

I would say this is a legal matter. The property did what it could going above and beyond for you. Unless you file a police report and pursue it, it seems like case closed to me.

EDIT: Personally I would have file a police report as it is stolen property, no matter how little the amount if it matters to you. It is still on your mind so I assume it matters whether in monitary value, principle, or both.

Finally, why would the hotel ask if I was going to press charges if they did not feel that the staff was involved?

Because they have lawyers. You are accusing the staff at a specific hotel of theft. Defamation...

I was looking into doing something if the hotel didn't cooperate, but with what they're doing I feel slightly better. I am just weirded out now since the worst hotel problem I have had before is the room not being cleaned. This is a hard way to learn a valuable lesson.

Because they have lawyers. You are accusing the staff at a specific hotel of theft. Defamation...

oh good grief

I was looking into doing something if the hotel didn't cooperate, but with what they're doing I feel slightly better. I am just weirded out now since the worst hotel problem I have had before is the room not being cleaned. This is a hard way to learn a valuable lesson.

you should have figured out ALL that was missing before making the original claim. if you went back and said you also found more that were missing, how would that make you look?

$110 is better than what could have happened so yeah it's a tough lesson.

Only recourse you might have is to talk with the stores where the cards were used and they can nail down what time that transaction occurred. if it was in-store, then they can review tapes to see if description matches that of a hotel employee. that actually might not be a bad idea if they're willing to put forth the effort. another criminal busted.

I've actually sent the hotel the date and time info for two of the cards. I'm just going to let this be a lesson learned and be happy that the hotel offered something.

Also, I did let them know that others were missing. I also mentioned that they were ones that did not have any value on them, I just wanted them to know that the problem was larger than originally thought.

you should have figured out ALL that was missing before making the original claim. if you went back and said you also found more that were missing, how would that make you look?

$110 is better than what could have happened so yeah it's a tough lesson.

Only recourse you might have is to talk with the stores where the cards were used and they can nail down what time that transaction occurred. if it was in-store, then they can review tapes to see if description matches that of a hotel employee. that actually might not be a bad idea if they're willing to put forth the effort. another criminal busted.

Police investigating the use of credit cards stolen from the vehicle of one of my friends used surveillance from a store check out line to identify suspects in the B&E. If the gift cards are used in a store, providing the card information may very similarly work the same here.

I've actually sent the hotel the date and time info for two of the cards. I'm just going to let this be a lesson learned and be happy that the hotel offered something.

Also, I did let them know that others were missing. I also mentioned that they were ones that did not have any value on them, I just wanted them to know that the problem was larger than originally thought.

It's your money, so it's your call, but I still think it would be worth some investigation through the retailers or local law enforcement.

whatcha doing with zero balance gift cards, brah?!?

regardless, thanks for the property-specific info to let us know to avoid this place. I've stayed up the road across from Altria a couple-three years ago and can't say I'd stay in this area again. If it's not Short Pump or RIC area, I don't want a part of it.

Whatever the hotel did, it did as a gesture of CS. If you find it necessary to travel with a stack of gift cards, keep them in the hotel (or room) safe when you're not there.

Let it go and move on. Not worth your while to pursue.

I'm glad this is over for the most part, I am just going to wait and see if I do get that card from the hotel. I just hope they catch who did it.