Marriott Rewards (including Ritz-Carlton) - Charges to mail home lost goods?

Forgot my camera charger and battery at the JW Beijing. Housekeeping found it but the hotel's AYS referred the issue to their Business Center, who wants 400 RMB (~$60) to ship it to the US! Is this standard? I've only had one other experience with this: a very small hotel near Frankfurt, Germany, shipped my glasses home to me at their own expense: the stamp said 35€, which was just over half the nightly rate of the room. They didn't even mention the issue of paying or the fact that it would cost so much, and I received a very nice letter from their housekeeping head along with my glasses. Maybe I just got lucky then. FWIW, I'm Plat with MR.

While I personally would not want to have to pay the fee and would hope the hotel would ship for free, I cannot say that I am averse to this fee. After all, it was me who left the item behind, thus, it is only fair that I pay to have the item returned to me. Otherwise, next time, maybe I can "accidentally" leave behind my entire luggage only to have it shipped for free back to me as to avoid the ridiculous airline fees (and before I get some snotty answer about "well I fly first class, so I don't have to pay baggage fees" or etc, so do I on most trips, but particularly on US domestic flights where baggage is charged most often, I find it poor choice to pay $200 more for a free mini bottle of vodka and an equally crappy but wider seat)...

you got VERY lucky in Germany but can't expect your carelessness to always be rewarded..........plat or not!
If you want your carelessly left behind goods returned to you, pay the postal fee for them............

Forgot my camera charger and battery at the JW Beijing. Housekeeping found it but the hotel's AYS referred the issue to their Business Center, who wants 400 RMB (~$60) to ship it to the US! Is this standard? I've only had one other experience with this: a very small hotel near Frankfurt, Germany, shipped my glasses home to me at their own expense: the stamp said 35€, which was just over half the nightly rate of the room. They didn't even mention the issue of paying or the fact that it would cost so much, and I received a very nice letter from their housekeeping head along with my glasses. Maybe I just got lucky then. FWIW, I'm Plat with MR.

you got VERY lucky in Germany but can't expect your carelessness to always be rewarded..........plat or not!
If you want your carelessly left behind goods returned to you, pay the postal fee for them............

It's really not being rewarded; even if they ship it for free, I'm not coming out ahead as I still won't have my camera charger for the rest of my trip. I'm also not confident that it really costs them that much to ship; I understand being charged, but I feel like it should be at cost. It seems like they're billing this the same way they'd bill me as a guest to ship a bunch of product samples to clients.

Anyway, I was just wondering if others have had experience with Marriott on this sort of issue. I've been talking with their manager, and there's apparently another concern in that batteries can't be shipped via int'l mail, although I know that FedEx/UPS/DHL definitely do take them. Also, battery plus charger cost about $65 now, apparently, so that may be the proper route as opposed to paying 400+ RMB and hoping they show up.

easy solution................ just check your room before you leave and insure that you've packed up all your "stuff" ........... then you'll avoid your own created problem and have nothing to gripe about.............
and why should they mail your non-packed goods to you for free....... your negligence, not theirs.............
right, no sympathy for your own malfeasance................. pay or move on....

It's really not being rewarded; even if they ship it for free, I'm not coming out ahead as I still won't have my camera charger for the rest of my trip.

I'm not going to blame the OP for leaving something behind in his room; I've done it before. Can anyone who has traveled a lot say that they haven't left stuff behind?

OP, I've had something mailed to me from the hotel once. I was charged postage for it. If you don't want to pay the postage - it's probably cheaper to buy a replacement charger - just tell the hotel to not mail it back to you.

Millennium Hilton Bangkok charged me THB 1,000 ($33-) to EMS mail my camera charger to me. The charge from Beijing sounds high, but unless your replacement cost for the the battery and the charger is less, they kind of have you by the short hairs.

Good luck.

you got VERY lucky in Germany but can't expect your carelessness to always be rewarded..........plat or not!
If you want your carelessly left behind goods returned to you, pay the postal fee for them............

As always, ^

Rus, your response post to BK's post is ridiculous.

Yes, you are not coming out ahead when you view the loss of your camera item as being away from you. However, the hotel found your item despite your own carelessness and now you want them to pay for it's shipping, or what you believe to be a "reasonable" charge for such????

Just as certain hotels now charge for the receipt of packages due to the time involved in taking staff away from other duties, etc., even if the shipping and return charge is somewhat inflated -- and you don't know if that amount covers the cost of insurance for the item -- something I think you don't even consider despite your being prone to losing things, you should count your lucky stars that they found the item and are willing to ship it to you.

Some would say you are looking a gift horse in the mouth, while others might say that you are just an ingrate........

I left some clothing at a UK property. Realized it when I unpacked at home. Called & they had the clothing. I provided them w/ my fedex # to ship it back. Sure it was a bit pricy, but less expensive than replacing the clothes.

On domestic, it's been a bit mixed. One time they charged; another time they just put it in the mail at their expense.

FWIW - I figure if I'm the one who left it behind, I'm the one who should pay for the charge to return it.

Now, let's talk about the serious portion of this post. Can the OP get the folio updated to reflect the charge on his room & then get points? ;) :p :D

Cheers.

I provided them w/ my fedex # to ship it back.
That's the way to do it... Then you're paying true cost, even if it's high.

(I've seen it work both ways in the US - especially smaller properties will simply ship it back. Larger will have a procedure that results in a charge.)

Honestly, I'm not going to continue the normative argument about asking this question because I don't think there is a normative argument to be had: I paid $300 a night to stay at an American hotel so I wouldn't have to worry about being extorted/stolen from—not because that's a "perk" anyone should have to pay for but because of the sad reality that you don't have much recourse in China—and I certainly don't view the hotel staff not stealing my camera charger (because it is still mine) to be an act of generosity on the JW Beijing's part.

To those who mention that they would feel responsible for the shipping charges in a similar situation, I agree. After my one other experience, though, I was wondering whether having lost items returned free is among those American hotel "soft product" perks (the irony being that the other hotel was fully German) that I should expect as part of the room rate and/or if there was some hard and fast policy on this from Marriott HQ.

Thanks SkiAdcock for the FedEx number suggestion. Could I ask FedEx to go to the hotel and ask for the item? I've seen this happen with warranty services, where FedEx shows up at your door with a pre-stamped padded box and asks for your laptop. And thanks to zombietooth for the data point and iflyjetz for the support.

Just to clarify the situation: a friend was staying with me and still very much asleep when I was leaving the hotel. In order not to disturb him, I packed against just the bathroom light, and I could not do the final checks I usually do. Moreover, the charger was plugged into an outlet beside his bed, near his suitcase, which I was even less likely/able to check. (Before someone says something about my choice of outlet, there were just three free outlets in the room: two next to the desk that couldn't fit the charger and one next to his bed.)

I was already in the air when I realized that I didn't have the charger with me, and I had no way of communicating this to my friend until I had landed in MUC, well after he had also checked out and moved to another (less expensive) hotel in another part of town. Upon landing, I called the hotel to verify that they had it: they told me that they did and offered to hold it until I returned or to ship it to me. I asked my friend if he could go back to the hotel to get it from them, at the same time giving the Marriott my home address, which they passed onto their business center, who does shipping but wasn't open at the time. I received an email from the business center telling me the charges about the same time I received an email from my friend telling me that he had returned to the hotel just to be turned away empty-handed; they told him they had already shipped it to me.

I confirmed with the hotel that they had not yet sent it; they were still waiting on my billing info. When I mentioned that they had turned away my friend, they apologized, saying it was a misunderstanding and offered to call him to coordinate giving him the charger, but with just one more day in Beijing and a call to his American phone costing him about $20, I really couldn't ask him for any more. Marriott has since escalated this issue to their manager, who is supposed to respond to me soon with a solution, but in the meantime, another issue has arisen: EMS does not allow Li-ion batteries to be shipped to the US. They could ship FedEx, but they didn't offer that as a solution. So we'll see what happens.

A friend of mine once forgot his keys at the Washington Marriott Metro Center and i had them mailed to Virginia.

I offered to pay for shipping, but the housekeeping manager refused. I believe the cost was around $5, Priority Mail. ^

It is a perk to have it mailed back for free but is not to be expected at all.

To expect it and to think the hotel is doing something wrong to not cover the shipping is way off base in my opinion.

I have left things multiple times over the last decade, have always offered to pay for the shipping (lifetime plat) up front and have had the fee waived most of the time.

When it was not waived I was perfectly fine with that as well.

Ugly American alert. LOL. Why are traveling? If you want just like home just stay here. It is easier


No one really cares how much you paid. Free postage was not a room benefit at any price. But you have quite a sense of entitlement.

I am not particularly forgetful, but this is the exact reason I have had a fed ex account for eons. When I want something shipped to me ( for whatever reason) I have 3 choices with regards to day of arrival, (next, 2nd, and 3rd) and 3 choices as to arrival time on next day...and each is billed at different costs- so I have control.

It sounds as if the business center is charging you for packing the item, as well as a premium rate to ship it. This is not uncommon, as it does take their time, labor, and billing to arrange it.

As far as not having your items for the rest of the trip, why don't you have them shipped to where you are...OR just buy new and have a spare.

I have always paid to get things returned- but quite honestly, never thought it would be free, so offered up my fed ex account # immediately. I was just grateful they would take the time to pack it up and send it. Paying postage for my own carelessness seemed a rather small price to pay!

Once leaving the Doral I knocked my purse over right as I was leaving the room. Already late, I grabbed everything up and left - only to realize when I got home I had somehow missed my camera. I called, and sure enough, they found it under a piece of furniture...no problem, here is my Fed Ex number, can you send it. Arrived the next day - along with my GPS, a battery charger, and a wallet filled with gift cards...none of which I had yet missed!

Its certainly easy enough to determine the shipping fee via fedex.com or ups.com.

I left a Tumi portfolio at a Cleveland FS Marriott about 5 years ago. It contained several credit cards and my checkbook. Needless to say, I was quite anxious about getting it back. I was charged their standard business center shipping fee and happy to pay it! It was my fault for leaving it behind. I felt fortunate that houeskeeping located it and turned it in.

Sorry OP Ive left things behind in the past once the Hotel shipped me my glasses at their expense , I stay there anytime Im back in that city. My other 2 times I was lucky in that I was returning in a couple of weeks to that same hotel and they simply held it for me

But I would do as most have said if its cheaper to replace it Id tell the Hotel just to trash it or give it away. But I Never would expect any Hotel to pay for it to be shipped back to me, and I never would have the nerve to report it to Corp after all they could have simply thrown ita way but instead held on to it

I dont see any reason why the hotel must send it at their cost,sorry.Yes it would be very nice if thats all they asked, could be theyw ere going to ship it overnight and thusly why the high cost rather then slow boat it

Forgot my camera charger and battery at the JW Beijing. Housekeeping found it but the hotel's AYS referred the issue to their Business Center, who wants 400 RMB (~$60) to ship it to the US! Is this standard? I've only had one other experience with this: a very small hotel near Frankfurt, Germany, shipped my glasses home to me at their own expense: the stamp said 35€, which was just over half the nightly rate of the room. They didn't even mention the issue of paying or the fact that it would cost so much, and I received a very nice letter from their housekeeping head along with my glasses. Maybe I just got lucky then. FWIW, I'm Plat with MR.

This is a large mid-range hotel which caters to foreign business travelers. I will bet that there are 20-30 items a day left behind which guests call about. Housekeeping has to label what it finds, someone checks the L&F, packs it & ships it. $60 for an intl. air shipment doesn't strike me as out of range and I would not expect a property to do this for me.

There's of course any easy way to avoid this -- just don't leave stuff in your room. But, when you do, it's over-the-top to expect a property to incur the loss which you could avoided.

Be thankful and shoot the manager a nice email letting him know how much you appreciate his staff's work.

[QUOTE Once leaving the Doral I knocked my purse over right as I was leaving the room. Already late, I grabbed everything up and left - only to realize when I got home I had somehow missed my camera. I called, and sure enough, they found it under a piece of furniture...no problem, here is my Fed Ex number, can you send it. Arrived the next day - along with my GPS, a battery charger, and a wallet filled with gift cards...none of which I had yet missed![/QUOTE]

Purse in UK - capable of storing credit cards, coins and notes

Purse in US - supersized ?

This is a large mid-range hotel which caters to foreign business travelers.

Since when is the JW a mid-range hotel? :confused:

Purse in UK - capable of storing credit cards, coins and notes

Purse in US - supersized ?

LOL! Very much so... I swear some women carry their entire house with them in their purses :D

[QUOTE Once leaving the Doral I knocked my purse over right as I was leaving the room. Already late, I grabbed everything up and left - only to realize when I got home I had somehow missed my camera. I called, and sure enough, they found it under a piece of furniture...no problem, here is my Fed Ex number, can you send it. Arrived the next day - along with my GPS, a battery charger, and a wallet filled with gift cards...none of which I had yet missed!

Purse in UK - capable of storing credit cards, coins and notes

Purse in US - supersized ?[/QUOTE]

"Purse" when traveling is equal to a ...what is it called??? Hmm - Oh yes- briefcase. ;)

Just to clarify again: I'm not asserting that not stealing = shipping for free. :rolleyes: I'm asserting that not stealing = admitting to having if/when found and asked, which I think is a pretty standard definition. Starting from that and my past experience, my question, the entire reason I posted, was whether I should expect to pay given standard hotel practices.

As an aside, I can't check EMS online, but both FedEx and UPS seem to be charging more ($120 and $85, respectively), so I will probably just refuse shipping.

yes, yes, yes, (and without reference to Daniel Bryan who is just as thick)

if you want your items returned to you, you should expect to pay................
is that clear enough!????????????

....... should I expect to pay...............

Just to clarify again: I'm not asserting that not stealing = shipping for free. :rolleyes: I'm asserting that not stealing = admitting to having if/when found and asked, which I think is a pretty standard definition. Starting from that and my past experience, my question, the entire reason I posted, was whether I should expect to pay given standard hotel practices.

As an aside, I can't check EMS online, but both FedEx and UPS seem to be charging more ($120 and $85, respectively), so I will probably just refuse shipping.

Just an FYI - there is an entire procedure which must be followed when an item is found - it's not long but not instantaneous either (IMO Hotel's do a much better job of L&F than Airlines do...gasp I almost left my iPad on a DL flight yesterday...at the last second while waiting for the door to open I remembered it....I doubt I would have been able to retrieve it had I not remembered it)

Starting from that and my past experience, my question, the entire reason I posted, was whether I should expect to pay given standard hotel practices.

Bottom line - yes.

BTW - the whole saga re: the charger being near your friend/not wanting to wake him up, etc, is your problem/decision - not the hotel's. Ultimately you are responsible for your own belongings/making sure nothing is left behind.

FWIW - I don't think $60 is that big a price if you're talking packaging everything & shipping fees & going from China to the US.

Re: this:

"Thanks SkiAdcock for the FedEx number suggestion. Could I ask FedEx to go to the hotel and ask for the item? I've seen this happen with warranty services, where FedEx shows up at your door with a pre-stamped padded box and asks for your laptop".

No. Warranty situations are different. You can ask the hotel or biz center to charge it to your fedex # if you have one. Otherwise, you'll probably need to provide a credit card to charge the shipping.

Cheers.

BTW - the whole saga re: the charger being near your friend/not wanting to wake him up, etc, is your problem/decision - not the hotel's. Ultimately you are responsible for your own belongings/making sure nothing is left behind.

I agree with that. I was just trying to give some context to how it got lost; I never meant to say that it's the hotel's fault that I lost the charger. I know some of y'all think I've been pretty ridiculous up to this point, but to blame the hotel for my sleeping friend would actually be ridiculous. :p

FWIW - I don't think $60 is that big a price if you're talking packaging everything & shipping fees & going from China to the US.

Re: this: ... No. Warranty situations are different. You can ask the hotel or biz center to charge it to your fedex # if you have one. Otherwise, you'll probably need to provide a credit card to charge the shipping.

My research seems to agree with the price, too, which gives me some confidence. I'm still trying to figure out how Apple (not to mention many eBay sellers) can ship from China for so much less, though. I do have a FedEx #, but the price they quoted me to ship from China is twice what the hotel quoted me, although I think I'd still get SkyPesos (SkyRenminbi? Maybe they'll be worth something soon?) for the shipment... ;)

I appreciate everyone's help! :)

Apple can ship for less because they ship a large volume of items over a year. It is called a volume discount.

Apple can ship for less because they ship a large volume of items over a year. It is called a volume discount.

:rolleyes: But $5 versus $120? Both via FedEx Express.

so you have repeatedly complained how the hotel was trying to rip you off by making you pay for the return of your lost and found items (which you didn't want to pay for at all, but wanted the hotel to pay for) and now you find out that the hotel was charging only 50% of the actual cost, but you're still complaining, and complaining, and complaining..................

will the Moderator please close this thread..............frankly I've heard all I ever want to hear from this OP

I do have a FedEx #, but the price they quoted me to ship from China is twice what the hotel quoted me............

I second this! ^

Since when is the JW a mid-range hotel? :confused:

Since they were founded? Every JW I've ever stayed in has been a nice hotel, but not in the class as the top Ritzes. Just a good brand, more like a subset of "good Marriotts" than a separate distinct brand. (Have I been staying in the wrong JW's? Are there some crazy-luxurious ones out there that I'm missing?)

Maybe "midscale" is a loaded term, since in a smaller U.S. city I might attach that gloss to a Courtyard... ;)

Anyway, relative quality of the JW's is moot... The only thing I can relate is my recent experience staying at a similar-level property in mainland China: the St. Regis Shanghai. While I have always liked St. Regis and consider it a notch above either JW or Conrad, in Shanghai it's very much a "good mainline hotel", not an exclusive luxury property. (SPG Cat 4 Cash & Points rooms are usually available, and most decent corporate rates are under $200/nt.) There, I left behind a can of shaving cream and a T-shirt.

When I arrived home, I had an email from the hotel asking if I wanted it shipped back. Costs were stated as around 300 RMB for air shipping. I thanked them and said "no thanks".

So my hunch is this: it's genuinely expensive to air-ship items from China to the U.S. using a Fedex type service, and the hotel policy is probably to do only that - use Fedex, air ship it with full tracking, etc. If the concierge built some "grease" into that figure I received, it wasn't a huge amount. I commend them for being conscientious enough to email about minor items - even though they surely knew there was a small chance I'd want my T-shirt and shaving cream back. ;)

It sounds to me like the JW in Beijing is following a decent standard. I don't think they're building a bunch of their own fees into the $60.

:rolleyes: But $5 versus $120? Both via FedEx Express.

Apple wouldn't do drop ship of individual items from China. Hence comparing apples to oranges.

only to the original OP poster who wanted the hotel to pay for his own negligence in leaving his items behind............

It sounds to me like the JW in Beijing is following a decent standard. I don't think they're building a bunch of their own fees into the $60.

I left some clothing at a UK property. Realized it when I unpacked at home. Called & they had the clothing. I provided them w/ my fedex # to ship it back. Sure it was a bit pricy, but less expensive than replacing the clothes.

On domestic, it's been a bit mixed. One time they charged; another time they just put it in the mail at their expense.

FWIW - I figure if I'm the one who left it behind, I'm the one who should pay for the charge to return it.

Now, let's talk about the serious portion of this post. Can the OP get the folio updated to reflect the charge on his room & then get points? ;) :p :D

Cheers.

I left a bunch of clothing at the JW in London - they shipping it back to me in the US free of charge.

I understand being charged, but I feel like it should be at cost.

Exactly.

Both times I've forgotten something in the last year, the property has asked for my FedEx/UPS/etc. account number to use to ship it back. They also see this as the cleanest way to handle it.

will the Moderator please close this thread..............frankly I've heard all I ever want to hear from this OP

Then don't read the thread if it bothers you so much. @:-)

FTers are allowed to post whatever they like, whether it be compliments or complaints, & unless they violate TOS or get into personal attacks against each other where the moderator has to edit responses, there's no censuring.

The advantage of this thread is now other FTers have an idea on returning items & fees - and per the norm, it varies. They also now know the JW is not a luxury brand ;)

Cheers.

They also now know the JW is not a luxury brand ;)


LOL!!

I'm sure that the business center was making some profit on it. I'd guess a 50% markup. I just received a 15 kilo package from Shenzhen that cost about $100 to send via Fedex.

Sending your friend away was bad form, obviously. Everyone forgets stuff sooner or later. The worst I've left has been a wifi router in Bali. We moved to the other Hyatt there, and they were nice enough to put it on the next shuttle, and deliver it to us in our room.