storing laptop?
Jan 22, 2005, 12:43 pm
#33
Join Date: May 2003
Location: SJC/SFO and LGB/SNA/LAX
Programs: WN A-List, HHonors Gold (Ex AA PLT and HH Diamond)
Posts: 169
Originally Posted by SFO-SJC Flyer
I have been very concerned about safety and securing both the laptop and the information it will contain.
http://www.pgpi.org/products/pgpdisk/
I like the fact that I'm not individually encrypting/decrypting files, but just "mount the disk" with my password and everything is accessible.
Also available for Mac. Though, if using a recent version of OS X, look into FileVault in the Users system preferences control panel.
Nov 18, 2005, 6:47 am
#34
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 1
Wow! I can't believe the number of people who replied to this thread with something along the lines of "Secure my laptop? What do I need to do that for? I've always left it sitting on my desk in the open and always will."
With that kind of cavalier attitude, I can just about guarantee you will be the victim of laptop theft one day, and no one will compensate you... you'll be out both the money and the data.
Let me explain... I am the General Manager of an upscale, full-service hotel in a major American city. In my nearly 20-year career, I've worked for Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, and Holiday Inn affiliated hotels. And in that time, I've learned a couple of things: 1) when staying in hotels, people tend to forget that they're in a public place and consistently fail to use common sense, and 2) most members of the general public tend to believe that hotels are responsible and legally liable for things that they actually aren’t.
Do you think staying in a "nice" or "upscale" hotel will protect you? Where do you think professional laptop thieves go to ply their trade, Motel 6? Are there a lot of laptop-toting business travelers at your local Super 8 or Econo-lodge? No... these professional thieves shave, cut their hair conservatively, and put on a suit, then walk into a Hyatt or Four Seasons, look for an unattended laptop in the lobby or restaurant or a meeting room, which they will invariably find, and pick it up and walk right out the front door. They'll also stroll the hallways looking for rooms with open doors (as they're being cleaned), or patio doors that guests have not secured properly. Some of them will even have, under their suit jacket, a "feeler" shim-device which can defeat some brands of electronic door locks. Who's going to question them? They look like business travelers; they look like they belong there.
Do you think your hotel is legally responsible if your laptop gets stolen, either from your room, your car, your meeting room, or some other place where you've stupidly left it? Guess again. In all 50 states and the District of Columbia, a version of the "Innkeeper's Limited Liability Law" exists. You will find a copy of it on the back of every hotel room door in the country. Although the actual language differs slightly from state to state, what it essentially says is that hotels are not responsible for loss or damage to any of your belongings, except those which you have turned over to the hotel manager for placement in a safety deposit box or hotel safe, provided such provisions are available at the front desk, and a copy of the law is posted conspicuously. Some states allow trivial damages, like $50-$100, but most eliminate liability entirely.
There's a very good reason these laws exist. I could, in theory, go check into a hotel somewhere then a few hours later call the manager and tell him I had $20,000 worth of gold bricks in the room and they're missing. Of course, the "gold bricks" never existed in the first place, and I'm just a grafter trying to defraud the hotel. A modern version of this might be someone claiming they had a laptop worth $5,000, when in fact no laptop ever existed. If hotels were held legally liable for these items, thieves would stop stealing laptops altogether... they'd just all go check into hotels and make false claims. The fact is, whenever you're dealing with the general public, there's no reliable way to tell the honest from the dishonest, so the legislatures in all 50 states decided to eliminate the problem altogether.
So now you're thinking, well.... I'm a Platinum/Gold/Whatever member, and my hotel company will make it right. Guess what? In nearly all cases, no they won't. There are several reasons for this. First of all, it’s not a good idea for a hotel to pay for something it has no legal liability for. The law says it's not the hotel's responsibility. If the hotel ownership chooses to make it their responsibility, they will be setting a dangerous precedent, and if word gets out that they will pay for these things, they could be setting themselves up to be ongoing victims of exactly the kind of fraud the laws were enacted to prevent. Secondly, there's the issue of larger liability. Even though hotels do not initially have legal liability, if they choose to pay $2000 or whatever for customer service reasons, they have at that point accepted liability. If it later turns out there were trade secrets on your stolen laptop that make their way to a competitor and cost you millions of dollars, the hotel would be basically screwed in a later lawsuit.
But what if you could somehow (and I don't see how) get around these larger issues, what about customer service? In the long run, it will come down to dollars and cents. It always does in any business. Here's something that complicates this: nearly every "chain" hotel in America is not owned by the company whose name is on the door. In nearly all cases, each hotel is independently owned and operated. Guess how many hotels Marriott International owns? Zero. Guess how many hotels Intercontinental Hotels (Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza) owns? Zero. This is true of every major chain.
Because of this, decisions about the value of your potential future business relative to the amount of compensation you are asking for are calculated not on the basis of the business you give to a chain, but solely on the basis of the individual hotel involved. If you’ve never stayed at my hotel before, and I have no reason to believe that I’m guaranteed enough future business from you to make back, in relatively short order, the $2000 I would have to pay you to retain your business, why would I pay you? The fact that you’ll never stay at another Hilton again doesn’t effect me or the REIT that owns my hotel and employs me one bit. In fact, given that we also own several Marriott’s, a Hyatt, and a couple of Holiday Inns in other cities, you being mad at “Hilton” could actually help us. How’s that for irony?
Incidentally, I would never say any of this out loud to either a guest or to one of my employees. But this is, in fact, the reality of the situation at ANY hotel you chose to patronize. You just don’t hear about it much, because these situations don’t occur all that often, but I’m telling you here in 100% candor, that this is the situation across the board in the hotel industry.
Here’s what will typically happen when your laptop is stolen in a hotel: the employee who you report it to and the manager on duty will show a great deal of concern, like any good customer-service person should. They will summon the police for you, fill out a report, begin an investigation, and apologize profusely. They will also help you in any way they can, allowing you to use the hotel’s computers to check your email, download and print items you need, etc. The hotel investigation will take about a day, and will most likely yield nothing. Unless you’re in some hick town somewhere, there won’t be a police investigation at all. They will take a report and that’s it. You will leave the hotel with apologies and a promise that you will be contacted by the hotel’s insurance company within a few days, but with no compensation.
A day or two later, you’ll receive a call from the insurance company’s adjuster who will explain to you that the hotel has no liability and who will deny the claim. You’ll call the hotel back looking for satisfaction, and will be politely told they’re really sorry, but once the matter is turned over to insurance, the hotel is no longer able to do anything for you. Then you’ll call the chain’s 1-800 number for guest relations, only to be told that the hotel is independently owned, and as a result the chain can’t get involved in legal matters. You might consider phone calls or letters to the Better Business Bureau or AAA or your travel agency group, but as a frequent business traveler you probably already know how toothless and ineffective those organizations are. Then you’ll contact your lawyer. If he’s at all familiar with hotel liability cases he’ll tell you to drop it and cut your losses. If he’s not, you’ll waste more time and money in filing a lawsuit only to have it dismissed in summary judgment as a matter of law. Then you’ll give up, and begin wishing you hadn’t been so cavalier about leaving your laptop unsecured in the first place.
Please, don’t let this be you…use common sense and keep your laptop safe!
With that kind of cavalier attitude, I can just about guarantee you will be the victim of laptop theft one day, and no one will compensate you... you'll be out both the money and the data.
Let me explain... I am the General Manager of an upscale, full-service hotel in a major American city. In my nearly 20-year career, I've worked for Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, and Holiday Inn affiliated hotels. And in that time, I've learned a couple of things: 1) when staying in hotels, people tend to forget that they're in a public place and consistently fail to use common sense, and 2) most members of the general public tend to believe that hotels are responsible and legally liable for things that they actually aren’t.
Do you think staying in a "nice" or "upscale" hotel will protect you? Where do you think professional laptop thieves go to ply their trade, Motel 6? Are there a lot of laptop-toting business travelers at your local Super 8 or Econo-lodge? No... these professional thieves shave, cut their hair conservatively, and put on a suit, then walk into a Hyatt or Four Seasons, look for an unattended laptop in the lobby or restaurant or a meeting room, which they will invariably find, and pick it up and walk right out the front door. They'll also stroll the hallways looking for rooms with open doors (as they're being cleaned), or patio doors that guests have not secured properly. Some of them will even have, under their suit jacket, a "feeler" shim-device which can defeat some brands of electronic door locks. Who's going to question them? They look like business travelers; they look like they belong there.
Do you think your hotel is legally responsible if your laptop gets stolen, either from your room, your car, your meeting room, or some other place where you've stupidly left it? Guess again. In all 50 states and the District of Columbia, a version of the "Innkeeper's Limited Liability Law" exists. You will find a copy of it on the back of every hotel room door in the country. Although the actual language differs slightly from state to state, what it essentially says is that hotels are not responsible for loss or damage to any of your belongings, except those which you have turned over to the hotel manager for placement in a safety deposit box or hotel safe, provided such provisions are available at the front desk, and a copy of the law is posted conspicuously. Some states allow trivial damages, like $50-$100, but most eliminate liability entirely.
There's a very good reason these laws exist. I could, in theory, go check into a hotel somewhere then a few hours later call the manager and tell him I had $20,000 worth of gold bricks in the room and they're missing. Of course, the "gold bricks" never existed in the first place, and I'm just a grafter trying to defraud the hotel. A modern version of this might be someone claiming they had a laptop worth $5,000, when in fact no laptop ever existed. If hotels were held legally liable for these items, thieves would stop stealing laptops altogether... they'd just all go check into hotels and make false claims. The fact is, whenever you're dealing with the general public, there's no reliable way to tell the honest from the dishonest, so the legislatures in all 50 states decided to eliminate the problem altogether.
So now you're thinking, well.... I'm a Platinum/Gold/Whatever member, and my hotel company will make it right. Guess what? In nearly all cases, no they won't. There are several reasons for this. First of all, it’s not a good idea for a hotel to pay for something it has no legal liability for. The law says it's not the hotel's responsibility. If the hotel ownership chooses to make it their responsibility, they will be setting a dangerous precedent, and if word gets out that they will pay for these things, they could be setting themselves up to be ongoing victims of exactly the kind of fraud the laws were enacted to prevent. Secondly, there's the issue of larger liability. Even though hotels do not initially have legal liability, if they choose to pay $2000 or whatever for customer service reasons, they have at that point accepted liability. If it later turns out there were trade secrets on your stolen laptop that make their way to a competitor and cost you millions of dollars, the hotel would be basically screwed in a later lawsuit.
But what if you could somehow (and I don't see how) get around these larger issues, what about customer service? In the long run, it will come down to dollars and cents. It always does in any business. Here's something that complicates this: nearly every "chain" hotel in America is not owned by the company whose name is on the door. In nearly all cases, each hotel is independently owned and operated. Guess how many hotels Marriott International owns? Zero. Guess how many hotels Intercontinental Hotels (Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza) owns? Zero. This is true of every major chain.
Because of this, decisions about the value of your potential future business relative to the amount of compensation you are asking for are calculated not on the basis of the business you give to a chain, but solely on the basis of the individual hotel involved. If you’ve never stayed at my hotel before, and I have no reason to believe that I’m guaranteed enough future business from you to make back, in relatively short order, the $2000 I would have to pay you to retain your business, why would I pay you? The fact that you’ll never stay at another Hilton again doesn’t effect me or the REIT that owns my hotel and employs me one bit. In fact, given that we also own several Marriott’s, a Hyatt, and a couple of Holiday Inns in other cities, you being mad at “Hilton” could actually help us. How’s that for irony?
Incidentally, I would never say any of this out loud to either a guest or to one of my employees. But this is, in fact, the reality of the situation at ANY hotel you chose to patronize. You just don’t hear about it much, because these situations don’t occur all that often, but I’m telling you here in 100% candor, that this is the situation across the board in the hotel industry.
Here’s what will typically happen when your laptop is stolen in a hotel: the employee who you report it to and the manager on duty will show a great deal of concern, like any good customer-service person should. They will summon the police for you, fill out a report, begin an investigation, and apologize profusely. They will also help you in any way they can, allowing you to use the hotel’s computers to check your email, download and print items you need, etc. The hotel investigation will take about a day, and will most likely yield nothing. Unless you’re in some hick town somewhere, there won’t be a police investigation at all. They will take a report and that’s it. You will leave the hotel with apologies and a promise that you will be contacted by the hotel’s insurance company within a few days, but with no compensation.
A day or two later, you’ll receive a call from the insurance company’s adjuster who will explain to you that the hotel has no liability and who will deny the claim. You’ll call the hotel back looking for satisfaction, and will be politely told they’re really sorry, but once the matter is turned over to insurance, the hotel is no longer able to do anything for you. Then you’ll call the chain’s 1-800 number for guest relations, only to be told that the hotel is independently owned, and as a result the chain can’t get involved in legal matters. You might consider phone calls or letters to the Better Business Bureau or AAA or your travel agency group, but as a frequent business traveler you probably already know how toothless and ineffective those organizations are. Then you’ll contact your lawyer. If he’s at all familiar with hotel liability cases he’ll tell you to drop it and cut your losses. If he’s not, you’ll waste more time and money in filing a lawsuit only to have it dismissed in summary judgment as a matter of law. Then you’ll give up, and begin wishing you hadn’t been so cavalier about leaving your laptop unsecured in the first place.
Please, don’t let this be you…use common sense and keep your laptop safe!
Nov 18, 2005, 7:57 am
#35
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: MEM
Programs: DL Plat, HH Diamond
Posts: 177
mike5090 -- Excellent Post -- Thanks for taking the time to spell it out for all of us.
BTW -- My corporation REQUIRES us to secure our laptops with a cable any time they are unattended. Part of the document I signed when I received my laptop. Company will cover the loss if stolen with cable attached otherwise they expect me to pay for it -- since I did not attach the cable.
BTW -- My corporation REQUIRES us to secure our laptops with a cable any time they are unattended. Part of the document I signed when I received my laptop. Company will cover the loss if stolen with cable attached otherwise they expect me to pay for it -- since I did not attach the cable.
Nov 18, 2005, 8:09 am
#36
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: A Sight For Roll Eyes
Programs: :enrolleyes:+, :drôleyes:
Posts: 5,461
Originally Posted by mike5090
Wow! I can't believe the number of people who replied to this thread with something along the lines of "Secure my laptop? What do I need to do that for? I've always left it sitting on my desk in the open and always will."
With that kind of cavalier attitude, I can just about guarantee you will be the victim of laptop theft one day, and no one will compensate you... you'll be out both the money and the data.
Let me explain... I am the General Manager of an upscale, full-service hotel in a major American city. In my nearly 20-year career, I've worked for Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, and Holiday Inn affiliated hotels. And in that time, I've learned a couple of things: 1) when staying in hotels, people tend to forget that they're in a public place and consistently fail to use common sense, and 2) most members of the general public tend to believe that hotels are responsible and legally liable for things that they actually aren’t.
Do you think staying in a "nice" or "upscale" hotel will protect you? Where do you think professional laptop thieves go to ply their trade, Motel 6? Are there a lot of laptop-toting business travelers at your local Super 8 or Econo-lodge? No... these professional thieves shave, cut their hair conservatively, and put on a suit, then walk into a Hyatt or Four Seasons, look for an unattended laptop in the lobby or restaurant or a meeting room, which they will invariably find, and pick it up and walk right out the front door. They'll also stroll the hallways looking for rooms with open doors (as they're being cleaned), or patio doors that guests have not secured properly. Some of them will even have, under their suit jacket, a "feeler" shim-device which can defeat some brands of electronic door locks. Who's going to question them? They look like business travelers; they look like they belong there.
Do you think your hotel is legally responsible if your laptop gets stolen, either from your room, your car, your meeting room, or some other place where you've stupidly left it? Guess again. In all 50 states and the District of Columbia, a version of the "Innkeeper's Limited Liability Law" exists. You will find a copy of it on the back of every hotel room door in the country. Although the actual language differs slightly from state to state, what it essentially says is that hotels are not responsible for loss or damage to any of your belongings, except those which you have turned over to the hotel manager for placement in a safety deposit box or hotel safe, provided such provisions are available at the front desk, and a copy of the law is posted conspicuously. Some states allow trivial damages, like $50-$100, but most eliminate liability entirely.
There's a very good reason these laws exist. I could, in theory, go check into a hotel somewhere then a few hours later call the manager and tell him I had $20,000 worth of gold bricks in the room and they're missing. Of course, the "gold bricks" never existed in the first place, and I'm just a grafter trying to defraud the hotel. A modern version of this might be someone claiming they had a laptop worth $5,000, when in fact no laptop ever existed. If hotels were held legally liable for these items, thieves would stop stealing laptops altogether... they'd just all go check into hotels and make false claims. The fact is, whenever you're dealing with the general public, there's no reliable way to tell the honest from the dishonest, so the legislatures in all 50 states decided to eliminate the problem altogether.
So now you're thinking, well.... I'm a Platinum/Gold/Whatever member, and my hotel company will make it right. Guess what? In nearly all cases, no they won't. There are several reasons for this. First of all, it’s not a good idea for a hotel to pay for something it has no legal liability for. The law says it's not the hotel's responsibility. If the hotel ownership chooses to make it their responsibility, they will be setting a dangerous precedent, and if word gets out that they will pay for these things, they could be setting themselves up to be ongoing victims of exactly the kind of fraud the laws were enacted to prevent. Secondly, there's the issue of larger liability. Even though hotels do not initially have legal liability, if they choose to pay $2000 or whatever for customer service reasons, they have at that point accepted liability. If it later turns out there were trade secrets on your stolen laptop that make their way to a competitor and cost you millions of dollars, the hotel would be basically screwed in a later lawsuit.
But what if you could somehow (and I don't see how) get around these larger issues, what about customer service? In the long run, it will come down to dollars and cents. It always does in any business. Here's something that complicates this: nearly every "chain" hotel in America is not owned by the company whose name is on the door. In nearly all cases, each hotel is independently owned and operated. Guess how many hotels Marriott International owns? Zero. Guess how many hotels Intercontinental Hotels (Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza) owns? Zero. This is true of every major chain.
Because of this, decisions about the value of your potential future business relative to the amount of compensation you are asking for are calculated not on the basis of the business you give to a chain, but solely on the basis of the individual hotel involved. If you’ve never stayed at my hotel before, and I have no reason to believe that I’m guaranteed enough future business from you to make back, in relatively short order, the $2000 I would have to pay you to retain your business, why would I pay you? The fact that you’ll never stay at another Hilton again doesn’t effect me or the REIT that owns my hotel and employs me one bit. In fact, given that we also own several Marriott’s, a Hyatt, and a couple of Holiday Inns in other cities, you being mad at “Hilton” could actually help us. How’s that for irony?
Incidentally, I would never say any of this out loud to either a guest or to one of my employees. But this is, in fact, the reality of the situation at ANY hotel you chose to patronize. You just don’t hear about it much, because these situations don’t occur all that often, but I’m telling you here in 100% candor, that this is the situation across the board in the hotel industry.
Here’s what will typically happen when your laptop is stolen in a hotel: the employee who you report it to and the manager on duty will show a great deal of concern, like any good customer-service person should. They will summon the police for you, fill out a report, begin an investigation, and apologize profusely. They will also help you in any way they can, allowing you to use the hotel’s computers to check your email, download and print items you need, etc. The hotel investigation will take about a day, and will most likely yield nothing. Unless you’re in some hick town somewhere, there won’t be a police investigation at all. They will take a report and that’s it. You will leave the hotel with apologies and a promise that you will be contacted by the hotel’s insurance company within a few days, but with no compensation.
A day or two later, you’ll receive a call from the insurance company’s adjuster who will explain to you that the hotel has no liability and who will deny the claim. You’ll call the hotel back looking for satisfaction, and will be politely told they’re really sorry, but once the matter is turned over to insurance, the hotel is no longer able to do anything for you. Then you’ll call the chain’s 1-800 number for guest relations, only to be told that the hotel is independently owned, and as a result the chain can’t get involved in legal matters. You might consider phone calls or letters to the Better Business Bureau or AAA or your travel agency group, but as a frequent business traveler you probably already know how toothless and ineffective those organizations are. Then you’ll contact your lawyer. If he’s at all familiar with hotel liability cases he’ll tell you to drop it and cut your losses. If he’s not, you’ll waste more time and money in filing a lawsuit only to have it dismissed in summary judgment as a matter of law. Then you’ll give up, and begin wishing you hadn’t been so cavalier about leaving your laptop unsecured in the first place.
Please, don’t let this be you…use common sense and keep your laptop safe!
With that kind of cavalier attitude, I can just about guarantee you will be the victim of laptop theft one day, and no one will compensate you... you'll be out both the money and the data.
Let me explain... I am the General Manager of an upscale, full-service hotel in a major American city. In my nearly 20-year career, I've worked for Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, and Holiday Inn affiliated hotels. And in that time, I've learned a couple of things: 1) when staying in hotels, people tend to forget that they're in a public place and consistently fail to use common sense, and 2) most members of the general public tend to believe that hotels are responsible and legally liable for things that they actually aren’t.
Do you think staying in a "nice" or "upscale" hotel will protect you? Where do you think professional laptop thieves go to ply their trade, Motel 6? Are there a lot of laptop-toting business travelers at your local Super 8 or Econo-lodge? No... these professional thieves shave, cut their hair conservatively, and put on a suit, then walk into a Hyatt or Four Seasons, look for an unattended laptop in the lobby or restaurant or a meeting room, which they will invariably find, and pick it up and walk right out the front door. They'll also stroll the hallways looking for rooms with open doors (as they're being cleaned), or patio doors that guests have not secured properly. Some of them will even have, under their suit jacket, a "feeler" shim-device which can defeat some brands of electronic door locks. Who's going to question them? They look like business travelers; they look like they belong there.
Do you think your hotel is legally responsible if your laptop gets stolen, either from your room, your car, your meeting room, or some other place where you've stupidly left it? Guess again. In all 50 states and the District of Columbia, a version of the "Innkeeper's Limited Liability Law" exists. You will find a copy of it on the back of every hotel room door in the country. Although the actual language differs slightly from state to state, what it essentially says is that hotels are not responsible for loss or damage to any of your belongings, except those which you have turned over to the hotel manager for placement in a safety deposit box or hotel safe, provided such provisions are available at the front desk, and a copy of the law is posted conspicuously. Some states allow trivial damages, like $50-$100, but most eliminate liability entirely.
There's a very good reason these laws exist. I could, in theory, go check into a hotel somewhere then a few hours later call the manager and tell him I had $20,000 worth of gold bricks in the room and they're missing. Of course, the "gold bricks" never existed in the first place, and I'm just a grafter trying to defraud the hotel. A modern version of this might be someone claiming they had a laptop worth $5,000, when in fact no laptop ever existed. If hotels were held legally liable for these items, thieves would stop stealing laptops altogether... they'd just all go check into hotels and make false claims. The fact is, whenever you're dealing with the general public, there's no reliable way to tell the honest from the dishonest, so the legislatures in all 50 states decided to eliminate the problem altogether.
So now you're thinking, well.... I'm a Platinum/Gold/Whatever member, and my hotel company will make it right. Guess what? In nearly all cases, no they won't. There are several reasons for this. First of all, it’s not a good idea for a hotel to pay for something it has no legal liability for. The law says it's not the hotel's responsibility. If the hotel ownership chooses to make it their responsibility, they will be setting a dangerous precedent, and if word gets out that they will pay for these things, they could be setting themselves up to be ongoing victims of exactly the kind of fraud the laws were enacted to prevent. Secondly, there's the issue of larger liability. Even though hotels do not initially have legal liability, if they choose to pay $2000 or whatever for customer service reasons, they have at that point accepted liability. If it later turns out there were trade secrets on your stolen laptop that make their way to a competitor and cost you millions of dollars, the hotel would be basically screwed in a later lawsuit.
But what if you could somehow (and I don't see how) get around these larger issues, what about customer service? In the long run, it will come down to dollars and cents. It always does in any business. Here's something that complicates this: nearly every "chain" hotel in America is not owned by the company whose name is on the door. In nearly all cases, each hotel is independently owned and operated. Guess how many hotels Marriott International owns? Zero. Guess how many hotels Intercontinental Hotels (Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza) owns? Zero. This is true of every major chain.
Because of this, decisions about the value of your potential future business relative to the amount of compensation you are asking for are calculated not on the basis of the business you give to a chain, but solely on the basis of the individual hotel involved. If you’ve never stayed at my hotel before, and I have no reason to believe that I’m guaranteed enough future business from you to make back, in relatively short order, the $2000 I would have to pay you to retain your business, why would I pay you? The fact that you’ll never stay at another Hilton again doesn’t effect me or the REIT that owns my hotel and employs me one bit. In fact, given that we also own several Marriott’s, a Hyatt, and a couple of Holiday Inns in other cities, you being mad at “Hilton” could actually help us. How’s that for irony?
Incidentally, I would never say any of this out loud to either a guest or to one of my employees. But this is, in fact, the reality of the situation at ANY hotel you chose to patronize. You just don’t hear about it much, because these situations don’t occur all that often, but I’m telling you here in 100% candor, that this is the situation across the board in the hotel industry.
Here’s what will typically happen when your laptop is stolen in a hotel: the employee who you report it to and the manager on duty will show a great deal of concern, like any good customer-service person should. They will summon the police for you, fill out a report, begin an investigation, and apologize profusely. They will also help you in any way they can, allowing you to use the hotel’s computers to check your email, download and print items you need, etc. The hotel investigation will take about a day, and will most likely yield nothing. Unless you’re in some hick town somewhere, there won’t be a police investigation at all. They will take a report and that’s it. You will leave the hotel with apologies and a promise that you will be contacted by the hotel’s insurance company within a few days, but with no compensation.
A day or two later, you’ll receive a call from the insurance company’s adjuster who will explain to you that the hotel has no liability and who will deny the claim. You’ll call the hotel back looking for satisfaction, and will be politely told they’re really sorry, but once the matter is turned over to insurance, the hotel is no longer able to do anything for you. Then you’ll call the chain’s 1-800 number for guest relations, only to be told that the hotel is independently owned, and as a result the chain can’t get involved in legal matters. You might consider phone calls or letters to the Better Business Bureau or AAA or your travel agency group, but as a frequent business traveler you probably already know how toothless and ineffective those organizations are. Then you’ll contact your lawyer. If he’s at all familiar with hotel liability cases he’ll tell you to drop it and cut your losses. If he’s not, you’ll waste more time and money in filing a lawsuit only to have it dismissed in summary judgment as a matter of law. Then you’ll give up, and begin wishing you hadn’t been so cavalier about leaving your laptop unsecured in the first place.
Please, don’t let this be you…use common sense and keep your laptop safe!
Nov 20, 2005, 11:34 am
#38
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold, SPG Plat, Swiss Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 168
Originally Posted by dcrandall
Thanks for the info. Perhaps now I will think twice before leaving my laptop out.
Nov 20, 2005, 11:44 am
#39
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2000
Posts: 37,486
Originally Posted by dcrandall
Thanks for the info. Perhaps now I will think twice before leaving my laptop out.
If hotels are this arrogant in theft, I'm sure they won't mind me taking the TV and CD player next time I stay there, surely that too won't be covered? The game shold work both ways, and it does't...
Nov 28, 2005, 3:21 pm
#40
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: LAX
Programs: UA MM, DL DM
Posts: 419
The cable locks will keep the quick grab from occuring, but no cable will stop a determined thief. The in room safe is your best bet - you would be surprised what will fit even in the small ones.
My problem is that I don't like setting up and tearing down all the stuff so I leave mine out - cable lock is best it's getting unless I feel like I'm in a shady place.
TJ
My problem is that I don't like setting up and tearing down all the stuff so I leave mine out - cable lock is best it's getting unless I feel like I'm in a shady place.
TJ
Nov 28, 2005, 4:00 pm
#41
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: QLA
Programs: SBUX Gold
Posts: 14,507
First time around I checked my Dell 700m, and thought it didn't have a lock-hole.
Just now, I found it (it wasn't labeled like everything else... just a hole).
I always have my DND sign out, AND turn on the TV when I leave my room. This is after placing the laptop in a weird place. I just wish this new laptop (silver) was black like my old one, so it could be more easily concealed.
Just now, I found it (it wasn't labeled like everything else... just a hole).
I always have my DND sign out, AND turn on the TV when I leave my room. This is after placing the laptop in a weird place. I just wish this new laptop (silver) was black like my old one, so it could be more easily concealed.
May 20, 2007, 9:04 pm
#42
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 1
Great post Mike.
Most theft is opportunistic, the thief walks past and casually picks up you stuff, no-one notices because these people are professionals and do not stand out. As Mike said they make themselves look like they fit in.
I use a daysafe 200 when I travel, it allows me to lock my stuff in the room and secure my stuff when I'm actually travelling. I carry more than just a laptop though so I wanted something more than just a kensington cable.
I've had an entire bag stolen, containing camera, pda, cash and other misc items so I'm particularly aware that it happens.
Most theft is opportunistic, the thief walks past and casually picks up you stuff, no-one notices because these people are professionals and do not stand out. As Mike said they make themselves look like they fit in.
I use a daysafe 200 when I travel, it allows me to lock my stuff in the room and secure my stuff when I'm actually travelling. I carry more than just a laptop though so I wanted something more than just a kensington cable.
I've had an entire bag stolen, containing camera, pda, cash and other misc items so I'm particularly aware that it happens.
May 22, 2007, 3:56 pm
#43
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: DTW
Programs: NW Platinum Elite, *Wood Platinum, HHonors Diamond, Hertz PC, National Exec Elite
Posts: 1,644
I turn the TV on and put the do not disturb sign on the door. Granted, if you're having maid service this won't work, but works as a great deterrent for those evenings when you go out to get a "beverage".
May 24, 2007, 6:26 am
#44
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: MA
Programs: DL DM/2MM Marriott Platinum, HH Diamond,
Posts: 8,906
Until I read the last few posts, I was starting to think I was the only one who does nothing.
Most of my travel is in Asia and I usually stay and pretty good hotels. I tend to leave the laptop connected on the desk. Never had a problem so far.
I'm so used to doing this, I do the same when traveling in the US at Hampton Inn, Courtyards, etc.
To all of you who are more security conscious, have you ever had problems?
Most of my travel is in Asia and I usually stay and pretty good hotels. I tend to leave the laptop connected on the desk. Never had a problem so far.
I'm so used to doing this, I do the same when traveling in the US at Hampton Inn, Courtyards, etc.
To all of you who are more security conscious, have you ever had problems?
I was beginning to think that I was either stupid or very lucky... I have never taken any precautions. My laptop is usually out on the desk in plain view. Domestic hotels include Hampton Inns, Courtyards etc with international in Spain, Germany, Italy, UK, Panama, even Mexico... so far, so good.
I should state that I am not ewmployed by any company, and certainly have no particularly sensitive info on my laptop. If I had real sensitive company info, I might take more precautions.
Nov 17, 2007, 5:29 pm
#45
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2000
Posts: 15,788
Great thread! I thought I'd resurrect it to put in another positive comment for the PacSafe.
I just bought a PacSafe 55 today for my camera gear when neither room nor hotel safes are available.
At about 1 Lb. it is a bit heavy, but it securely covers the entire pack in braided steel mesh. Hopefully it will be enough to make a thief look elsewhere. ^
I just bought a PacSafe 55 today for my camera gear when neither room nor hotel safes are available.
At about 1 Lb. it is a bit heavy, but it securely covers the entire pack in braided steel mesh. Hopefully it will be enough to make a thief look elsewhere. ^