The slippers aren't the problem. Obviously, slippers that someone else has already worn should be thrown away so it would be OK to take those if for some reason they wanted to keep them. In my humble opinion they only got charged for them because they proved themselves a thief when they took a cloth laundry bag and cloth shoe bag. Once you steal from somebody, they get angry and look for little ways to get revenge. On the other hand, to charge someone $80 for a laundry bag and shoe bag is itself stealing, so both parties are guilty as far as I'm concerned. It seems like luxury hotels are always looking for ways to rip people off with bogus fees for such thing as internet, fake "resort" fees, etc. but charging $80 for a couple of two buck cloth bags is a little slimy.

I wouldn't have stolen the bags in the first place but if I had accidentally taken them away, I would return them by some mail or parcel service that provides delivery confirmation. I would then dispute the charge with the credit card company. I don't know if it would work because I've never actually removed an entire laundry bag -- I like to pack light! -- but it seems like it should unless the real intention was to rob the customer rather than discourage theft.

If businesses really do sanitize slippers (or headphones for that matter), ugh. I already won't use the headphones.