Originally Posted by
Soccerdad1995
At a minimum, I would ask for receipts to document the actual cost of repairing / replacing whatever was damaged. $500 is a very arbitrary number. It sounds like a rough estimate of the damage cost.
There may not be receipts for labor if repairs were performed by inhouse staff.
Originally Posted by
Soccerdad1995
3. Small claims court. File in your home state and name the hotel GM as a defendant personally.
Soccerdad, I'm going to assume that you're not a lawyer.
1. If you're suing
the hotel and and possibly the
GM (I'll get to him in a minute), you can only file a small claim action against them in
their state. At least that's what the Small Claims Procedural Rules provide in nearly all states. It would probably be different if you were to sue SPG, but I don't see that SPG has any possible liability here based on what you've described. It would also be different if you were to file a regular civil action; which you most likely could file locally for you; but then you would be subject to formal procedural and pleading rules and the much higher filling fees.
2. The GM. Does suing the GM add anything to your case or your chances of winning? I suggest that it does not. In Small Claims, the judge is either going to agree with you or not based on what happened. Naming the GM personally doesn't change anything. And it's not like you have to name the GM personally because you need another pocket in case you win. The hotel can afford to pay whatever you win. The hotel and the GM will be represented by the same lawyer. And if you win, the hotel is going to pay you. The GM isn't going to pay anything out of his/her pocket. Naming the GM personally may well require him/her to appear in court personally. That doesn't do anything to increase your chances of winning. If this is about recovering your $500, then don't bother. If this is about revenge for your inconvenience, then that's a different story. Generally, courts don't like revenge litigation.
More to the point, perhaps, is the fact that the GM has no personal liability. Anything which s/he did was in his/her capacity as GM (an employee) of the hotel and not as a private person.
Respondeat superior will get rid of any personal claim against the GM in a flash.