Nhilar

Meh, I'd rather improve conditions for everyone than be a compliant sheep. To each thier own.

Finkface

I probably could if I understood it.

bitterproffit

Nhilar

I always latch the door when I am in the room - a couple of instances of rooms being double rented taught me that lesson, and I have also unintentionally (they gave me an occupied room) walked in on occupied rooms before...a broken door is 100% unacceptable - one of the basic requirements of a hotel room is a space that locks.

Adam1222

I'm curious whether the door was "faulty" or the OP just didn't pull it all the way shut and is blaming the door. I've made that mistake at hotels before, and it's not a "fault" of the door-- it's a user error.

COSPILOT

That is my understanding, in that the door didn't latch without a little push, or a "punch" as the OP calls it. None of my doors auto close, and the automated locks are worthless if the door isn't completely shut.

SkiAdcock

Agree 100%/

Again, should the OP have checked the door. Sure. More importantly, should the hotel have made sure up front the door was secure or not assigned the same room twice? Absolutely.

But - In what universe are FTers saying it's ok for the hotel to have doors that don't close/lock, etc properly & then blame the OP. You all absolutely blow my mind. And remind me why newbies don't stay on FT. Shame on you. Shame on you all.

If I had woken up in bed w/ someone next to me (not my one night stand, significant other or spouse), I'd be doing more than just posting on FT.

Those of you who are taking the holier than thou stance, give me a break. For crikey's sake, FTers moan & groan about minor things & expect points. And yet you give the hotel a pass on something major. SMH.

Cheers.

Adam1222

I think there's a difference between "shaming" and wanting clarity, and your rant seems unnecessary.
It really isn't clear the hotel did something wrong at all. I agree that this is a terrible experience, but a door that requires pushing closed rather than just letting it slam isn't "faulty."
If the lock mechanism was broken, of course, that would be a different story. Unfortunately, hyperbole like yours often obscures the details -- which do matter.
Again, no one is disputing this was horrible and perhaps traumatic. But the OP came asking one specific question: how much compensation should I get. And the answer depends on whether the OP just didn't push the door closed, or whether there was an actual "fault" with the door.

EuropeanPete

smmrfld

I sincerely hope you feel better after that rant, but casting shame on those who may have a different viewpoint than you is really quite poor form. SMH indeed.

storewanderer

It would be nice for them to comp the night. It would be a nice gesture and it is only one night.

Of course you did not know the door was faulty beforehand. You were not paying attention. If you had noticed the faulty door beforehand, I am sure you would have checked it and complained or something. You assumed the door functioned properly. This is a reasonable assumption but I am telling you this is a really common problem.

The important thing here is you learned something. You never should have trusted hotel doors in the first place. It may sound silly in retrospect but looking back on this situation at a later date, you will realize you were naive in the first place to trust the hotel door would latch. Similar to how I was naive in my early 20's in trusting hotel doors latch properly in an exterior corridor rural property (not branded) in the US and leaving for work in the morning and returning to the room that evening to find the door was STILL not latched properly and to find my suitcase was gone (they left my groceries...). In taking to the team I was with, others had similar experiences in the past at various properties. First thing I did was repeat the process I did in the morning: went to door and walked out behind it as it was closing... it didn't latch. I complained to the hotel that someone went into my room, they checked key logs etc. saying nobody entered. I also had the do not disturb stuck in the key card slot... declining maid service. Do I suspect the maid or a hotel employee? Maybe. But it was MY FAULT I did not properly check the door was closed as I left. I did not ask for nor did I receive ANY compensation. State law dictated the hotel had zero liability for anything I left in the room anyway.

So again, you learned something here. You learned you need to check hotel doors before you exit and after you enter. These doors malfunction more often than you'd think. Also why didn't you use the security latch/deadbolt while you were in the room? Again, another lesson for you.

Frankly I am glad I just lost a suitcase and some clothes. I got off easy aside from the cost and inconvenience. Your situation with someone entering your room could have been a very bad situation for you. I am confident in the future you will check the doors, latches, and use the deadbolt. You learn these things as you have situations when traveling. Nobody said learning is easy.

You are in an unknown location and unknown geography in a hotel. Many people are going in and out and you have no idea who anyone is. To only use the deadbolt to keep cleaning staff out, well, frankly you need to re-evaluate your logic. Cleaning staff walking in on you is the least of your concerns (as you know now).

You also know hotels sometimes issue keys to people for your room, right? Like, they make this mistake where they check new guests into a room that they checked you into six hours ago? This is a fairly common thing across all brands. I've walked in on checked in guests before and it is really embarrassing... again I did not ask for any compensation but I did some lecturing to the employee because you never know what you may walk into and these hotels need to be better about not making key card programming mistakes.

Bottom line: use the deadbolt in the future. It would have avoided this whole mess.

storewanderer

Unfortunately in some businesses, particularly retail, this is a true statement. You can complain about something but the business actually needs to give some form of compensation for the complaint in order to force some sort of action (such as writing up an employee). For instance: customer complains about bad service in large chain grocery store; employee cussed at customer or something; customer complains to main website; store manager calls customer and offers the complaining customer a $50 gift card. If complaining customer does not take the gift card, store manager cannot write the employee up. Why? Some sort of company rule. The fact that a customer complained, audio surveillance of the cash register area verified the employee cursed at the customer, and store issued customer a $50 gift card makes for a stronger write up.

Now take that to hotels. I am a customer at a hotel and the hotel fails to give me my entitied "gold breakfast." Hotel says they do not participate, instead offering me a free drink at the lobby bar on my arrival night. General Manager who's name may start with "S" never appears anywhere but on Trip Advisor reviews or "over the phone to staff" supposedly refuses to speak to me. Hotel may or may not be a large resort North of Phoenix, AZ. Anyway, I complain to Hilton corporate. Hilton corporate gives me 10,000 points "for the trouble." They charge back the hotel for those points and the fact that they had to compensate me goes against that hotel's "record" with Hilton. Had I not been compensated, it just goes "to the circular file."

COSPILOT

I'm active on Nextdoor, and I live in a fairly nice area. Not a week goes by that someone says something about leaving a purse or wallet in an unlocked car outside, but terribly upset that it was stolen. Probably teenagers taking advantage of an unlocked car. We all forget at times, but it's a good reminder to secure everything. OP, if the other person was still alive after I kicked the crap out of them, I would have called the police. Points or a free night wouldn't be my primary concern. Since doors don't always close completely on their own, and it isn't practical for a hotel to confirm every door on a daily round, I'm not sure what you think. Again, police would be my first choice, not FT.

But welcome to FT.

Nhilar

Exactly, well said.

trooper

What I don't understand is ...if the experience was so traumatic....how (ANY level of) compensation would "make one whole". Difficulty sleeping etc because of this experience? A reluctance to stay in hotels? So..how are free nights at hotels going to help? Shouldn't the OP consult a professional in the appropriate field?