Crisis Averted... Barely

[Draft Guitar]

Backstory

Going to beach for a 4 day vacation. Which guitar to take? Nothing too expensive, but something really good. IRIS DF Smeck it is!

Where things went sideways

Last day, checkout time is 11:00 am. At 9:30 am I go to the lobby to get a luggage cart. Pack up luggage cart to take to car. I leave the guitar in the room along with a few other items to carry by hand once I'm ready to check out. I didn't want my guitar falling off of the already crowded luggage cart, trying to be careful.

Upon returning from the car, I turn the corner in the hotel hallway to see my guitar case upside down in a trash can in the hallway! The door to my room was open and there were two people cleaning the room. I had to take a minute to calm down before I even tried to communicate with the two morons. Unfortunately neither spoke more than a few words of English, nor did they speak Spanish which I can communicate in. I had not checked out of my room yet.

In addition to my guitar being in a trash can upside down, my $150 sunglasses and a Camelbak water bottle were in a bag full of garbage. I had to fish through garbage to get them out.

If I had been about 5 minutes longer returning from the car my guitar might have been gone forever!

Yes, I did inform the hotel management in a very professional way. They didn't seem to think it was that big of a deal until I told them the value of the guitar, well, they still didn't seem to care very much.

I will never get the image of my guitar upside down in a trash can out of my head.

[rllink]

That is crazy. It would seem obvious the room was still occupied.

[llew]

Think I would go over local management's heads to the owner if not a corporate property. That being said help is very hard to come by and people are hiring "pulses" these days to try to get it done. Not condoning this action by any means...just trying to understand it? Who puts a guitar in the trash? Surely this property must have had a "lost & found" somewhere? Crazy...

[RFtinkerer]

Yikes, that's scary, I can't believe they'd just dump a guitar. At least lost and found if they thought you were gone (who would leave without that though??)

I'm about to check out of a hotel myself. The GS mini is staying on my back to the car, lol.

[Mark Stone]

That’s insane. Especially 90 minutes before checkout time. People need to be canned.

[KenL]

"I will never get the image of my guitar upside down in a trash can out of my head."


I can picture that in my head too, although it pains me to do so. I'm guessing that those pricey items would have ended up in the trunk of someone's car rather than the dumpster.

Glad it ended with no lasting harm done, though.

[rule18]

Wow! I've never had that happen in a hotel, but I can imagine your level of frustration. I hope you took pictures so you can extol the virtues of that particular hotel and staff to whomever you see fit.

I bet you can't wait for the inevitable "tell us how we did" email. LOL.

[Rick Jones]

Definitely cause for complaint and make sure it’s mentioned in reviews.

Any hotel that has your contact details yet would dispose of expensive items rather than try and reunite you with them doesn’t deserve customers. Likewise customers parting with their money deserve better.

Staggering, if I’m honest.

[J Patrick]

Originally Posted by rllink

That is crazy. It would seem obvious the room was still occupied.

…I wonder if they were gonna throw your Iris in the dumpster?…..or maybe the hotel trash compactor?….crazy!?!?!?….

[Jamolay]

Wow, just wow. Even if a guitar wasn’t involved it would be enough to piss you off, drive away any business and give than a devastating review.

I would expect a phone call if I even just forgot the sunglasses in my room.

Yikes!

Glad nothing was lost, stolen or damaged.

[High_Colorado]

VERY HAIR RAISING STORY!!! that is on of those "O M G - W H E W!!!!!" moments. In 10 years you will look back and probably laugh and wish you had snapped a picture.

[dnf777]

Wow. Language would not have been a barrier to the message I would have had!

I doubt those items were bound for the dump. Just plausible storage until they could see you leaving.

[catndahats]

Please tell me that afterwards you woke up and it was just a bad dream.
Beach town, not English nor Spanish, chain hotel???

Personally, I'd probably be writing that story from jail..

A miracle you got your guitar etc...back,
Seriously

[Guitars44me]

Scary!!! I guess the lesson to be learned is NEVER leave the axe behind.

Glad you are still the happy owner of an Iris Smeck!

Cheers

Paul

[theghostwriter]

Wow...they really wanted you out