Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think hotels shouldn't invoice you for the toiletries?

189 replies

frangipani13 · 25/05/2015 19:46

Booked a weekend away for Dsis and DN for the former's birthday treat. DN must've got a bit carried away and took the mini shower gel/moisturiser home with her. B and B have left me a voice mail and sent an invoice for £44 quoting "stolen items" and threatening legal action if the invoice is unpaid. I've stayed in many many places of varying quality and have never experienced this. Has anyone else? AIBU to think this is a bit much?

OP posts:
TheChandler · 26/05/2015 13:56

Bleurgh, the idea that people have to be reminded not to steal larger items from hotels/b&bs, otherwise its the hotel's fault.

Can't stand stealing.

PrivatePike · 26/05/2015 13:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 26/05/2015 13:58

The single use bottles in Holiday Inn are about £50 plus p&p in bulk buy. I love them. I don't like Duck Island stuff.

It doesn't really matter what the cost is to the hotel/b&b - non-single use bottles are to remain. If you don't steal them, you won't be charged for them.

I really do feel for the OP; this was a horrible and unnecessary thing to happen.

frostyfingers · 26/05/2015 14:01

Well since I'd never heard of Duck Island stuff (obviously don't get out enough) I googled them and boy it is expensive:

£66.00 for 250ml of Bath & Shower Gel

so perhaps the request for £44 wasn't as outrageous as I first thought. A 250ml bottle is quite big and actually I'm not surprised they asked for money even if you felt the method was a bit over the top. Perhaps their response could have been more tactful, but if it hadn't been taken then it wouldn't have happened....

MixedMessages · 26/05/2015 14:02

Which are these hotels that have large bottles in the bathrooms? I stay in different hotels pretty much every week and apart from a couple where they had glass/earthenwear pots I have never seen anything other than bottles that are for single guest use

halcyondays · 26/05/2015 14:04

The £66 is for a case of twenty. Less than £4 a bottle.

SirChenjin · 26/05/2015 14:04

You won't actually be charged for £44 - they can invoice, and you can choose to pay, send back or ignore. It costs more to pursue legal claims for small amounts than it does to simply replace the shampoo and move on.

woodhill · 26/05/2015 14:10

when we have gone to a hotel I would use the small toiletries and take any left overs away as they would not be used again by another guest and thrown away.

when we went to a hotel recently there were larger size toiletries so obvious to me to leave them.

HereNotThere · 26/05/2015 14:13

The hotel was a it heavy handed with the worded but to be fair the shampoo had been stolen. Confused

I don't think they deserve a bad review.

I'd just send the items pack with an apology and forget about it. Like the OP said nobody died.

SirChenjin · 26/05/2015 14:21

Possibly a lesson learned for the hotel - smaller bottles are a)far nicer for guests than using old plastic bottles that have been hanging about in a wet shower area for who knows how long, b)don't cause any confusion amongst 13 year olds, and c)allow the staff to spend their time more constructively as opposed to sending out pointless letters with empty threats.

WhereYouLeftIt · 26/05/2015 14:21

OP, I do hope that if you do give them a bad review online, you are completely honest and state that your niece took the large bottles, not minis. Let people have the full facts, don't be selective. I know that if someone put a bad review online stating they'd taken the 250ml bottles home and then been miffed to be invoiced for them, I'd actually think more of the establishment, not less.

Hotels shouldn't have to nail everything down or put signs up stating the bleeding obvious asking guests not to steal Sad.

OnlyLovers · 26/05/2015 14:28

Lying, I don't steal either, thanks very much. The 'good for you' in my post is not about me doing so, or thinking stealing is OK Hmm. What a strange conclusion to come to.

It refers, as is pretty clear from my post, to the OP suggesting politely that they have a sign in the B&B to clarify their position on toiletries, and saying that a letter threatening legal action is very heavy-handed as a first resort. The staff member agreed, too.

Even with VAT and a courier this B&B are stretching a point to ask for £44 for two bottles of stuff back.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 26/05/2015 14:34

SirChenjin... Why do hotels/b&b's need to put in these safeguards? I quite like having small bottles but prefer the larger ones. I use the product and leave the bottle, it would never occur to me to do anything else.

OP says her niece knew what can/can't be taken so that's not a valid excuse nor should it cause confusion.

Perhaps the hotel should 'name and shame' then? I know they wouldn't but honestly, the number of people who think that this is ok. I think the invoice is fair, I wouldn't even give the option to return the bottles and I'm not sure that this one did. OP should hand that over to her sister to pay, not pay it herself.

It's not pointless to recover property. Decent people would accept that product shouldn't have been taken and make payment for it. For those that don't, well, if it achieves nothing more than making sure thieves don't return, it's well worth it.

MissDemelzaCarne · 26/05/2015 14:35

Your poor DN, topping up bottles of toiletries is really minging!

cuntycowfacemonkey · 26/05/2015 14:35

Signs asking guests not to steal is a bit much it should be obvious. At the last hotel I stayed at there was a little note saying guests were more than welcome to take home their bathrobes for a fee of £50. A much nicer way of saying if you're going to take stuff we're going to charge you!

cuntycowfacemonkey · 26/05/2015 14:38

I really hope the OP doesn't leave them a bad review. I mean really what can she say "My niece took something she wasn't supposed to and hotel charged us for it"

Mind you I love a snarky trip adviser review generally speaking the daft ones would never put me off staying somewhere and it's always good entertainment to see what non issues people get their knickers in a knot about.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 26/05/2015 14:39

Only... I didn't say you did steal; nor did I infer the 'good for you' as anything other than what it was - congratulating the OP for telling the receptionist how things should be (at the hotel her cognisant niece stole from). I got it.

Hotel has asked for payment of the invoice, not for the return of the bottles (that I can see). How would they know that said bottles wouldn't be returned tampered with? I wouldn't take them back. If I were the sister though, I'd pay the invoice, not argue with my hotel-booking sister who did a kind thing - and niece would send an apology and use the products until finished. If I were the niece I would feel ashamed.

grovel · 26/05/2015 14:39

Did they nick the Gideon's Bible too? If so, they might want to read the Ten Commandments.

kali110 · 26/05/2015 14:41

I agree with lying and where.
Why do hotels need a sign up telling people not to steal? Most people would know large bottles are not to be taken.
I think giving bad reviews are unfair when it was the neice that had stolen.
Don't think the hotel have done anything wrong, their stuff should not have been stolen.
For people moaning that the stuff could be that expensive, my shampoo&conditioner of that size is £15, and £25 for the 500ml.

kali110 · 26/05/2015 14:43

I think it's very unfair this happened when op did something so nice

SuperFlyHigh · 26/05/2015 15:08

Onto the 'stealing' of toiletries - to be honest I don't often bother now unless they're naicer ones... like Molton Brown etc... often I don't take them unless I actually need/want them either!

My SIL whenever she stays in naice hotels nabs their stuff I recall some Malin Goetz etc and had quite a collection at one point.

I wouldn't even call it necessarily stealing I'd guess a lot of the bigger hotels factor in this cost and either factor it into the room price or don't.

LyingWitchInTheWardrobe2726 · 26/05/2015 15:20

The small bottles for guests' use can be taken and those are built into the costs of hiring the room, any room.

TrulyTurtles · 26/05/2015 15:23

I might know someone who stayed at a v. Posh chain. The linen cupboard was next to her door, was left open and the cctv was blocked by open door. She nicked quite a bit of linen.
I was "you fucking WHAT?!?" When she told me. Thieving cow.

OnIlkleyMoorBahTwat · 26/05/2015 15:28

I've stopped taking mini hotel toiletries when I realised that I hardly ever use them and don't really like the bottles anyway as you usually can't get the product out easily.

I have my own set of 100 ml bottles with squeezy lids that I use for swimming and holidays so generally prefer to fill and use them instead.

I will take or eat the biscuits and hot chocolate if it is in anyway 'posh'. Has to be a nice shortbread, Border biscuit or similar. If the biscuits are bog standard custard cream or similar, that really is a disappointment that I would judge the place harshly on.

SuperFlyHigh · 26/05/2015 15:36

ah Lying that's a relief then...

I wouldn't steal the bigger bottles either but I am a bit Hmm as to why on earth a B&B or hotel would do this re larger bottles - as others say this is quite unhygienic at best - I personally wouldn't like to know someone else has touched the bottle or tampered with the contents in any way...