WWYD: Sounds trivial but theft of make up from hotel room

[EdinaMonsoon]

Long weekend break away in a hotel. En route to destination I bought a couple of new makeup products (specifically a CC Cream & skin illuminator). Both were premium products (each worth circa £50). This afternoon I noticed that approximately a fifth of the illuminator had gone. There’s no way I could have used that much. I have applied it twice since purchase and For reference, this product usually lasts me 18 months. Have come back from a night out to find that now half of the illuminator has gone and the CC cream is almost empty.

Since we have been out of the room, it’s clear that the cleaning team/turndown service has been in. So my only conclusion is that it was taken by them. On the face of it, it might seem petty but WIBU to raise it with the hotel? We’re talking about close to £75 of product being taken and the purchase was a rare treat for me.

We were staying in a lovely hotel near London for 3 days. On the last day I realised they had changed my new phone charger for a damaged one with exposed wire. I know it was exchanged as mine was in pristine condition as it was barely a few weeks old. The damaged one also had black marks on. I complained but nothing came of it.

Since then I lock everything of value in my suitcase including chargers. I keep all cosmetics and perfumes in pouches and then put them in my suitcase when the room is vacant.

This reminds me of a time when I was on a hen do in a 5* hotel in Thailand (I lived in Hong Kong at the time). Sharing a room with another woman who called me afterwards to ask if I had mistakenly picked up her Bobbi Brown brushes and makeup palette. I’ve just realised what must have happened to them.

That’s very kind of you. But if I had remembered to take my things out of that bedside drawer when I left, they would never have had the opportunity.

I remember hearing a woman at a hotel saying she left her jumper in her room when she checked out. One of the staff went to check and said there were no personal items left in the room. I have just realised that a member of staff must have taken it.

You were going through a huge loss. People forget things when life is peachy so please let yourself off the hook. The only person who is at fault is the person who stole your items 🌷

We got off a plane once last, hadn't even got to passport control when we remembered my phone was in the overhead locker - the customer service woman called them but apparently nothing had been found - it was within 5 mins ...... was bloody furious

I had food stolen once. I had little money at the time and had gone for a few nights at a budget hotel. I’d bought a pack of pastries, exactly the right amount for each breakfast. Came back the first evening to find one missing. Reception couldn’t have been less interested. Maybe I should have been more compassionate, the cleaner was hungry perhaps, but I was also working as a cleaner at the time so presumably on similar wage and I just couldn’t believe someone would dare to help themselves to someone else’s food. As other posters have said, now I put everything in safe, including chargers, medication, sunglasses, etc just in case.

The hotel is still going strong 12 years on. Like I said my experience was the right decision for me and just to note I wasn't rolling in it at the time.

This happened to my SIL in Turkey, loads of her expensive creams were decanted and stolen. She had the same happen to her in Cuba with shampoo too.

She's got expensive taste.

My boss left her brand new I-phone at the hotel when we were working in London. It was so new that the plastic protector was still on it. She nipped back on the tube to get it and it was gone. She reported it to the hotel and they said her room had been accessed but they ‘trusted their staff’.

I've actually just remembered someone I knew who worked at Gatwick, her job was to clean planes after flights. The amount of stuff she used to find on planes was unbelievable. Bags of brand new clothes, expensive perfume, lots of phones, ipods, jewellery, handbags, watches, even bags of cash.
I'll be honest - it was very much seen as a perk of the job to keep this stuff and it was an open secret that everyone did it, including the managers. In fact one manager who was trying to get her into bed even gave her some of "his" jewellery and she thought it was sweet of him 😂

So yeah... don't ever expect to get back anything you leave on a plane!!

That could have been another passenger, not necessarily staff.

In a weekend?

I never ever ask for my room.to be cleaned ever.
I collect new beddings and towels if needed from front desk .
Even safes can be opened

You wouldn’t find bed linen or towels at the front desk of any hotel I stay in. Nor has anything ever gone missing from my room.

Mauritius is rife. 5star hotel and the safe was open and missing passports and jewellery. My passport at the time was of a less popular EU state than Britain and was left behind. Somehow, passports were found under the bed mattress (😤) but jewellery was not when we called the police and threaten with international incident due to a job. Never stepping foot there again.
Also, Thailand 5 star again but that was only creme de la Mer in its packaging and duty free sealed bag in my suitcase (present for someone dear) at its height of fashion. It was never recovered and was accused of being rude for accusing them.

Some hotels are rife with theft from employees.

Airline put a group of us in a hotel on a flight that had been rerouted, and I noticed some housekeeping staff hanging around the hallway.

I walked down the hallway to the buffet but something just told me to turn around and I did and I walked back and there was one of those housekeepers in my room and I said very loud and rudely, can I help you with something?

And then she went out and got some sort of a dining card or something and brought it in and set it on the table like she was actually doing something but I know she was going to sift through my luggage and steal, and I imagine they were doing that to the other people.

We were perfect targets an unexpected overnight and gone the next morning.

More likely the housekeeping staff used your expensive cream as a quick squirt of hand cream or body lotion rather than decanting it which would take time and forethought. I always lock up my makeup and perfume in my suitcase as I have a bit of a horror of someone using my mascara and me getting an eye infection.

I was in a hotel and everyday something tiny was taken
Charging cable
Toothbrush (day 1 and a PITA)
Tiny travel toothpaste
1 HRT patch
Possibly other stuff that I didn't even notice.
It was bizarre

Never leave anything out anymore or even use the hotel safe..
In Turkey (Istanbul) I left 2000£ in the safe. All in 50s. The safe wouldn't open when we got back from a trip.. we called maintenance and my nice new notes were all random and moved about.. none missing I guess they thought it was too obvious as the bundles were marked.. complaining was no good.. the manager said if I wasn't happy I should leave so we did.
Egypt Sharm el Sheikh my partner lost shirts/shorts/tshirts/sunglasses..
Bodrum Turkey- brand new phone charger replaced with a dirty old one
London- a 1/3 full bottle of Penhaligons perfume..
My friend went for a massage at a very upmarket place in Cheshire.. she was asked to remove her jewellery placed in a little dish in the room.. after massage her 7k engagement ring was missing.. magically turned up when my friend went to reception to complain. There are a lot of thieves about. I believe they decanted into a small pot and took it. Sorry OP you should complain though. Just so they know and leave a review so other people are aware of risks.

These stories are harrowing ! I think I don't travel with anything of value because I've never had issues 😅I don't even have an iPhone charger lol. In Barcelona once the safe was opened when I came back to my room but nothing was taken oddly, there was about 50 E so it might have been too obvious if some was taken.

Btw for those saying someone wouldn't decant something, I have a pack of 100 mini pots from Amazon that I decant my own products (ahem) for trips, it's very easy.

Left my new earpods, in a case, in the seat pocket on the plane. I was one of the last off the pane and in a window seat. Called the airline that evening, nothing found! I even chose the same seat for return trip in case they were still there. Unfortunately not. From reading above, its pretty clear they were taken. As they were switched off the "find my airpods" thing didn't work. I marked them as lost on apple so not sure they would even work for someone else. It was my own fault for being forgetful, but still annoying.

I had a nice new bra stolen from my hotel room in california. So annoying.

@EdinaMonsoon did you report it to the hotel and what was the outcome?

As a 17 year old I worked in a hotel as a chambermaid and was paired with an older girl who intimidated me. She was constantly trying on make up and stealing. I was too scared to say anything so I just left the job.