Should she replace it? Part 2

[Langarg]

Starting the new thread ahead of hopefully having an update soon!

She’s kept it or broken it, we all know that.

Report to the police as stolen and then claim on your insurance if you can face a renewal hike. I think I’d be more inclined to buy the Boots one whilst it’s still on offer. I’d also file in the small claims court for her to pay for the replacement.

I didn’t mean CCTV in the bedrooms, I meant they could check their records and CCTV in the corridors and lobby areas on the off chance that a guest or cleaner could have taken it out of the room on show, however unlikely.

If I was the friend who had accidentally left an expensive piece of kit in a hotel room I would be frantically phoning the hotel, and when they informed me it had not been handed in but I was certain it could be nowhere else but there, I would be asking them to check their CCTV and guest records on the off chance they could find out who took it. The OPs friend has done neither and doesn’t seem too interested, which speaks volumes.

What a CF! She's no friend Op. i'd definitely only want money to buy brand new as I wouldn't trust that she'd get you a 2nd hand one.

I’m actually surprised she isn’t “going to the hotel” as I assumed the “trip” was her way out of having taken it and it miraculously appearing there upon her “visit”. So what now?

What was her reason for saying she was driving to her hotel anyway? What can a visit achieve that a phone call couldn’t?

The alternative is that she hasn’t taken it and didn’t leave it at the hotel either, but just lost it, has no idea where and got tangled up in a web of lies because saying it was left at the hotel but then stolen makes her look slightly better than just outright losing it.

OR it could all be the truth – the hotel might be a dodgy one.

I don't know any women who don't love spa days! Except me. My idea of pampering looks more like a fabulous restaurant than a beauty clinic.

She’s definitely broken it by accident but is saying all of this because she doesn’t want to pay you

Does her husband even know anything about this? He might not even know, even though he's apparently said he doesn't feel comfortable driving. My bet is he doesn't know a thing!

Of course they’re not going to let a random person have access to their CCTV. That’s just bonkers. Some of the suggestions that people come up with are beyond ludicrous.

The staff can see it though, can’t they? If something has been stolen from their premises then a crime has been committed and It is not ludicrous to suggest it’s looked at by the manager.

But they aren't going to waste the managers time for something that Op can't be 100% sure was left behind. Remember the Op wasn't the person who stayed in the hotel

And if staff were planning to acquire it, they wouldn't be daft enough to be seen walking out with it. They'd have rolled in in the towels before leaving the room or put it in a bag before leaving the premises. They aren't going to be daft enough to walkout with it on show.

Sorry if that came across harshly - it wasn't intended to - but apart from spending a huge total of money, it's also kind of admitting defeat.

As it stands, yes, shops have the product on offer, but OP doesn't need one as she already has one. Well, she will have when the 'friend' hands hers back or replaces it.

Whilst I don't think 'friend' will hand it over willingly, OP is playing this very well and is not going to let it lie; so hopefully, she will be frightened to keep the pretence up much longer and will soon have no alternative but to hand over the item or the cost of a new one (whether it's still available for £400 or has gone back up to £500 - that's 'friend's' lookout and the longer she lies, the more it might cost her).

If/when she does hand it or a replacement, over, OP will then have two of them. Plus, to such a CF as that, if she gets wind of the purchase - or if OP tells her outright and says she now needs the cash reimbursed - it will give out the clear inferred message to her that OP must be rich and now has a replacement, so she doesn't need to worry about it any longer and the matter is 'sorted'.

Or she's sold it.

That seems to happen a lot, as reported on MN: where somebody 'borrows' something and then sells it - in the hope that the lender will forget or they can bluster that the lender told them it was a gift.

What? Even if by doing so, they can avoid being implicated in a police investigation (presumably, they'd have to show the footage to the police anyway) - with the inevitable bad publicity and appalling reviews that come with that?

If they know that their staff haven't stolen it, they can easily prove it if they have footage of somebody else (likely OP's 'friend') walking out with a large box.

If it was a member of their staff, they can openly sack and prosecute that one person - rather than looking like they're covering it up and don't take customers' security seriously.

I’m not suggesting that they “let” OP have access to the CCTV, but they check it to see if the item was carried out by the CF friend or if it was removed by cleaning staff, as they might prefer to check this rather than get police involved.

Are the boxes for these hairdryers very large then? Oh, it would be so fab to get a CCTV image of the CF marching out of the hotel with the OP's 'invisible on the blue carpet' Airwrap.

I'd be tempted to send a link to this thread to the hotel and get them onside, OP

Watching in fascination,my bet is she suddenly finds it. I would be trawling her social media posts to see how glam her hair has been looking lately😜 Btw thanks for the tip they on this offer at boots I’m thinking of treating myself. (Even though bank balance screaming don’t you dare🤣)

No I completely understood that, but I'm saying if she had broken it, she wouldn't have bothered to come up with a fake story because she assumed OP wouldn't follow up or expect a replacement one. So she would've just admitted she broke it and expected OP to be OK with it.

At the moment boots have it for £399 and you get just over £60 in points too, seemed like the best deal.

I reckon a few. I looked it up, showed it to my Daughter and ended up ordering one. I think a few have ordered off this thread.

I think the advertising you’ve generated in the daily mail alone means you should be sent a new one.

Throwing it out there, you can also get 10% student discount at boots... so £360

@Langarg 3) we need to get the police involved if you genuinely did leave the airwrap in the hotel and the hotel claim it isn’t there, meaning it has been stolen’

Meh, this is pretty aggressive and I can't help but feel this behaviour has been egged on by this thread. The police are not going to care about two people squabbling over an airwrap - you're just threating to report your friend to the police.

Despite the collective wisdom of an unsilent minority on here thinking she stole it, it's just far more likely she did forget it. People just don't routinely steal from others and especially friends, especially when they have gone out of the way to help you in the first instance.

She means someone at the hotel must have stolen it.

Give her a couple more days to "find" it, request your full £500 expense again in writing then when or if she refuses, after a week, fill out the small claims form and submit it.
She's not trying to pretend she never had it, she's acknowledged that she's the one who lost it, so she'll inevitably be forced to repay you.
Your friendship is dead anyway. Might as well get your money back so you can replace your item yourself.
Do not accept a second hand or inferior product and be very clear about that. Money or an exact replacement with a proper receipt. No substitutes.

She's really made a mess....

That's not what the running narrative has been - several posters have accused OPs friend of stealing it.