Hotel gave our gift to the wrong people

[Horriblewoman]

This is incredibly outing so hi to anyone I know, you guys are amazing!

We got married recently, my best friend gave the hotel we were staying in after the wedding a very special package to put in our room which included gifts for our honeymoon.

The hotel put it in the wrong room (of another bride and groom staying there) even though she'd given them our names.

The other bride and groom took it (!!) Even though it had our name on and a card written to us.

I'm appalled at how awful the hotel dealt with this, they gave us a voucher as a replacement )for a beauty treatment which we'd both never use) and were basically like I'm really sorry but there's nothing we can do.

We'd paid for the hotel in advance so couldn't ask for a discount but is there anything else we can do? Am I just being angry for the sake of it? I'm just really sad that my beautiful friend put so much effort into something that we aren't going to enjoy because we left for our honeymoon shortly afterwards.

Why didn't the hotel ask the other guests to bring the gift back?

This. I bet the hotel never even contacted the other couple and are hoping the OP will just go away.

If the gift was consumables, it's easy to assume it's been used. (Chocolate/champagne/bubble bath etc)

But if the gift was an actual object like a bowl /ornament etc then it could be returned easily.

So what roughly is the gift?

@MaryBoBary

And anyway, surely you should be passing on the spa treatment to your friend who actually lost the money?

The friend bought a gift for op. So the friend is in the same position if op did or did not get the gift.

Why would op be passing on to friend?

Tell the hotel that you're reporting it as theft and ask for the full details as you're going to the press too.

They hate negative publicity. (I work for a huge company with a large social media presence and any media/legal threats get escalated immediately)

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g - We don't know there was a personal message on the card. Even if there was, most personal messages are insufficiently specific to mean the reader would necessarily realise it wasn't for them if they didn't read the names.

If they were prosecuted, the other couple would not have to prove that they thought the gift was for them. The prosecution would have to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the other couple knew it wasn't for them. Balance of probabilities is not enough. "They must have" is not enough.

We are dealing with a newlywed couple, who may well have thought they were the only newlyweds in the hotel and may have been tired and/or drunk at the time, entering their room to find a wedding present. That is very different to finding the present lying around in the hotel lobby. In this situation, it was reasonable for them to think the present was for them. If they said there was no name on the present and the card was missing when they got it, could the prosecution prove otherwise? If they said they hadn't read the card or the name on the present, could the prosecution prove otherwise? If the present was consumable and they said they didn't read the names until it was too late, could the prosecution prove otherwise? If they said they had read the names but, as the present had been delivered to them, assumed the names were a mistake, could the prosecution prove otherwise?

Fair enough, @prh47bridge. Tricky area for all concerned.

it does seem likely that if its NOT a consumable gift (and isn't say a load of dollars) that the other couple would return it if asked.

So make sure the hotel confirms whether they have or have not asked them if they have it.