I have just received a letter from Civil Recovery Solutions claiming that damage was done to a room at the Travelodge which I stayed in on New Years Eve. Me and my friends are pretty chilled out and not stupid whilst intoxicated and I know there were other people in the room who we were chatting to throughout the night who were staying in other rooms.

Basically the bed was jumped on and broken and coffee and sugar was thrown around the room, and I know I had no part in this, but as the room was in my name, I am being fined £500.73 for 'Damage to bed and electrical socket' and 'soiled walls and carpet'

I was not even aware there was an electrical socket broken, altho was aware of the other damage, altho am 100% certain it wasnt me and have been told by my friends that it wasnt them, which I believe as they are honest and would admit wrongdoing.

Do I have a leg to stand on here? Any help would be appreciated

Your room and you are responsible for it. The hotel chain will have CCTV on each corridor and they should be able to check whether any one went in the room after you left.

They will check the cctv, if they can't see anyone else in your room. You will be responsible and liable for the bill of repairs

you have a 'speculative invoice'

its NOT A FINE

it has no standing in law nor ANY law backing it whatsoever.

up to you really.

dx

what would you suggest, what are my options? thanks for the input btw

Travelodge terms and cons state-

"You must not damage or interfere with any items belonging to us. If you do so we will terminate your booking. We will instruct a third party to contact you after your stay to recover the costs for any repair, replacement or specialist cleaning we incur if you damage our hotel or property. If you request it, we will send a breakdown of these costs to the address used for the booking."

By agreeing to a bookin you agree to these terms and you have broken them.

"You must not damage or interfere with any items belonging to us. If you do so we will terminate your booking. We will instruct a third party to contact you after your stay to recover the costs for any repair, replacement or specialist cleaning we incur if you damage our hotel or property. If you request it, we will send a Breakdown of these costs to the address used for the booking."Do you work there then???????????????

personally myself i didnt break them, but i see what your getting at, is there anymore i can do, or just pay the fine and accept it?

I would guess as DX says above and ignore it?

if you were the one who booked the room then its you who agreed to the terms and conditions. travelodge are known to use the county courts to reclaim the damage costs. you need to speak to them and see if they,ll accept a lower fiqure

normally they would charge it to your card if you have enough credit

would a judge see it as a speculative invoice. damaged caused company had to replace and repair. travelodge did in fact suffer a loss

lets just be clear, i did not recommend you ignore it

rather, just be clear upon 'what' it actually IS

that being it is NOT a fine.

you really need to all get together and talk about it , else

you COULD see yourself in court.

however

thats not to say the figure they are asking for is 'correct'

and not negotiable

dx

Ok... I'll bite:

Travelodge terms and cons state-

 

"You must not damage or interfere with any items belonging to us. If you do so we will terminate your booking. We will instruct a third party to contact you after your stay to recover the costs for any repair, replacement or specialist cleaning we incur if YOU damage our hotel or property. If you request it, we will send a breakdown of these costs to the address used for the booking."

 

By agreeing to a bookin you agree to these terms and you have broken them.

According to this, you're ok as long as YOU didn't do the damage. But i'm sure Travelodge will have a different definition of 'YOU'.

which is why they did not run it on the debit/credit card they swipe upon taking the keys?

we have had a few of these before.

dx

Normally the problem with Travellodge is about smoking - where it is difficult to prove, the client absolutely denies that they smoked in the room etc and Travelodge offers no proof about the smoking or any justification for the bill.

This is rather different because I expect that there will be photos and a proper estimate for repairs.

If the rook was in your name then contractually you are obliged to hand the room back in good condition. If wasn't in good condition then I think that you are probably liable.

What you should do is to write to Travelodge and ask them for photos and the estimate for repairs. Tell them that you want to see two estimates and details of any losses that they have suffered.

You had better then discuss it with your friends and see whether together you are prepared to put your hands up and settle the reasonable bill.

Keep copies of all correspondence - don't dop anything on the phone.

You can fully expect that maybe as much as half of the bill is a commission to Civil Recovery.

The position I would take is to say that there was no need to bring in Civil Recovery. If they had written you a letter in the first instance outlining the damage with a properly estimated bill, then you would have paid it.

It would only have been necessary to bring in Civil Recovery if you had caused problems paying for the damage. You are only required to pay for Travelodge's reasonable losses and it seems to me that bringing in Civil Recovery from the start is not a reasonable thing to do. Travelodge have a duty to mitigate their losses and they may not have done so.

As you have been advised, watch your card because we have heard instances of people merely having their card details debited. You should inform your bank - in writing - not to pay out anything to Travelodge. If anything is taken then complain in writing to your bank ASAP and insist on a chargeback - or better still inform them that this is an unauthorised payment and that you want immediate refund under the FSA rules.

Thanks for the input guys, appreciate it

Any update with this? I have suffered similar x

Hotel beds nowadays tend to be expensive items