Hi,

I recently stayed at a travelodge and on m return found my room trashed. Our clothes everywhere and soaked. A hole in the wall, a toilet blocked of all our belongings etc. luckily we had another room and all stayed in there. In the morning we left and complained. We have a suspicion of who did it as there were some cocky lads on our floor but we didn't want anymore trouble just to get out of there. I have complained and heard nothing else. I have got now got a letter from cra demanding over £800 in damages.

Can I ask what rights etc i have? And have any of these ever gone to court?

I refuse to pay this for something I haven't done?

Tricky one, i have a feeling its just a speculative invoice and you dont have to pay it,

Hello and welcome to CAG.

I'll move your thread to the Civil Recoveries forum, where I see you've already posted. The forum guys should be along later.

My best, HB

What did the police say?

Just give TL the crime ref number.

But I am guessing you didn't report this?

It was only on Saturday? As nothing was stolen I didn't really know what it'd be I was reporting?

You should have reported this to Travelodge management as soon as you found this, so they could call the Police if they wanted to do so. Instead you appear to have left this to the morning, which I think is a mistake.

Did you leave the window to your room open and then left the room without closing it ? Would the window have been accessible from the someone from the outside ?

I am presuming that Travelodge checked any CCTV cameras in the corridor of the hotel, which is why I ask about the window.

Were there any problems between Travelodge and anyone who was travelling with you ?

If you or anyone travelling with you had no issues during your stay with Travelodge and would be willing to testify under oath in front of a Judge that you had nothing to do with the damage, then send a letter denying any liability for the damage.

If you left a window open while you were out, which was accessible from outside, I would check Travelodge terms and conditions. It is possible that the person who booked the room could be held liable for not securing the room, to avoid potential for loss.

No no problems that I'm award.

Travelodge will give keys out without any I'd etc and have no security standards in place at all.

I don't believe the window would be possible to be honest.

But did you actually complain or mention the unauthorised access or damage to your room to Reception or the Management when it happened?

That would surely be the most obvious thing to do. Or am I missing something?

If not, then I am not surprised that they are coming after you as the most likely cause of the damage.

But did you actually complain or mention the unauthorised access or damage to your room to Reception or the Management when it happened?

 

That would surely be the most obvious thing to do. Or am I missing something?

 

If not, then I am not surprised that they are coming after you as the most likely cause of the damage.

I agree. Who would leave reporting a trashed room until the morning ? I think Travelodge believe that you or someone in your party was responsible for the room damage and you only reported it in the morning, because you did not want to be responsible for the damage.

I think if you were taken to court, I think Travelodge would win, based on what you have said.

I agree. Who would leave reporting a trashed room until the morning ? I think Travelodge believe that you or someone in your party was responsible for the room damage and you only reported it in the morning, because you did not want to be responsible for the damage.

 

I think if you were taken to court, I think Travelodge would win, based on what you have said.

Never felt intimidated before? We just wanted to get away as quickly a possible

Never felt intimidated before? We just wanted to get away as quickly a possible

Sorry, what do you mean by this ?

If you were taken to court, what defence would you offer ? Think about this and then write back saying that you deny any liability, as your room was broken into.

Most of what we come across with these demands from Travelodge are cases of alleged smoking in rooms and the consequent speculative invoices for deep cleaning. As such we would normally advise that it would be safe to deny any liability either a. That the 'offence' never took place or b. That the amount claimed represents a penalty rather than a true estimate of any loss incurred. If Travelodge in those circumstances were to take a case to Court, they would almost certainly lose.

Your circumstances are slightly different. Travelodge will easily be able to quantify significant costs - a hole in the wall would require repair and repainting for starters. In the absence of any mitigation or explanation they may feel justified to pursue this one and on the balance of probabilities a Judge might well find in their favour. On that basis you need to try and find a way of minimising the risk of them proceeding - either with a charge against any card used for the booking, or in lodging a claim.

So, detailing any mention of damage by a third party at the time, suggesting evidence which might point to the third party (CCTV) etc is essential.

but yes getting back to what you asked

it IS a speculative invoice as it stands.

no they've not done court

and even if they did i'd bet they could

1 trace who else was there at that time staying

and the cctv etc and staff notes would point to a group causing trouble etc etc.

its a punt in the dark that they can spoof money out of you

without having to either swallow the cost

or

have the issue of going to court

and it being publicised that they allow intimidation & bullying of other guests without acting.

they'll go no-where with this they never do.

if it were me

i'd be emailing the CEO of TL stating what happened and denying you were in anyway responsible.

dx

Also exactly what CCTV or Photographic evidence have they provided to substantiate said claim with the letter you received?

I bet the answer is NO CCTV or Photographic evidence to backup the claim for said amount in the letter received with the letter/Speculative Invoice.

I find it very hard to believe that anyone seeing their room trashed and structurally damaged would just walk away. There has to be some more to this story.

Agree with Conniff :-P

I wonder if there was a disagreement between both parties...

Agree with Conniff :-P

I wonder if there was a disagreement between both parties...

It sounds like a load of lads out on the town, too p*ssed to report the damage when they came back, so the left it to the morning to report to reception.

If I were in this situation and I genuinely did not cause this damage, then I would send a letter of denial saying what I believed happened. I would get proof of posting, just in case this was ever taken near a court.

I find it very hard to believe that anyone seeing their room trashed and structurally damaged would just walk away. There has to be some more to this story.

Stu and dx thanks for the advice their. I do not know about CCTV they certainly haven't sent any. Am I able to request this?

Conniff I've asked for advice not your opinion on my case. I do not feel the need to justify to you but I shall. There were a small group of us, 5 to be exact. There were a group of like 20 lads in our corridor very intimidating 'owning' the place. Usually in these cases there is no proof so the most likely option would be they chuck both groups out. Well for my health I wasn't willing to be on the streets against 20 lads who we effectively 'grassed' on.

No one can really offer any help unless they know the full story. There is no point in saying do this or that if you can't follow through on it or something you haven't said comes back to bite you on the bum.

And I have told you the events

I do not know about CCTV they certainly haven't sent any. Am I able to request this? Yes if you want to defend this?

There were a small group of us, 5 to be exact. There were a group of like 20 lads in our corridor very intimidating 'owning' the place. Usually in these cases there is no proof so the most likely option would be they chuck both groups out. So they chose your room to trash? Out of all the others??

Well for my health I wasn't willing to be on the streets against 20 lads who we effectively 'grassed' on.

TBH I fail to see how your ever going to argue this and IMO your liable for the amount they have demanded.

You've not escalated this in the way I would have, failing to report the matter, not only to the police, but to the hotel management at the time, is IMO indicative of guilt, be it you knew the other '20' lads who caused the damage, OR the damage was caused by you/friends and have fabricated a story in order to apportion blame?

Good luck with whatever you decide to do, and if your willing to divulge the whole story then please do and effective advice can be given,

yes you can request CCTV footage, however dependent on the length of time from the incident to you requesting it, will depend entirely upon their own security data collection, some use 7 days before overriding it, other 28 or longer, so if you have a serious complaint and issue, then please get your request in ASAP.

You say 'on your return' so are you saying they broke into your room ?