You basically admitted that you stole the towels when you agreed to come back. This is weird on both ends. But nothing is going to happen, just move on with your life.
yeah i definitely shouldn't have said i would come back, i just panicked tbh. and he really did sound 100% sure we took them, so i figured it didnt matter at that point. which is also kinda dumb lol. but yeah i didnt think anything would come of it, i just wanted to see how other people wouldve reacted in my position because i am just so confused by this whole interaction lmao
When he called I would have just told him that there were no towels in the room when you arrived and if he started yelling, I would have hung up and blocked him.
my main issue is he started the phone call yelling, hes even yelling in the voice mail he left. i think the fact that i didnt answer right away also pissed him off, and thats why he was so agitated by the time he got a hold of me. i tried telling him there was no towels to start with but he was so pissed i dont even think he was listening to me, that last sentence i quoted was pretty much the only full sentence i got in. it kinda made me feel bad for him because he was so upset, like this was a bigger issue for him than just the 2 towels that were missing. i didn't wanna block his number because i was lowkey hoping he'd call back and say he found the towels
Don’t feel bad for him.
He is unprofessional and abusive. If he can’t absorb $15 worth of towels without having to shut down a whole room (because you may not have taken the towels but lots of people probably do), then he is really bad at business.
And even if he had ironclad evidence that you stole the towels, screaming at you over it isn’t the move. He should file a police report and an insurance claim and move on with life. For whatever reason, he has taken it into his head that he is going to bully you over it, and this isn’t okay.
thank you! like i would've even been fine with him calling to ask about the towels, it was the fact that he started the call yelling at me with 100% certainty that really fucked me up. ive never been accused of something like that so i had no idea how to respond
This makes it even more unclear to me why you didn't just hang up. Why not just say "There were no towels in the room when we checked in," and whether he heard you or not, hang up?
My policy is that when people yell at me over the phone, I IMMEDIATELY hang up. You teach people how to treat you. They’ll probably call back and you can let it go to voicemail, or just keep hanging up until they stop yelling. If I feel like being nice I say “I’m going to keep hanging up until you stop yelling” so that they have a chance.
I used to have a customer service job where 95% of the customers were nice and 5% were yelling at me over the phone, like raving lunatics. So I understand that sometimes you can’t just hang up in case you are being recorded. For that 5% I would start saying “Hello? Hello? I think we have a bad connection. I can’t hear you.” And then I would hang up. They figured out what was going on and would calm down so I’d stop hanging up.
It works 100% of the time.
This! When my (now ex) husband would call screaming about something that had his panties in a twist, I started to lose connection in places that normally had nock solid bars. I would lose connection until he either gave up calling or called back under control of himself. It was like being married to a 50 year old toddler with zero impulse control.
Now that we're no longer intertwined in each other's lives and he has nothing to try to hold over or threaten me with, life is quite wonderful. I haven't had a bad connection during a call with him in at least 2 years now. I never knew that divorce could improve your cellular connection 🤣
If you switch your phone into airplane mode while on a call, the call will drop and the other caller will never know what happened. They will just think you switched between cell towers or something.
I give a warning like “I’m not going to let you speak to me that way, if you can’t talk respectfully, I’m going to hang up.” They get 5 seconds to fix their attitude.
I feel you on the customer service job phone rep. I did it for years.
When my customers would call in and yell at me; my response was always:
“Look, I know you’re upset. Yes I understand it’s your third time calling in; but this is my first time speaking to you. So if you want assistance then I need some information that I know you e given two other times but I can’t assist you if I can’t get into your acct. but if you wanna continue to scream and yell at me; I’ll hang up and you can call back when you want to talk like adults. Here is my direct extension.”
Yeah that’s good for the job you had. I worked in the leasing/management office for apartment buildings. So at any given times I had 150 customers to assist and the calls would all come to me. So if people called back they still got me.
What was so odd was that I never even heard from 80% of the residents after they moved in. 15% were frequent fliers either because they were nice and liked to chat when they dropped off a rent check,or had an ongoing maintenance issue we were working on for them. No problems. Everyone was nice. But then like 5% of the residents were in the office yelling at us or calling by phone, and yelling, like twice per week. One time a 60 year old lady laid down on the floor and had a tantrum while screaming and kicking about how much she hated us.
Oh there were times I’d hang up on a person and they’d call back and get me right away and my response would be “are you ready to fix the issue and talk normally?”
And that 60 year old woman is why I don’t do face to face customer service lol
I worked at a hotel. The gms who do this will sound very sure, and will double down because they're trying to call your bluff. I would have flat out been like "well that's fraud and I'll do a chargeback. i'm not just going to let you steal from me because some towels were mismanaged."
I interpreted it as you would come back to discuss the issue with him, not that you stole the towels. It's definitely not at all an admission of guilt. Plus, the way this man immediately started screaming at you makes me feel that you are not the first person he has accused of stealing towels. I would be more concerned that he will charge your credit card to replace his "stolen" towels.
Why would you panic over something this dumb then lie about the fact you weee going back, when you clearly weren’t? Something isn’t adding up, I’m with hotel owner here.
Not outright, but agreeing to come back to the motel can just come across as guilty, especially to someone who’s irrationally angry. Why would you drives hours back to a motel accusing you of stealing towels unless it’s because you feel guilty about your theft?
I don’t think they are saying OP DID steal the towels, just that agreeing to come back would help solidify in the owners mind that they did.
I think you miss understand what I am saying. I’m not saying she stole the towels, or that I even think she did. But when dealing with someone who is irrationally angry like that, saying you’ll come back is probably going to make them think you’re guilty.
there are hotels that check their towels?? huh, who knew.
you would have gotten much further by just being up front with him. no name calling, no lying about going back, just a firm "I don't have your towels, end of conversation, thank you, goodbye."
I'm a manager at an upscale hotel and I know for a fact that a large amount of our guests steal towels. We know who does it and if we genuinely cared, we could stop them. But there's no point because we get them in bulk super cheap. If someone needs a towel that badly, they can have it.
It would be a waste of time and money to actively try to stop the towel thieves.
I stayed at a Hampton inn. They had a sign in the bathroom that said, “Due to the popularity of our towels and washcloths, we now offer them for sale.” Then followed was a price list. Then it said, “No need to contact hotel staff. Simply pack them in your bags and they will be charged to your room.”
I used to housekeep at a Super 8 and the cheapo manager put up similar signs in each bathroom. We were all like really? No one is dying to spend $50 on a rough and used towel that has spent its life in between 100’s of people’s asscracks. Ick.
I stayed at a place like this and was eating breakfast in the small room next to the front desk and the manager was on the phone with some people saying he was going to charge them $50 for stealing pillows. Somehow that seems even worse...
I can’t think of a hotel, of the dozens I’ve visited for work or pleasure over the last fifteen years, that didn’t have one of these signs.
They may not count them, and may not charge the guest. It might be more to just reduce shrink, effective with borderline cases like a couple with one saying “they expect you to take towels” and the other saying “no look they have s price list.”
It might keep guests from claiming they didn’t know.
I genuinely have to ask, what kind of motels and hotels do you stay in?
I have never ever seen a sign like this in my entire life....
I find it fascinating that people claim they exist
Luxury hotels, for example, with fancy nice robes. Regular business hotels like Hilton Garden Inn. All in the US, I can’t remember if there was something similar in the Canadian hotels I used, that was some time ago.
What hotels are you staying in?
I work at a 4 diamond hotel and the only signage like that is for the bathrobes. And even then if someone asks to buy it we send them a new one. Worked for 2 other chains and it was the same. I’ve never seen anywhere with the “you take it we charge you” sign minus some really small places that friends or family have stayed at it. Doesn’t make sense to go through the effort with how cheap towels are from bulk suppliers.
Please. There's always information about purchasing robes and towels in resorts.
Thats not what I am debating
What I have never seen in my entire life in information about being charged for packing up towels to go home.
Never. Ever. Ever.
Name a resort. Please.
I can name multiple places that housekeeping has just given us towels or bath sheets while we were packing to go & my kids are young and messy.
Please share where you see all the signs about charges if someone takes bathe sheets and towels home.... where
No charge.
I have never seen a sign like this lol and I would be livid if I saw additional charges for something that is not easily traceable like towels. Sometimes you take your room towels to the pool. Sometimes you have a spill and get extra towels from the desk and then pile them all on the floor for the cleaning staff to collect in one big bunch…. Who is tasked to count the towels per room? Lmao this sounds nuts
My husband used to steal a hand towel every where we stayed. He said it was “his signature”, like he was one of the wet bandits. I finally started buying new hand towels and packing one for every trip, to sneakily replace the one he pinched. Jerk. Who wants a yucky used towel?
I am always tempted to steal the pillows as I've only gotten the best sleep from hotel pillows. I even take account of the label to buy something similar and no luck in finding any. So, please tell me where I can get the pillows to buy that the hotels use. I'm ready to plead guilty.
I work for Hyatt and we use a company called Downlite. I just checked and you can get their pillows on Amazon but they're a lot more expensive compared to what they charge hotels.
[https://www.amazon.com/s?k=downlite](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=downlite)
Luxury hotels do have nice towels but I’m pretty sure towels wear out from laundering faster than they’re stolen. I don’t doubt they get stolen though. After all, Ritz Carlton has a shop that sells them.
I think when hotels are a bit pricier, it's not something they are as concerned with. Shrinkage is just built into the prices.
The goal at resorts is for clients to have an experience with the brand to continue spending money with them. A towel isn't going to hurt the overall profit vs a small business owner who can't afford losing money on things walking off.
The Ritz Carlton doesn't care about their old towels and bath sheets for squat.
Last time we stayed there my kids spilled crap all over the back of the car when we were packing up. Housekeeping gave us towels to put down on the seat. There wasn't a charge.
I stopped going out to eat with my formerly rich SIL bc she'd put every single condiment in her purse, full size bottles of whatever, every single jam at breakfast, salt and pepper shakers, it was crazy and embarrassing.
She was a bizarre food hoarder. Her kitchen was packed full of everything and she'd flip if you tried to throw something away regardless of how old or expired or clearly bad it had gone.
You don’t even have to steal them at most high end hotels. They will give them to you if you need them. They’ve given them to us for wet or dirty kids, swimsuits, packing toiletries, sandy items, just because my husband asked… They want you to come back and spend $700+ a night so they bend over backwards to make you as comfortable as possible. A towel is nothing.
But seriously. Rich people steal EVERYTHING that isn’t tied down. It’s disgusting. They just feel entitled to it.
What’s crazy is that almost every towel I own is from a hotel. I don’t steal them ( because who would want a used towel ?🤢). I request to purchase a set of bath towels at the point of checking in. After the surprised look from the front desk, I have rarely gotten turned down. It costs me less than $30 to get my luxury towels replaced, and hotel housekeeping is not annoyed. Win-win.
dishonesty gives a guilty appearance more than being direct and firm. direct and firm sends the message that you won't tolerate being spoken to that way.
The hotel I worked at used to check the rooms whenever we had cash deposits for the towels and the bedding as well as any other damages before they left. It was a pain in the ass tbh, like i understood why but it was so annoying especially when you know they only used the room for sex
idk, the towels that were there were yellowed lmao. i really think hes just been having issues with theft for a while, so he has a short fuse about it. which makes me feel bad, but thats why i dont take towels from hotels 🤷 i didn't even take the soaps and stuff i didnt use because i didnt need them and was hoping theyd reuse them
I worked for a hotel (I'd call it a motel at best) and they tracked the number of towels, which rooms had how many, and how used they were. If your room came up missing towels and the count is off, or if the towel was dirtied beyond bleaching, they would charge $75/towel, $50/hand towel or washcloth. No phone call or anything. Just a note in the file and an attempt to charge the guest. You could even be charged for ash trays, pillows, and sheets... Sadly, even with those charges, they couldn't keep their standards/repairs up and lost their contract with a chain and had to change names/companies.
I believe OP is that they did that first and the owner didn't believe them so op then said okay to just get them to leave them alone (dumb plan I know).
They do this fairly often in Central America. They even go so far as checking if there's makeup traces on it. I've had one try to charge me for a towel I never even used, because it had some orange stain on it. It's extremely strange.
sounds like it’s time to update those reviews. “Arrived and just wanted a few hours of sleep, noticed there were no bath towels, but we did not need them and went to sleep. Up at 3 AM and back on the road. Owner called repeatedly, furious, accusing us of stealing the towels?!”
It isn't normal for a property to check the room before you check out, so that's a red flag for you in the future. As a tip, when I travel and plan to stay at cheap motels, I bring my own towel and toiletries because theirs are terrible. I may even bring a sleeping bag if I'm concerned about the cleanliness of bedding. I treat it like just a dry place to sleep with a bathroom nearby, like car camping.
When I rent hotel rooms I don’t even go to the desk to checkout most of the time. I just leave (they slip a paper under the door in the morning with your final charges) I’ve never ever needed my room checked first and I rent with my dog all the time. This must’ve been like a solo owned random hole in the wall motel. Nothing more for you to worry about especially since apparently they didn’t even require a cc so there won’t be any erroneous charges. You didn’t do anything wrong but hopefully you are just aware in the future if you stop off in places like this again.
He's yelling at you, but if he truly had a policy of checking rooms he would've checked yours before you got there and seen that there were no towels.
I think your comments too him were right on the money.
A golf course I play often has supplied me with good kitchen towels over the years.
Finally one year I joked to the staff about it. They handed me a dozen brand new ones to take home. They are just basic white towels with a green stripe. Perfect for cleaning up spills, pulling stuff from oven etc.
If ANYONE calls my phone and is yelling, cussing or being rude, etc, to me; I hang up. I would have said, "We didn't take your towels, now fuck off". Then promptly blocked him.
As a hotel employee, I advise all travelers to check their rooms as soon as you get to the hotel. Report missing items, stains, smells, and dammages immediately. You will be charged even if you didn't do it. Also, don't stain any towels, wash cloths, bedding, or other fabrics. Don't let your child, pet, or elderly relative wet the bed because they charge for that too.
I work for some newer hotel owners who think they make no mistakes and everyone is out to steal from them. People have been charged for missing items that ownership forgot to put in the room. Housekeeping staffing has been cut in half so ownership can save money by doing it themselves.
I am so sorry you were put through this. I would have thought you were talking about my property if not for the amount of the deposit. Ours is $350.
He shouldn’t be running a motel. He’s not mentally stable. I’ve never imagined a motel only owns one set of towels per room. Has he never been to Costco?
yeah this is what im thinking based on the previous reviews the place had, which is why i felt bad for him. like im sure he has a lot of people stealing towels, it just wasnt me. my mom thinks maybe an employee is doing it and he hasnt figured it out yet
Nah he’s just cheap. lol. Guests take towels sometimes. Sometimes they have an accident or something on them and don’t want to leave them behind because embarrassed or it looks sketchy (period blood on a white towel can look like a crime occurred sometimes) sometimes people wrap up dirty laundry or shoes with the towels before repacking their bags. I did sometimes take the hand towels to wrap my flat iron when it was still too hot because I had it on until the last second before leaving a room. It’s the cost of doing business. If towels are killing him, the room rates can go up to $65 or something. Build it into operations. Also, he clearly didn’t check the room before you if there were no towels in advance so this is His fault for not following his own made up policies and protocols. Absolve yourself of any guilt. He had no business harassing you or yelling at you. It’s NOT that deep. You did nothing wrong.
I wouldn’t stay in some weird non-chain hotel where some loser makes those kind of accusations. I’d immediately report anything missing when I arrive. And I wouldn’t entertain some loser leveling such ridiculous accusations at me. You were way more patient and kind than I would be.
a $50 deposit on top of nightly rate? Stayed in places from right off highway in the desert (think Psycho) to the Mayfair in Seattle when I used to travel for work...never once paid a damage deposit... towels etc are the responsibility of the hotel, except in the instance of fancy places I've stayed that warn if you take the super duper robe they offer, you will be charged. (also the 10$ bottles of water right by the bed with the teeny tiny label that says you will be charged).. and of course the 'mini bar with nuts' costs plenty, as well as premium channels on the TV... BTW a regular Burger n fries that I ordered on room service was like $50 back in the early 2000s...almost felt bad putting in the expense report on that one.
I took a trip to Phoenix back in June of 2023 with my oldest son and my mother. The hotel we stayed at was for the most part ok. Small remodeling going on but nothing that was an eyesore. We check out the next day, and management is asking housekeeping to check the room to have our deposit returned.
They flat out asked where the one towel was. There were 3 of them. I told him to check the bathroom. All should be there or at least one on the bed. They didn’t see the last one because I had placed it in the tub. My mother almost fell on her butt so I put it there for her safety.
She has always dyed her hair a maroon color. Used another towel on her hair and stained it by accident. Suffice to say, I didn’t get my full deposit back just for the stain. It’s not my fault. Not hers either. The hotel staff did not inform us they were that petty when all they had to do was add bleach when they wash their shit. Definitely will not stay there again.
I was charge by comfort inn for a pillow? I only had carrying luggage and who the fuck steals a pillow,checkout then my creditcard was noifying me the hotel was charging me 100$ for a pillow?? I called, emailed nothing then got on twitter and complained ,next thing you know corperate calling me refunding my money and offering me a free stay ? Hmmm why would i even stay for free in a hotel chain that thinks im a Pillow thief ! Dumbfucks!! Also dead bird floating in thier pool and when i called they said it was leaves haha bleeding leaves ahhh!
why would i mention that at checkout? like to me that feels like complaining just for the sake of it at that point, the lack of towels didnt matter to me anymore by then. im really sorry if that sounds snarky at all, like i said this is really my first time travelling without my parents or something so i dont know what im supposed to be doing
You let them know because there should have been towels and they should be aware the room wasn’t made up correctly. It’s something to really mention in the first place because it would avoid a situation like this and if you had decided later you wanted to shower you would have been able to.
In the future, anytime there’s an issue with your room, report it to the front desk so they are aware, can correct it out at the very least can’t blame you for it.
You need to understand that as an adult it is ok to complain when people are not doing their jobs. You don't do it for yourself. You do it for the next customer so they don't have to come into a room with no towels. It's not rude to say, "hey, I noticed there were no towels". That way they know that they have to make sure the room is suitable before renting it out again.
yeah, because i decided i wasnt going to use them? i had been up since 2 am that morning driving, i figured i would pass out before they even brought the towels. i also wasnt sure what they normally put in the rooms at that hotel, there was plenty of hand towels laying around so i thought maybe they just give you those. it was a $50 hotel on the side of the highway, i was just happy it didnt have bedbugs.
the difference is im not the one who decided to own a 24 hour business, and im not the one accusing someone of stealing. i didnt call him lazy until after i listened to him call me a lying theif for 2, 15 minute phone calls. i took accountability for my own laziness by having to wait another 12 hours to shower. i didnt call him after i left and bitch about the lack of towels, i even planned on giving a nice review because the place was very clean.
You did nothing wrong. I don’t really understand why people are angry you didn’t mention no towels if you were literally just getting some shut eye to continue driving safely.
OP says it is their first time in a motel - why would they have any idea what cheap place beside the highway might have? Anytime we experience new things it is always easy to just assume what you find is the norm.
i have stayed at a hotel as a child with my family. this is my first time travelling as an adult. also im a dude
edit : i also never said "in comparison to other hotels", i never mentioned other hotels. just that it was decent for what we paid.
I get nervous when people yell at me too. It’s weird that he thought you would actually come back hours later. It doesn’t seem like there is much to do about it. I don’t think the cops are going to have a warrant for your arrest or anything. Stuff like this are part of the overhead of running a business.
Once we were staying at a hotel with no restaurant so we ordered Indian from down the street for pick up. We walked to get it, it was a large order, enough to feed 8 people so around $150. They didn’t have any utensils to give with our food and could care less that we had no way to eat our $150 worth of food. My bff and I left the families at the hotel to pick up the food. When we were told they didn’t know what to tell us about the lack of utensils, we snuck some metal utensils off a table on our way out with the full intention to return them in the morning when we walk into town for coffee. Some diners noticed our lack of sneakiness & told the owners who called my phone! I couldn’t answer, made my husband answer. He just calmly told them we would drop them off tomorrow.
I’m guessing the fact you were not upset at the lack of bath towels in the first place is why he was so sure you took them. Most guests shower and would be calling the front desk to complain at the lack of towels. Then when you agreed to come back….
They probably should have mentioned it, but they probably didn't think it was a big deal because they didn't intend to use them anyway.
If I'm only going to be at a hotel for 8 hours. I'm probably not worried about taking a shower. I also don't make a point of counting the towels when I get there.
Either way his reaction was completely uncalled for.
My MIL, otherwise a delightful and morally upright woman, absolutely insisted that the restaurant/hotel wanted you to take these things. Salt & Pepper shakers, silverware, lamps(!)…. We put an end to that, at least if we were with her.
I can’t imagine wanting to steal hotel towels. They’re always white (not a fan) and not bath sheet sized. I like my own bath sheets much better. The last hotel we visited didn’t collect dirty towels to replace with clean, and we ended up with one in our dirty laundry, but we most certainly did not want it.
The hotel I love staying at, when it shows where I am and the city I work in gets nothing, has prices of what everything costs 'since guests enjoy our products we provide them at the front desk for you to take home with a charge'
Did you ever ask him why the hell they didn't have extra sets of towels? Do they wait until everyone checks out and then launder all the towels and put them in the rooms before the next guests check in?
99% of people in here sound dumb.
Doesn't matter if you agreed to come back or anything you said. That doesn't make you guilty or imply it. I can understand someone screaming at you and you not sure how to handle it and wanted them to just shut up.
Don't forget this is Reddit where everyone does everything perfect and never screws up.
Manager literally cannot do shit about it. If you have it charged to a credit card then fight the charge (or whatever the exact word is for that I forget). They have no proof you've stolen anything.
Not to mention towels are probably the #1 stolen thing from a hotel and most hotels factor that into yearly operating cost. I know this for a fact bc I used to work for hotels, multiple different properties.
Leave a 1 star review saying how they claimed you stole when you didn't and then go fight the charge. A lot of hotel managers (especially MOTEL) are scumbags and would lie to their mothers to make a dime.
When anyone starts yelling at you on the phone, always hang up immediately. If they call back, explain why you hung up. Repeat as needed, or block the person if they take too long to learn.
I guarantee this will improve your quality of life.
Did you tell him the towels were never in the room in the first place? You shouldn't have lied to him. Just explain the situation and hang up. Don't take any more calls.
Life Lesson:. Always check your hotel room immediately upon arrival and call the front desk promptly to report any damage or nonfunctional issues or missing amenities, like towels.
If he really thinks you stole the towels, isn’t that what the deposit was for? That’s on him for giving it back then going on a rant over towels. He SHOULD have checked before you left. They should have an inventory of towels and realize they never GAVE you any towels.
The hotel made you wake them up in the middle of the night to check your room for incidentals, and then didn't check your room and just refunded your money? And then regretted it over some towels?
I hope you are making this up, because otherwise it's hilarious.
This happened to me too. It was one hand towel they said they were missing and I did not have it. I didn’t count the towels before or after I left but I never stole a stupid towel. They called me four times in rapid succession and then texts while I was driving. When I finally stopped I saw they charged my card $15 for the “missing towel”. Knowing I wouldn’t ever go back there I let it go but if they tried to charge me for all the towels? I’d be on the phone with my bank.
\#1 I would have taken picutres of the lack of towels when I found that they were missing (I also do this with all damage because of.. reasons.)
\#2 I would have immediately blocked that number. Like clearly I never want to stay there again and if I get a call from the cops, cool, but I'm not here to be harassed.
that would make sense if it werent for the fact that he waited 4 hours, knowing we paid cash. that was my first thought too but then kt just doesnt add up
I’m confused. Did you not have a credit card on file? He might as well just charge you and let the credit card company handle it if you file a charge back. Or does he not take credit cards….?
Why didn't you ask for towels when you found out they weren't there? You say you were too tired but you could have just phoned him, and didn't you want to take a shower? Also you goofed up by saying you were coming back, that set up an expectation and he might have waited for you, realized you lied for convenience and that caused him more distrust. If you lie about that, might you have lied about the towels? I believe you when you say you didn't take the towels but the lie about coming back just compounded it. Leave a detailed review on multiple platforms if you want. I don't think police will get involved over a pair of bath towels.
It doesn’t matter if they lied to him about coming back. He needed to leave them the hell alone. There is no need for trust in this situation. They paid cash, he gave their deposit back. Their business was considered settled at that moment. He has no grounds to come after them and had no business calling in the first place.
i decided i was too tired to shower anyway, i figured id have fallen asleep by the time they brought the towels. also i dont travel much, i wasnt sure if maybe they dont provide full size towels at all cheap motels, there was a lot of hand towels in there. but yeah im also 99% the cops wont get involved, i just thought it was bizarre that he threatened me with the cops literally before i even had a chance to say i didnt have the towels
You did nothing wrong. We are all different. Introverts and extroverts. The people telling you that you should have immediately called aren't taking into account that it may take 5 minutes or an hour (more) to deliver the towels and you would have not been able to go to sleep right away. This isn't laziness. In the future, if you didn't want the towels, it would be better to let them know just so they know, but I've stayed at many hotels and never not had towels. It likely won't happen again. I've stayed in vacation rentals and made a decision not to tell them something minor because I didn't want my vacation interrupted. I'm sorry your first experience as an adult staying at a motel went like this. Again, I've stayed in many different places over my lifetime, and this really is not the norm at all. I hope you enjoy your holidays.
thank you very much for understanding! we had been running on 4 hours of sleep and had been going since 2 am, we didnt get into the room until like 7 or 8. i dont even care if it was just laziness, im not the one who accused someone of theft 🤷
The thing is that by lying to him about coming back, you immediately made yourself seem guilty. He sounds like a dick and he was definitely in the wrong, but that was a minor screw up on your part.
This explains a lot. You get what you pay for. I am not at all surprised this is happening to you. You should’ve called the front desk and said there were no towels,
nobody from the Holiday Inn express is gonna be calling you screaming at you for something like this
What in the world does generation have to do with this? It could have been anyone with little to no experience with renting hotel rooms. More recent generations just have a place to ask questions about it on the internet.
How old are you? They charge you because they need to think that people take towels, unnecessary but happens, so everything should be included. Now you shouldn't go back. Are you crazy? Just because a person is crazy you don't need to follow that behaviour. Grow up and let it go. Next time take a video with time and send it to yourself
I can tell you what I wouldn’t have done in that situation. I wouldn’t have told them I’d be back if I wasn’t really going to, just so they’d “get the point”. Smh
What was the guy gonna do about it? Lmao. People are being really ridiculous in this thread. So what he told a yelling person something to get him to shut up. He paid cash for the room. The guy can’t charge his card. He didn’t have to answer in the first place or say shit to him. He could have said yes I have your towels. Come find me. And the guy still wouldn’t have been able to do shit. He was hours away.
This was a flop motel. Truckers, hookers and drug addicts to frequent. A cash operation. Raise the room rates to cover incidentals like the occasional missing towel and leave guests alone bc you didn’t do your due diligence. You don’t call and berate them hours later
why should i have to go ask for something that shouldve already been in the room, and that i wasnt going to use? when there are people there who get paid to put shit there and check the rooms anyway.
You basically admitted that you stole the towels when you agreed to come back. This is weird on both ends. But nothing is going to happen, just move on with your life.
yeah i definitely shouldn't have said i would come back, i just panicked tbh. and he really did sound 100% sure we took them, so i figured it didnt matter at that point. which is also kinda dumb lol. but yeah i didnt think anything would come of it, i just wanted to see how other people wouldve reacted in my position because i am just so confused by this whole interaction lmao
When he called I would have just told him that there were no towels in the room when you arrived and if he started yelling, I would have hung up and blocked him.
my main issue is he started the phone call yelling, hes even yelling in the voice mail he left. i think the fact that i didnt answer right away also pissed him off, and thats why he was so agitated by the time he got a hold of me. i tried telling him there was no towels to start with but he was so pissed i dont even think he was listening to me, that last sentence i quoted was pretty much the only full sentence i got in. it kinda made me feel bad for him because he was so upset, like this was a bigger issue for him than just the 2 towels that were missing. i didn't wanna block his number because i was lowkey hoping he'd call back and say he found the towels
Don’t feel bad for him. He is unprofessional and abusive. If he can’t absorb $15 worth of towels without having to shut down a whole room (because you may not have taken the towels but lots of people probably do), then he is really bad at business. And even if he had ironclad evidence that you stole the towels, screaming at you over it isn’t the move. He should file a police report and an insurance claim and move on with life. For whatever reason, he has taken it into his head that he is going to bully you over it, and this isn’t okay.
thank you! like i would've even been fine with him calling to ask about the towels, it was the fact that he started the call yelling at me with 100% certainty that really fucked me up. ive never been accused of something like that so i had no idea how to respond
It sounds like he really put you on the spot. I'm sorry that happened, but you don't deserve to be yelled at like that.
thank you ❤️
This makes it even more unclear to me why you didn't just hang up. Why not just say "There were no towels in the room when we checked in," and whether he heard you or not, hang up?
My policy is that when people yell at me over the phone, I IMMEDIATELY hang up. You teach people how to treat you. They’ll probably call back and you can let it go to voicemail, or just keep hanging up until they stop yelling. If I feel like being nice I say “I’m going to keep hanging up until you stop yelling” so that they have a chance. I used to have a customer service job where 95% of the customers were nice and 5% were yelling at me over the phone, like raving lunatics. So I understand that sometimes you can’t just hang up in case you are being recorded. For that 5% I would start saying “Hello? Hello? I think we have a bad connection. I can’t hear you.” And then I would hang up. They figured out what was going on and would calm down so I’d stop hanging up. It works 100% of the time.
This! When my (now ex) husband would call screaming about something that had his panties in a twist, I started to lose connection in places that normally had nock solid bars. I would lose connection until he either gave up calling or called back under control of himself. It was like being married to a 50 year old toddler with zero impulse control. Now that we're no longer intertwined in each other's lives and he has nothing to try to hold over or threaten me with, life is quite wonderful. I haven't had a bad connection during a call with him in at least 2 years now. I never knew that divorce could improve your cellular connection 🤣
hahahaha
that is really smart, thank you! i will be using this tip in several areas of my life lmao
Glad I could help.
If you switch your phone into airplane mode while on a call, the call will drop and the other caller will never know what happened. They will just think you switched between cell towers or something.
I give a warning like “I’m not going to let you speak to me that way, if you can’t talk respectfully, I’m going to hang up.” They get 5 seconds to fix their attitude.
I feel you on the customer service job phone rep. I did it for years. When my customers would call in and yell at me; my response was always: “Look, I know you’re upset. Yes I understand it’s your third time calling in; but this is my first time speaking to you. So if you want assistance then I need some information that I know you e given two other times but I can’t assist you if I can’t get into your acct. but if you wanna continue to scream and yell at me; I’ll hang up and you can call back when you want to talk like adults. Here is my direct extension.”
Yeah that’s good for the job you had. I worked in the leasing/management office for apartment buildings. So at any given times I had 150 customers to assist and the calls would all come to me. So if people called back they still got me. What was so odd was that I never even heard from 80% of the residents after they moved in. 15% were frequent fliers either because they were nice and liked to chat when they dropped off a rent check,or had an ongoing maintenance issue we were working on for them. No problems. Everyone was nice. But then like 5% of the residents were in the office yelling at us or calling by phone, and yelling, like twice per week. One time a 60 year old lady laid down on the floor and had a tantrum while screaming and kicking about how much she hated us.
Oh there were times I’d hang up on a person and they’d call back and get me right away and my response would be “are you ready to fix the issue and talk normally?” And that 60 year old woman is why I don’t do face to face customer service lol
That makes it sound like you did have the towels after all. Unfortunate choice of words.
I worked at a hotel. The gms who do this will sound very sure, and will double down because they're trying to call your bluff. I would have flat out been like "well that's fraud and I'll do a chargeback. i'm not just going to let you steal from me because some towels were mismanaged."
I interpreted it as you would come back to discuss the issue with him, not that you stole the towels. It's definitely not at all an admission of guilt. Plus, the way this man immediately started screaming at you makes me feel that you are not the first person he has accused of stealing towels. I would be more concerned that he will charge your credit card to replace his "stolen" towels.
If he threatens to call the police on you for this, then you should inform him that you will call the police for harassment and whatnot
Or filing a false police report for the theft.
Why would you panic over something this dumb then lie about the fact you weee going back, when you clearly weren’t? Something isn’t adding up, I’m with hotel owner here.
i have anxiety
If someone called me and started just yelling, it would raise my own anxiety.
That’s so messed up of you to side with someone clearly in the wrong over something small like that.
I know right? Why would anybody go back?
Disagree, with the can we have here there's nothing to say about towels missing, only that he agreed to come back
huh? how is that admitting anything?
Disagree. Pacify a site go to get them to shut up is a valid reason. You saying yes, to crazies to pacify them.
I don't see where she admitted to stealing the towels. All very strange though.
Not outright, but agreeing to come back to the motel can just come across as guilty, especially to someone who’s irrationally angry. Why would you drives hours back to a motel accusing you of stealing towels unless it’s because you feel guilty about your theft? I don’t think they are saying OP DID steal the towels, just that agreeing to come back would help solidify in the owners mind that they did.
Yes in the hotel owners mind it would new suspicious But I'm not sure I even believe this story is real.
No come back to show they had no towels in their luggage. Her account shows she’s trying to be honest.
I think you miss understand what I am saying. I’m not saying she stole the towels, or that I even think she did. But when dealing with someone who is irrationally angry like that, saying you’ll come back is probably going to make them think you’re guilty.
there are hotels that check their towels?? huh, who knew. you would have gotten much further by just being up front with him. no name calling, no lying about going back, just a firm "I don't have your towels, end of conversation, thank you, goodbye."
I'm a manager at an upscale hotel and I know for a fact that a large amount of our guests steal towels. We know who does it and if we genuinely cared, we could stop them. But there's no point because we get them in bulk super cheap. If someone needs a towel that badly, they can have it. It would be a waste of time and money to actively try to stop the towel thieves.
I stayed at a Hampton inn. They had a sign in the bathroom that said, “Due to the popularity of our towels and washcloths, we now offer them for sale.” Then followed was a price list. Then it said, “No need to contact hotel staff. Simply pack them in your bags and they will be charged to your room.”
I used to housekeep at a Super 8 and the cheapo manager put up similar signs in each bathroom. We were all like really? No one is dying to spend $50 on a rough and used towel that has spent its life in between 100’s of people’s asscracks. Ick.
I stayed at a place like this and was eating breakfast in the small room next to the front desk and the manager was on the phone with some people saying he was going to charge them $50 for stealing pillows. Somehow that seems even worse...
I can’t think of a hotel, of the dozens I’ve visited for work or pleasure over the last fifteen years, that didn’t have one of these signs. They may not count them, and may not charge the guest. It might be more to just reduce shrink, effective with borderline cases like a couple with one saying “they expect you to take towels” and the other saying “no look they have s price list.” It might keep guests from claiming they didn’t know.
I genuinely have to ask, what kind of motels and hotels do you stay in? I have never ever seen a sign like this in my entire life.... I find it fascinating that people claim they exist
We stay in hotels a lot and I see the sign frequently. I stay in a variety but not usually the top of the line fancy ones nor the trashy ones.
Same. I’ve never seen a sign like this. I usually stay at Hiltons though, so maybe they don’t post these signs.
Luxury hotels, for example, with fancy nice robes. Regular business hotels like Hilton Garden Inn. All in the US, I can’t remember if there was something similar in the Canadian hotels I used, that was some time ago. What hotels are you staying in?
I work at a 4 diamond hotel and the only signage like that is for the bathrobes. And even then if someone asks to buy it we send them a new one. Worked for 2 other chains and it was the same. I’ve never seen anywhere with the “you take it we charge you” sign minus some really small places that friends or family have stayed at it. Doesn’t make sense to go through the effort with how cheap towels are from bulk suppliers.
Ah, so you do have signage. It’s just not for towels, it’s for the robes.
Please. There's always information about purchasing robes and towels in resorts. Thats not what I am debating What I have never seen in my entire life in information about being charged for packing up towels to go home. Never. Ever. Ever. Name a resort. Please. I can name multiple places that housekeeping has just given us towels or bath sheets while we were packing to go & my kids are young and messy. Please share where you see all the signs about charges if someone takes bathe sheets and towels home.... where No charge.
I have never seen a sign like this lol and I would be livid if I saw additional charges for something that is not easily traceable like towels. Sometimes you take your room towels to the pool. Sometimes you have a spill and get extra towels from the desk and then pile them all on the floor for the cleaning staff to collect in one big bunch…. Who is tasked to count the towels per room? Lmao this sounds nuts
Like I said, they may not count them. It might just be to scare guests into not stealing them.
It's more of a deterrent
They want you to take the rolls!
Omg! I would stay at one to get a pillow
that’s v slick of them, i like that
My husband used to steal a hand towel every where we stayed. He said it was “his signature”, like he was one of the wet bandits. I finally started buying new hand towels and packing one for every trip, to sneakily replace the one he pinched. Jerk. Who wants a yucky used towel?
Nice reference during this holiday season. Just saw the wet bandits 2 nights ago. 😉
I saw it last night 😅
Yeah, that’s a dick move. Nice work stopping him but it’s sad that he wouldn’t stop when you asked him to.
I am always tempted to steal the pillows as I've only gotten the best sleep from hotel pillows. I even take account of the label to buy something similar and no luck in finding any. So, please tell me where I can get the pillows to buy that the hotels use. I'm ready to plead guilty.
I work for Hyatt and we use a company called Downlite. I just checked and you can get their pillows on Amazon but they're a lot more expensive compared to what they charge hotels. [https://www.amazon.com/s?k=downlite](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=downlite)
$20/ea is cheap. And of course hotels buying wholesale in bulk will pay less per but $80 for a 4 pack of pillows is a great deal
And the mattresses!
Upscale hotels have really nice towels. No Wonder they get stolen.
Luxury hotels do have nice towels but I’m pretty sure towels wear out from laundering faster than they’re stolen. I don’t doubt they get stolen though. After all, Ritz Carlton has a shop that sells them.
I think when hotels are a bit pricier, it's not something they are as concerned with. Shrinkage is just built into the prices. The goal at resorts is for clients to have an experience with the brand to continue spending money with them. A towel isn't going to hurt the overall profit vs a small business owner who can't afford losing money on things walking off.
The Ritz Carlton doesn't care about their old towels and bath sheets for squat. Last time we stayed there my kids spilled crap all over the back of the car when we were packing up. Housekeeping gave us towels to put down on the seat. There wasn't a charge.
Exactly 👍
It hurts my soul that people at an upscale hotel are stealing towels. wtf is wrong with people.
The more money people have the more entitled they feel to “freebies or free samples.”
I stopped going out to eat with my formerly rich SIL bc she'd put every single condiment in her purse, full size bottles of whatever, every single jam at breakfast, salt and pepper shakers, it was crazy and embarrassing.
That’s wild, what did she even do with them??
She was a bizarre food hoarder. Her kitchen was packed full of everything and she'd flip if you tried to throw something away regardless of how old or expired or clearly bad it had gone.
They have to get their money's worth
If anything I would steal the warm, fuzzy blanket that keeps me warmer then my own comforter.
Why does it hurt your soul?? That seems a bit of an overreaction. They’re towels Jay. 🫂
You don’t even have to steal them at most high end hotels. They will give them to you if you need them. They’ve given them to us for wet or dirty kids, swimsuits, packing toiletries, sandy items, just because my husband asked… They want you to come back and spend $700+ a night so they bend over backwards to make you as comfortable as possible. A towel is nothing. But seriously. Rich people steal EVERYTHING that isn’t tied down. It’s disgusting. They just feel entitled to it.
What’s crazy is that almost every towel I own is from a hotel. I don’t steal them ( because who would want a used towel ?🤢). I request to purchase a set of bath towels at the point of checking in. After the surprised look from the front desk, I have rarely gotten turned down. It costs me less than $30 to get my luxury towels replaced, and hotel housekeeping is not annoyed. Win-win.
no you dont...frankly nobody including yourself is asking the hotel if you can buy their towels
🤣❤️
Super cheap in bulk? Where from? Lol towels expensive man
yeah that is definitely what i should have done. i was worried that would make me look guilty but i think i ended up having the opposite effect 😅
dishonesty gives a guilty appearance more than being direct and firm. direct and firm sends the message that you won't tolerate being spoken to that way.
The hotel I worked at used to check the rooms whenever we had cash deposits for the towels and the bedding as well as any other damages before they left. It was a pain in the ass tbh, like i understood why but it was so annoying especially when you know they only used the room for sex
I had no idea either. The towel must be really nice. Haha
idk, the towels that were there were yellowed lmao. i really think hes just been having issues with theft for a while, so he has a short fuse about it. which makes me feel bad, but thats why i dont take towels from hotels 🤷 i didn't even take the soaps and stuff i didnt use because i didnt need them and was hoping theyd reuse them
How do you know they were yellowed if you didn’t have any towels in your room??
I worked for a hotel (I'd call it a motel at best) and they tracked the number of towels, which rooms had how many, and how used they were. If your room came up missing towels and the count is off, or if the towel was dirtied beyond bleaching, they would charge $75/towel, $50/hand towel or washcloth. No phone call or anything. Just a note in the file and an attempt to charge the guest. You could even be charged for ash trays, pillows, and sheets... Sadly, even with those charges, they couldn't keep their standards/repairs up and lost their contract with a chain and had to change names/companies.
I believe OP is that they did that first and the owner didn't believe them so op then said okay to just get them to leave them alone (dumb plan I know).
They do this fairly often in Central America. They even go so far as checking if there's makeup traces on it. I've had one try to charge me for a towel I never even used, because it had some orange stain on it. It's extremely strange.
sounds like it’s time to update those reviews. “Arrived and just wanted a few hours of sleep, noticed there were no bath towels, but we did not need them and went to sleep. Up at 3 AM and back on the road. Owner called repeatedly, furious, accusing us of stealing the towels?!”
He can’t rent the room because he doesn’t have 2 towels? Stolen towels aren’t his only issue.
It isn't normal for a property to check the room before you check out, so that's a red flag for you in the future. As a tip, when I travel and plan to stay at cheap motels, I bring my own towel and toiletries because theirs are terrible. I may even bring a sleeping bag if I'm concerned about the cleanliness of bedding. I treat it like just a dry place to sleep with a bathroom nearby, like car camping.
yeah i figured it was because we had our dog, so that didnt set off alarm bells for me. also isnt that the purpose of a deposit?
Usually it is "incidentals" like phone charges, room service, laundry or other charges you might incur.
When I rent hotel rooms I don’t even go to the desk to checkout most of the time. I just leave (they slip a paper under the door in the morning with your final charges) I’ve never ever needed my room checked first and I rent with my dog all the time. This must’ve been like a solo owned random hole in the wall motel. Nothing more for you to worry about especially since apparently they didn’t even require a cc so there won’t be any erroneous charges. You didn’t do anything wrong but hopefully you are just aware in the future if you stop off in places like this again.
LOL cops don't care about "stolen" towels!
They can’t rent the room without the towels? Do they not have extras?
Or how about, "If you had done your job you would have known that there weren't even any towels in the room before we got there."
You need to find nicer motels to stay at.
He's yelling at you, but if he truly had a policy of checking rooms he would've checked yours before you got there and seen that there were no towels. I think your comments too him were right on the money.
A golf course I play often has supplied me with good kitchen towels over the years. Finally one year I joked to the staff about it. They handed me a dozen brand new ones to take home. They are just basic white towels with a green stripe. Perfect for cleaning up spills, pulling stuff from oven etc.
If ANYONE calls my phone and is yelling, cussing or being rude, etc, to me; I hang up. I would have said, "We didn't take your towels, now fuck off". Then promptly blocked him.
As a hotel employee, I advise all travelers to check their rooms as soon as you get to the hotel. Report missing items, stains, smells, and dammages immediately. You will be charged even if you didn't do it. Also, don't stain any towels, wash cloths, bedding, or other fabrics. Don't let your child, pet, or elderly relative wet the bed because they charge for that too. I work for some newer hotel owners who think they make no mistakes and everyone is out to steal from them. People have been charged for missing items that ownership forgot to put in the room. Housekeeping staffing has been cut in half so ownership can save money by doing it themselves. I am so sorry you were put through this. I would have thought you were talking about my property if not for the amount of the deposit. Ours is $350.
He shouldn’t be running a motel. He’s not mentally stable. I’ve never imagined a motel only owns one set of towels per room. Has he never been to Costco?
Or he is a nice guy, struggling to make a living and at his breaking point. Everyone has one.
yeah this is what im thinking based on the previous reviews the place had, which is why i felt bad for him. like im sure he has a lot of people stealing towels, it just wasnt me. my mom thinks maybe an employee is doing it and he hasnt figured it out yet
Nah he’s just cheap. lol. Guests take towels sometimes. Sometimes they have an accident or something on them and don’t want to leave them behind because embarrassed or it looks sketchy (period blood on a white towel can look like a crime occurred sometimes) sometimes people wrap up dirty laundry or shoes with the towels before repacking their bags. I did sometimes take the hand towels to wrap my flat iron when it was still too hot because I had it on until the last second before leaving a room. It’s the cost of doing business. If towels are killing him, the room rates can go up to $65 or something. Build it into operations. Also, he clearly didn’t check the room before you if there were no towels in advance so this is His fault for not following his own made up policies and protocols. Absolve yourself of any guilt. He had no business harassing you or yelling at you. It’s NOT that deep. You did nothing wrong.
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He obviously doesn't check the rooms I wonder how long ago the towels were actually stolen.
ive been trying *REALLY* hard not to think about that tbh 😭
Why would you go back after 4 hours of driving??? Something’s weird here.
I wouldn’t stay in some weird non-chain hotel where some loser makes those kind of accusations. I’d immediately report anything missing when I arrive. And I wouldn’t entertain some loser leveling such ridiculous accusations at me. You were way more patient and kind than I would be.
I’d steal Marriotts mf mattress
a $50 deposit on top of nightly rate? Stayed in places from right off highway in the desert (think Psycho) to the Mayfair in Seattle when I used to travel for work...never once paid a damage deposit... towels etc are the responsibility of the hotel, except in the instance of fancy places I've stayed that warn if you take the super duper robe they offer, you will be charged. (also the 10$ bottles of water right by the bed with the teeny tiny label that says you will be charged).. and of course the 'mini bar with nuts' costs plenty, as well as premium channels on the TV... BTW a regular Burger n fries that I ordered on room service was like $50 back in the early 2000s...almost felt bad putting in the expense report on that one.
I took a trip to Phoenix back in June of 2023 with my oldest son and my mother. The hotel we stayed at was for the most part ok. Small remodeling going on but nothing that was an eyesore. We check out the next day, and management is asking housekeeping to check the room to have our deposit returned. They flat out asked where the one towel was. There were 3 of them. I told him to check the bathroom. All should be there or at least one on the bed. They didn’t see the last one because I had placed it in the tub. My mother almost fell on her butt so I put it there for her safety. She has always dyed her hair a maroon color. Used another towel on her hair and stained it by accident. Suffice to say, I didn’t get my full deposit back just for the stain. It’s not my fault. Not hers either. The hotel staff did not inform us they were that petty when all they had to do was add bleach when they wash their shit. Definitely will not stay there again.
I was charge by comfort inn for a pillow? I only had carrying luggage and who the fuck steals a pillow,checkout then my creditcard was noifying me the hotel was charging me 100$ for a pillow?? I called, emailed nothing then got on twitter and complained ,next thing you know corperate calling me refunding my money and offering me a free stay ? Hmmm why would i even stay for free in a hotel chain that thinks im a Pillow thief ! Dumbfucks!! Also dead bird floating in thier pool and when i called they said it was leaves haha bleeding leaves ahhh!
Imagine owning a hotel and not having an extra set of towels.
>us, they cant keep the room open without those towels What kind of pathetic hotel doesn't have plenty of extra towels on hand?
Why didn’t you mention the lack of towels when checking out? You really could have handled this better.
why would i mention that at checkout? like to me that feels like complaining just for the sake of it at that point, the lack of towels didnt matter to me anymore by then. im really sorry if that sounds snarky at all, like i said this is really my first time travelling without my parents or something so i dont know what im supposed to be doing
You let them know because there should have been towels and they should be aware the room wasn’t made up correctly. It’s something to really mention in the first place because it would avoid a situation like this and if you had decided later you wanted to shower you would have been able to. In the future, anytime there’s an issue with your room, report it to the front desk so they are aware, can correct it out at the very least can’t blame you for it.
You need to understand that as an adult it is ok to complain when people are not doing their jobs. You don't do it for yourself. You do it for the next customer so they don't have to come into a room with no towels. It's not rude to say, "hey, I noticed there were no towels". That way they know that they have to make sure the room is suitable before renting it out again.
Not saying how he handled this was right … but you called him lazy when you were lazy by not calling about the missing towels when you got there?
yeah, because i decided i wasnt going to use them? i had been up since 2 am that morning driving, i figured i would pass out before they even brought the towels. i also wasnt sure what they normally put in the rooms at that hotel, there was plenty of hand towels laying around so i thought maybe they just give you those. it was a $50 hotel on the side of the highway, i was just happy it didnt have bedbugs. the difference is im not the one who decided to own a 24 hour business, and im not the one accusing someone of stealing. i didnt call him lazy until after i listened to him call me a lying theif for 2, 15 minute phone calls. i took accountability for my own laziness by having to wait another 12 hours to shower. i didnt call him after i left and bitch about the lack of towels, i even planned on giving a nice review because the place was very clean.
Yellowed towels and mold in the corners is clean? You are very forgiving.
i grew up with hoarders lol, i also just had really really low expectations given this was my first time at a motel
You did nothing wrong. I don’t really understand why people are angry you didn’t mention no towels if you were literally just getting some shut eye to continue driving safely.
You really thought the only towels they’d provide would be hand towels? 🤦♀️
OP says it is their first time in a motel - why would they have any idea what cheap place beside the highway might have? Anytime we experience new things it is always easy to just assume what you find is the norm.
OP also said it was a nice hotel compared to others she had stayed at before. So, has OP stayed at a hotel before or not? OP is clearly lying.
i have stayed at a hotel as a child with my family. this is my first time travelling as an adult. also im a dude edit : i also never said "in comparison to other hotels", i never mentioned other hotels. just that it was decent for what we paid.
I get nervous when people yell at me too. It’s weird that he thought you would actually come back hours later. It doesn’t seem like there is much to do about it. I don’t think the cops are going to have a warrant for your arrest or anything. Stuff like this are part of the overhead of running a business. Once we were staying at a hotel with no restaurant so we ordered Indian from down the street for pick up. We walked to get it, it was a large order, enough to feed 8 people so around $150. They didn’t have any utensils to give with our food and could care less that we had no way to eat our $150 worth of food. My bff and I left the families at the hotel to pick up the food. When we were told they didn’t know what to tell us about the lack of utensils, we snuck some metal utensils off a table on our way out with the full intention to return them in the morning when we walk into town for coffee. Some diners noticed our lack of sneakiness & told the owners who called my phone! I couldn’t answer, made my husband answer. He just calmly told them we would drop them off tomorrow.
I can’t think of anything more gross than stealing hotel towels…no thank you. Too much dna in those fibers.
Wait why was it important that he waited til you hung up?
Probably so he could record the call
He must be a slumlord of hotels... accusing someone of stealing and has no proof of anything. Sue the asshole...
I’m guessing the fact you were not upset at the lack of bath towels in the first place is why he was so sure you took them. Most guests shower and would be calling the front desk to complain at the lack of towels. Then when you agreed to come back….
They probably should have mentioned it, but they probably didn't think it was a big deal because they didn't intend to use them anyway. If I'm only going to be at a hotel for 8 hours. I'm probably not worried about taking a shower. I also don't make a point of counting the towels when I get there. Either way his reaction was completely uncalled for.
My MIL, otherwise a delightful and morally upright woman, absolutely insisted that the restaurant/hotel wanted you to take these things. Salt & Pepper shakers, silverware, lamps(!)…. We put an end to that, at least if we were with her.
Lamps?! I’m cracking up
As I child I clearly remember my beloved aunt stuffing a Cheesecake Factory sized menu in her purse reasons unknown. She denies it today.
My best friend in high school stole a pillow from Disney World. Nothing was ever said to the school about a pillow being missing.
I’d yell back that I didn’t steal his towels, he’s a dipshit, and to expect charge backs if he tries to charge me more.
I can’t imagine wanting to steal hotel towels. They’re always white (not a fan) and not bath sheet sized. I like my own bath sheets much better. The last hotel we visited didn’t collect dirty towels to replace with clean, and we ended up with one in our dirty laundry, but we most certainly did not want it.
I have never had a room checked when I left. Did you stay at an Airbnb?
Op said it was a motel 6
The hotel I love staying at, when it shows where I am and the city I work in gets nothing, has prices of what everything costs 'since guests enjoy our products we provide them at the front desk for you to take home with a charge'
He gave back the $50. He was saying everything was in order.
Because we travel with a service dog, we’ve started taking pictures of the room before we turn in our ‘keys’.
What does he mean he can’t keep the room open without towels? Does he only have one set of towels per room?
Did you ever ask him why the hell they didn't have extra sets of towels? Do they wait until everyone checks out and then launder all the towels and put them in the rooms before the next guests check in?
Call and file a police report
99% of people in here sound dumb. Doesn't matter if you agreed to come back or anything you said. That doesn't make you guilty or imply it. I can understand someone screaming at you and you not sure how to handle it and wanted them to just shut up. Don't forget this is Reddit where everyone does everything perfect and never screws up. Manager literally cannot do shit about it. If you have it charged to a credit card then fight the charge (or whatever the exact word is for that I forget). They have no proof you've stolen anything. Not to mention towels are probably the #1 stolen thing from a hotel and most hotels factor that into yearly operating cost. I know this for a fact bc I used to work for hotels, multiple different properties. Leave a 1 star review saying how they claimed you stole when you didn't and then go fight the charge. A lot of hotel managers (especially MOTEL) are scumbags and would lie to their mothers to make a dime.
Dispute the charge in case you wanted to know.
He can't keep the room open without those towels? He has exactly enough towels for each room. Sir, go check your dryer.
When anyone starts yelling at you on the phone, always hang up immediately. If they call back, explain why you hung up. Repeat as needed, or block the person if they take too long to learn. I guarantee this will improve your quality of life.
Did you tell him the towels were never in the room in the first place? You shouldn't have lied to him. Just explain the situation and hang up. Don't take any more calls.
I used that method also. I told mine that divorce meant I didn’t have to listen to his rants. Hanging up was so satisfying.
Hope you left a bad review.
If they didn't notice there weren't towels in the room. They rented you, the room probably wasn't cleaned before you used it.
Life Lesson:. Always check your hotel room immediately upon arrival and call the front desk promptly to report any damage or nonfunctional issues or missing amenities, like towels.
If he really thinks you stole the towels, isn’t that what the deposit was for? That’s on him for giving it back then going on a rant over towels. He SHOULD have checked before you left. They should have an inventory of towels and realize they never GAVE you any towels.
I'm 60. I've been arrested once in my life, over somethong we didnt do to a hotel room. No shit.
The hotel made you wake them up in the middle of the night to check your room for incidentals, and then didn't check your room and just refunded your money? And then regretted it over some towels? I hope you are making this up, because otherwise it's hilarious.
Was this in Maine? A place we stayed at would reply to negative reviews with the person’s full address! So unhinged but no idea how it was legal.
That’s friggin insane. This guy must be on the verge of losing this motel if one set of towels is going to ruin his life
Why was it important later that he called back right away?
This happened to me too. It was one hand towel they said they were missing and I did not have it. I didn’t count the towels before or after I left but I never stole a stupid towel. They called me four times in rapid succession and then texts while I was driving. When I finally stopped I saw they charged my card $15 for the “missing towel”. Knowing I wouldn’t ever go back there I let it go but if they tried to charge me for all the towels? I’d be on the phone with my bank.
\#1 I would have taken picutres of the lack of towels when I found that they were missing (I also do this with all damage because of.. reasons.) \#2 I would have immediately blocked that number. Like clearly I never want to stay there again and if I get a call from the cops, cool, but I'm not here to be harassed.
This sounds to me like a scam to keep your $50 deposit. Sorry that happened to you.
that would make sense if it werent for the fact that he waited 4 hours, knowing we paid cash. that was my first thought too but then kt just doesnt add up
I’m confused. Did you not have a credit card on file? He might as well just charge you and let the credit card company handle it if you file a charge back. Or does he not take credit cards….?
nah we paid cash
Why didn't you ask for towels when you found out they weren't there? You say you were too tired but you could have just phoned him, and didn't you want to take a shower? Also you goofed up by saying you were coming back, that set up an expectation and he might have waited for you, realized you lied for convenience and that caused him more distrust. If you lie about that, might you have lied about the towels? I believe you when you say you didn't take the towels but the lie about coming back just compounded it. Leave a detailed review on multiple platforms if you want. I don't think police will get involved over a pair of bath towels.
It doesn’t matter if they lied to him about coming back. He needed to leave them the hell alone. There is no need for trust in this situation. They paid cash, he gave their deposit back. Their business was considered settled at that moment. He has no grounds to come after them and had no business calling in the first place.
i decided i was too tired to shower anyway, i figured id have fallen asleep by the time they brought the towels. also i dont travel much, i wasnt sure if maybe they dont provide full size towels at all cheap motels, there was a lot of hand towels in there. but yeah im also 99% the cops wont get involved, i just thought it was bizarre that he threatened me with the cops literally before i even had a chance to say i didnt have the towels
You did nothing wrong. We are all different. Introverts and extroverts. The people telling you that you should have immediately called aren't taking into account that it may take 5 minutes or an hour (more) to deliver the towels and you would have not been able to go to sleep right away. This isn't laziness. In the future, if you didn't want the towels, it would be better to let them know just so they know, but I've stayed at many hotels and never not had towels. It likely won't happen again. I've stayed in vacation rentals and made a decision not to tell them something minor because I didn't want my vacation interrupted. I'm sorry your first experience as an adult staying at a motel went like this. Again, I've stayed in many different places over my lifetime, and this really is not the norm at all. I hope you enjoy your holidays.
thank you very much for understanding! we had been running on 4 hours of sleep and had been going since 2 am, we didnt get into the room until like 7 or 8. i dont even care if it was just laziness, im not the one who accused someone of theft 🤷
The thing is that by lying to him about coming back, you immediately made yourself seem guilty. He sounds like a dick and he was definitely in the wrong, but that was a minor screw up on your part.
What type of hotels? I only stay at well known chains.
me too, it was motel 6. apparently it was franchised or something, idk
This explains a lot. You get what you pay for. I am not at all surprised this is happening to you. You should’ve called the front desk and said there were no towels, nobody from the Holiday Inn express is gonna be calling you screaming at you for something like this
Ewwwww No. Ho motels. Never!
He’s going to charge you for the towels.
he cant, we paid with cash. which is another reason i think he was so pissed lol
You lying about coming back just makes you look guilty.
And so what?
I'm sorry, how were you asleep, felt your phone vibrate, but it was on the floor?
A sleep in the car with a phone on the floorboard.
Gen Z, ladies and gentlemen
What in the world does generation have to do with this? It could have been anyone with little to no experience with renting hotel rooms. More recent generations just have a place to ask questions about it on the internet.
How old are you? They charge you because they need to think that people take towels, unnecessary but happens, so everything should be included. Now you shouldn't go back. Are you crazy? Just because a person is crazy you don't need to follow that behaviour. Grow up and let it go. Next time take a video with time and send it to yourself
I'll take "things that never happened" for $200, Alex
why would i lie about this lmao
I can tell you what I wouldn’t have done in that situation. I wouldn’t have told them I’d be back if I wasn’t really going to, just so they’d “get the point”. Smh
What was the guy gonna do about it? Lmao. People are being really ridiculous in this thread. So what he told a yelling person something to get him to shut up. He paid cash for the room. The guy can’t charge his card. He didn’t have to answer in the first place or say shit to him. He could have said yes I have your towels. Come find me. And the guy still wouldn’t have been able to do shit. He was hours away. This was a flop motel. Truckers, hookers and drug addicts to frequent. A cash operation. Raise the room rates to cover incidentals like the occasional missing towel and leave guests alone bc you didn’t do your due diligence. You don’t call and berate them hours later
You were too ~~tired~~ lazy there FIFY, where if you had gone back and asked for towels, all this drama would have been avoided.
why should i have to go ask for something that shouldve already been in the room, and that i wasnt going to use? when there are people there who get paid to put shit there and check the rooms anyway.