In the event you’re staying at a lodge and are touring with valuables, it’s typically a greatest observe to put these objects in a protected, to stop any type of theft. Nevertheless, even that isn’t an ideal answer. In spite of everything, there are employees on the lodge who can reset the safes in rooms, making inside jobs attainable. Alongside these traces, right here’s a narrative…
A traveler’s New York lodge protected theft story
Somebody reached out to me with a really detailed account of what they declare occurred on the Marriott Residence Inn Manhattan Midtown East in New York Metropolis. Let me emphasize that that is simply an accusation, so clearly I can’t personally vouch for whether or not issues occurred precisely the way in which the traveler claims.
Nevertheless, the traveler is being very clear (like, wildly so), has filed a police report, and has contacted the Argentinian consulate, so he’s making very constant claims. I believe that is no less than value drawing some consideration to, for the reason that traveler says he’s getting nowhere with any Marriott channels.
For some background, this Argentinian man was touring along with his spouse and two younger youngsters, and he claims to be a police officer and lawyer in Argentina. He was on a multi-week journey to the USA, beginning in New York on December 28, 2023, and ending in Miami on January 17, 2024. He describes this as a particular journey the place they had been utilizing a good portion of their financial savings.
The household was touring with $19,000 in money. Whereas that may appear odd for us People, take into account that it’s widespread for a lot of foreigners to pay with money when touring, particularly these coming from international locations with unstable currencies. He declared this quantity with US Customs & Border Safety when coming into the nation, and even shared the receipt of that declaration with me.
So, listed below are the traveler’s model of occasions of what occurred after the household checked into the lodge on December 28, 2023:
- On the morning of December 29, the person put $19,000 in money, a watch, and passports, within the protected of room 827 on the lodge, after which the household went sightseeing for the day
- Within the night, the household returned to the room, however couldn’t open the protected; so he referred to as the entrance desk and was advised there weren’t any engineers obtainable that night time, which he discovered unusual
- The next morning, an engineer opened the protected, however the money was lacking (whereas every part else was nonetheless there)
- The traveler requested that the lodge name the police, which they refused to do, so he referred to as them himself; a number of cops confirmed up on the lodge, after which lifted fingerprints from the protected and the entrance door, questioned employees, and extra
- The traveler shares a affirmation of a tour that they’d booked properly upfront for December 30, which they needed to reschedule as a consequence of all of this, which the traveler describes as “additional proof that this was an surprising tragedy for us”
Right here’s the place it will get much more fascinating. The traveler shares an image he took of the cash within the protected from the morning he positioned it in there. Why would he do this? He claims to have taken it as a result of he had a foul feeling.
The day of their arrival, they left all their baggage with the entrance desk, for the reason that room wasn’t but prepared. Once they returned, the zip tie on one of many baggage was open, and the zipper wasn’t closed accurately (although nothing was taken, since there have been no valuables within the bag). The lodge had no clarification for that.
The subsequent logical query is why the lodge would have suspected he had a lot money. The reply is as a result of he tried to pay for the keep in money at check-in (quite than utilizing a bank card), however the lodge didn’t enable that. So no less than some individuals on the lodge knew he had a major amount of money. The price of the lodge keep over New Yr’s Eve was over $3,000.
What will we make of this story?
As I stated at the start of this submit, I can’t personally vouch for the accuracy of any of this, which is to say that I didn’t see the traveler place the cash within the protected, and I additionally didn’t see anybody from the lodge take the cash.
That being stated, this particular person supplied an extremely detailed account of what occurred. The traveler declared the cash when coming into the USA, the traveler even took an image of cash within the protected, and we even have purpose to imagine that individuals on the lodge knew he had a variety of money on him.
Now, let me in fact additionally acknowledge that fraud occurs on this planet, and a few may say that this traveler’s model of occasions are virtually too good. He had proof of the money, and he actually took a timestamped image of the protected’s contents previous to leaving the room, and after that it was robbed.
This traveler additionally went to the Argentinian consulate about this and claims to be a police officer within the nation, so making up one thing like this would appear like a really dangerous concept. He even stated I might use his full identify on this submit (which I’m simply not snug doing), so he’s not attempting to cover behind anonymity. Maybe it’s as a result of he’s a cop that he’s truly taking the precautions that just about appear suspicious to the common particular person.
Lastly, if somebody goes to commit fraud, it’s not often going to be when their partner and younger youngsters are there, because the traveler describes this as being extremely traumatic for his younger youngsters, as they spent the whole day coping with this police investigation.
I’m sharing this story in hopes that an truly thorough and clear investigation is carried out, as a result of this particular person tells me that he’s simply getting the silent remedy from the lodge, from Marriott company, and many others.
The lodge presumably has cameras, so it shouldn’t be too exhausting to determine whether or not there’s benefit to this story, and whether or not individuals entered his room or not. Moreover, presumably there would have been some degree of coordination right here between individuals — the entrance desk brokers knew he had money, whereas engineering (or another person working within the rooms division) would have in all probability accessed the protected.
Backside line
An Argentinian man taking a particular household journey to New York claims to have had $19,000 in money stolen from a lodge protected. The traveler had a lot money as a result of the plan was to pay for every part through the journey with money, and the lodge knew he had the cash, since he tried to pay in money at the start of the keep (quite than utilizing a bank card).
At a minimal, hopefully Marriott takes this severely and investigates. I’m inclined to imagine this model of occasions, however in fact you by no means know.
If nothing else, it’s a superb reminder {that a} lodge protected isn’t fairly as protected (no pun meant) as many individuals could assume. Sure, you’re protected against outdoors theft, however you’re not protected against an inside job, and most lodge robberies are the latter.
What do you make of this story?
