Apr 23, 2007 11:26 PM
2399 Views
(Updated Apr 23, 2007 11:26 PM)
This is a narration of the incident which my hubby enountered at Chancery Hotel, Bangalore in the evening of Saturday April 21, 07. I am still using the term suspected theft inspite of the fact that there was no other way in which the items could have gone missing from the car.
Saturday evening, a hall called Colors in Chancery was booked for an office event. My husband arrived at the place at about 7:30 p.m. and gave the car to the valet parking folks. The following contents were in the car: the backseat had 2 bags - laptop bag and office bag, in the dashboard there was a Polaroid sunglass and in one of the open compartments was another sunglass. Apart from these items, the car stereo was also present.
After the event my husband headed back home by 9:45 p.m. after getting the vehicle from the valet parking folks. Before heading out he checked for the laptop bag and office bag and after finding them in the designated place, drove out of the hotel.
We realized the loss of BOTH the sunglasses only the next day morning(Sunday April 22, 07) when we headed out for routine purchases. By about 12:15 p.m. my husband called up the hotel and informed them of the incident. It was attended by a lady in the reception desk(name withheld here) and she informed us that she would revert shortly. At about 1:00 p.m. another gentleman called and sought more details including brand of the sunglasses etc and before the call could be formally closed, the line got disconnected and there was no return call to close the conversation logically.
By 3:00 p.m. I was getting anxious and insisted that we call them to find out what happened. This time another gentleman heard our woes and repeated the same statement of getting back and hung up.
Today morning the response we got was that they could not locate the sunglasses, all the drivers are frisked and nothing was found on their person. Period, end of the story for Chancery.
Now commence my woes:
1) The cost of the articles we lost: The Polaroid sunglasses cost us INR 2600(approx. I can prove it in my Shoppers Stop billing details.) The other pair of sunglasses, I think it was Police brand, was gifted by a colleague from office.
2) The apathy shown by the hotel staff:There was no option tendered to make good the loss or give a feeling that they sincerely felt miserable about the loss(how could they when it didnt matter to them!)
3) Lack of prompt response when it is a matter of theft within a defined time limit and area of operation!
I must admit that I am disappointed at the turn of events. Nothing is permanent and the optimist in me sees an opportunity in this loss at a personal level, where new sunglasses would make their way to our nose bridges.
But the consumer in me also sees a lost opportunity by the Chancery folks to turn an unfortunate incident into a brilliant PR strategy. I would have been writing a different review if they had done something differently. And am I justified in expecting it? Yes! I am justified because there are ample instances of my local Sukh Sagar etc folks trying to make good a situation if they err. This is a star hotel and a business hotel. The least they could do is. I am not saying, dont want to gift them ideas when they could not generate it at the first instance.
My husband is planning other means of escalating the issue, not because it is the value of the products or for any ego indulgence. It is for the same reason that I share my bad and good experiences in this public platform - use my voice and expression to help this market place a better place for innocent consumers. Noble thought! Well we will wait and watch.
