OMAAT reader Samuel shared a wild story with me, whereby he found five discarded nitrous gas canisters hidden in his hotel room, reported it to staff, and was then charged £375 ($505) for them to be removed.
In this post:
Hotel accuses guest of lying about discarded gas canisters
This experience involves Samuel’s stay last week at the Westin London City. Long story short, during his stay, he discovered five empty, discarded nitrous gas canisters (specifically, from FastGas) hidden in the room he was staying in:
- Two gas canisters were found in the cubby space behind the mini-fridge; these were only discovered because the mini-fridge wasn’t working, and he had food he wanted to refrigerate
- Three gas canisters were found hidden behind the headboard; they were concealed, but he noticed a strange shadow when the night lights were turned on, and then made the discovery
The guest decided to bring one of the gas canisters down to reception at check-out, to make the manager on duty aware of this. Meanwhile he placed the other four gas canisters on the bed. The manager on duty was reportedly apologetic, and understood the situation.
A few days later, he received an email from another manager on duty, reassuring him that the housekeeping team had done their job and didn’t find any gas canisters in the room before his stay, and therefore he must be lying, and would be charged £375 for the gas canisters to be disposed of:
I would like to reassure you that our Housekeeping team complete a full cleaning service and inspection ahead of your arrival and they did not find any gas cannisters in your room. Therefore, we understand that these gas cannisters were left in the room after your experience. Due to the nature of the cannister, as a hotel we have to arrange for a specific disposal company to collect the waste which involves a charge of £75.00 per gas cannister, so in your case the total will be £375.00.
The guest emphasized to the hotel that he wouldn’t even know where to buy these gas canisters, and that he arrived in London on the Eurostar. He also made this point in the email response to the hotel:
While I know that you would rather go with the line that “housekeeping complete a full inspection” – the fact is that these canisters probably sat in the room for weeks if not months given there was a pretty thick layer of accumulated dust on top of the ones above bed headboard. The canisters were in fact completely concealed in daytime – either completely behind the mini fridge out of sight and not easily accessible, or high up where you would only find them standing on the bed and reaching up knowing something was there which in daytime would be difficult to see to be fair to Housekeeping.
The hotel is completely in the wrong here
I of course understand that running a hotel isn’t easy, and that a lot of guests probably tell lies, to avoid having to pay for things. I also understand that in some situations, hotels have to hold guests accountable when their actions lead to significant expenses for hotels.
However, this seems like one of those situations where anyone with an ounce of common sense would probably figure out this guest is almost certainly telling the truth:
- This person works in the travel industry, and arrived by train, where there would’ve been a security check
- He’s very specific about where the gas canisters were hidden, and logically, you could totally see how housekeeping might not notice that during a standard room cleaning
- If he were trying to conceal the gas canisters and get off the hook for paying a charge for them to be disposed of, he wouldn’t bring one of them down to the front desk, and place the remaining four on the bed; instead, he’d hide them, probably in the exact same places where he found them
So, what recourse does the guest have in this situation, assuming the hotel doesn’t want to voluntarily come to its senses?
- He could try to open a claim with Marriott corporate; I don’t necessarily have much faith in that process, since Marriott doesn’t exactly exert strong control over its properties, but…
- He could file a credit card dispute for the extra charge, which is most likely to have a successful outcome
I’d also publish reviews of the hotel on a variety of online platforms, to make others aware of this unethical behavior from the hotel.
Bottom line
A guest staying at the Westin London City discovered five empty nitrous gas canisters hidden in his room, with two behind the mini-fridge and three behind the headboard. He brought this to the attention of the duty manager, who apologized.
However, days later, he was charged £375 for the disposable of the canisters, since the hotel conducted an investigation, whereby the housekeeping team claimed it had done a thorough inspection. What a mess of a situation…
What do you make of this odd hotel gas canister incident?
Absolutely contest it via the credit card. That always gets the offender on their heels and the cc companies heavily favor consumers.
I just left a review on google for the hotel calling the manager out
i am sure they are going to regret their decision shortly
Thats one absolutely dumb hotel.
Just charge back the transaction via the card issuer. Either the entire transaction or the extra charge.
If that doesn't work, the guest could make a claim via the UK Small Claims Court - on the assumption that the hotel operator will settle before it actually goes to court.
If he disputes the credit card charge, his Bonvoy account will be automatically locked, and then may be fully closed with all reservations cancelled and points forfeited. This is standard procedure at Bonvoy for any charge backs, justified or not.
If this is in fact standard procedure, the company should be sued, how is it possible to do this, it would be a form of serious censorship for the customer!
He selected the best option, option five. Have a popular blogger with great SEO publish a blog post that will most certainly come up whenever anybody searches for the property on Google.
I think the message is "take a photo"! In this case it's obviously a cover-up of sloppy housekeeping that's badly supervised, and one wonders exactly how clean the rooms at the Westin London City really are. Judging by this report, I'll wager they're filthy.
Well, my room last week was very clean and the hotel fantastic. Can't complain about one thing.
Sounds like you got lucky.
Why on earth would anyone give their loyalty to a soulless brand like Westin?
Heavenly bedding! Well, they used to be good. I stayed at the one in Vegas several times over the years pre-Covid - half a block off the Strip, often cheaper rates than comparable Strip hotels, no casino so the property was calmer, and the heavenly bedding. But haven't been there in some years.
It’s this type of response by companies that lead honest people, to ignore things and not report them.
Not clear whether Samuel is from London/UK or not.
If not, consider telling Marriott management that if they don't see sense immediately, he will mention to Metro/ City AM/Evening Standard - the sort of story they would love.
Actually, they may well pick it up from this post.
It's perfect for the Daily Mail, I'm sure they could find a way to pin it on Muslims.
How lame are whip-its, though? Sad to hear that's big east of Bow's bells. I remember when it was just good old glue.
I suggest that he also sends the hotel an invoice for say $100 for time spent dealing with their ridiculous claim.
Invoices go to Accounts Payable, who tend to escalate them to someone sane.
Clickbait
Well, it worked on you then Tim!
“You’re $500 resort fee includes:
Wifi
Half off kids breakfast
Removal of gas canisters”
I think the lesson is to use your ubiquitous phone camera to document, and do not touch anything you find. I once checked into a room with an ozone machine in use. That should have tipped me off that housekeeping was cleaning the room from smoke. I didn't document and didn't say anything. The hotel tried to charge me a cleaning fee insisting I smoked in the room.
I learned to document if I...
I think the lesson is to use your ubiquitous phone camera to document, and do not touch anything you find. I once checked into a room with an ozone machine in use. That should have tipped me off that housekeeping was cleaning the room from smoke. I didn't document and didn't say anything. The hotel tried to charge me a cleaning fee insisting I smoked in the room.
I learned to document if I find anything, and to immediately go down to the lobby and insist on a room change if I ever smell evidence of smoking in the room.
Hotels just want someone to pay for it and they don't seem to care whether the customer responsible for the mess is the one that is charged. Hindsight is 20/20 but the guest should not have touched them and instead photographed them and insisted housekeeping remove them from their initial hiding spot.
I agree, take a picture. We failed to for the weekend rental from a popularwebsite. There was hair in the bathroom and a whole ball of hair left behind on the carpet of the second bedroom. Dust on TV table and cooking grease on stove. Barely any furniture in the bedrooms. We were left wondering if under such circumstances if the bedding had been washed. BTW this property was in Irvine, CA. We felt cheated!
I agree with Jojo. I have had a Marriott platinum card more than 30 years but have decided I am going to be done with Marriott, as they refused to extend a couple of certificates following my heart surgery that made me unable to travel. They do not deserve my money.
Working at a hotel you don’t want to know what guest brought down to me overnight that they found in their room and ice bucket coffee maker! One of the reason they are gone from rooms no one has time to clean them gross.
The guest also should have or could have done more to make sure that this did not backfire on him.
1. Why would he wait until checkout to report this incident to the manger on duty because it should have been done immediately upon discovering them.
2. He should have left it as is and call up the front desk to send someone up preferably from management to see the situation personally.
3....
The guest also should have or could have done more to make sure that this did not backfire on him.
1. Why would he wait until checkout to report this incident to the manger on duty because it should have been done immediately upon discovering them.
2. He should have left it as is and call up the front desk to send someone up preferably from management to see the situation personally.
3. He should have tried to document everything from listing what he found with the time and date and location. He could have backed it up with photographs and videos. Also, if possible he could have recorded the situation if he had called someone from the hotel to the guest room to discuss the matter. Marriott has not been known to be customer friendly at all for a long time already and it is not just specific to any one region but it seems on a much larger scale.
@ Stanley C -- So I hear you, and I would've probably also gone about documenting this differently. At the same time, this seems like a situation where it's obvious that the guest wasn't at fault.
Think about it, if the goal was actually to lie and he just wanted to dispose of these without paying, why wouldn't be just throw them in a trash bin somewhere, rather than neatly placing them on his bed?
@Ben totally not saying the guest was wrong but just wondering why he did not document everything and he definitely should have left them as is for the staff to find when he called them and he should have done that immediately. It is like what you have written about before when you discovered things not working in the room you told front desk straight away. This is also something that hotels remind guests what...
@Ben totally not saying the guest was wrong but just wondering why he did not document everything and he definitely should have left them as is for the staff to find when he called them and he should have done that immediately. It is like what you have written about before when you discovered things not working in the room you told front desk straight away. This is also something that hotels remind guests what to do on TA which is let the hotel staff know about an issue as soon as possible rather than at check out or posting it on TA or on the hotel survey after the stay.
When I'm paying to rent a hotel room, why do I want to lose some of the quite enjoyment of that time to staff cleaning up someone else's mess?
That's why I often only mention issues at check-out.
So management can fix E.g. the not-properly-working plug before the next guest arrives.
If I found what looked like drugs, or hazardous waste, I would ask to be moved to a different room.
These...
When I'm paying to rent a hotel room, why do I want to lose some of the quite enjoyment of that time to staff cleaning up someone else's mess?
That's why I often only mention issues at check-out.
So management can fix E.g. the not-properly-working plug before the next guest arrives.
If I found what looked like drugs, or hazardous waste, I would ask to be moved to a different room.
These cannisters I would not have considered hazardous waste - I wonder whether they really pay GBP75 for removal of the ones that their kitchen uses?
They have security cameras and can check. He can make a subject access request for all the cctv footage during his stay.
Of course he brought the canisters into the hotel. lol
He can also dispute the charge with bank.
This. The guest foolishly moved the canisters himself at the end of his stay and didn't document their discovery with his phone.
Last December I found a pre—rolled joint and a lighter in a Radisson Blu. What a great gift. ;)
That was just the welcome amenity!
I once found women's underwear on a desk chair. It was a very large size. Rather than report it, I threw it in the hallway...like a woman was sex crazed and removed clothing before getting into the room
I would have said nothing unless it was a gun or bomb
Earlier this year I found a women's underwear hanging on a spinning ceiling fan. I guess housekeeping never looked up.
Maybe it was that same, shameful pair that derek found in his room ! .. Sorta like the 'hot potato' making it's way throughout the hotel ... lol... Just the visual of the garment circling endlessly on the ceiling fan is hilarious !
I certainly can't top either of these experiences.... lol
LOL ..
Your anecdote made my day ! And your kind generosity in 'disposing' of the 'unmentionables' most certainly fed the lurid imaginations of other guests ! ... But who's to say that if you didn't disclose these cartridges, that Westin would incorrectly come after you & bill you the disposal fee and/or worse ?
Bonvoy gonna bonvoy! Not sure why any self respecting traveler still gives Marriott their money. Terrible brand. At least Wyndham, choice don’t pretend to be something they’re not!
These are laughing gas canisters. Laughing gas is, unfortunately, used as a recreational drug here in Britain. Not too long ago, I went to East London to visit someone after a rugby match, and was gobsmacked by the amount of discarded canisters of laughing gas on the streets.
Now, I don't at all condone the use of it and littering in hotel rooms, but I wonder why the staff didn't just put it in their waste bag?
@ Ray -- Interesting. I guess due to the explosives warning, they have to be discarded differently, at least technically?
If they are the standard 8 to 8.4 gram containers they are completely recyclable and can be recycled with general scrap metal, though due to being compressed gas cannot be taken on flights.
Larger ones can be opened/closed and just refilled.
They are commonly used in cafes and restaurants for whipping goods, making fresh whipped creams, hollandaise sauce (that sauce is fantastic), infusing flavors into cocktails and more.
I keep a box...
If they are the standard 8 to 8.4 gram containers they are completely recyclable and can be recycled with general scrap metal, though due to being compressed gas cannot be taken on flights.
Larger ones can be opened/closed and just refilled.
They are commonly used in cafes and restaurants for whipping goods, making fresh whipped creams, hollandaise sauce (that sauce is fantastic), infusing flavors into cocktails and more.
I keep a box of them and return to manufacturer to avoid waste.
Are we talking about little cartridges used to make seltzer or whipped cream ?
@ DanG-DEN -- Sorry, updated the post to add that detail. These were from FastGas, along the lines of what you'll find here:
https://fast-gas.com/
That is epic. Bartenders and chefs will love this. (the mini 8 grams are a tad annoying)
Can somebody explain why it even matters whether he put the gas canisters there or not? What expense is there in removing them? We're just talking about whippets, right? Can't they just throw them out in the trash?
You need an explanation? Ok. Marriott is very anti-customer. Get it now?
@ 747-400 -- Apparently they have to be professionally disposed of, or at least that's what the hotel believed. The cost charged reflected what the hotel had to pay for disposal. At least that's the claim.
Hotel applying an over-abundance of caution there.
If not empty and put in a fire they would explode, but that's true of air-freshener or deodorant cans too.
The chance of these ones being not empty is very low.
I would regard them as an asset - scrap steel.