On Friday 5th March 2010, my laptop bag containing my laptop, BlackBerry, wallet, mobile office devices, iPod & several other items was stolen from the Jacaranda Ballroom at the Sheraton Pretoria Hotel & Towers.  The bag was stolen from a supposedly “safe” location: I made this (mistaken) assumption based on the reputation of the hotel and from seeing several security guards placed around the hotel lobby.  I found out the hard way that the assumption was wrong — the Sheraton Pretoria Hotel’s inability to respond in a satisfactory manner to a minor crime on their premises shows that they are not only unable to protect the belongings of guests & delegates on their premises, but that they also refuse to accept the responsibility of keeping their property free of crime.

My objectives in this post:

1. To express my anger and disappointment at how I was treated;
2. To get Sheraton Pretoria to change how it treats guests in similar situations in future;
3. To expose conference attendees to these dangers in ALL hotels;
4. To engage public debate in finding ways to combat crime in hotels, and in dealing with poor guest treatment by hotels in general and the Sheraton Pretoria in particular;
5. To ask Sheraton Pretoria to take responsibility for their side of this situation; and
6. To engage Sheraton and Starwood Hotels in a constructive discussion about how they can improve their service if and when such incidents occur in the future.

I post below the email that was sent to the Sheraton Pretoria:

To:

• General Manager of Sheraton Pretoria, Mr Joerg Limper
• Head of Security, Sheraton Pretoria, Mr Brett Winter
• Starwood Hotels & Resorts (via website complaints form)

Regarding Hotel Security & Service After Theft of Laptop Bag from Jacaranda Ballroom on Friday 5 March 2010.

On 5^th March 2010, I was one of the speakers from the Momentum Short-term Insurance roadshow, which was hosted in the Jacaranda ballroom of the Sheraton Hotel, Pretoria.

After the presentation (at approximately 11h45), the delegates and speakers (including myself) moved from the ballroom to the courtyard immediately outside, for lunch.

Once lunch was completed, I went back to the ballroom to discover that my laptop bag was gone.

After reporting the incident to a staff member cleaning the room, it took approximately 15 minutes for a manager to arrive and ask if I needed help, or give me any explanation of what was going on. After explaining what happened, he promptly disappeared.

The sound engineer for our event, Jay from Jaykay Sound, who doesn’t even work for the hotel, seemed to know more about what was going on and helped me find the security control room to show me what was filmed by your security cameras.

Watching the security video was very revealing: the thief simply walked out with my bag at approximately 12h14. Not a single security officer or manager approached him as he was walking into the hotel, or out with my bag — a bag that he clearly did not walk in with.

On the video, it was also plain and simple to see that the thief was completely out of place – by that, I mean that he was dressed far too casual to be a delegate, or even a guest of the hotel. He was quite clearly not supposed to be there, dressed in a bright red “Liverpool” t-shirt and khaki trousers.

My colleague spotted the thief during lunch and was suspicious of this character, but was unable to do anything as he was busy working with the delegates. He says he saw the perpetrator quite plainly walk up to the tables, dish up food, and eat with the delegates. This means he not only walked around the hotel past several security guards, but also several waiters and managers.

The contents of my bag included a laptop, BlackBerry, camera, electronic equipment and personal effects worth over R25 000,00. Fortunately for me, most of these items will be covered by my insurance, although I will need to pay in several thousand Rands in excess, and the time lost in replacing all these items. As the owner of my own business, which relies on access to my computer, my business is now also on hold until the items are replaced.

It’s one thing if this bag was stolen from a room – I can agree that room security is a guest’s responsibility. But this happened in a public area, and this is entirely your hotel’s responsibility. I’m looking for you and your hotel to accept this responsibility, to resolve this situation of my loss, and to make your security effective for future guests.

If it is not yet clear from this letter, let me express my extreme disappointment with the staff and service of your hotel:

• It took over 15 minutes for any manager to approach me.

• None of the staff bothered to take me to the control room to see the video, or into any office for that matter.

• It was only when I started taking the initiative and demanding assistance that any action was taken.

• In a matter like this, where time is clearly of the essence, it took my insistence to get the staff to  call the police to report the incident and give a description. This took over 30 minutes from when we notified the staff. (We’re now 45 minutes after the bag was stolen)

• The only apology I received was by  one of the managers. It was short and sincere, but I could tell that he was personally apologizing, and not on behalf of the hotel.

• No-one bothered to take my contact details, or even ask my name for that matter. It was as if no-one cared at all, or had any intention of contacting me with further news. At no point did I feel confident that this issue was a priority for your staff.

• My wallet, containing all my cash, cards and drivers license, and my rental car keys were stolen. I  therefore had no way of leaving the hotel, or could I purchase anything. I was very lucky that I could borrow money from a  colleague, because at no point was that considered by your staff; I  was not offered anything to eat, drink, or even given a phone to  make any calls to cancel my cards, cancel my mobile phone SIM card, or call the vehicle rental company to request a new car.

• By now, I’m sure you’ll agree that the security staff – even with their smart uniforms, even with their fancy communication earpieces, even though they are placed around the hotel, were completely and utterly ineffective.

Had this incident happened at a small and less expensive hotel, I could have blamed the lack of security measures. But the Sheraton is a five-star establishment, complete with “high tech security”. Well, quite frankly, the thief could have walked in with a concealed weapon and no-one would have noticed because security did not stop him once — either coming in or going out.

Based on the service I experienced as a guest, I think that you seriously need to look at how you respond to crimes. As a South African, I’m familiar with the challenges we as a country face with crime, but even I was extremely disappointed by just how ineffective your staff was to responding to this incident. I think this is a major lesson to your management and security staff before the start of the World Cup. Based on this incident, I can report that your staff are completely unprepared for any security issues, from the fact that the perpetrator even entered the hotel, to the lack of service I received as a guest of the hotel.

This is not what I expect from a hotel of your reputation.

What I am expecting now is:

• a formal apology letter

• compensation for my loss of  belongings and time (limited to the value of my unspecified items, ie R 10 000)

• a promise that you will re-assess your security details and the process that must be taken should such an issue be reported by a guest

• refreshment training for your security staff to be done before the arrival of World Cup guests

• remedial training for your staff, including management, on how to deal with an incident of criminal activity and how to treat a guest during such an incident.

As a professional speaker and author on the topics of marketing and customer service, I believe a company should not necessary be judged on when things go well, but rather how they resolve problems. That is why this letter and your response will be accessible to the public domain, and your hotel will be assessed and rated on this experience. This letter and its response will be posted to several websites, including blogs, social networks, customer service rating websites, travel advisor websites, and local printed media (including newspapers and magazines).

It would be advised that your response not only resolves my concerns, but should also address the public as to what you are doing to minimize this kind of incident in the future.

I look forward to your positive response.

Yours sincerely.
— Marcel Oudejans

To which I received this response:

Dear Mr. Oudejans,

Our customer service center has forwarded your complaint regarding the alleged theft of your laptop bag from our premises.

Please accept my sincere apologies for the inconvenience encountered in our hotel.

May I point out that our Banquet supervisor was standing right next to the event organizer when you reported your missing lap top bag.

The same Banquet supervisor advised you that he would alert our Security department.

Our Security Department initiated the call to the local Police.

It took the Police 30 minutes to arrive at the hotel.

In the meantime our Security Supervisor, Banquet supervisor & Front Office Manager assisted you in providing a telephone at the Front Desk and access to the internet since your Blackberry and computer had tracking devices.

You established contact with both devices and eventually send an SMS to your service provider to disable both devices.

In reference to your comment about security in the hotel and the dress code please be advised that the front of house areas are publicly accessible and that we can not stop any guest who wears a T-shirt or any other casual clothing.

Access control to the Momentum event was provided by the Organizer, thus any uninvited person should have been denied access to the venue by aforementioned.

Based on your allegation that a colleague spotted the perpetrator and did not do anything to alert anyone and the fact that access control to the meeting room was handled by the organizer the hotel denies any liability.

Again, please accept my apologies for any inconvenience, however, the matter is of a criminal nature and a docket was opened with the South African Police Service by yourself and we kindly advise you to revert all further enquiries to the South African Police Service.

Warm regards

Joerg U.Limper

General Manager, Sheraton Pretoria Hotel

Here is my open response:

Mr Limper,

I informed you in my initial email that this discussion would take place in a public forum once I received your response.

Let me also make it clear that the reason it has taken me this long to respond to your email is not because I accepted your answers; rather, it is because the event at your hotel was part of a national roadshow and I have only now returned to the office and have access to my computer.  It has been almost two weeks since the incident and my disappointment at the service I received has not decreased.

I know, in retrospect, that I shouldn’t have left my bag unattended. At the same time, I had good reason to believe that the Sheraton Pretoria’s security was world-class, and that they had systems in place to deal with intrusions. When the ambiance, décor and staff of a hotel are designed to give the guest the peace-of-mind that they are in a comfortable, safe and secure environment, you expect that to be the case.

Here is my rebuttal to your luke-warm response:

• “May I point out that our Banquet supervisor was standing right next to the event organizer when you reported your missing lap top bag.”
  May I point out that he did not introduce himself at that time, nor did he give me any indication or assurance that he was in charge of the situation.

• “The same Banquet supervisor advised you that he would alert our Security department.”
  Surely the recommended procedure would be to take the guest to the Security department immediately? It required an outside contractor to show me where the security department was!

• “It took the Police 30 minutes to arrive at the hotel.”
  This is simply not possible.  According to the video which I watched (once I was taken by the contractor to the security department), the theft took place at approximately 12h15. I discovered the bag was missing at 12h30.  The SAPS did not arrive to take my statement until approximately 13h30, and this can be verified by my client.

• “In the meantime our Security Supervisor, Banquet supervisor & Front Office Manager assisted you in providing a telephone at the Front Desk and access to the internet …”
  As noted in my initial email, this only happened once I demanded access. When I first went to that particular desk, the relations manager who was sitting there refused to offer internet access unless I bought a voucher first.  Let me make this clear: there was no offer to use the internet, or a telephone. Rather, it was because I was insisting & was prepared to make a fuss!

• “In reference to your comment about security in the hotel and the dress code please be advised that the front of house areas are publicly accessible and that we can not stop any guest who wears a T-shirt or any other casual clothing.”
  Your front of house areas are publically accessible — should this include your conference facilities? It is not the fact that the perpetrator was wearing casual clothing, but rather that compared to the rest of your guests, he was dressed in a manner that made him look out of place and worthy of being watched. Even a greeting from your staff would, in all likelihood, have persuaded him to leave the premises.

• “Access control to the Momentum event was provided by the Organizer, thus any uninvited person should have been denied access to the venue by aforementioned.”
  The Organizer selected your venue on the basis that the hotel would be able to provide adequate protection to the delegates and their belongings. Uninvited people were not given any access to the venue before the presentation without a name tag; the perpetrator gained access to the room after the presentation. Any reasonable person could expect that a hotel of your reputation would be expected to prevent access to suspicious and/or ”out of place” characters.  In fact, of all 11 hotels and guest houses we stayed at, the Sheraton Pretoria was the most “exclusive” yet allowed the most unrestricted access to the general public.

• “Based on your allegation that a colleague spotted the perpetrator and did not do anything to alert anyone and the fact that access control to the meeting room was handled by the organizer the hotel denies any liability.”
  This is not an allegation, this is a fact.  My colleague is not a trained security guard, nor is he part of your security detail.  He was a incidental witness who was also working at the time of the incident.  Access control is, at best, a shared responsibility due to the fact that the perpetrator needed to pass at least 2 of your security check-points (at the entrance & the foyer) before reaching the conference area.

Mr Limper, may I also point out that you have not yet fulfilled my expectations of the service I expect.

• You have not apologized for the lack of attention & service I received, particularly for the fact that I was not requested to give my name & contact information;
• You have not given any indication that this incident will be used to improve your security;
• You have not committed that the safety & security of your guests is a priority; and
• You have not even acknowledged that, given that an incident of crime happened on your premises, that there is indeed a hole in your security.

While you are legally permitted to deny liability, morally it is in your interest to protect your guests & visitors, to acknowledge that your security was inadequate, and to accept — even in part — responsibility for this incident.

How would I expect this incident to be resolved? I refer to an article posted on Times Live website, “Thousands stolen from hotel safes” (7 March 2010, http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/article341475.ece) .  This particular hotel’s guests experienced theft from locked safes in their rooms, and even these guests were reimbursed of their stolen money (and cash is not normally covered by insurance).  It is therefore not unheard of that a South African hotel would be prepared to reimburse their guests after a theft on their premises!

Unfortunately, it is a worldwide phenomenon that hotels do not have financial incentives to provide good security — rather they provide “just enough” security so that they do not receive complaints.  I’m hope you realize that this complaint should be the incentive to re-assess your security procedures: particularly before thousands of foreign guests arrive for the World Cup.

I would also like to bring to your attention a comment written to me by a professional speaker & colleague, Kelee Arrowsmith, owner of Advanced Conflict Training:

“I agree about the security (and lack of responsibility). We have just launched a product based on improving safety policies and procedures for hotels and restaurants and I am horrified to find that 95% of them do not have any! If they have a hold-up, no-one has a clue about what to do which is really dangerous for their customers.”

Does the Sheraton Pretoria Hotel consider itself, as I personally experienced, to be like 95% of hotels who do not adequately deal with incidents of crime? Or would are you prepared to be part of the 5% that takes the safety of their guests and their belongings as the highest priority of the hotel?

The comments of support I have received from my clients, colleagues, friends & public when I have discussed this service issue online has given me the confidence to discuss this issue in the public domain.What is clear is that the level of service I received was not acceptable, and while you have the legal right to deny liability, it does little to enhance the image of a hotel.

It is therefore only fair that I warn potential future guests of your hotel that the security offered is below expectations, they cannot expect any sympathy or recourse that would prevent this kind of issue in the future.

Should you wish to respond, I would hope that you are willing to respond here on this public forum.

Yours sincerely,

- Marcel Oudejans

I would love to hear what others have experienced in similar situations:

• How have South African hotels (or even international hotels) responded to incidents of crime?
• Do you trust hotel security to do their job?
• To what extent should hotels be held responsible for the safety of their guests and guests’ property on the premises?
• If this had happened to you, or a delegate of your event, what would you expect to be the service you receive?

(A special thanks to @royblumenthal and @clivesimpkins for your help and support with this issue.

UPDATE: Received via email on Friday 2nd April 2010:

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