All the posts regarding the robbery of the elderly lady, remind
me of an incident that happened, last year, to a very good friend
of mine.
She is also not a youngster, though a long way from her 90's. She
was staying at her usual downtown hotel, her LV base of operations for
many years. She is aware of the importance of securing her room when
she is on the inside.
Retiring for the evening, she immediately engaged the double-lock.
There was no chain on the door. She left her purse open on the
dresser, her wallet on top, intending to total her win/loss figures
for the day, after washing up.
She switched on the TV and headed for the shower. While soaping
herself, she thought she heard someone talking in the room. She was
momentarily startled but decided that the voice was coming from a TV
program.
When she exited the shower, she grabbed a towel to dry her hair, and
walked back into the bedroom, stark naked, with only her wet head
covered. There in her bedroom was A MAN !! She SCREAMED bloody
murder, and the guy ran out the door. She instantly phoned down to
the front desk, and was connected with security. Semi-hysterical,
she told the security officer what had transpired, including the fact
that the door had been DOUBLE-LOCKED!
Security asked her some questions, including if she could describe
the man. She could and did, stating that he was wearing a blue denim
uniform shirt, and that she had thought that he was police or security.
They assured her that security wore tan uniforms, but that what she
was describing sounded like a maintenance person's uniform. They
asked if anything had been stolen. She looked in her purse, and all
her money was intact. They said they would send two officers to her
room to make a report, and that she should look through the peephole
before opening the door, to verify their uniforms and badges.
She asked the security how someone, hotel employee or not, could
override the double lock. They explained that security and
maintenance employees had tools to undo the doublelock, in case of
emergency. They wrote down the details as she related them, and
requested that she check with security in the morning.
After a mostly sleepless night, she contacted the Head of Security
early the next morning. She was told that there is a security camera
on each floor of the hotel, which records 24/7. They had reviewed the
film, and determined that it was a maintenance worker who had entered
her room. He had entered the room to "fix the TV" (which wasn't
broken!) The maid had reported a "problem" with the TV early in the
day. Again, my friend reinterated that the TV was working fine. They
again claimed that it had been reported. My friend then asked all
of the following questions: 1. Why was he coming to fix the TV at
10:30 in the evening? Answer: Mintenance had been "busy" until
then. 2. When he heard the TV playing and saw that the double-lock
was engaged, why did he enter the room anyway? Clearly, this was not
an emergency. Furthermore, he could have phoned down to the front desk
and asked them to call the room before entering. Answer: He was a
fairly recent immigrant, and perhaps there was a "language barrier".
None of this assuaged the anger of my friend. However, she was
already on an RFB comp, and nothing had been stolen from her. She
decided to drop the matter, and change her allegiance to different
casino.
Perhaps, if the casino had at least sent her a little gift, together
with a letter of apology, they might not have lost a VERY good patron.
But, I rather suspect, that their very short-sighted legal department
advised against this, fearing that this gesture might admit to some
liability on the part of the casino.
Thank goodness, that only her feelings were hurt by this incident,
and that she herself was safe from injury and physical trauma. The
last time I heard her tell the story, she was laughing about the
fact that she had scared the intruder as much he had frightened her!!
After I heard this story, I determined to never again stay in a
hotel room that did not have a CHAIN, as well as a double-lock,
barring entry to the room.
SAFE & profitable casino visits to all.
Babe