Expensive watch taken from room

[Princess_Nikki]

Even things "in the little safe" in your room are not safe or secure. Have you seen the news in the past 24 hours? A maid was caught on video stealing from a SAFE at All Star Music! They have the master code. And yes I realize someone other than housekeeping could have stolen the watch...but that is unlikely.

Woah. I must have been hiding under a rock in Siberia for a long time....are you saying there was an intentional video camera in a hotel room?? Maybe I'm naive & private but that's kinda creepy.

 

[ronfin]

Had things stolen from us TWICE in one week a few years ago. Once while we were at EPCOT we had 5 spray bottle fans for the 7 of us. We naively left them on the stroller while inside Imagination, and when we returned they were all gone. No biggie. We screwed-up. When I went to more I jokingly said "I sure hope these don't get stolen too...", and the girl selling them gave us 5 for FREE. I was very impressed with that. A day later I was doing laundry at All Star Movies. I had the laundry in the washer with my dryer sheets sitting on top. I was sitting in a chair that I brought in a few feet away from the washer messing around with uploading pictures on my laptop. People came in and out, and walked past me. I was literally 3 feet from my stuff, and when the washer stopped and I got up to put everything in the dryers, the dryer sheets, along with my travel laundry bag were gone. Taken right out from under my nose! Again, it was my fault for not keeping a better awareness of who was coming and going and where my things were. I had been under the impression, naively, that this sort of stuff was VERY rare in Disney. It woke me up, and I realized that no matter where you go, and how comfy you feel somewhere, you can NEVER let down your guard. Still to this day I can't believe that happened to me.

 

[Gorechick]

Woah. I must have been hiding under a rock in Siberia for a long time....are you saying there was an intentional video camera in a hotel room?? Maybe I'm naive & private but that's kinda creepy.

It seems the room was set up with the camera specifically to see what the maid would do.

 

[Eeyore's Wife]

The intentional video was part of a "sting" operation in place to verify that the maid was stealing cash. There had been multiple robberies in rooms that she cleaned. Cash was her focus, so a room was set up with cash whose serial numbers had been recorded.

She broke into the safe and took cash.

She was promptly arrested.

 

[bumbershoot]

the front panel to the Mickey Band door sensor was on the floor in front of the TV.

Ugh.

We were at Kidani in February and on our way out one day as the door shut the RFID panel fell to the ground. Fabulous construction!

 

[criscoloo]

OP here: it's certainly possible that the housekeeper turned on the TV inadvertently and the front panel fell to the floor (still doesn't explain how it made it to the middle of the room), but with the watch disappearing, the more likely scenario to me is that someone gained unauthorized (or maybe even authorized) access to the room by tampering with the sensor panel somehow after removing the front panel (the exposed sensor panel looks like a computer board), walking into the room quickly with the panel and throwing it onto the floor while searching the room for valuables. Why someone would turn on the TV is beyond me, although I can't put myself into the mind of someone who intentionally does a criminal act (assuming that my scenario is how it all went down in the first place). Those who feel the need to judge me for letting my husband carry around valuables in the first place or him for not having used the safe are probably the same ones who think that the woman asked for it by dressing provocatively.

 

[criscoloo]

Thanks to you and Eeyore's Wife for the moral support!

 

[criscoloo]

lmhall 2000, I meant to quote your reply in my "thanks for the moral support" earlier.

 

[HMANSION LOVER]

Had things stolen from us TWICE in one week a few years ago. Once while we were at EPCOT we had 5 spray bottle fans for the 7 of us. We naively left them on the stroller while inside Imagination, and when we returned they were all gone. No biggie. We screwed-up. When I went to more I jokingly said "I sure hope these don't get stolen too...", and the girl selling them gave us 5 for FREE. I was very impressed with that. A day later I was doing laundry at All Star Movies. I had the laundry in the washer with my dryer sheets sitting on top. I was sitting in a chair that I brought in a few feet away from the washer messing around with uploading pictures on my laptop. People came in and out, and walked past me. I was literally 3 feet from my stuff, and when the washer stopped and I got up to put everything in the dryers, the dryer sheets, along with my travel laundry bag were gone. Taken right out from under my nose! Again, it was my fault for not keeping a better awareness of who was coming and going and where my things were. I had been under the impression, naively, that this sort of stuff was VERY rare in Disney. It woke me up, and I realized that no matter where you go, and how comfy you feel somewhere, you can NEVER let down your guard. Still to this day I can't believe that happened to me.

It is becoming more and more apparent that we, the honest people, are the minority. You have enough money to vacation at a Disney resort yet you feel the need to steal someone's stuff, how pathetic. It is a shame we have to share our space in life with people like that!

 

[bumbershoot]

OP here: it's certainly possible that the housekeeper turned on the TV inadvertently and the front panel fell to the floor (still doesn't explain how it made it to the middle of the room), ...

I was NOT saying that yours had simply fallen to the floor. I was "ugh"ing that the construction of the lock units is so bad that it CAN fall down. If it can fall, it can be broken into easily. I would have said all that but I didn't think for a second that my comment could have been construed as saying that your situation simply involved it falling to the ground. And floating out of the hall and into the room. Didn't cross my mind.

 

[criscoloo]

Sorry, I didn't intend to sound snarky. The cast member explained it away to us like that and I do suppose it is possible though unlikely.

 

[stasijane]

1) Why was it not in the safe if he was not wearing it?

2) Why would you DH have valuable items if he is careless with them?

3) I would have called the police from FL. Definitely file the police report. Does your homeowner's insurance cover the loss?

Are you for real?

 

[Ofinn]

Why do people always blame the victim of a crime???

Just because you don't lock something up and it get's stolen doesn't make it your fault.

If I steal something from my fellow employees purse that she left sitting on her desk is it her fault?

I guess anything we leave in our locked hotel rooms is fair game for the hotel staff?

 

[tinawv]

Why do people always blame the victim of a crime???

Just because you don't lock something up and it get's stolen doesn't make it your fault.

If I steal something from my fellow employees purse that she left sitting on her desk is it her fault?

I guess anything we leave in our locked hotel rooms is fair game for the hotel staff?

Very good points, even though something stolen from a locked hotel room does not necessarily mean it was hotel staff.

 

[Punzie]

I was NOT saying that yours had simply fallen to the floor. I was "ugh"ing that the construction of the lock units is so bad that it CAN fall down. If it can fall, it can be broken into easily. I would have said all that but I didn't think for a second that my comment could have been construed as saying that your situation simply involved it falling to the ground. And floating out of the hall and into the room. Didn't cross my mind.

Well isn't that comforting!! I was wondering about this RFID entry and if there was a possibility to make the rooms more vulnerable. Guess ill be sleeping with one she open in 13 days!

 

[pepe of ohio]

Well isn't that comforting!! I was wondering about this RFID entry and if there was a possibility to make the rooms more vulnerable. Guess ill be sleeping with one she open in 13 days!

We've always traveled with a door butler... security alarm that fits in the door crack....door jar opens contacts and alarm sounds waking the dead... Cheap, and very small...

Also, always put a small strip of scotch tape across safe door, to see if it was opened...after we check in, anything of value ( wallet, credit cards and cash) goes in the safe until we leave for home... Only thing we carry and use is the kttw.....

 

[aubriee]

Very good points, even though something stolen from a locked hotel room does not necessarily mean it was hotel staff.

True!

Nothing was stolen but I got a scare a few years ago at CSR when I was traveling solo. I had left the room, went to DS, but almost immediately started feeling ill, so turned around and went back to my room. I hadn't been gone, but maybe an hour or so. Anyway, I was in my own little world, in deep thought, when I unlocked my door and stepped in to find a man lying on my bed watching TV. I screamed bloody murder and a housekeeper came running out of the bathroom, apologizing profusely. Apparently the man was a friend of hers just visiting and she'd let him into the room while she was cleaning. I didn't think the housekeepers were in the rooms long enough to have a guest get that comfortable. You could tell she thought I might tell on her and just kept apologizing, asking me not to tell her supervisors, saying that was the first time it had ever occurred. Again nothing was stolen and other than almost giving me a heart attack no harm was done, but that "friend" could have easily walked out of that room with anything he wanted while the housekeeper was in the bathroom cleaning.

 

[Sammie]

What surprises me is the number of people that travel with items that can not be replaced, that hold great sentimental value, or expensive.

We take nothing on vacation that is not insured, or replaceable. So our valuables and cherished items stay home.

It is a hotel room, accessible by many people, not a private residence.

 

[darkwing818]

My husband's very expensive watch disappeared from our room one evening at AKL earlier this week. Didn't realize it was missing until we packed to check out the following morning. Reported it to the front desk and they treated it as a "lost property" incident, rather than stolen property, despite my suggesting that it had to have been physically removed from our room and that it wasn't lost somewhere in the room between the bedsheets. Supervisor came and said they would look at the door log to see who entered the room and that they would mail the watch to us if they find it. Seems to me that they were not prepared to deal with this as a stolen property incident. Has anyone dealt with this? Not sure what to do now that we're back home. If I was back in a hotel back home and not on my way to the airport, I would've insisted that the police be called.

I've read this post a few times, & yes I can see where the OP would think it was stolen, but I can also see where a CM might think it was lost. The way it's reads to me is that the watch went missing during the evening. Usually housekeeping takes place during the day, when I would guess the watch would be on her husband's wrist. Now that being said, if they had evening turn down service (we've never stayed at AKL) or something else, then the watch could have been stolen, while the family was at dinner or something. I can see both sides, I have a rolex & am always leaving it on nightstands, desks or in the bathroom etc. & I know how it feels when I can't find it , luckily it's always been found. OP hope it all works out with your insurance.

 

[luvmy3]

True!

Nothing was stolen but I got a scare a few years ago at CSR when I was traveling solo. I had left the room, went to DS, but almost immediately started feeling ill, so turned around and went back to my room. I hadn't been gone, but maybe an hour or so. Anyway, I was in my own little world, in deep thought, when I unlocked my door and stepped in to find a man lying on my bed watching TV. I screamed bloody murder and a housekeeper came running out of the bathroom, apologizing profusely. Apparently the man was a friend of hers just visiting and she'd let him into the room while she was cleaning. I didn't think the housekeepers were in the rooms long enough to have a guest get that comfortable. You could tell she thought I might tell on her and just kept apologizing, asking me not to tell her supervisors, saying that was the first time it had ever occurred. Again nothing was stolen and other than almost giving me a heart attack no harm was done, but that "friend" could have easily walked out of that room with anything he wanted while the housekeeper was in the bathroom cleaning.

I hope you did report that. I would have dialed a manager right there as she was apologizing.