I reported a problem with my room shortly after I checked in -- the bathroom fan would not go off, and it was loud, so it wasn't going to be very conducive to sleeping. The first maintenance person was unable to fix it, so he simply disabled it for the night and scheduled for someone to come the next day. When I came back to my room in the afternoon, all the lights were on, the fan was on, what I had hanging in the shower stall (wet towel, hanging on the clothesline) was taken down (not laying in a "fell off" position), there was stuff in the toilet that was not mine (putting it nicely), and the mousekeeping tip on the tray in front of the coffeemaker was gone. The bathroom fan was now quieter and not constantly running, so I know that it was maintenance that was in the room. And the trash cans were not emptied, so I know mousekeeping was not there.
Do you leave a tip for maintenance? Would the maintenance guy have legitimately thought that was his tip? My thought is that the maintenance employees probably make a lot more than mousekeepers do and they are not someone to be tipped. Mousekeeping actually provides a service for us as individuals and they depend on tips.
I reported everything to management and they sent the head of housekeeping to talk to me. I emphasized to him that it was not housekeeping's issue, that I hadn't even had room service yet, having checked in the day before (moderate resort). He talked to maintenance, the employee was already gone for the day, so I will probably not know the outcome of that. I was credited the missing money on my account.
This morning a part of me is feeling guilty for reporting it. I wouldn't want to cost someone their job, but then again, perhaps some more training is needed for this person.
