My child's prescription disappeared at OKW

[LoveBWVVBR]

I can't remember if we were at AK or BW at the time, but my wife had recently had back surgery and had pain meds. She swears some were missing from the bottle but didn't feel confident enough to report. It was only us two staying in the room.

Scary to think that someone might have actually tampered with the bottle of pills while you weren't in the room

 

[LSchrow]

Remember housekeeping is typically the low of the low on the totem pole of CMs.

Not sure why you are furious. With my statement. I meant in terms of what is required to get that position. It is one of the easiest in the company to get thus why if you say you are willing to do housekeeping you are much more likely to get on the college program than someone who says they would never do housekeeping. Most days you can walk into casting and get a job at housekeeping as long as your fingerprint scan passes. It is that or custodial.

It had nothing to do with the people who work the job necessarily.

(jean - i hope it's okay that i respond, as the comment disturbed me also).

i don't see how the job one does is indicative of one's ethics. there are many honest custodial and HKing CMs (e.g., nazareen at the BWV ), and there are CMs in other positions (including attractions) that could learn from them.

ethics, whether good or lacking, are something one carries with themselves every day of their life, no matter where they are, or what they are doing.

personally, i would be more suspect of someone who wanted to get in the college program or wanted a paycheck, but refused to do a certain job because it was beneath them.
(and if possible, read a post from jean here:
http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3274253
it might make you rethink who is trustworthy )

 

[wilkeliza]

(jean - i hope it's okay that i respond, as the comment disturbed me also).

i don't see how the job one does is indicative of one's ethics. there are many honest custodial and HKing CMs (e.g., nazareen at the BWV ), and there are CMs in other positions (including attractions) that could learn from them.

ethics, whether good or lacking, are something one carries with themselves every day of their life, no matter where they are, or what they are doing.

personally, i would be more suspect of someone who wanted to get in the college program or wanted a paycheck, but refused to do a certain job because it was beneath them.
(and if possible, read a post from jean here:
http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3274253
it might make you rethink who is trustworthy )

I apologize if it was taken that my low man on the totem pole comment was about the actual person. As my second post clarified it was about the position itself not everyone who works it. Housekeeping is hands down the easiest position to get with in Disney. Well that and custodial. That is why it is low man on the totem pole not because of the people who work there. Once again I do apologize that people took it that I was talking about the people who work there and not the actual job and position. I only meant the position itself and not the people who fill it.

 

[crisi]

I remember reading (about the safes) the family left the key in the room and the housekeeper found it and helped herself. I would say use the safe and take the key with you.

We left our jewelry at home before going to Disney. I brought a cheap watch only.

As far as meds.... dont bring the pill bottles put the meds in travel cases. That way no one knows what med they are. I kept mine in a travel pill case in my shower bag.

If you travel with controlled substances, you should either leave them in the original bottles OR bring along your prescription. Technically, the TSA shouldn't demand original bottles, but the TSA is the TSA and seems to be staffed with a higher than normal proportion of idiots with the power to really screw up your day. You need to be able to prove that you have a right to those controlled substances if you are questioned.

Your risk of getting accused of transporting a little Vicodin or Oxy without a prescription is pretty small, but since its the TSA, a drug related offense you'd be accused of, and your vacation on the line - bring the prescription sheet with you - the TSA deciding they need to confirm with your doctor or pharmacist before letting you board could mean missing your flight. However, then you'll need to keep it separate from the drugs or its like keeping them in the bottle when it comes to them being stolen.

 

[jekjones1558]

I apologize if it was taken that my low man on the totem pole comment was about the actual person. As my second post clarified it was about the position itself not everyone who works it. Housekeeping is hands down the easiest position to get with in Disney. Well that and custodial. That is why it is low man on the totem pole not because of the people who work there. Once again I do apologize that people took it that I was talking about the people who work there and not the actual job and position. I only meant the position itself and not the people who fill it.

Thanks for clarifying. Perhaps I am overly sensitive about defending housekeepers. We have had wonderful service from housekeepers over our 60+ DVC stays and I think that criticism of their work seems more prevalent than praise here on the DIS. I am not so naive as to think that all housekeepers are perfect but I am glad to read that you did not intend to demean them as a group.
We have had doors in DVC rooms that needed an extra tug to close them securely so it is indeed possible that anyone could have entered your room without a key if it was not tightly closed. Sorry this happened to you. Your post is a good heads-up for all of us.

 

[kittyab]

If you travel with controlled substances, you should either leave them in the original bottles OR bring along your prescription. Technically, the TSA shouldn't demand original bottles, but the TSA is the TSA and seems to be staffed with a higher than normal proportion of idiots with the power to really screw up your day. You need to be able to prove that you have a right to those controlled substances if you are questioned.

Your risk of getting accused of transporting a little Vicodin or Oxy without a prescription is pretty small, but since its the TSA, a drug related offense you'd be accused of, and your vacation on the line - bring the prescription sheet with you - the TSA deciding they need to confirm with your doctor or pharmacist before letting you board could mean missing your flight. However, then you'll need to keep it separate from the drugs or its like keeping them in the bottle when it comes to them being stolen.

True enough, but I wouldn't keep the bottle out in plain view.

 

[wilkeliza]

Thanks for clarifying. Perhaps I am overly sensitive about defending housekeepers. We have had wonderful service from housekeepers over our 60+ DVC stays and I think that criticism of their work seems more prevalent than praise here on the DIS. I am not so naive as to think that all housekeepers are perfect but I am glad to read that you did not intend to demean them as a group.
We have had doors in DVC rooms that needed an extra tug to close them securely so it is indeed possible that anyone could have entered your room without a key if it was not tightly closed. Sorry this happened to you. Your post is a good heads-up for all of us.

I have had many wonderful housekeepers as well and even worked as one for a summer camp.

I do agree with what you posted about trusting no one really. If something valuable is lost in the parks it is best to assume it is gone for good. If a CM didn't take it another guest did. I'll never forget helping a father from Scotland try to find his brand new iPhone 5S. He was there with his 5 year old daughter and girlfriend/mother of daughter. He told me how his little girl loved to take pictures so she let her have it while he had his DSLR because he would never turn the big camera over to her. She had been taking pictures all day with his phone and after they left he assumed his daughter gave it to her mom and mom assumed daughter gave it to dad when no one could find it. Sure enough daughter admitted she put it down on the fountain in front of the water front restaurant in Mexico. It was no where to be found and since it was brand new he never set up find my iphone.

 

[DebbieB]

http://www.tsa.gov/press/news/2012/12/11/tsa-screening-procedures

TSA screening procedures are governed by federal law and designed primarily to detect threats to aviation security. TSA officers do not specifically search for illegal drugs. If an officer discovers an item that may violate the law during security screening, even in states where marijuana is legal, TSA will refer the matter to law enforcement to make a determination on how to proceed.

The new states laws have not changed any procedures for TSA.

 

[wilkeliza]

If you travel with controlled substances, you should either leave them in the original bottles OR bring along your prescription. Technically, the TSA shouldn't demand original bottles, but the TSA is the TSA and seems to be staffed with a higher than normal proportion of idiots with the power to really screw up your day. You need to be able to prove that you have a right to those controlled substances if you are questioned.

Your risk of getting accused of transporting a little Vicodin or Oxy without a prescription is pretty small, but since its the TSA, a drug related offense you'd be accused of, and your vacation on the line - bring the prescription sheet with you - the TSA deciding they need to confirm with your doctor or pharmacist before letting you board could mean missing your flight. However, then you'll need to keep it separate from the drugs or its like keeping them in the bottle when it comes to them being stolen.

We've never been stopped before but here is our trick. We travel with Xanax and one other pill and never bring a whole bottle. We always have 2 bottles at home so we never are out. Especially on the second pill. If we run out of that it can be days of agony since most pharmacies have to order it. Before vacation we just put all the pills into one bottle (each type in its own bottle of course) and use the second bottle as a travel bottle of sorts. We leave just enough for the amount of the vacation and maybe one extra and that is it. If it does walk off at least it isn't the whole 100 worth of pills. Also since they are daily pills it is easy to know if a few are missing and have a good time line.

 

[disneynutz]

Thanks for clarifying. Perhaps I am overly sensitive about defending housekeepers. We have had wonderful service from housekeepers over our 60+ DVC stays and I think that criticism of their work seems more prevalent than praise here on the DIS. I am not so naive as to think that all housekeepers are perfect but I am glad to read that you did not intend to demean them as a group.
We have had doors in DVC rooms that needed an extra tug to close them securely so it is indeed possible that anyone could have entered your room without a key if it was not tightly closed. Sorry this happened to you. Your post is a good heads-up for all of us.

I have a hard time praising someone for doing the job that they are paid to do. Extra above and beyond, that's a different story and those people deserve a tip.

Disney sends recruiters into other countries to hire CM's if they can't get enough applicants locally. The new hires are here for a short time and go back home, same for the CM's on most cruise lines. They do background checks but you can't weed out all of the bad apples no matter where they come from.

On 2 separate occasions we caught housekeeping sitting in our room watching TV, once at BWV and once at SSR.

People will be people.

Bill

 

[kittyab]

We stayed at a Disney resort last November, and I can say the housekeeping was terrible. The bathroom was gross. After a few days the cleaning person stopped leaving supplies and arranging the stuff animals on my daughters bed. (I did it for her so she didn't know they had stopped).

I think it is ok to say I didn't get the service I paid for. Yes we complained to the manager and they did their best to make up for it.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

I have a hard time praising someone for doing the job that they are paid to do. Extra above and beyond, that's a different story and those people deserve a tip.

Disney sends recruiters into other countries to hire CM's if they can't get enough applicants locally. The new hires are here for a short time and go back home, same for the CM's on most cruise lines. They do background checks but you can't weed out all of the bad apples no matter where they come from.

On 2 separate occasions we caught housekeeping sitting in our room watching TV, once at BWV and once at SSR.

People will be people.

Bill

That is so weird! Were they even supposed to be in there that day or where they just randomly in your room watching TV? My concerns with hotel room/timeshare unit security are growing by the minute!

 

[disneynutz]

That is so weird! Were they even supposed to be in there that day or where they just randomly in your room watching TV? My concerns with hotel room/timeshare unit security are growing by the minute!

Don't remember for sure but I would think that it was a cleaning day.

My point is people are people, doesn't matter where they come from or how much money they have or what their job is. People will take advantage, some worse than others.

Expect the worse and hope for the best, sad but then you won't feel like you were slapped in the face when stuff happens. WDW has 50,000 plus employees serving millions of people annually, you have to expect that bad things can happen.

Bill

 

[jerseygal]

These prescriptions are being stolen all the time unfortunately..

Whenever our home was on the market, if I had any prescriptions, I would ALWAYS safeguard them! Yes, there have been articles on people who are previewing your home going through your medicine cabinet!

That also goes for ANY VALUABLEs, ANYWHERE!

I think that too many people "let their guard down" on vaca and do not safeguard purses, laptops, cameras, etc..... I would imagine that valuables are left in hotel rooms or DVC and guests think that their valuables are safe...
Guess again..."Crimes of Opportunity"...

 

[crisi]

http://www.tsa.gov/press/news/2012/12/11/tsa-screening-procedures

Yep, but its the TSA, and if they decide to refer your perfectly legal prescriptions to local law enforcement, and they determine to confirm they are yours with your doctor or pharmacist, you could delay travel.

Its just easier to travel with your prescriptions - both for this reason and because if for some reason there is an emergency at the other end (like medicine you need going missing), a local pharmacist can deal with it.

 

[bumbershoot]

Holy cow. How does that happen? Even the safes aren't safe? OK, I'll just keep the valuables on my person then. Scary.

The articles about it were really too vague for me, personally, to put any faith in what the articles were saying. From what I recall (which is even more vague), it was suspected so, I believe, she was set up, and was caught. To me, being set up brings to mind having a safe left open, honestly. Other than that the articles never said how she got into the safes.


We've never come back while a room was being cleaned at WDW, but staying at the Grand Californian one time, we noticed that they were "in" several rooms at once. Which meant they left doors open. DH experienced this directly because he went back to our room while our door was open but the housekeeper wasn't in the room. He got to discover their security methods because she came back while he was looking for something in my stuff. He and I have different last names, the room was in my name, and he'd left his ID with me. That was a fun few moments for him. Thankfully he was listed on the room, just not as the first name, so a quick call to the front desk was all it took.

But if he were quicker he could have been in and out of the room without the housekeeper knowing.

Lock up everything you can't easily replace!

And if a door doesn't close, report it immediately. Let them have the chance to fix it on THAT trip.

 

[Disney Spaz]

Not a DVC resort but in 2009 we had a theft at POFQ. We had 2 rooms that were a few doors apart. On the second day DD and DS in the second room said the felt their stuff had been "gone through" I called and then went to the front desk and reported this and told them to put in my file that nobody was to enter either of the rooms without my presences. Well, the next day we were out all day and when we came back the first room had not been opened but the second room had been cleaned by HKing and DD laptop was gone.

I went straight to the front desk and made them call the police to report the theft. The reviewed who entered to room and it was only HKing. I told them I didn't necessarily believe it was housekeeper as I had witnessed on multiple occasions and multiple trips, including this trip where housekeeping would prop open 2 adjoining rooms and float between the two. I was told by Disney over and over that this was not allowed so it could not have happened but I saw it enough to know it did. We refused to stay and were moved to SSR which reminded us why we love DVC but since then we notify the front desk we do not want anyone to have access to our room except in emergency situations. Disney made it right by compensating us for the laptop and the upgrade to two 1 bedrooms at SSR so I felt better. It is like when you rent an apartment you have the right to refuse entry without being there.

All that being said I still don't think it was the housekeeper I think it was someone who was stalking the rooms and saw an easy target with the ability to quickly get out. I know that in the past I have come back to the room when housekeeping has been inside with the door propped open so I didn't have to use my key. They have never asked for proof that I was the real room occupant. How hard would it be for a criminal to walk into a room acting like the resort guest and grab anything they think is valuable?

 

[Dean]

I have a hard time praising someone for doing the job that they are paid to do. Extra above and beyond, that's a different story and those people deserve a tip.

Disney sends recruiters into other countries to hire CM's if they can't get enough applicants locally. The new hires are here for a short time and go back home, same for the CM's on most cruise lines. They do background checks but you can't weed out all of the bad apples no matter where they come from.

On 2 separate occasions we caught housekeeping sitting in our room watching TV, once at BWV and once at SSR.

People will be people.

Bill

Marriott and others do this as well. It's not that they can't find people to do the job but they can't get people at the prices they're willing to pay. In many areas I find non DVC timeshares do a much better job than does DVC comparatively speaking. Housekeeping is one of those but definitely not the only one. It's not that I find DVC's bad but that the others are better and more responsive. I must say that almost all of the issues I've had with avoidable issues in this areas have been at DVC as well. Taking this issue to a second level, I can say that without a doubt non DVC timeshares far outshine DVC when there are such issues. Let's face it, things happen, what makes or breaks a resort is what happens next, IMO. I've been traveling in timeshares for almost 20 years and the last 6-7 yrs, around 20 units a year total. I've seen many issues, some avoidable some not. And while DVC does fairly well in this area, they certainly are at the bottom comparatively speaking in my experience. Certainly Marriott, Bluegreen and Wyndham resorts, as well as II and RCI resorts in general, clearly care about their ratings much along the lines that car dealerships do.

We were at a Marriott last week with seven 2 BR units and had only minor issues, all of which were handled promptly and with a phone call to make sure it was done to satisfaction. And our unit assignments were handled directly by the front desk manager who contacted me himself prior. This week we're in Savannah at the Bluegreen resort. We ran back by the room to drop off a couple of things before lunch and we found someone working on the TV's and their hanging setup. When I questioned that they were let into our room and that we couldn't go to lunch and leave them here (one of my quirk's like not valeting the car); the GM came to our room and stayed here himself so we could go to lunch (had dinner reservations so putting it off an hour would have been an issue). He tried to give us compensation but we declined, we weren't out for anything, just wanted to go to lunch and feel safe. I know they have the legal right to access but this was a planable event, they should have let us know but apparently they got caught and had to make a decision when the electrician came by hoping to finish the last 4 rooms. They made a bad decision (maint supervisor) but recovered nicely. Last year we did this same trip, HH Marriott then Savannah. One of our group is very active on facebook and others and last year was no exception. They posted repeatedly about the resort and how good a time we were all having. The resort picked up on it and delivered a large basket to here in recognition of the advertising and thanks.

 

[Dean]

The articles about it were really too vague for me, personally, to put any faith in what the articles were saying. From what I recall (which is even more vague), it was suspected so, I believe, she was set up, and was caught. To me, being set up brings to mind having a safe left open, honestly. Other than that the articles never said how she got into the safes.


We've never come back while a room was being cleaned at WDW, but staying at the Grand Californian one time, we noticed that they were "in" several rooms at once. Which meant they left doors open. DH experienced this directly because he went back to our room while our door was open but the housekeeper wasn't in the room. He got to discover their security methods because she came back while he was looking for something in my stuff. He and I have different last names, the room was in my name, and he'd left his ID with me. That was a fun few moments for him. Thankfully he was listed on the room, just not as the first name, so a quick call to the front desk was all it took.

But if he were quicker he could have been in and out of the room without the housekeeper knowing.

Lock up everything you can't easily replace!

And if a door doesn't close, report it immediately. Let them have the chance to fix it on THAT trip.

Most electronic safes are not difficult for someone that knows what they're doing but they are a good deterrent for the casual thief. Medication theft is fairly common, it's usually friends and family.

 

[Nettester]

Our rule: Meds are stored in safe at all times, at home, and at hotels. I just do not take any chances. I'm sorry that happened to you, I hope you were able to get them replaced quickly.