Hotel Fire Alarm Pull anyone?

Oh Well, first night of our vacation at a hotel enroute, R pulled the fire alarm in the hallway. I didn't catch him in time and felt pretty bad about it. I immediately ushered the boys to our room (they were pretty frightened by all the noise) and called down to the front desk to tell them that it was one of my boys, that I was so sorry. They said "that's ok and no problem" which did make me feel better at the time.

But at checkout time the next morning they sure did give me a hard time, to the point of being harrassing. They wanted me to compensate them for the loss of revenue; she said that people had left the hotel because of the incident, one of the sensors had broken because the alarm was pulled so hard, and that two alarms had been pulled. I'm not very good with these uncomfortable confrontations, but it was just plain untrue that two alarms had been pulled and I just cannot believe that he could have pulled it with such force to actually break anything. When I asked how many people had left the hotel she wouldn't tell me, but she wasn't letting me check out until I offered something, though her stance was that she couldn't force me to do anything.

So, I did pay her more--I have some misgivings about that, but I had screaming kids in the car and I didn't know what else to do about it at the time. I mostly feel bad that in the moment of being so flustered I signed the check out sheet where she had written that they had broken the sensor, etc. I didn't notice she had written this at the time. I just wanted to get out of there.

Anyway, the next evening we moved into the hotel at our destination for the next several nights. No fire alarms were pulled there, and the boys understand that we don't do that. But I will say that the alarms in the new hotel had some built-in deterrents like a plastic housing for the actual alarm. It makes it less tempting to pull and more forbidding whereas the other place was just out in the open and placed very low to the floor.

Just curious, this ever happen to anyone else?

 

Oh my gosh! I can't believe she was that rude to you after saying essentially no problem when you called down there to let them know what had happened. It hasn't happened to us, and I'm sorry you had to go through all of that!

 

OMG i am so sorry for the rudeness of the hotel clerks! It seems like they were going overboard maybe cuz they got their butts cheewed out. But it HAPPENS. My twin Josh pulled the fire alarm at the library then proceeded to push the elevator button and go in it and up to the 1st floor and head out the door! Luckily I told the librarian right away when I could not find Josh and she called the police etc and no real harm done. And thankfully someone upstairs grabbed my son before he made it out the door. They were only 22 months then I think? Anyways, we got the police fire etc in time and no harm done and there were hardly anyone at the library at the time. I was told it only cost $4 here to put the plastic cover on the fire alarm so this does NOT happen. You should mention that to the hotel!!!! I offered to buy one for the library in the kids section but they were really ok with it. Not the first time or the last time probably but they will look into getting one.

 

Jesse pulled the alarm at a function hall we were attending a party at. But nobody made a big deal out of it .. he's just a little kid. I think you were treated unfairly.

btw .. it happens to us where I work ALL the time and we end up losing lots of money in sales .. but we never try to make the parents pay to make up for it !

 

Wow, that woman was rude to you, esp. after telling you it was no problem. Was the hotel a chain? You could try to complain to someone about that. Or at least write and tell them you'll never stay there again! Sorry you had to go through that.

thea

 

I, too, hate confrontation like that. I'm sure they have already forgotten about it! Sorry that happened.

 

Thanks everybody. Yes, the hotel was a chain--I think the alarms were placed at an especially low height. They need to be handicapped accessible I know, but I don't think there was anything to deter a toddler from pulling it.

 

OH YES!!! WELCOME TO THE CLUB!!! Mortifying, for sure. Scared the daylights out of the kids, so they didn't dare go near them again. I was SHOCKED they were OUT in the OPEN like that. Normally, there is some sort of housing for them...but NOPE!!!

I am actually pretty :angry: for you that she charged you extra!! GIVE ME A BREAK!!! That's the biggest load of crap I have ever heard!! What brand hotel was it, if you don't mind my asking.

Glad I am not alone!! We pissed the chamber maid off big time. We left our room so she could clean and upon walking out the door, BLAMMO Martin grabbed that fun red round button faster than I could blink!! Feelin' your pain!!! I probably would call and complain - I know it seems backwards, but I probably would!

 

Jon did that at the Middle school here when they were testing him. I had to go to the principal with him to explain why a 3 year old was able to do it. Funny thing was, we had to go back 2 days later, and they had an actual fire drill while you were there.

I would call the hotel back and speak to the manager--and if not go higher--there is NO WAY they should charge you extra for it!

 

QUOTE(HusbandJ @ Jun 22 2008, 08:04 PM) [snapback]840130[/snapback]
but she wasn't letting me check out until I offered something, though her stance was that she couldn't force me to do anything.

So, I did pay her more--


Wow...I'm so sorry this happened to you. But more importantly, I can't help but think that you were duped? She wouldn't let you check out unless you "offered something?" And of course she couldn't force you to do anything....that's because unless they wanted to arrest your 3 year old for being a 3 year old, these things happen.

Did you get a receipt? Did she show you any kind of form where the penalty for a child pulling a badly covered fire alarm are? Honestly, I would complain BIG TIME. In a nutshell, you were harassed...and with small children around, no less.

I wouldn't say I'm non-confrontational, but I'm not a hothead either. But this is something that would seriously tick me off. And thinking about your situation, I think I would've turned it around on her and ask how "I" was going to be compensated for scaring the bejesus out of my kids because of their lack of adequate covering on such obvious troublesome spots.

Especially if it was a chain. Those people thrive on good word of mouth, so they'll do a lot, I would think, to make this situation better. I can't believe she made you so uncomfortable that you actually gave more money. I have a feeling that money went in her pocket....

 

I have no problem really saying that it was a Comfort Inn. I'm still half expecting to get some kind of letter from them saying that they are going to try to sue me, ha, especially now that I'm posting it here! (I don't really believe they can sue me, but I suppose if they tried to I suppose I could make a good case for them to pay any legal expensives I incur.) Though she did say she couldn't make me pay anything extra, she just wouldn't let me go until I offered something. In the moment, I felt I did come up with some good arguments for why it was wrong for me to pay anything extra, but it just kept coming back to her tacitly refusing to print out my receipt until I made a move. In retrospect, I could have just walked out the door and she would have charged me the room rate, but I didn't think of that one either at the time.

What was bs was the bit about a 2nd alarm having been pulled. I saw my boy pull the alarm when it went off and there was no other alarm pulled by my guys. And the bit about having broken a sensor can't be true. (When the fire department showed up, it took them about an hour to reset/fix things so the alarm would stop going off by itself. I feel certain that this had been broken at some other time.)

 

No, but only because we haven't stayed at a hotel since the boys were pretty small. I can imagine T&T doing the same thing. If there is a button to be pressed or a lever to be pulled, they feel obligated to try it. It takes us 5 minutes to walk past a vending machine.

We did have an incident with Trent pulling a fire extinguisher off of the wall at a restaurant and smashing his foot with it. At first I was embarrassed that he'd gotten away for half a second and then upset over having to take him for an x-ray. Later, I was angry that they hadn't put a $1 strap on it... especially since it was mounted at wheelchair (or toddler) height. They claimed he broke the mount because they couldn't get it back on. I think it's more likely that the mount is designed to snap free easily to not impede the user in an emergency and might actually be single-use. Anyway, the difference is that they offered to pay for the x-ray -- there was no mention of me paying them for the damaged mount.

Bottom line is that I'd bet the clerk pocketed the extra money you paid and took advantage of the situation. I'd absolutely call and speak with the manager about it.

 

Did you pay via Credit card??? if so call and dispute the charge immediately! They will help you with that!


good luck.....and call the corperate headquarters

 

Not a a hotel but my son pulled the fire alarm during church service. Of course, most people know us so I tipped in, told them it was us, and went on. The fire department came and couldn't figure out how to turn it off.

Anyhow, I wouldn't have paid a dime and would have dared her to put it on my bill. Just my two cents!

 

They should be happy that you took the initative to call the front desk and inform them what had happened. I think that is terrible that they made you pay more money--what does that really do? I would call the corporate office of the hotel chain and inform them of the situation. Doesn't sound like a "corporate policy" to me!