# package lost by hotel..what would you do?



## mark (Feb 2, 2013)

Ive been reading this forum for about a week or two but this is my first post.

Ive been cooking for about ten years. Im on my 2nd line cook job and up until now all ive owned have been walmart knives, a kiwi(that I use daily) and a mercer 8" chef knife. After some debate I purchased a 240 fujiwara carbon suji.

I had it shipped to the hotel that I work at since im there more than my home and id rather the knife not sit outside my front door till I get home from work. I assumed itd be safer at a hotel front desk...

The knife got to work on my day off.(thursday the 31st) I got the delivery notice in my email and noticed it was signed for. I figured instead of going to work on my day off, Id get the knife the next day. (friday feb 1st)

I go in today(yesterday the 1st.)) and the front desk guy cant find it. I come back later when the manager is there and ask her, i mention the name that the fedex email mentioned signing for it and it was the front desk guy I asked earlier. He doesnt remember...what the box looks like, where it is, or where he put it. He "never touched it", meaning he left it on the check-in counter where the fedex guy left it, where any passing customer could have taken it from. Is it SOP to leave guest mail on a public counter next to the business cards? (rhetorical)

We have cameras but I dont know if they record and how many days they record for.

I told my chef and the manager to mention it to the GM since he should have video access. (He mas in meetings while I was at work.) I plan on going in early tomorrow to talk to the GM. I hope hes working since its a Sat.

If hes NOT working tomorrow and my chef didnt get him to look at the tapes...I doubt the video will be there monday(since they prob only record for a day or two unless something happens to cause them to save a certain tape.) 

What would you do in my situation regarding the hotel?
Would you purchase the knife again already?

Thanks for any advice you can give.


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## Duckfat (Feb 2, 2013)

Tough situation. Hopefully you asked your Chef for permission to have the item shipped to work. If you did they signed for it then they should replace it. If you didn't have express permission then you may be SOL but it's going to depend on your GM. You do have some culpability here as you really should have gone and picked up your knife the day it arrived. If you ship items like this require a signature from some one you trust like your Chef or the GM even if that service is more $$.
The problem shipping to work is that when things go (.)(.)'s up you end up alienating your co-workers. Front desk guy gets written up, Chef has to deal with GM, GM has to figure out what to do. Etc.
In short it's a RPITA and your totally at the mercy of the GM and/or your Chef.
Best of luck getting it resolved.


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## Benuser (Feb 2, 2013)

In my country this is police work, and nobody else's.


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## Lefty (Feb 2, 2013)

Handle it in house.


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## chinacats (Feb 2, 2013)

Welcome, and good luck!


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## quantumcloud509 (Feb 2, 2013)

Welcome to the forum. I would freak the @#$% out and hold a grudge until God knows when. The front desk guy would get eternal hell from me, and would be the responsible party. Obviously he is at fault as he signed for the package it doesn't matter what he says, he signed for a package that wasn't his and lost it one way or another. 
I really hope somebody takes care of this for you, I would not rush to buy another. There is definetly a guilty party and its not you and they need to take care of it.


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## Igasho (Feb 2, 2013)

^^^^ I'm with that guy


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## Blobby (Feb 2, 2013)

The GM should be seriously worried that a package arriving at the front desk could dissapear like that. Regardless or not if you're en employee. Get on to the tapes and if they're not around or inconclusive threaten to get the police involved. I'm sure your GM will jump to attention then. It seems to me like there's a mistake somewhere. Only a kleptomaniac would steel a package of unknown content just because it's there. Have you been talking about it to your collegues? Don't know what chefs or commercial kitchens are like but maybe they've intercepted it and you'll find it buried to the hilt in a slop bucket or some other practical joke.


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## The hekler (Feb 2, 2013)

With USPS signing for a package is a lawful contract to ensure it gets delivered to its intended recipient, I would assume its the same with FedEx, if need be I would try to work through them.


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## franzb69 (Feb 3, 2013)

bad management leads to bad employees. a good leadership will always make for better workers. this should have been dealt with. i worked for a hotel for a bit and i could easily talk to the GM and take it up with her without having to go through red tape like memos and such and just take it up with him. well, aside from the fact that i was easily one of the most educated line cooks they had, a ton of them can't even speak english fluently, but then again i am a college boy and well.... they're not. so they tend to shy away from talking to their foreigner bosses. and she would have had it handled.

the hotel had good people and great benefits. but the pay wasn't enough for me to wanna stay.

the short of it is, i wouldn't wanna work for someone who would let things like this slide. it's just plainly irresponsible. any sort of theft or loss made by anyone under my "command" would be dealt with accordingly. i have run my own businesses but have decided my love to cook outweighs most things.


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## mark (Feb 3, 2013)

Update:
I got the package.
Someone from the AV dept. shares my first name and last initial. 
A coworker of that person thought the package was for his coworker, so he took it to the AV dept. (Why he took someone elses mail without that person asking him to is beyond me.)
IMO That still doesnt excuse the management giving me the runaround / lying about the tape but whatever.


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## mr drinky (Feb 3, 2013)

I'm glad it turned out. With that said, I was going to give some advice as I often ship high value items to hotels. 

(1) A lot of shippers (UPS/Fedex) automatically insure, so there is that to consider. You may have gotten something back -- if not all. 
(2) If you purchased it with a credit card and never received it, there is also that avenue. You would have most likely been reimbursed.
(3) When shipping anything to a hotel, I would recommend calling the day ahead and the day of and alert them a package is coming.
(4) The hotel can still sign for it and send it back too. This has happened to me before. They might accept it, look for a guest by that name, not find it, and send it back the next day. Check with the shipper too. 

Just my thoughts, but I am glad it worked out. It should have happened without glitch, but all it takes is one weak link in a hotel.

k.


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## Benuser (Feb 3, 2013)

Excellent news! Enjoy your FKH!


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## quantumcloud509 (Feb 3, 2013)

Wow, Im sure glad you got the knife man. I was trippin out and it wasn't even my knife.


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## mark (Feb 4, 2013)

Wow, thank you all for the warmth.


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## stereo.pete (Feb 4, 2013)

Benuser said:


> Excellent news! Enjoy your FKH!



I am glad everything worked out in the end and as Benuser said, enjoy your new FKH. My first foray into Japanese knives was a 210mm FKH gyuto and I still use it almost every day.


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