A 150 year old law allows hotels in California to avoid paying damages to guests by using a loophole.
During a court battle, the law came into play. It doesn't feel like a win even though he won in court. He can't get full compensation for the damages.
The law was written in 1872. The California legislature added a liability cap to the law. The law makes references to guest and steamers.
According to the judgment, the San Francisco Marriott Marquis lost $8,389.88 of his belongings. The hotel accidentally gave all his stuff to a criminal. The thief stole a rollaway bag, a Tumi leather backpack, an iPad Pro, a MacBook Pro, and a hard drive with sensitive personal information.
The Marriott hotel was unwilling to compensate the man for his losses. They wanted receipts for every item. He was awarded $5,000 by the judge. It was more than half of what he wanted, but it was an acceptable outcome. But it didn't show up.
The Inn Keeper's statute limits a hotel's liability for guests' belongings to $1,000. The law does not allow the court to achieve an equitable result, which is one of the rare instances, according to the San Francisco Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ross.
Judge Jeffrey Ross called out Marriott. He wrote in the judgement that one might expect Marriott to pay the judgement because of the interest of customer relations. Marriot appealed.
Marriott was eventually told to pay Sabouni $1,553 after the appeal, for a mistake made by its own staff. Meanwhile, Sabouni told KGO that on top of accounting for his losses, he’s spent well over $10,000 fighting this case.
Disclosure: Miles to Memories has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Miles to Memories and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.Chase Sapphire Preferred - Increased 80K Welcome Offer!
There is an increase in the offer of Chase Sapphire Preferred. One of the most popular travel cards is this one. For a limited time, you can earn 80,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4000 in the first 3 months of having the card. Points are worth $1K when used towards travel or transfer to partners like Hyatt, United or Southwest.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
