Robbery at Coco Reef

[Steve Wooler]

I took the liberty of informing the Coco Reef Resort about Jenny's post. Their response follows. I'm sorry that it has been delayed a couple of days, but while I am travelling it is not always possible to connect to deal with matters as quickly as I would like.

It is indeed most unfortunate that there was an alleged theft in Mr. and Mrs. Morris’ room but in fairness all the correct procedures were followed in handling this matter, by Senior Duty Manager, Nigel Evelyn.

Mr. and Mrs. Morris reported the alleged theft 20minutes before check out and a security officer was called in to take a formal statement from them and start an investigation. Mr. Evelyn told to Mr. and Mrs. Morris that allegations of this nature should be reported to the police and urged them to do so.

Mr. Evelyn even instructed the security officer assigned to the investigation to escort them to the nearest police station so they could receive a formal statement record for their insurance purposes. Mr. Evelyn did inform them that “if they were unable to get the report” (due to the obvious time constraints) “I would refund the sum allegedly lost.”

When the officer returned to the resort he confirmed that Mr. and Mrs. Morris received a formal statement from the local constabulary for insurance purposes. We understand that Mr. & Mrs. Morris’s insurance claim was denied.

The matter is being investigated by both the local police and the in house security and is still classified as ongoing.

All hotels are vulnerable to sites such as the myTobago Forum. The unjustified bad publicity misrepresents our wonderful staff who are the reason for our resort’s success. I will credit the missing two hundred pounds to Mr. & Mrs. Morris’ credit card in order to bring this matter to conclusion.

I wish Mr. & Mrs. Morris all the best in their new life together.

Regards,
Eric Feniet
General Manager

May I just say, at a personal level, that having stayed at the Coco Reef Resort, I do not consider security to be a problem in the slightest and certainly no more so than at ANY hotel ANYWHERE in the world. Yes, if this theft did take place, it may have been a member of staff - but there's not a hotel in the world that can't say they've had the odd bad apple and similar incidents.

To be frank, this is NOT something that Jenny should have posted. Yes, I can understand her frustration if the hotel stopped responding to her emails. However, it would have been much fairer to contact me directly and ask me to look into the matter. While not in any way challenging Jenny's story, there are always two sides to every story. Look at this from the hotel's point of view. What is to stop ANY guest claiming to have had cash and valuables stolen from their room and then blackmailing them into offering compensation by threatening to expose them on sites such as this? The truth is that by using the big stick, Jenny has left the hotel with no choice but to respond the way they have done. Equally, hotels must appreciate that these situations must be dealt with promptly.

Please note that I will NOT allow future posts of this nature. By all means contact me and I will attempt to investigate the matter on the victim's behalf, but I will ONLY allow such posts when I feel that the hotel or business concerned have been negligent in their care. Don't make the big mistake of believing that I'm here to protect Tobago hoteliers. We will be the FIRST people to 'out' anyone we feel is giving the Tobago tourism industry a bad name.

May I close this matter by saying that I have absolutely no reason to believe that the Coco Reef Resort were in the slightest way negligent in this case and I would urge readers to ignore this entire thread.

[Joe King]

Hello All,

Can I just add my '2 pence' to this 'discussion'

In Jenny's defense Steve, she probably did not realise that you are the helpfull kind of bloke whom we(the MyTobago freaks) have come to know and love!! She was probably unaware that she could have sent you one email and received the above response within the same time-frame as this debate has raged.

Jenny was obviously very distressed and upset at (1) being subject to such an unfortunate incident (2) being ignored by the hotel and then (3) being let down by her insurance company. It is still very fresh in my mind (and my Credit Card Statements!!) how much a wedding and honeymoon costs, and I can only imagine Jenny's disgust at having had further expense forced upon her.

That said, I do agree with some of your comments. Coming from the hospitality industry I am only too well aware of incidents such as the one experienced here. We had one American gentleman who kept all of his cash in his pillow case while he slept, unfortunately he left the cash in the pillow case when he left. When he discovered his error all hell broke loose, and accusations started flying when the cash could not be found. The staff member who cleaned the room was subject to questioning by the police, and despite denying all the accusations was detained overnight. The cash turned up the next day in the washing machines of the linen company where we do our laundry!! and our staff member was released without charge.

Its amazing how bad rumours spread like wildfire, but very few people ever heard that the money was found, very few people ever heard that it was the guests silly mistake in the first place which lead to the problems. Our hotel still carries the myth that we employ dishonest staff. Dirt sticks and we should all remember that before we make unfounded accusations.

I don't think people should ignore this thread at all, I think every traveller should read it and see how an easily resolvable situation can turn into a major discussion which brings doubts over a very reputable establishment.

Jenny, I am glad that you are getting your money back, and I hope that you will take the time to post some positive reviews of establishments where you had a good time. The members of my Tobago are a very proud group, who sometimes find it hard to admit that our paradise does have some faults. I hope you are not put off the site by any remarks which were made in this thread.

Joe

[John Gilham]

I have to say that I travel extensively in the UK and holiday many times a year overseas. I stay in some high level hotels in the UK.
I cant think of one hotel where I could leave £200 cash in the room and EXPECT it to be there when I returned.

Its great when it happens but I would have to blame myself if anything happened to it.
John

[Sue Widnall]

Sad to hear about Jenny's situation. I guess there can always be one bad apple. However, having just got back last weekend from our 2nd visit , i feel we do need to place it in perspective compared to al the visitors Coco Reef hava had.
In fact, I was a bit wary about going to Coco Reef this time due to reading some of the negative comments in this forum. I am pleased to say the staff and hotel were as good as ever and we expeienced no problems whatsoever. Anybody planning to go soon, yes, take the usual precautions regarding valuables but I reckon you are safer and less at risk of any crime there than here in the UK.. Enjoy it, those who are lucky enough to be going shortly and dont worry.

[Paul Tallet]

Hi everyone

Whilst this matter has fortunately reached a conclusion, as Steve says, we should put it behind us.

The forum is here for people to freely share views on experiences and knowledge they have of Tobago and posts of this particular nature should be vetted by Steve before they go public.

The risk is that such posts can create problems where there is inaccuracy and this can, not only paint a 'skewed' picture for other readers, but also potentially be quite damaging for the business concerned.

In this case the Coco Resort has understandably taken a rather dim view of this.

This forum will lose it's credibility if further posts of this nature are made and Tobago businesses will be reluctant to cooperate with the site.

So, as Steve says ... enough has been said ... lets move on.


Regards

[Sam Deeks]

but I would appeal to everyone to note that:-


JENNY HAS MADE ALLEGATIONS.


This forum is not geared up to accept allegations of this nature unless they have been substantiated. In this case, the allegations have NOT been substantiated ... yet.

Can I just ask, when exactly (and how) do such allegations become 'fact' - or for that matter, 'falsehoods'?

Have I got this right:

1) The hotel offered recompense IF a police report (for insurance purposes) could NOT be obtained?
2) The police report WAS obtained so the hotel are released from their verbal offer
3) Jenny's insurance claim was refused back in UK
4) Jenny and her husband turned (in frustration) back on the Hotel for recompense?
5) The hotel kindly offered compensation that it was in no way obliged to give (partly in response to negative PR from this issue being aired online?)

Correct summary?

If so, then well done Coco Reef, that was above and beyond the call of duty.

[Steve Wooler]

Hi Sam

YES - that is exactly the way I read the matter.

Seeing as how you've re-opened the thread, I feel I must reassert my position. I must first stress that I am not in any way questioning Jenny's claim. However, I feel that this thread has set a difficult precedent and I'm desperate to convince less-than-honest readers not to think that they've found an easy way to bludgeon hotels into submission and make a bit of cash.

Let's be honest. There's nothing to stop anyone making such a claim, coming back and posting a complaint here in the forum in the hope and knowledge that hotels are likely to cave in and cough up rather than have bad publicity firmly in front of our 2,000 readers a day.

I have a fundamental aversion to censoring this forum, but I must make it absolutely clear that I will not allow any more posts of this nature. Any such allegations posted here without my knowledge and agreement will be deleted and the user account closed. If anyone has a genuine claim and normal procedures of resolution have failed, then contact me privately and allow me to investigate it. IF I feel that the hotel/establishment have been negligent or less than fair in their dealing with the matter, I will be the first to condemn them in the forum - after all, that it was the site is all about - but I will equally not allow businesses to be manipulated through the pressure of unfair/malicious publicity.

[Bob White]

A fair decision Steve.

It is important that the principle remains that any such incident follows the right protocols. When an alleged criminal incident takes place this should be reported to the police authorities. This applies to whichever country one is holidaying in. I wouldn't want this forum to become a bloodletting claims mechanism against hotels et al.