mewithoutYou Member Robbed At Hotel

June 28th, 2013

Kriston McConnell

I think it’s safe to say one fear that most people probably share is someone breaking into their home, apartment or hotel room while they are sleeping. When you’re asleep you’re unaware of your surroundings, and can’t protect yourself, your things or your loved ones.

For one of the members of mewithoutYou, his girlfriend and a friend of his this nightmare became a reality for them this morning when they woke up in their hotel room to find an unknown intruder rummaging through their things. To make things worse, the response from the staff was that it was “their” fault and were anything but pleasant with the recent victims of theft. You can read what Richard had to say about what happened below.

If I could give my experience zero stars I would.

ATTENTION PEOPLE WITH FAMILY and ANYBODY WHO CARES ABOUT THEIR GENERAL WELL BEING. I am not a troll, nor am I spam, I am a real human being who had a real human experience.

THIS PLACE IS DANGEROUS AND I WAS AWOKEN AT 5 am WITH A MAN IN MY ROOM GOING THROUGH MY STUFF. DO NOT STAY HERE! DON’T BE FOOLED BY THE WATERSLIDE, IT IS NOT SAFE!!!!!!

I am a traveler by trade, my livelihood is based upon me being in different cities and towns daily. My business is based out of West Philadelphia. Over the last ten years, I have stayed in hundreds of hotels, spanning 49 states and 17 countries, I have been in the best and shottiest of em and this hotel has provided me with one of the worst experiences of my life; one that I am not sure will ever leave me.

Around 5:54 am on June 27th 2013, my girlfriend was shaking me awake screaming that there was a man in our room, she saw a shadow rummaging through our bags. Immediately, instincts to protect her and another friend of mine had kicked in and I was off and running. What would have been otherwise undetected episode turned into a physical altercation. I was able to kick the man towards the door and it was then we both fell and he got up and took off. I was in my pajamas, groggy and had literally woken up eight seconds earlier. He was a WHITE MALE, about 27-35 years old, pony tail, 6’2″ 250 pounds. He did not look homeless nor did he look like a drug addict. Being that he had shoes on and had a few steps on me, it was only a matter of time until he got away. I had chased him down several hallways, determined to catch him but he was hellbent on evading me. The two of us ran wild through the second floor and he eventually got to the stairwell, which he was AWARE that was there. Something isn’t right here people. Had he gone the other way, there was almost no way out because this place is a maze. He knew exactly where he was going. How he physically got into our room, I WILL NEVER KNOW but we know between the three of us, we had locked the door. Forget about my room, how did he get into the building? I was screaming and yelling for help but no one appeared. I eventually outran myself and rolled and caught some pretty nasty rugburns. Sadly, the perp got away. I was sober as a bird and am just as clear headed now. I have never ever been threatened in that way and hope to never be. If you love the people you are with, you will not put them in a dangerous situation such as this.

GOOD THING THEY DON’T HAVE SECURITY CAMERAS in any hallway or exits! RIGHT? Coincidence? Only the main entrance has a camera which I find extremely hard to believe..,NO SECURITY CAMERAS! NO SECURITY! THIS PLACE IS NOT SAFE. Sure the water slide is cool and the Star Wars arcade machine is tight but if I had kids, I would not want them in such an unstable environment.

911 responded the fastest I have ever seen, 6 cops were there within 2 minutes, their presence was welcome but offered little solace.

So, what happens next?

I have a night clerk come up apprehensively (I had to scream at him on the phone to get a response), run the card machine on our door and determine that a key was not used to come in our room, implying that we left the door open, as if I trust the world that much. We had computers, an xbox, several iphones and our personal belongings with us, I travel often and always cover my behind. He seemed indifferent, cold, un-human, not the way one would act when you have people crying in front of you. Usually in situations like that, there is a sense of responsibility or remorse, not from the staff at the RAMKOTA INN. They don’t give two SSSESS about you. I was told that the liability was on me. Imagine waking up with your family and someone has broken into your room, just imagine that situation and then imagine being told that the fault it in your hands. Redheaded night clerk was barely looking me in the eye and if I was a conspiracy theorist, I would say that he probably plays World of WarCraft with the dude who broke into our room only because of his staunch indifference to our humanity. The whole situation stinks to me. I feel violated and wronged on MANY LEVELS!

In the end, my good friend lost about 350 dollars in cash and his glasses. I lost my wallet (which had money, credit cards and ID’s) my phone would have been gone too if the RUNNING MAN hadn’t thrown it at me in the hallways. Who knows how long the intruder was in my room, it’s such a gross gross feeling, someone in your room while you sleep. It was long enough for him to get greedy and come fully in, as far in as a dude could be.

You know what would have been nice, to say the very least, if the staff said

We are sorry that this happened.

Do you want to be moved to another room?

Would you like complimentary breakfast?

Is there anything that we can do to remedy this situation.

NONE OF THAT WAS SAID NOR WAS PRESENT.
I am sad and enraged. Innocence lost. DANGEROUS PLACE