There is that moment when you are unpacking your luggage after returning from a trip, and there is something you can't find. You look everywhere in your luggage, figuring you must have put it in a different spot than you intended to, when the realization hits you. You forgot it in the hotel room.
It could be something easily replaceable, like chargers for your electronics, or something less so, like your favorite pair of boots that you left in the hotel closet.
Whatever it is, in your rush to make your flight, you neglected to put it in your suitcase. Now, you have to contact the hotel in the hopes that someone found it and handed it in to the front desk.
More often than not, this does not end in you successfully receiving your item, returned by helpful hotel employees.
Now, chargerback.com, a new website, automates the lost-and-found process for hotels and the travelers trying to retrieve their possessions.
On average, in a hotel with 1,000 rooms, 800 items are found per month, according to Brian Colodny, the co-founder and president of the site, who spoke to ABC.
Many hotels have incorporated the newest forms of technology into their rooms, offering online check-in and room service, complimentary use of iPads, etc., but the lost-and-found process still usually consists of a room where the lost items are kept and (hopefully!) logged into a notebook or computer program.
Travelers who call the hotel are often transferred from one area to another, before being told someone will call them back.
No one will call you back.
Now, travelers who have forgotten items can go to the hotel web site of Chargerback partners and click on "Contact Us," then "Lost and Found," where they will be able to fill out a form with a description of the lost item.
The hotel employees can do the same thing in reverse, entering found items into the system. When there is a match, the hotel automatically notifies the guest, and gives them the option of having the item shipped, letting it go, or choosing to pick it up in person.
If the guest chooses the shipping option, the hotel selects a box size from the post office and informs the guest of the cost. The guest pays through the automated system, the hotel prints the shipping label, and the item is sent back to its owner.
"In five clicks of the mouse, the item is returned to the guest," Colodny said.
The service is free for hotels, as well as building brand loyalty, according to Colodny. Ninety-five percent of guests who have lost items receive them back through the site's process.
Chargerback's hotel partners include Luxor, New York New York, Excelsior and Treasure Island. The Nevada-based company has received an additional 15 new partners since Tuesday, when they began publicizing their service.
"We make money every time a hotel guest is reunited with their lost item," said Colodny.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
