Wetherspoons - Theft of customer property ***Resolved***

[BillyS]

Quote

Hi,

Looking for advice 

We visited our local Wetherspoons for a bite to eat but left mobile phone behind.  When we arrived home we noticed it was missing so called the phone, it was answered by a person who identified themselves as the manager on duty at the pub.  She offered to put the phone in the safe for safe keeping and to collect it the following day.  We headed over to collect it the following afternoon to be told the phone had been 'removed' from the safe and that they couldn't find it.  We visited a number of times, being told they would review cctv and get back to us.  It's been nearly 4 weeks, despite several call and visits, no update and not once have they contacted us in all that time.  We've reached out to the Wetherspoons head office / customer services, also no response.  Basic courtesy completely lacking from Wetherspoons.

Any suggestions on next steps?  

Thanks in advance

 

Hi,

Looking for advice 

We visited our local Wetherspoons for a bite to eat but left mobile phone behind. 

When we arrived home we noticed it was missing so called the phone, it was answered by a person who identified themselves as the manager on duty at the pub. 

 

She offered to put the phone in the safe for safe keeping and to collect it the following day. 

 

We headed over to collect it the following afternoon to be told the phone had been 'removed' from the safe and that they couldn't find it. 

We visited a number of times, being told they would review cctv and get back to us. 

 

It's been nearly 4 weeks, despite several call and visits, no update and not once have they contacted us in all that time. 

 

We've reached out to the Wetherspoons head office / customer services, also no response. 

Basic courtesy completely lacking from Wetherspoons.

Any suggestions on next steps?  

Thanks in advance
 

Edited February 28, 2022 by BankFodder
Restructured in order to make it readable

[BillyS]

Ideally recover the phone or replacement, value around £250. Courtesy would be a bonus!

[BillyS]

Thanks for the information, makes sense.  Just to clarify, this should go to Wetherspoons Head Office, rather than the licensee who we have been dealing with thus far.  

In terms of their potential defence, they have been able to confirm it was placed in the safe, but they have been unable to identify who took it from the safe, with the cctv apparently not covering the safe!

Edited February 28, 2022 by BillyS

[BillyS]

The manager of the venue confirmed his belief the phone was placed in the safe (by the manager on duty), and apparently spent many hours reviewing cctv to understand who then removed it from the safe.  Apparently the Wetherspoons CCTV doesn't cover the area the safe is in so has not been able to confirm directly who took it.

All conversations have been as a result of our contacting them, I've received no comms from them at all, either their returning promised callbacks, or as a result of completing their online Customer Service contact forms.

Absolutely no intention of using the 'theft' word, as emotive.

I'm crafting some words for the LBA now.  I'll post here shortly (excluding identifying information) for comment before sending by recorded delivery.

[BillyS]

Any advice on whether the below works?  Too much/little detail?
Thanks in advance 

 

Wetherspoons

Wetherspoon House,

Reeds Crescent,

Watford,

Herts

WD24 4QL

 

10^th March 2022

 

Letter Before Action

Dear Sir / Madam,

 

Despite our many attempts to communicate with yourselves, either directly with your venue, or through your contact forms online, we have received no responses.  As such I am writing to you in a final attempt to reach a resolution before taking further action to recover my losses.

 

On 3^rd February 2022 my partner and I visited the (name and location of venue) for a meal.  Having finished we went home and realised I had left my mobile phone on site so called it immediately to check its location.  The phone was answered by a lady who identified herself as the duty manager, confirmed the phone was in her possession and offered to look after the phone, placing it in the safe until we could collect the following day.  My partner attended on the 4^th to be informed the phone was missing from the safe, someone would look into this and get back to us.  We then contacted and visited the site on numerous occasions, each time being told this was being looked into, and someone would get back to us.  Our main contact throughout was the GM (Name of GM we have been dealing with), who having agreed there was a duty of care, was taking steps to speak to staff and to review CCTV. 

To date, we have never once been contacted, though the device is still apparently missing.  We have tried to reach out to Wetherspoons directly, via your contact form on your website, again no response.

 

Having accepted responsibility for the phone, Wetherspoons have a duty to take reasonable care of my property.  In losing the phone while in your care, we are looking to you to either arrange return of the phone, or to pay the cost of a replacement device, a value of £250.

 

If I do not receive a response, in writing, within 14 days of the date of this letter, a claim will be raised through the courts to recover my losses, without further reference to you.

 

Your sincerely
(my contact details)

Edited March 10, 2022 by BillyS

[BillyS]

Letter sent, recorded delivery, dated 10th March.  Giving a couple of days grace I still received no reply to that letter. 

I was looking to move to the next step today,  but have just received an email from their customer service team, in apparent response to my customer service contact (dated 14/02/22) saying next to nothing, aside from confirming they received my letter (as above in my post).

 

"Thank you for contacting the Wetherspoon Customer Services team.

I’m very sorry to note your comments and apologise for the delay in our response.

We have passed this to the Pub Manager and Area Manager for a response for you, we appreciate your further comments in your letter and we have pushed for an update on this for you. They will be in touch in due course.

Your patience is greatly appreciated at this time."

Do you think I should continue to wait, or move to preparing for MCOL ?

TIA

 

Edited March 30, 2022 by BillyS

[BillyS]

By way of update - Off the back of the above Wetherspoons have finally started to engage with a view to finding a resolution.  

 

[BillyS]

Finally reached a resolution, received today an amount equivalent to purchase a replacement phone.  

Thanks for you advice and assistance, and support.