Beware!!

I stayed on the Fairview Inn in Okemos due to being a smaller area and a ';better'; part of town. When I arrived, I was told to park in the back due to being closer to my room. On my last day when I got ready to leave, I found my car vandalized. I had the only Wisconsin plates in the back parking lot. There are NO cameras and all the hotel had to say was ... sorry... I hope that when people are wanting to bring money into their community along with jobs... they keep things like this in mind.. Well.. the people in Wisconsin thank the person or people in Michigan... you just gave someone four days of work on my car... and the hotel... will not be given my business or anyone elses that I know.. I am happy for the internet... this will reach others.. I would think that the hotel would comp me one night.. to at least help cover my deductibe for all the damage... oh yeah.. it isn%26#39;t their problem... sorry.. I then went to the Howard Johnson on the other side of town... half the price.. twice the hospitality....

Beware!!

Sorry for your problem, but are you honestly telling us that there is no crime in Wisconsin???? Your blaming this entire state???

I very much doubt that thieves were targeting you because you are from Wisconsin. More likely there was something of value that caught their eye. Was was the exact damage done?

I had a car stolen once at a really nice golf resort near Cleveland. Turns out that the thieves knew how to hotwire that model of car and that is why they targeted my car. I never considered holding the hotel, city of Cleveland or state of Ohio responsible. I also had my car hit while parked a month ago in Detroit. I don%26#39;t blame the city or restaurant it was parked in front of - I blame the drunk that plowed into it.

Beware!!

My car was keyed from one side, across the trunk and began on the other side. Nothing was stolen, no windows broken.. Just vandalism. I am not saying there is no crime in Wisconsin, but if you stay in a nice hotel, you expect some security or cameras. I didn%26#39;t even have the nicest vehicle in the parking lot. I guess you come to the conclusion. I had no interaction with anyone so no one had any reason to be upset with me personally.

Well, ....I%26#39;d be pissed to. And, ...after reading this, ....I will not ever stay at a motel that doesn%26#39;t have security cameras trained on the parking lot. A motel patron should be able to assume that their car is reasonably safe in the parking lot. Not to mention personal safety. I will not be staying at this motel.

Most hotels and motels deny any responsibility for your car and its contents. You will always see signs in lots informing you of this. Same for shopping malls, airports, and most any other public space.

Assuming your car is being taken care of by anyone else is a mistake. Make sure you park in well lit areas, don%26#39;t leave valuables in sight, ...

Unfortunately there are jerks in this world that like to damage other peoples property for fun. Cameras would do no good. First of all, you would have to have someone monitoring the cameras 24/7. Second, how long would it have taken for this person to key your car - 15-20 seconds? On camera it would have just looked like the owner walking around it. Even if they did catch it on tape, how are you going to identify, prosecute, etc. the person from a grainy video taken from 50 feet away in a dimly lit parking lot?

I guess I would have not been as upset if the person behind the desk had not told me where to park. I feel that if someone is giving you directions where you need to park... they need to take some responsibility. There are NO signs that say anything about not being responsible. Again... I would have parked in the front of the hotel and always had.. and paying my deductible would not be asking that much. I just feel victimized and feel that I got very little resolution. I was not asking them to pay the whole bill.. but I got no slack at all.

That is too bad that happened to your car. I would not be happy either. I remember on a trip to Florida my parents had their rims stolen off their car one night at a hotel in Louisville. When I drive to a hotel one of my main requirements prior to booking is finding one that advertises 24 hr on site parking security. Most hotels that offer valet have this as do others. I agree that cameras really don%26#39;t solve everything.

What a terrible thing to have happen! But keeping it in perspective, vandalism happens everywhere, including Wisconsin. I know Okemos very well (have lived nearby for 40 years) and it%26#39;s not exactly a hotbed of criminal activity, no matter which %26#39;side of town%26#39; you%26#39;re on.

Very unfortunate there was no comp from the hotel, but it may be a bit harsh to call the community%26#39;s safety and worthiness of jobs/business into question.

OK, perhaps I don%26#39;t understand your grip. Clearly it is upsetting when vandalism happens to a car. That is terrible that it happened. The part I don%26#39;t understand is how the hotel should comp you when they merely told you that you should park close to your room and that room is in the back of the hotel. Are you suggesting that the hotel somehow must have known there would be criminal activity and told you to park there nonetheless?

I travel extensively worldwide. I drive in foreign countries and all regions of this country. I find that it is common practice for hotels to suggest parking convenient to my room. If my car is somehow dinged or vandalized or even hit in the parking lot, I don%26#39;t think it is the hotel%26#39;s responsibility. Unless the hotel had specific knowledge of vandalism in the area and still instructed you to park there, I just don%26#39;t think it is their fault. When I was in graduate school, I was assigned a parking lot in which to park. I parked my car precisely where I was instructed to park it. One evening I came out of class to find that my car was stolen. It never occurred to me that the University was responsible for my repairs or even my deductible simply because they told me where to park. It is unreasonable for the hotel to be held responsible for a random criminal act, again, absent specific knowledge of previous criminal activity.

I also agree that Okemos is generally a very safe town. It is actually quite affluent, but, alas, ill behaved teenagers or full-fledged criminals could be present even in Okemos. And to suggest that you were somehow the target because of your Wisconsin plates may be a stretch. I am frequently in the Okemos/East Lansing area with New Jersey tags and do not find I am any more a target than the local population.

Again, I am very sorry this happened. I am hopeful it doesn%26#39;t happen to you again. Moms

Very well stated Moms, I totally agree with everything you have written.

I have a feeling that since Wisconsin is in the Big 10 and so is Michigan State that a Sconsin tag might be a bit more of a target in the Lansing metro area compared to a Jersey one. Just a thought. I%26#39;ve seen cars get smashed on game weeks simply because of their tags. It is unfortunate and a cowardly move by those who partake in such activity but none the less it is an unfortunate reality.

Okemos definitely is not a crime zone though. I certainly agree.