Cue the Twilight Zone music:
So I checked out of the W Retreat & Spa Bali a couple of nights ago, and got the following email from the hotel about a day after check-out:
Dear Mr. Ben,
We Thank you very much for choosing W Retreat & Spa Bali during your recent Bali Holiday.
Trust that you have had a safe and enjoyable safe trip back home.
Our Style Team has worked to clean up the room you stayed in after your departure on July 30, 2012 at # 430
And we found some items were left in the room. They are :
- 1 pcs bag pack , “ The North Face “, black color.
Please, advise us of how would you like us to expedite those items. Or if you would like to us to store the item in our Lost and Found storage for you to collect when you return to stay with us again, please advise us.
Do not hesitate to reach out to us should there be anything else we can do.
All the best,
reyza
STYLE COORDINATOR/ W RETREAT & SPA BALI – SEMINYAK
Okay, seems normal enough, right (aside from the hilarity of the employee’s job title)?
But here’s the catch — I did have a North Face backpack, except I didn’t leave it at the hotel. It’s with me in Germany, 7,000 miles away, actually:
So it’s not like they just sent the email to the wrong room, since I did have that backpack.
Can anyone come up with any sort of a plausible explanation? Or have we just crossed over into the Twilight Zone?
Oh - and if that is a legitimate title, I want to get a job with that company just to see what I get.
Robert
Director of customer companionship
You really did cross through some dimensional worm hole and now the streams are crossed. You should ask them to check inside the bag to verify you passport and ID are in it to confirm this. :)
No idea what could have happened but this is against policy for every housekeeping department I've ever worked in. You never contact the guest to say that they left something because you don't know who else is answering the phone or checking the email and the guest might not want anyone to know where they were. I wonder if they do this for everyone...
I'd claim the bag, ask them to mail it! Bonus bag!
I don't have anything to say, but I have the same backpack! I think its the best laptop backpack ever:
-All black
-Looks good, unlike most of the professional targus bags you see
-Has water bottle holders
-Is north face, so finally cool.
Ha! They go you to mention their hotel again on your blog!
Neo: Nothing. Just had a little déjà vu.
Trinity: What did you see?
Cypher: What happened?
Neo: I took a black bag from my room us, and then housekeeping found another that looked just like it.
Trinity: How much like it? Was it the same bag?
Neo: It might have been. I'm not sure.
Morpheus: Switch! Apoc!
Neo: What is it?
Trinity: A déjà vu is usually a glitch in the Matrix. It happens when they change something
Did you take the Blue Pill, Lucky?
Weird!!!! I smell FBI all over it. :)
Clearly what has happened is you've slit into two Doppelgangers, as in the TZ episode 'Shatterday': http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shatterday
I would suggest you call your mother immediately. You don't want to end up being the 'bad' Doppelganger.
"I guess in some crazy scheme to turn a profit, they decided to make more than one black suitcase!!"
-Greg Focker, Meet the Parents
I agree with the others that there is something fishy/odd about this. If you are sure you have "your" backpack I would tell the hotel there must be a mistake as you have yours in your possession.
I confess that I've probably watched to many episodes of "Locked Up Abroad" but I'm with @Slick & @Jim in that the backpack is the switch bag for the drugs/money. Whatever you do don't get the bag as the penalty for drug trafficing in Indonesia is death!!
you will obviously have a future stay here with the same backpack and leave it during that trip. you will try your damndest to remember it but, alas, you are doomed
The note says "bag pack". Do you have a North Face branded kit or accessory bag? (They "worked to clean up the room you stayed in"? Sounds like a hell of a party!)
Have you ever seen the movie "What's Up Doc?" Igneous rocks... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What's_Up,_Doc%3F_(1972_film)
I've stayed in the room at the San Francisco Hilton that the movie was filmed in!
When parallel universes intersect, strange things do happen
I have the same backpack! I feel so glamorous!
Since I don't know what's in the bag they are holding, I would not claim it, especially not in person. What is the penalty for drug possession/distribution/running in Indonesia?
Some smart style coordinator figured they could get some positive vibe going, on a world famous blog :-)
One way to keep their place 'top-of-mind'
Now it explains why you travel so much. Youre a mule for a drug lord.
@ Xandrios -- Checked out at 6AM, way before check-out time.
Definitely don't think I took someone else's bag at any point during the stay. Interesting, though.
my guess is the same as the first two. Did you pick up someone elses bag along the way, leave it in your room, then take your bag and check-out?
Housekeeping was cleaning your room during your stay, saw the bag in the room, and for whatever reason thought you had checked out? Maybe they reported it at the time but you only received the email communication couple days later. But then again..do you keep the backpack on you at all times? And why would housekeeping just leave the bag in the room after finding the bag! Looks like a case of miscommunication. Maybe housekeeping...
Housekeeping was cleaning your room during your stay, saw the bag in the room, and for whatever reason thought you had checked out? Maybe they reported it at the time but you only received the email communication couple days later. But then again..do you keep the backpack on you at all times? And why would housekeeping just leave the bag in the room after finding the bag! Looks like a case of miscommunication. Maybe housekeeping did think you checked out, reported the bag as lost, then realized you were still there and put the backpack back in the room but didn't close the paperwork! Ok it's too early and I'm thinking too much.
Twilight Zone or not, I would stay at this Hotel again in a FLAT SECOND with customer service like this!
How about they shot the picture before you checked out? Did you by any chance check out after the standard check out time?
Is there any way to verify that this is YOUR bag or just A bag of the same brand/type? Perhaps you can verify if you have some wear on yours, and if that same wear shows in the picture.
If it is in fact the exact same bag - ask them to send it to you. Lets see how they make that magic happen :D
My guess was the same as BrewerSEA's.
The other bag is obviously an identical backpack for the drug/money switch to happen.
You accidentally picked up someone else's backpack at some point during the trip and set it down in your room? Weird that you wouldn't notice leaving it however.