Lots of crap advice in this thread.
I have personal experience with damaged property at the Rio, and can explain the process I went through.
In 2009, I was parked in the Rio outdoor parking lot during WSOP, when an unexpected thunderstorm blew in. The high winds threw some construction equipment (which was being used in the parking lot) into my car, causing about $650 worth of damage.
Laughably, the rope meant to tie down the equipment was also blown into my car, but it was untied, meaning that they never bothered to tie it down.
I simply wanted the $650 it would cost to fix my car. At first I got a little pushback, with claims that the storm was "an act of God", and therefore I was not entitled to compensation.
I countered that an act of God would include debris from outside the lot blowing into my car, but that their failure to secure their own construction equipment during a storm was clear negligence.
At that point, they handed it to their insurance company. The insurance company then tried to pass the buck to the construction company, but then quickly changed course and decided to handle it themselves.
They offered me $750 (sound familiar?) in exchange for my signing a document indicating that it would completely satisfy my claim. I accepted, and that was that.
Of course, my situation was simpler than yours, as my damages were below that magical $750 number, which is frequently the maximum they offer in these type of situations, due to the law already cited:
Quote:
The liability of the owner or keeper does not exceed the sum of $750 for any property, including, but not limited to, property which is not deposited in a safe or vault because it cannot easily fit within the safe or vault, of an individual patron or guest, unless the owner or keeper receives the property for deposit for safekeeping and consents to assume a liability greater than $750 for its theft, loss, damage or destruction in a written agreement in which the patron or guest specifies the value of the property.
https://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-...l#NRS651Sec010
NRS 650.010, section 4
In plain English, the above says, "The hotel is never responsible for more than $750 in damages due to theft/loss/destruction of your property, unless they consent to being liable to more when your stay begins."
So does that mean you're screwed if you take them to court?
Probably, but not certainly. This is because earlier portions of the same statute mention that these terms only apply "in absence of gross negligence on the part of the innkeeper".
You could argue in court that their plumbing being kept in such poor condition that the room floods constitutes gross negligence, but given the unpredictable nature of plumbing problems, your argument will likely be rejected.
Therefore, I would NOT recommend taking them to court. Furthermore, I would NOT recommend threatening them with lawyers, as some have suggested in this thread.
Lawyer threats can be very effective against individuals who fear expensive and time-consuming lawsuits. They are very ineffective against large corporations, who already have a team of lawyers working directly for them. In fact, such threats usually backfire, as this will cause the corporation to clam up, refuse to talk to you, and direct all future communication to their attorneys.
You do have one powerful weapon at your disposal, and that's the power of social media.
You're already using it by posting your story to 2+2. I will be glad to have you on my radio show, as well (PM if interested).
Call the Rio back and make sure you reach the hotel manager or someone else in a high management position. Tell them that you simply want to be made whole. Offer to provide them the proof of your laptop's retail value (or, alternately, the actual cost today of replacing it.) Tell them that you are not looking to make money from this, but simply want the identical laptop back which their plumbing ruined. State that the difference is fortunately not very much ($2100 versus $750), and that you will be happy to sign a waiver, giving up rights to all future claims from this incident.
Keep pressing your case. Repeat things like, "I just want what's fair", and "I just want to be exactly where I was before I checked in during that stay". Add statements like, "Some people try to use things like this to get rich. I just want what's right and fair." This will bolster your image in their eyes, because they deal with jerks all the time who feign "damages" of some sort in order to squeeze money out of them. Fortunately, there seems to be no question here that this actually happened, so only the amount of compensation is in question.
Most importantly, if they still refuse, make it clear that you are going to make a huge deal out of this on social media. Tell them you are going to post it everywhere, appear on well-rated YouTube channels and poker/gambling podcasts, and will be in contact with several Las Vegas television stations and newspapers about this.
You might also want to contact managers of the WSOP itself (PM me for info), and plead your case with them. However, I would save this for last, as it's really the hotel's problem, and not the WSOP's. However, the WSOP is still Caesars-owned and does have some pull if they feel this will harm their brand.
I had someone on my show who lost over $3000 because of the Rio's negligence a few years ago. In that case it was theft, and his case was better than yours (basically they double-checked-in another party to his room on accident, and that person stole from him), but he dealt with a similar response. At first they under-compensated him, but after he pressed them and threatened a social media blitz, they relented and made him whole.
Fortunately your damages are relatively low, so you have a good shot at getting them to change course if you apply the right pressure. If you were looking for something like $10k, you'd be screwed.
Feel free to PM me with any questions. I'm rooting for you.
GL
Last edited by Kilowatt; 08-07-2017 at 05:37 AM.
