Bragging shameful behaviour
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Why hit us with such a big bill? Youths get $1,400 damage bill after night of fun in hotel room THEY checked into a hotel room to celebrate Christmas Eve. 02 January 2009 THEY checked into a hotel room to celebrate Christmas Eve.
But a group of friends ended up getting an unexpected 'present' on Christmas day - a huge bill for their night of fun.
The hotel presented a bill of about $1,350 for damage to items in the room and loss of income as a result of their drunken antics.
This is more than four times the $300 they paid for a club executive room.
Mr Dudley Duclos, 22, and four friends had booked the room at Pan Pacific Orchard Hotel at the special Christmas rate given to Mindef employees.
The full-time National Serviceman said they just wanted to have a small get-together and have drinks with friends.
'We didn't plan to get so drunk, we just wanted to get high and have some fun,' he said.
But things took a dramatic turn at around midnight.
There were more than five people in the room and at least half a bottle of alcohol had been consumed, he said.
The hotel said there were more than 10 guests in the room after midnight.
It also said guests in the other rooms had complained about the noise in the room and security personnel had to go to the room to inform them about the rules.
Asked whether they knew they had broken the rules, Mr Duclos said: 'We didn't know at first but we tried to move people out after.'
But by then, the damage had been done.
A pillow case accidentally placed on top of a lampshade was damaged after the bulb heated up.
Said Mr Duclos: 'I'm not sure how it happened.'
Another guest had too much to drink and vomited on the carpet.
'My friend tried to clear up the mess with the bed runner. There was a visible stain on the carpet and runner,' he said.
His friend, who wanted to be named only as Mr Pang, said water had also seeped into a hotel torchlight.
The next morning, they realised they had caused damage to the room and were willing to compensate the hotel.
Mr Duclos had an invoice that showed they were billed $650.56 for damages to the bed runner, lampshade, torchlight and pillow case.
The hotel also charged them $700 for the loss of two nights' use of the room.
Although the costs were not itemised, Mr Duclos said they were told the runner costs about $500, and the lampshade and torchlight about $50 each.
Though they paid up, the friends were not happy with the amount charged and the lack of transparency on each item's cost.
Said Mr Pang, 21, a student: 'We did cause damage and felt compelled to pay. But it was out of goodwill (that we paid) first without demanding verification of the prices.'
When they tried to verify the specific price of each item, they were told it could not be done because the items were purchased in bulk.
Mr Pang said: 'The person-in-charge took us to the room with a checklist of the items in it.
'After that, they gave us this invoice without even listing the specific cost of each item.'
They also questioned the hotel's replacement of the bed runner without even trying to get rid of the stain.
'I think vomit is soluble enough to be washed away. It wasn't red wine. Why replace it so (readily)?' Mr Duclos asked.
Mr Duclos and Mr Pang were also unhappy with the $700 charge, which they were told was to cover the loss of revenue, as the room had to be aired to get rid of the stench and the carpets needed cleaning.
They tried in vain to negotiate with the hotel to use the room for those two days to get their money's worth.
The two friends felt that the stench from the vomit was bearable.
'Although there was a lingering smell, we managed to sleep through the night after cleaning it up,' said Mr Duclos.
They said the hotel had yet to give them the invoice for the $700 despite them contacting the hotel several times.
Mr Duclos and his friends are discussing how to split the bill.
Most of them are still studying or serving national service and don't want to get their parents involved.
Hotel said it didn't charge full damages
PAN Pacific Orchard Hotel security had to tell Mr Dudley Duclos and friends to keep it down three times that night after complaints about the noise in their room.
It noted that there were more than 10 people inside and they were having a party of some sort.
Its marketing and communications manager, Mr Lim Kin Seng, 31, said in an e-mail reply to The New Paper that the room was booked only for single occupancy.
Based on hotel policy, it should only be occupied by the registered guests.
As for the damage bill, he said: 'We can assure you that any damages charged and collected are well within scope of the loss of business, or costs incurred by the hotel, and are, in the interest of fairness, understated.'
Mr Lim said the bed runner and lampshade are made-to-order designer items which were previously purchased in bulk.
The runner is made using a special colour tone which adheres to the hotel's corporate identity. It could not be dry-cleaned because of the vomit, and using alternative cleaning methods to remove the stains would drastically alter its colour.
Mr Lim said replacements for the bed runner and lampshade had to be purchased on an ad-hoc basis.
Hence, the costs incurred would be higher than the $500 and $50 charged for the runner and lampshade respectively.
Mr Lim also noted the vomit smell was strong and the room needed a couple of days of airing before being made available to guests.
He said the guests had a verbal agreement with the hotel to pay for the additional two nights' stay.
The hotel also spent $800 on carpet cleaning but due to the abovementioned agreement, it decided not to charge the guests for this.
He said there were also burn marks on the pillow case and lampshade in the non-smoking room.
He could not verify whether any smoking or fire was involved, but said that this was a dangerous act which put the safety of hotel guests and hotel property at risk.
Tan Su Vien, newsroom intern
They damaged the room and made conditions inhabitable for other guests. Yet, they behave as if they should not bear the costs of those damages. They have no experience running a hotel or have any inkling on the operation costs, yet they say it the fixtures and cleaning costs are not costly in Singapore. They behave irresponsibly and knew that they had to bear the damages. I would not expect such people to be cheapskates as well.
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serves them right.
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Haha. Or bi good.
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Great way to start a year.
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next time party at hotel 81.
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Originally posted by sinicker:
next time party at hotel 81.
x2 -
Originally posted by sinicker:
next time party at hotel 81.
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they agreed to pay the bill, so they shouldnt be complaining.
anyway, they were the ones who had some mega orgy going on in the room. if they damaged anythin, they had to pay
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lol.. now this is some funny shit.
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Think about the consequences before doing anything.
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Or BI!
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next time just go DTE lah....
half a bottle of alcohol can do damage liao?
they relli weak sia!!!!!! -
huh! party at my place cos only a fraction of the amount, crazy guys, go to such hotel for what???
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bunch of losers and weak drinkers.
wana get discounted rate for room stay, then damage stuffs and complained over charge..
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tat somerset pan pac ah...
fark lah...
all the stuff inside the rooms are all designer's stuff...
im surprised the cost of the damages is so low...
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Let me sum it all up:
1. NSF books a hotel room at MINDEF rates.
2. He and his friends gets pissed drunk and damages the room.
3. They KPKB in the papers about the cost of reimbursing the hotel.
My opinion? Truly pathetic.
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aiyo.
the hotel abit psycho lor.
still have thier "own special colour".
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Originally posted by stuffedbears:
aiyo.
the hotel abit psycho lor.
still have thier "own special colour".
which part of psycho is that?
do tell..
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this is nothing new.
i remember reading somewhere about the same thing happening to a wedding couple.
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each hotel has their own design and furnishing....
which part of this hotel, that the NSF men messed up, is consider to be physco ?
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10 person, half bottle alcohol already like tat?
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Maybe is half a bottle of 5 litre one ma. ;p lol.. give them some benefit of the doubt la.. hahahaha
10 girly boys drinking maybe.
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lol tio pawned.
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I am pretty curious exactly what/which type of alcohol they drank ...
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one more thing to add on...
