Why You Should Leave Your Valuables At Home When You Visit A Spa
Let me tell you a story about a Lady, an Expensive Fur Coat and a Spa. One winter evening, I was checking out the last two guests of the day at the Posh Spa I worked at in Manhattan. The Two friends were blissed out and relaxed after their massages when one of the ladies asked me to retrieve her Fur Coat from the Closet. I opened the Closet and glanced in…. and… you’ve guessed it: NO FUR COAT.
‘Fur?’ I uttered doubtfully, triggering an instant explosion.
‘OH MY GOD! That’s a FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLAR GUCCI COAT! It better *BLEEPING be there!’ she screeched.
Before I could utter a response, the shouting escalated. Swear words and accusations filled the aromatherapy-infused air. In mere seconds the atmosphere had catapulted from tranquility to hostility. As we all stood by in mute shock the guest continued her tirade on my co-worker and I. We would be arrested. She would bring the full power of the law down on us in the form of her husband, The-Best-Lawyer-in-Manhattan (apparently). Whipping out her phone she called him and motioning for her friend to join her, she marched to the elevator door, stood in front of it and asserted;
‘YOU ARE GOING NOWHERE UNTIL MY COAT IS FOUND! AND IF IT IS NOT FOUND, YOU ARE GOING TO PAY FOR IT!’ Except. No. We wouldn’t be paying for it. And neither would the Spa. And here’s why: Remember that little Form you sign at check-in? The one asking about your health/ skin- care routine/ reason for your visit etc? Well there’s usually some legal mumbo jumbo that includes something like ‘Spa Inc. is not responsible for loss of or damage to personal belongings while you are visiting the spa.’ Therein lies the moral of the story folks. The ‘Why’ in ‘Why you should leave your valuables at home when you visit a Spa’. If they are lost or damaged, in most cases, you have signed away your rights to compensation.
Of course you are probably wondering what ever happened to Fur-Coat-Lady? Did she stay by the elevator all night? Did we have to escape out the window? Did we get to meet The-Best –Lawyer-In-Manhattan? Sadly, no, I cannot claim that honor. Instead let’s go back to that evening and the Spa Reception. There I am standing there, still holding the closet door open, still staring into a closet that still has no Fur Coat. So I do the only thing I can do, I reach into the Closet and retrieve the two coats that are hanging there and hold them up for the ladies to see. Cue an outburst of manically relieved laughter from Fur-Coat-Lady
‘Oh, MY MONCLER! OF COURSE! I forgot that’s what I was wearing.’ And so we had two very relieved, if not entirely relaxed, guests on our hands. The elevator door was quickly made accessible, the husband was hushed and hung up on, and relieved laughter mingled with the sounds of crashing waves (the spa music was still playing).
‘It’s just… it’s so expensive, you see?’ was offered by way of explanation (or apology, it wasn’t quite clear which). And luckily, in this particular case, it never got to the point where we had to explain that the Spa would not in fact be paying for the replacement of her valuable Fur Coat. So my advice is, while in pursuit of relaxation, leave the responsibility of valuables, especially expensive ones, at home.
