Part one

Yes, Customers can lie too!!!

THE MISSING $500

I pinched myself.

I was standing in the dock of a Magistrate Court in Lagos Island, repeating the words of the court registrar:

“I swear by Almighty God that the evidence I shall give in this case before this court shall be the truth…”

My mouth was saying the words.

But my mind was somewhere else.

How on earth did I get here?

I was an HR professional. I worked in a hotel. I was responsible for people, policies, employee welfare and, among many other things, helping to ensure that the business operated within the right standards.

I certainly never imagined that one day I would find myself standing in court as a prosecutor.

But this story did not begin in a courtroom.

It began with a missing US$500.

THE COMPLAINT

At the time, I was the Head of Human Resources at a beautiful and prestigious boutique hotel on the Island in Lagos.

The hotel had close to 100 rooms and was almost always busy. I had approximately 160 employees under my responsibility, including expatriate staff.

It was one of those hotels where there was always something happening.

One morning, shortly after I resumed work, the Front Office Manager came to see me.

There had been a complaint from a guest.

Apparently, the guest had discovered that US$500 was missing from his wallet.

My HR antenna immediately went up.

Alleged theft in a hotel is not a small matter.

It affects the guest. It affects the employee. It affects the reputation of the hotel. And if not handled properly, it can quickly become a much bigger problem than the original complaint.

I immediately requested the Security Manager and IT Manager to join us.

Together with the Front Office Manager, we reviewed the complaint and agreed that we would follow our established SOP and investigation protocol.

The first step was straightforward: find out who had access to the room.

We reviewed the CCTV footage to establish who had been on that floor around the relevant period. Then we checked the electronic door-lock system to determine how many key cards had accessed the room.

The findings came back quickly.

Apart from the guest and his visitors, only one hotel employee had accessed the room during the relevant period.

It was the housekeeping attendant responsible for that floor.

Let’s call him Wale.

Wale had entered the room the previous day to clean it.

That information was enough to make him a person of interest.

But it was not evidence that he had stolen anything.

There is a difference.

I asked that Wale be brought to my office.

He was on duty and was still working on the same floor.

When he arrived, I explained the allegation and asked him directly whether he had taken the money from the guest’s wallet while cleaning the room.

He said no.

Again, calmly.

No drama. No elaborate story.

Just: “I did not take the money.”

But before I could decide what to make of that feeling, the Front Office called.

The guest was at Reception.

And he was about to check out.

THE GUEST

I walked to the Front Office and met him.

He was a gentleman of Indian descent, carrying a backpack and pacing around the lobby.

He was clearly angry.

The moment I approached him, he said:

“If I miss my flight because of you people, you will have to pay for my next flight.”

I immediately knew this was going to be difficult.

I tried to explain that we were investigating the matter and needed some time to establish exactly what had happened.

He was not interested.

“Madam, it is time that I do not have. I have a flight to catch.”

Then came the statement that changed the temperature of the conversation:

“If you people don’t want to refund me what was stolen, no problem. I will respond to you on Tripadvisor.”

This was around 2009/2010. The hotel was still building its brand and reputation, and online reviews were becoming increasingly important.

We certainly didn’t want a negative review.

But we also couldn’t simply hand over money because a guest had made an allegation.

So we tried to reason with him.

We pointed out that CCTV footage showed that he had received visitors in his room.

Was it possible that one of his visitors had taken the money? Could someone have accessed his belongings without his knowledge?

The guest was adamant.

According to him, the hotel employee had stolen his money while cleaning his room.

But there were some things about the situation that troubled me.

I started making mental notes.

FIVE THINGS DIDN’T ADD UP

• Wale had worked with us for more than a year and had never been involved in a similar incident.

• He had been responsible for that particular floor for about three months.

• The guest was a long-stay guest. He had been at the hotel for almost a month, and Wale had been cleaning his room throughout that period.

• The alleged theft was discovered suddenly — just one night before the guest was due to check out.

• The guest seemed more focused on getting an immediate refund and threatening the hotel than on helping us establish what had actually happened.

I couldn’t ignore those questions.

But I also couldn’t dismiss the guest’s allegation.

As HR, my responsibility was to ensure that we investigated fairly.

Not to automatically believe the employee.

Not to automatically believe the customer.

To establish the facts.

Then something unexpected happened.

The Managing Director walked into the lobby.

He wasn’t usually around that early, but there he was.

He noticed the group of us speaking with the guest and asked what was happening.

We briefed him.

He asked the guest to come into his office.

I followed.

And then, in a decision that completely caught me off guard, the MD opened his wallet, brought out US$500 and handed it to the guest.

The guest smiled slightly.

He thanked him.

And walked out of the hotel.

Just like that.

He was gone.

Straight-faced.

I stood there stunned.

I thought that was the end of the matter.

I was wrong.

Because the real drama was only beginning.

TO BE CONTINUED…..

Your email address will be not be published. Required fields are marked.