Harrahs Banned me for 24 Hours

[nolapoker]

Ok, do you ever go on tilt. Well I got banned today from Harrahs New Orleans. Why? Because my bicycle got stolen from a bike rack in the valet area. It was locked with a heavy duty bike lock. I filed a small claim against Harrahs because no one wants to pay me for my stolen bicycle. One of the reasons is they are not responsible for security of personal property. Well what is the chips on the table. Is that your personal property? What if your chips got stolen and they tell you it is your responsibility? Maybe I am streching it a little, but Harrahs put a bike rack in valet with all those people working there. And the cameras and the security guards. I am led to think I am safe to park my bicycle there.

What is this about you ask? I play poker and have started to do a lot better recently. With all this new PR out on TV and new people coming in to play, should the casino take notice of me as a disgruntled customer? I intend to get their attention in many public ways to show that their policy is wrong. They are responsible for my stolen bicycle. They have a liability to pay me for letting it get stolen. I ask the poker community to stand up and voice concerns over the personal property policy at their favorite casino. If we act together we get better playing conditions and people feel more important. If we let the casino rule over us by telling us we are not important then eventually the casino will fall.

Thaddeus Frick, New Orleans /images/graemlins/mad.gif

[brad]

'They are responsible for my stolen bicycle. They have a liability to pay me for letting it get stolen.'

so does that mean you won in small claims court?

[Vehn]

You may want to try posting this in the "news views gossip" forum, as this one is full of right/left wing nuts waving their penii at each other.

[HDPM]

Something tells me Harrah's isn't going after the segment of the market that rides bikes to their casino. Sorry.


P.S. Typically, and this could be very wrong in Louisiana since it has a bizarre legal system, when you valet, they are responsible, when you don't they aren't. You didn't hand over control of your bike to harrah's, you merely used their facility to lock it up. You retained control over it, so you are probably screwed. Like the difference between a coat check where an employee gives you a ticket compared to a peg on the wall of the restaurant. Disclaimer: This is not legal advice upon which you can rely, get a lawyer in Louisiana, don't rely on advice over the internet, yada yada.

[John Cole]

Please check carefully. Bruce Z is the only one who's waving anything at this moment. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[clovenhoof]

As a lawyer, though not one versed in law based on the civil code in Louisiana, Quebec, or France, my opinion is you're screwed.

However, I am a little surprised that as a matter of business and goodwill, they weren't willing to come up with something other than "get out of our casino until tomorrow at this time."

Reading between the lines, however, I infer that perhaps you could have handled the situation in a matter more likely to result in a more profitable outcome.

I hope you've filed a criminal complaint -- if the security footage is of any quality whatsoever the police should be able track the guy down. (The guys who are able to get through those heavy duty locks are generally all "known to the police" as they commonly say.)

Good luck.

'hoof

[Dynasty]

[ QUOTE ]
They are responsible for my stolen bicycle. They have a liability to pay me for letting it get stolen.

[/ QUOTE ]

No. The person who stole your bicycle is responsible. That person should reimburse you. Harrah's just happend to be the location he stole it from.

It is more and more common for people to want to blame people or entities who have absolutely no responsibility for a wrong done to them. You are really coming across as a big baby.

[nicky g]

Or is that right/left wing penii waving their nuts at each other? Either way it's a great party.

[the mayor]

so if you're car gets stolen in any parking lot its that business's responsibility to get you a new car? i dont think thatll hold up buddy. now, the old lady that stole my innocence when she rivered a set of 3's with a 3,6os to chop my k's and 10's last week, she should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. didnt even get an apology.

[Ray Zee]

hdpm. but since they had the rack in the valet area, they gave the perception of care. so one might interpet that as them impling a watchful eye over it. plus they have a duty to turn over the camera tapes on the area and cooperate. but most casinos have a policy that if you sue them they bar you. and justifiably so as you dont want someone suing you hanging around your premises.

[Terry]

[ QUOTE ]
... I got banned today from Harrahs New Orleans ... Because my bicycle got stolen from a bike rack in the valet area.

[/ QUOTE ]

You didn’t get banned because your bike was stolen, you got banned because you threw some sort of a hissy fit at one or more of their employees. If that took place in some sort of a “report writing room” that you were taken to by Security, then your little tantrum has been recorded, probably with sound.

As to the surveillance tapes – the purpose of surveillance cameras is to protect company assets. Although it may seem there are cameras “everywhere” in casinos, they most assuredly do not cover every square foot of the property.

IF there is a tape of that area (and I would tend to doubt it since there are no company assets there to be protected), it has been reviewed and IF it shows the thief it has been shown to police and to every security guard during their daily briefing – the casino does not want thieves on their property.

A surveillance tape would most likely only be available to a customer by subpoena; casinos don’t want people to know just what their surveillance measures can see.

[clovenhoof]

They may have a moral duty to turn over the tapes (hah -- casinos with a moral duty... can't believe I actually wrote that) but I'd be surprised if the Louisiana Small Claims court rules impose such an obligation on them. The content of the tape would not likely shed any light on any live issue in the case. The layout of the bike rack won't be in dispute, nor will whatever signs are posted, nor will the fact that the bicycle was stolen. The manner of the theft isn't likely to be a relevant issue unless, maybe, the thief is seen saying something to an employee, and the employee goes away and returns a few moments later with a really big honkin' pair of bolt cutters. Then, I think, he'd have a case.

In a common law court, the issue would boil down to this question: would a reasonable bicycle rider look at the scene and think, "yes, they've made this a safe place to lock up my bicycle", or would they think, "yes, they're guaranteeing that this a safe place to lock up my bicycle".

In this day and age, especially in a cosmopolitan city like New Orleans, I think it's inconceivable that a court would conclude that it's reasonable for a bike rider to think that the casino is undertaking to protect his bicycle out of the goodness of their hearts. (As I understand it, there was no fee for using the bike rack.)

Here's another way to look at it. If the casino is responsible for the bike, then they are responsible for it, period. I think it follows from that that whether the owner used a lock to secure it would be irrelevant.

Would ANYBODY think that the casino would have any liability if no lock was used?

And, if the original poster did believe the casino was undertaking to be responsible for his bike, then why did he use a lock? Why was it necessary?

'hoof

[Ed Miller]

Thaddeus Frick

Where do I know you from? Your name is very familiar... I know you from somewhere in New Orleans. Do you recognize my name? Ed Miller... I lived in NOLA from 1980-1996 when I graduated high school. Did you play chess maybe?