Before travelling to a different country, Malaysians would often times do research on safety measures and scams to avoid.
But, even then, the unexpected can always happen.
Malaysian, AllenTee@艾倫弟, took to Xiaohongshu to share how he and his girlfriend had been robbed after they had left their belongings in their hotel room in Paris, France.
He wrote, “All 4 of our suitcases were cut open. All of our valuables were looted.”
“I remember before leaving for Paris, I asked people if there was anything I needed to pay attention to. Everyone’s responses were basically the same. That we should be careful with our belongings while outside. They said that on the streets, buses, subways and at tourist attractions, we must be careful of pickpockets and robbers.”
Prior to their holiday, he had also asked for recommended locations and hotels that were considered safer.
“As a result, I chose the Holiday Inn Opera Grands Boulevard. I would say that it is a large company and hotel, and it should be okay in terms of safety.”
“As a result, while we were in Paris on 3 December (Sunday), we went on our tourist itinerary as scheduled. When we returned to the hotel and opened our room door, we found that all 4 of our suitcases had been cut open and all of our valuables had been stolen. The door showed no signs of damage,” he said.
Among the items that were stolen included cash, a wallet, cards, a laptop, an iPad, a phone and even a newly bought branded skirt!
Soon after, the thief had used Allen’s card, which led him to call the bank and suspend the card’s service. Though, this was not before the thief managed to order fast food with it.
He then called the French police.
“The police came over and asked us a few questions. Then, they went into the room and asked us more questions. They said it was nothing and asked us to report the incident to a nearby police station. Their reactions made this seem like a common event, and the police have become numb to the occurrence of this type of thing,” Allen explained.
Apparently, another guest at the hotel, a French man who speaks Mandarin, had also stumbled upon the thief in his room and managed to take pictures of the thief before he ran away.
“The photos prove that he’s the thief (the bag he’s carrying is ours, and the things inside are our valuables).”
“For such a large hotel, outsiders can enter the hotel at will, go up to the guest room floors, steal the room cards, and then leave the hotel with stolen goods without any of the hotel staff noticing (by this point, we already felt like it was an inside job),” he added.
Following this, Allen and his girlfriend went to a nearby police station to report the incident. Apparently, the officers there had ignored them, made them wait a long time and spoke French to the hotel manager 90% of the time.
At some points, they allegedly laughed while the Malaysian couple didn’t understand the conversation.
It is truly saddening to know that, even in more developed countries, such incidences can happen and that it is treated like a normal occurrence and not taken seriously by their local authorities.
You can check out Allen’s full post here.
What do you think about this? Do feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section.
Also read: Blind M’sian Falls Into Open Drain Hole Directly on Tactile Pathway in KL, Sustains Minor Injuries
