some dude just threatened to kill me

[jarrod]

so i'm working overnight at a hotel, & a guy calls looking for his wife. we don't connect phone calls unless the caller knows both the room number & the name of the person in the room for security reasons. i explain this to the guy & he starts getting mad. i stay polite, he tells me that their son just died in an accident. i still don't connect him (1 i don't believe him, 2 why doesn't he know where is wife is at night?) anyway, he gets agitated & tells me i just signed my death warrant, he'll be here in 30 minutes with a world of ****, at which point i hung up. i'm not taking it too seriously, but it's still unnerving. my first thought was "bring it," followed immediately by "what if he has a gun?". at any rate, hope i'm still posting here later today

jf

 

[elder999]

so i'm working overnight at a hotel, & a guy calls looking for his wife. we don't connect phone calls unless the caller knows both the room number & the name of the person in the room for security reasons. i explain this to the guy & he starts getting mad. i stay polite, he tells me that their son just died in an accident. i still don't connect him (1 i don't believe him, 2 why doesn't he know where is wife is at night?) anyway, he gets agitated & tells me i just signed my death warrant, he'll be here in 30 minutes with a world of ****, at which point i hung up. i'm not taking it too seriously, but it's still unnerving. my first thought was "bring it," followed immediately by "what if he has a gun?". at any rate, hope i'm still posting here later today

jf

So, it's later today. You still posting?

I'd have called the cops, btw.

 

[jarrod]

yeah, the guy must have found his wife, lol. i'm off in 20 minutes, probably safe.

i thought about calling the cops. but i guess thinking about it wouldn't have actually helped if they guy had showed up.

jf

 

[myusername]

Glad you are still with us! In that situation I would agree with Elder and would have called the police. The fact that you were unnerved meant that there was part of you that thought this threat was not just someone mouthing off. If you had called the cops and this guy had showed up and you needed to defend yourself the police would have had on record already that you were in fear of your life. Could have made it easier for you in a court of law.

 

[Brian King]

Forewarned is forearmed.

Is his wife staying at the hotel? I can understand someone not being able to remember a room number and over reacting during a crisis. I might have said something along the lines of “oh my gosh, that is terrible. Damn our computer system is down and reloading so I cannot even see who is registered for at least a half an hour or longer. Call back in a bit and I might be able to help you. In the meantime you can have the police call our headquarters and they might be able to provide some information to the authorities.” This might give you some time if she is a guest to quietly knock and inform her of the call with out giving the caller any information on whether or not she is actually staying at your hotel.

Good luck
Brian King

 

[Joab]

Always call the police if your life is threatened.

 

[stickarts]

I agree with others about calling the police. Glad you're ok.

 

[grydth]

While we are all honored that you thought of us first in time of peril, the best move would have been what others said - call the police.

Sounds like you had a control freak husband whose wife was playing musical beds. There's a pretty fair measure of danger in night jobs, and when all the other participants are crazy that increases.

At our work place, I always have the police called. Sometimes we can id the caller, other times they can find him through call records. Several times they have sent a couple of officers over to discuss the matter, and I don't know what they do, but we've never had those guys back again.

 

[jarrod]

yeah, hindsite being 20/20, i probably should have called the cops. i hate to say it, but the cops here really don't like to do anything, they kind of act like it's a big bother to them if you call (i have to call them fairly frequently during my day job as a white trash apartment complex manager, lol). but i should have called.

Forewarned is forearmed.

Is his wife staying at the hotel? I can understand someone not being able to remember a room number and over reacting during a crisis. I might have said something along the lines of “oh my gosh, that is terrible. Damn our computer system is down and reloading so I cannot even see who is registered for at least a half an hour or longer. Call back in a bit and I might be able to help you. In the meantime you can have the police call our headquarters and they might be able to provide some information to the authorities.” This might give you some time if she is a guest to quietly knock and inform her of the call with out giving the caller any information on whether or not she is actually staying at your hotel.

Good luck
Brian King

that's the thing; his wife wasn't even staying there based on the names he gave me. we only had nine rooms rented so it's not like i could miss it. if she had been staying there that would have been the ideal way to handle it though. but quite frankly, i think the guy was full of crap, i'd been up all night for & $8/hr job, he was being a dick from the get-go, & i didn't want to deal with it.

jf

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

In the future if that happens I would call the police as well.

 

[terryl965]

I agree just call the police just in case.

 

[Drac]

yeah, hindsite being 20/20, i probably should have called the cops. i hate to say it, but the cops here really don't like to do anything, they kind of act like it's a big bother to them if you call (i have to call them fairly frequently during my day job as a white trash apartment complex manager, lol). but i should have called.

How do these cops keep their jobs?? Here we respond to every call..If your life is threatned then call us..You want that call recorded on the taped line..We have places like that here too, but we still respond..Ya never know what is going on until you get there....

 

[MA-Caver]

I've had people threaten my life several times and some were down right serious about it. I'm still here. "I'm gonna kill you" is one of the great intimidations. But I'll bet cha dollar to Drac's donuts that 95% of them are never carried out. Just talk. Scare tactics to get you do give 'em what they want. This guy wanted his wife's room number and I'll bet Grydth is right that she wasn't where she was "supposed" to be according to her husband. He was probably guessing at the hotel too... OR it's a favorite of theirs, :idunno: doesn't matter.
Next time put the guy (whomever he may be) on hold "hold on sir I'll check to see if she's registered" then call the cops, then if she's there quote policy, if not...:idunno: "dude, she ain't here by my books, mebbe she's at the Motel 6 down the road."

 

[searcher]

I would still notify your manager and let them know the situation. You never know if the guy will still show up. Most are windbags, but it takes only one.

 

[hkfuie]

Glad you're still alive!!

 

[arnisador]

Calling the cops can be helpful in documenting things even if they don't show--what if he showed with no gun and you KOed him? The phone call would help your self-defense argument.

But I'm glad it turned out OK!

 

[jarrod]

I've had people threaten my life several times and some were down right serious about it. I'm still here. "I'm gonna kill you" is one of the great intimidations. But I'll bet cha dollar to Drac's donuts that 95% of them are never carried out. Just talk. Scare tactics to get you do give 'em what they want. This guy wanted his wife's room number and I'll bet Grydth is right that she wasn't where she was "supposed" to be according to her husband. He was probably guessing at the hotel too... OR it's a favorite of theirs, :idunno: doesn't matter.
Next time put the guy (whomever he may be) on hold "hold on sir I'll check to see if she's registered" then call the cops, then if she's there quote policy, if not...:idunno: "dude, she ain't here by my books, mebbe she's at the Motel 6 down the road."

that's what i figured. thing is, we're not even allowed to confirm or deny if someone is at the hotel. lol, "dollar to Drac's donuts"! you gonna take that drac?

I would still notify your manager and let them know the situation. You never know if the guy will still show up. Most are windbags, but it takes only one.

i noted it in the shift log, so there is some record of it at least. good advice though.

thanks to everyone who's glad i'm not dead

"How do these cops keep their jobs?? Here we respond to every call..If your life is threatned then call us..You want that call recorded on the taped line..We have places like that here too, but we still respond..Ya never know what is going on until you get there.... "

one afternoon one of my tenents (former) was walking around drunk in the parking lot screaming into a cell phone for some dude to "come on down here & i'll kick your ***!". he was joined by a couple other guys as well as about 4 women missing teeth who following them around yelling "don't do it! no! it's not worth it, jethro!". so my wife called the cops to let them know & they told her to "keep an eye on things, & call back if anything happens." now i've had other dealing with the local cops that have been very professional & thourough, but it's the negative that stands out, of course.

jf

 

[myusername]

"don't do it! no! it's not worth it, jethro!"

Priceless! I love stuff like this followed up with a name like "Jethro." That Jethro soundslike a wild card!

 

[jks9199]

Forewarned is forearmed.

Is his wife staying at the hotel? I can understand someone not being able to remember a room number and over reacting during a crisis. I might have said something along the lines of “oh my gosh, that is terrible. Damn our computer system is down and reloading so I cannot even see who is registered for at least a half an hour or longer. Call back in a bit and I might be able to help you. In the meantime you can have the police call our headquarters and they might be able to provide some information to the authorities.” This might give you some time if she is a guest to quietly knock and inform her of the call with out giving the caller any information on whether or not she is actually staying at your hotel.

Good luck
Brian King

In a situation like that, the husband's local police could contact the PD where you are, and have them make notification.

Another simple possibility is to take a message, unless you're not even acknowledging that the guest is there unless someone has both name and room number. "I'm sorry, sir, but I can't put a call through with the information that you've given me -- but I'll take a message for our guest." Then call the room yourself...

Side note: It never hurts to notify the PD. Worst case, a cop comes out and takes a report and nothing happens. Oh well... beats the hell out of the police responding to a nut in the hotel lobby, blasting people, huh?

 

[Carol]

Couple of suggestions.

Find out who the hotel uses for phone service. Once you've made that determination, contact them (or look online) to determine what codes they use for a malicious call trace. Its usually *57 but double check to be sure.

Keep that code near you when you are working - its easy to forget.

As soon as you receive such a call:
Hang up.
Take the phone off-hook again and hit *57.
Wait for a confirmation tone/announcement, should take less than 10 seconds.
Hang up.
Call 911.

When you do this, you will not be privy to any call trace information, but it lets the carrier know that there is a malicious caller out and about, plus it preserves the calling information to be retrieved by law enforcement if necessary.