What should I do if the articles that the passengers gave to the hotel for free are lost?

When checking in at Holiday Inn, passenger Fan left his first bag at the reception desk of the hotel, and the attendant on duty counted the items and checked them in. The next day, when Fan took the number plate to get the handbag, he found that the handbag had been taken away by others. Fan asked the hotel to bear the liability for compensation, but the hotel thought it was free to keep the bags for passengers and did not need to bear the liability for compensation. Is there a legal basis for the hotel statement?

The lawyer answered the question.

The hotel's statement has no legal basis and should compensate Fan for all the losses. Article 374 of China's Contract Law stipulates that in free custody, if the custodian proves that he has no gross negligence, he will not be liable for damages. However, if the custodian cannot prove that he has no gross negligence, he shall still be liable for compensation. Specifically, in this case, when Fan checked into the Holiday Inn and left his handbag at the hotel reception desk, the attendant on duty also counted the items, and the custody contract between the two parties was valid. As a hotel, it should take good care of the keeper's belongings, but when the bag was taken, it was taken away by others, and the hotel failed to prove that it had fulfilled its obligation of proper care. The hotel has gross negligence in the loss of Fan's handbag, and should bear the losses caused by Fan's handbag being taken away by others.

Legal link

Contract law of the people's Republic of China

Article 374 Where the safekeeping article is damaged or lost due to improper safekeeping by the safekeeping party, the safekeeping party shall be liable for damages, but the safekeeping party is free of charge, and the safekeeping party shall not be liable for damages if it proves that it has no gross negligence.

Collection of cases

Commercial places have indirect compensation for the goods stored by customers, and whether or not they charge storage fees, they should pay attention to kind managers.