Umm... It's my bass!!! That's my last ounce of gillette and that card from the sheraton I was staying at!
No?
Worth a shot right?
Really though, +1 on trying to contact him. I've worked at a few hotels back in my "working days". Cops won't do any better from what I've seen. They'll take possession, tell the hotel to make the call and just hand it back in 30 or 45 days. I had a guy leave his brand new Video Camera at an IHOP across the street literally, right before he left. A server came over and said, "this belonged to one of your guests, I went to bus their table and ran outside, they got into a car in your parking lot and left." I had just checked them out too. Call them, no ringing so I figured they were on the road (this was 5 years ago now). Called them and they wouldn't pick up so I left one message and their voicemail let me know it was who I was trying to reach.
I let the GM know that I was going to let the cops hold it because in my mind she was going to keep it for herself if they didn't claim it. My score, not hers! Honestly, not the greatest attitude but I was 18, c'mon. So in Arizona you can swing by the station, fill out some paperwork and leave information with them then about a month later it's yours.
Month later no one claimed it and one of the other hotel workers got the phone call since I was the night shift and I had to leave the number of the hotel, not a personal one. I should've thought ahead and lied. Coworker went down there, grabbed it and 3 weeks later after she quit and I'm filling in I see one of the week workers I hardly ever see, "yeah, she got that camera that a guest left behind and sold it for a few hundred dollars and finally moved." Needless to say, I was pissed and never saw her again. Thus is the way of hotel jobs and their minimum pay for maximum effort.
I say if no one claims it then hidey ho but for that bass, you should be trying to get the number yourself. Yeah, it's against the law technically for the hotel to disburse such information but go down there and talk to the night people, they're generally the most lenient and "real" people at hotels. Talk shop and level with them for the number, have THEM call it for you on their house phone so they don't have to give you the number and you know for sure they're not just being lame (yes, some Front desk agents just suck). Write a letter even if you can get their address or have the hotel write one, the managers office always has stamps, THEY HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY! But yeah, I'm just saying hotels are really flaky and you can pursue it just a little more. Worse that will happen is they just say no and if they do, tell them it was their patron, you're just trying to re-unite him with his bass. Also, lie about it and tell them it's worth $5k because if you called and said, "i have a bass one of your guests lost, can I get his info," they aren't music folk. They'll just look at you and go ,"right". You also gotta figure, the liability they put themselves up for on that part is huge and can have the owner fined so you can't be too pushy in terms of respect.
HOWEVER, DO NOT HAND THE BASS TO THE HOTEL! You will never see it again, I can almost guarantee you that. They hold it in a back room for 30 days and cover it with tag then just hand it back out to whoever wants it. I got a case of 200 DVD's once and other random swag. 180 rooms, no banquet or anything special, right off the interstate, it adds up.
Side story of my own, I had to bring my upright to work once because I went straight from a Jazz concert to work. Some biker lady catches me the next morning when she wakes up (bikers get up really friggin early when they're on the road, or they just don't go to sleep), she tells me, "is that a bass fiddle you had last night?!" I tell her yes and she asked me if I was going to school. Yes again. Really happy, "My grandfather had a bass and left it to us when he died but over the years we just kept it in storage and one day while moving it the neck broke off the body, haven't done anything since, do you want it?!" I go hells yeah. Free broken upright. I ask her if she knew anything and all she said was that she knew it was German, had a flatback and was dated 1913. In my mind I think, "SCORE!" She says she'll back through town in about 2 weeks (no planned date) and would stop by the hotel to drop it off. I let the manager know and she says that it's alright as long as I pick it up as soon as she drops it off. The day comes, she has the bass in hand, the PM front desk worker turns her away and says, "we can't hold that stuff for him." I had just gotten a .65 cent raise after one year and she had been there for 3 years with no raise at all. Resentment. So... I chewed her out, tried to get in contact with the lady, no phone number in their bill, I got canned out of a deal.
I'm not saying for sure they're not calling but I wouldn't pass it by, go down there yourself with the bass in hand and to top that off, if you can get the guys name myspace him or google him, ask the night hotel worker to do it, they don't do anything anyways. There's so much more than you can do though than just call and tell the hotel to do something about it.
If it were my bass, I'd pay for shipping and a reward. Just try a little harder before you give in to just keeping it though. It'd be pretty messed up to keep a bass when you have someone standing in front of you with the guys address in hand/on screen. Also, they might not have his number to begin with so all in all, you might need his address to actually contact him and if he moved be sure to write on the letter, "Current Resident" and a little note on the back or something saying you're trying to return lost gear so they don't think you're a scam guy. That'd be that scenario there if he moved.
They don't have to give you all of that info but at the very least, you can have someone tell you honestly if they have a phone number or not if you put in enough talk to level with them. Just don't bother with a manager. They're on protocol usually. If it's a nicer hotel though ($300+ suites) walk right in there and tell them the situation, you have a $5k instrument, SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE DONE!
This guy doesn't know he lost it or it was stolen and fell off the getaway van. Either way, he more than likely thinks it's stolen and might come back through town. You take it out on a gig you're going to have A LOT of explaining to do. You have the bass of the next Jaco and he's going to take you down in a bar fight like Bas Rutten vs Ghandi. My final point is that you can't honestly walk out on stage with it because as soon as it's recognized and if they're smart, have the serial number or can proove it was his you can end up in jail.
It's more complicated to keep it than to give it back if things go wrong, that's my two cents if you're leaning more towards keeping it. You're not holding onto some SDGR or Yamaha RBX 270 so we all see the value and temptation but I like to think things through and picture an unfavorable scenario. Likelyhood doesn't matter, if us fellow tb'ers saw you on the news in three weeks saying you were found beaten up in the back of a bar would we be surprised, remorseful, vindictive? It's a little harsh but I lived in Mexico where people do worse to you for a lot less so I guess that's where my darkside comes from.
It may seem like something magical and wonderful has happened to you but honestly, you just have the opportunity to return some guys baby to him. Push comes to shove, go onto craigslist and post some ads in Musical Instr. and Musicians. There must be someone else in the community that can give you a lead, you have a date and pending on what time you found it (before or after a gig), it'd be a pretty huge story if someone lost their bass before a gig.
The more I type the more I can think of what you could do. I'm going to stop and just say try your best to return it, it's more than just the
right thing.
