A woman has received an apology and full refund from Travelodge after discovering the words “I’m going to rape you” displayed on her hotel room’s television screen.
The guest, thought to be Kimberly Anne, discovered the threatening words on her hotel television screen at the Whitemare Pool Travelodge hotel in Gateshead.
Upon informing the hotel of the rape threat, Travelodge staff removed it from the screen immediately.
“Someone may have used the TV manufacturer’s code to change the setting,” the hotel claimed.
This is what greeted a woman staying at a North East hotel. It was on the TV screen in place of welcome message (1/2) pic.twitter.com/vGUzGWiCVO
— BBC Newcastle (@bbcnewcastle) January 23, 2015
Journalist and feminist campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez described the incident on Twitter as “incredibly upsetting.”
“Either it’s incredibly f**king creepy & scary – or it’s a ‘joke’. I’m not sure which is worse,” she added.
Either it's incredibly fucking creepy & scary - or it's a "joke". I'm not sure which is worse.
— Caroline CriadoPerez (@CCriadoPerez) January 23, 2015
Speaking to RT, Maribeth Ackzen, a sexual and domestic abuse researcher, said: “Rape is not a joke, I can’t believe somebody would find it funny enough to place those horrific words on the screen.”
Ackzen blames Travelodge and said the hotel attendants “should have checked the room” before the guest checked in.
Evans, a gender equality charity, tweeted: “If it said I’m going to blow you up, there’d be cops everywhere calling it terrorism.”
if it said i'm going to blow you up, there'd be cops everywhere calling it terrorism @CCriadoPerez
— Eaves Charity (@EavesCharity) January 23, 2015
In a statement Travelodge said: “We have already been in contact with the customer involved and apologized that such a message could appear.”
Shout out to @TravelodgeUK for taking what I posted yesterday seriously and doing all they can to put a stop to the sick sado responsible
— Kimberly Anne (@kimberlyanneiam) January 22, 2015
A spokesman from the hotel chain told Huffington Post UK: “We take the security of our guests and our systems very seriously.”
“We have reaffirmed our guidance to team-members regarding checks on the status of televisions in our guest-rooms,” they added.