Chair Hoggers

[nicren]

Did anyone see the "expose" on Chair Hoggers that aired on the Today Show this morning? It uncovered the growing problem at resorts everywhere of people leaving their stuff in lounge chairs to save them hours before they intend to use them. The reporter was disguised as a cabana boy at a resort in Florida, and he had a hidden camera "Shamu(sp?) cam" hooked up to an inflatable whale in the pool. It was pretty funny stuff.

[jamesblonde]

Originally Posted by nicren

Did anyone see the "expose" on Chair Hoggers that aired on the Today Show this morning? It uncovered the growing problem at resorts everywhere of people leaving their stuff in lounge chairs to save them hours before they intend to use them. The reporter was disguised as a cabana boy at a resort in Florida, and he had a hidden camera "Shamu(sp?) cam" hooked up to an inflatable whale in the pool. It was pretty funny stuff.

I wish I would have seen that. When we were in Cabo last November, people were putting towels on the chairs before 6am It started getting ridiculous. There were plenty of chairs, but only about 10 palapas around the pool. I actually got up one morning at 5:30 and thought what the heck. I'm getting a palapa today. As I was leaving, the old geezer that normally had that one, was coming. He was not happy, but I was amused for the day

[travmagic]

I liked Matt's solution.
For those of you that didn't see it, he said you should pull the last 3 pages out of the book that is laying claim to the unattended chair! I would love to see someone try that.

[Luv2Dance]

Better yet. How about chair movers. When we stayed at RIU Yucatan, my husband and I walked down to the beach and claimed two loungers in the front row with many vacant on either side of us. Another couple came and chose two loungers and promptly moved them in front of us. I looked at my husband like WTF? What was the purpose of that? We ended up just gathering our stuff and moving down a few chairs.

[Rissask]

Oh, I am so sad I missed that!

Chair saving is my pet peeve....read my last trip report...it wasn't even an AI and the chair savers were ridiculous.

BTW, I started a thread on this once, 3 years ago, here it is. There are some funny responses in there.

[nicren]

Originally Posted by travmagic

I liked Matt's solution.
For those of you that didn't see it, he said you should pull the last 3 pages out of the book that is laying claim to the unattended chair! I would love to see someone try that.

I missed that part! Oh, that's evil .............but good.

[TAPPY]

And what really gets me is the people who put really big ROCKS on the chairs...I am sorry but a rock in the chair does not mean that it is saved !!!

[Ginger]

Call me evil, but I ignore saved chairs. If there are towels only on the chair, I'll sit there and put the towel aside. I have not patience for that kind of selflishness. If there are towels and other items and someone has clearly made a home there and is just off getting food or drinks or whatever, fine. But just leaving a towel there while you go to town to do some shopping or go on a snorkel tour or go to your room to take a nap...I. Dont. Think. So.

[Mme. Dogma]

This drives me crazy, too! We stayed at Playa Maya in February. We would put our towels, books, etc. on a couple of chairs while we ate breakfast. We were up early so there weren't a whole lot of people on the beach at that time. One morning after breakfast we got settled in our chairs and noticed that the four chairs to my right were "saved" with a towel on each. I don't know who "saved" them because there weren't that many people up and I knew it wasn't any of the people who were eating breakfast.
Hours went by and still no one claimed those chairs. Finally, well after noon, the chair hogs showed up. I don't know where they had been. They all wearing swim suits. I could not believe how rude that was. Those chairs could have been used by someone all morning. I thought that was outrageously selfish.

[synestere]

I´m a chair hogger , we´re not all bad people .

[nicren]

We have a similar phenomenon in the city here in Chicago in the winter. For many people who live in the city, the only available parking in front of their homes is parallel parking on the street. Parallel parking becomes very difficult in the winter when we have had a lot of snow because for every one "parking spot" on the curb that is usually available there is one spot in front of it and behind it that cannot be used because there is 3 - 5 feet of snow in it!

So, when people leave their heavily coveted spot, they put a folding chair in the empty space (on the public city street) to "hold" their parking spot so no one will park there until they return!! The funniest part about this whole thing is that most Chicagoans know what it means when they see a random folding chair in the street, and they respect "the chair". They don't move the chair out of the empty parking spot. They just keep looking for parking!!!

[Rissask]

Hours went by and still no one claimed those chairs. Finally, well after noon, the chair hogs showed up. I don't know where they had been. They all wearing swim suits. I could not believe how rude that was. Those chairs could have been used by someone all morning. I thought that was outrageously selfish.

That is the really bad part....I don't mind as much if you are there, then you leave for, say, an hour, then come back...but people save them and don't show up for hours, that is incredibly rude.

We also saw people this last trip who would save two per person....one each in the sun and one each in the shade for when it got hotter. The nerve!


But..... I hate to say it....we were a group of 8 and had no choice but to play along, it was that or never get chairs together.
We did make sure it was only one each, we put books and our own posessions on the chairs (because I agree with Ginger, placing hotel property on chairs isn't good enough to 'save' them somehow) and when we were leaving for an hour somewhere, even if we were planning on coming back later, we would take everything.

[Rissask]

Originally Posted by nicren

We have a similar phenomenon in the city here in Chicago in the winter. For many people who live in the city, the only available parking in front of their homes is parallel parking on the street. Parallel parking becomes very difficult in the winter when we have had a lot of snow because for every one "parking spot" on the curb that is usually available there is one spot in front of it and behind it that cannot be used because there is 3 - 5 feet of snow in it!

So, when people leave their heavily coveted spot, they put a folding chair in the empty space (on the public city street) to "hold" their parking spot so no one will park there until they return!! The funniest part about this whole thing is that most Chicagoans know what it means when they see a random folding chair in the street, and they respect "the chair". They don't move the chair out of the empty parking spot. They just keep looking for parking!!!

That is SO funny ...for people without garages here, there is the same issue of street parking and the snow...but I have never seen a chair saving a parking spot before here!

[synestere]

Chair hoggers have feelings too !

[jamesblonde]

I think we've all had to play the game a time or two. I personally hate it, but have done it. Since I'm an early riser, I'll take my towel, my little straw bag with lotion, my book/magazine and my coffee and usually sit on my saved chair until other chair hoggers start to arrive. That way they see that I am indeed using the chair. Then I will go for breakfast or something.