Nothing stresses you out more than knowing everything you own is locked behind a door you can’t open.

So, what would you do if you stepped out of the room for a moment and came back to find that you cannot get the door open, and neither can the hotel employee?

Do you freak out and wait outside the door all night? Or would you accept a room across the hall until it was fixed?

In the following story, one international traveler finds himself in this situation and finds the whole thing annoying.

Here’s what happened.

Locked out of my room

This happened in Baltimore, where I was just staying overnight to catch an international flight home the next morning.

I parked the rental car, checked in as normal, dropped my bags off, and then I remembered I left some of my mom’s food in the car that I didn’t want to leave overnight. So I went back down to the parking garage.

I got back up to my room, and the key card doesn’t work.

It was late, and everything was locked in the room.

Ok, annoying. It’s late, but it’s happened before. I go back down to the front desk and have them rekey my card.

I go back up, and it still doesn’t work. There’s a whirring sound, but the lock stays red.

Ok, annoying, I go back to the front desk and explain the problem. This time, the FDA comes up with the master card. That’ll surely work, right? Nope. Same issue.

At this point, it’s past midnight, and my bags are still in the room. With my passport and wallet tucked safely inside (I’d just put them down when I remembered the food in the car).

It took all night for them to open the door.

Panic?

The FDA was a gem. They got me a room across the hall and a little kit with a toothbrush, toothpaste, and toiletries. I couldn’t really sleep, though, and throughout the night, I could hear maintenance trying the door lock repeatedly.

Finally, at 4 am, I hear the door whirr and click and open. I jumped out of bed (still fully dressed, no pjs) and ran for the room to grab my bags and get them out of the cursed room.

Then, it happened again.

A big thank you to the FDA and the maintenance person. That little dental kit meant I felt a little refreshed (while sweating bullets). It also meant the FDA fully understood my situation.

Years later, it happened again. This time i was locked out of my own condo that had electronic door locks. This time, the maintenance person had a special tool: a straightened wire hanger that went under the door and tripped the lock open.

Moral of the story: Never trust electronic locks! And a little kindness goes a long way.

Yikes! That must’ve been a pretty stressful night.

Let’s check out how the folks over at Reddit feel about all this.

Here’s a good explanation.

This person had a better outcome.

This would’ve been so embarrassing.

Yet another person who dealt with something similar.

It’s good he was polite, because other people wouldn’t have been so nice in the situation.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a customer who insists that their credit card works, and finds out that isn’t the case.