Ever forget your cellphone charger at a hotel? Turns out that’s an extremely common mistake—one you can use to your advantage to replace your lost charger, whether you lost it there or not.

Over at community news site Reddit, a user points out his clever trick:

Next time you lose your phone charger, don’t buy another one. Go to a hotel and say you think you lost it there. It’s the #1 most left behind item at hotels, so most places have a big bin filled with every phone charger imaginable.

It may seem a little underhanded, but one Gizmodo reader explains just how abundant these chargers are at hotels:

I work for the second largest conference hotel in my city. You have no idea the size box we have of chargers left behind. 90 percent are idiot blackberry chargers. This works 100% of the time, we never verify that anyone stays here we just let them go shopping for [their] charger. Hell we even will give people a charger if they call down to the front desk and say they forgot theirs!

Update: Reader Eric writes in with his own similar suggestion:

I lose my charger all the time; another trick is doing the same thing at the car rental counter. Just say you left your charger in the car the last time you were there and they will pull out a box full of chargers to pick from. Works every time.

So there you have it: Whether you forgot your charger at home or lost it altogether, check with a hotel; you may find a quick and easy replacement. If not—well, it was worth a try, right? Know some other clever tricks of the trade? Let’s hear it in the comments, or send an email to tips at lifehacker.com with your smart trick.

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