How to recover a lost item

[Alicia822]

Hi!

So I stayed in an airbnb last month, and realised after a few days that I had left my new hairdryer there. It was on the bathroom sink, not hidden or out of sight at all, but upon messaging my host, he explained that he hadn't seen it and he would ask the cleaning staff, and also that there had been other guests staying since our stay. This struck me as odd since surely if something as large as a hairdryer was left on the sink (Which would have had to be cleaned/refreshed), then surely it would have been spotted. The host has been saying for 2 weeks now that he is waiting to hear back from his cleaning staff but surely if they're cleaning his apartment he would be in touch with them more than once in a fortnight anyway. I just think that either the host or the cleaning staff have the hairdryer and want to avoid the hassle of sending it back to me, but how can I prove anything?

[Sarah977]

@Alicia822  The host is not responsible for things guests accidentally leave behind. Just as a movie theatre or a restaurant isn't responsible for a jacket you left hanging on the back of a seat, or an airline or bus responsible for what passengers may forget.

So there is nothing to "prove". No one came in and stole your hairdryer while you were staying there, and a guest may be able to get something back they neglected to pack, or maybe not.

[Anonymous]

@Alicia822 if the host was able to track down your forgotten hairdryer, you'd still be obliged to pay for the packaging and shipping, and presumably you'd also have the decency to pay a substantial tip for all the time and effort it would take to return it to you. But for the same amount of money, you could buy yourself two new hair dryers. So is this really worth getting one's knickers in a twist about? 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Alicia822 

I don't know if you were staying in your country or abroad, but returning things to guests is a hassle, been there, done that.

If the guest is still in Croatia then I can pack it, go to the post office and send it to him and he will pay the postal cost at delivery. But if the guest already left the country then the postal cost has to be paid immediately and is always costs more than the item itself.

If the guest insists on return then I have to find out how much is the postal charge, let the guest know, he has to send me money through the resolution center, I have to find the box, paper, cord and pack the item, go to the postal office, pay, take a photo of the receipt and send him with the approximate time of arrival. It takes at least 1 hour of my time and no one ever offered to pay for my effort. So why bother?

One guest didn't want to pay for the postal charge and said his colleague, a truck driver will collect it from me. Then the colleague called me and said he will pass today but he can't enter the city with a truck and if I can meet him somewhere out of town. I had to go to Ikea anyway so I agreed. I waited for him in a parking lot for 1 hour (he was late) and then he missed the exit and stopped the truck a few hundred meters further on the highway. I had to jump in my car to go to him, stop the car on the highway where it is not allowed, cross 5 lines and jump the fence to deliver the item 😄 The police went by and we both almost got a ticket. The guest never even said thank you 😞

Now I have written in my house rules that we are not responsible for items left behind.