Personal belongings misappropriated or disposed by the host

[Denys33]

Dear community,

Over the past couple of months I have been pleading with Airbnb to help solve a problem that arose due to my sudden departure from China in early Feb because of Coronavirus outbreak. In a nutshell - I left airbnb property in China without checking out and still left some valuables there as I was planning to return in a few weeks later once the outbreak settled down. Later, when I was in Thailand, once I realised the epidemic will last a long time, I tried to work out a solution with airbnb and the host on how to temporary freeze or cancel and later restart my booking in order to avoid paying for the property I wasn't using. Eventually airbnb went ahead and cancelled the booking in accordance to their new exceptional cancelation policy, but did so without consulting the host first (even though in all message threads they promised to do so multiple times + me wanting to exercise cancelation option was conditional on them consulting the host first and the host agreeing to this as I still had the keys to the property and my personal belongings were there). This (un-consulted cancelation) infuriated the host (though I have informed her from the start I am discussing this option with airbnb and she should expect to hear from them soon) and from that point on she refused to communicate with me and refused to allow me (or my friend in China) to collect my belongings (worth 3.3K GBP) when they were still at the property. Main reason  the host refused to allow me to collect my belongings was that she kept them hostage while trying to extort extra money for the loss of rent that the cancellation caused as well as emotional / inconvenience impact. I have refused to pay what I felt were unreasonable charges and suggested the host to have a discussion with airbnb first. Some time passed (during which I kept pleading with the host to allow me to collect my belongings). Later airbnb came back agreeing with me that extra charges the host was trying levy were not justified, BUT saying the host already “disposed” of my belongings and they cannot do anything about this. I am not a legal expert nor can I claim to understand all policies that govern host/tenant/airbnb relationship, but from purely ethical and common sense stand point my conclusion is a) airbnb’s failure to consult the host and do what is right for all parties caused this conflict in the first place b) the host acted unethically when out vengeance or for profit or both decided to either destroy or misappropriate and sell my personal belongings. I tried to seek compensation from airbnb as well as getting them to take action against the host, but never received any sort of comprehensive reply that addressed my grievance. Please help.

Thank you

[Denys33]

@Nanxing0 

Thank you for your comments.

Guests travelling to China or any other country for that matter will never be aware (nor should they be expected to) of all these recent local developments.

There simply needs to be a clear policy and guidance from airbnb for hosts and tenants on how to deal with situations likes. Do they have one?

All I found was:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1421/what-should-i-do-if-i-forgot-something-at-a-place-i-stayed

Where it says:

“If you left something behind at at a place you stayed, message your host directly for help.

If you need to have an item sent to you, you can send your host money to cover the shipping cost directly through our Resolution Center.”

I tried to communicate with the host to make arrangements, but as you know she refused to acknowledge my request.

P.S. host’s listing is still active

[Sarah977]

@Denys33  You still haven't explained why you thought it was okay to leave the country and take the keys to the host's property with you. Yeah, I know you planned to come back, but that still doesn't make it okay.

[Denys33]

@Sarah977 

Not sure why this is not OK as I’ve done similar trips abroad in the past and the host didn’t have a problem with them.

Thank you

[Helen427]

hello @Denys33 , it's the law in most countries to hold onto any property left behind and or send them or collect them from where they were left.

 Did the host contact you after you left?

When I worked for an international Hotel chain we had to hand in lost/ left behind property & guests had "3 months" to claim it.

 It then became the property of the finder and kept.

Food items were kept for 24 hours.

I believe you will find regulations exist everywhere.

 It's not uncommon for keys to be taken, and a reasonable person would weigh up circumstantial evidence of individual situations.

Let's be real here, not one of us, in January ever envisaged any of us to be in the situations we have found ourselves in because of a country that caused the spread of a "virus", did we?

The sooner the world returns to some saneness & common sense the better for all of us.

@Denys33, your situation could have happened to anyone & is expect a lot of property has been left behind all over the world because of panic, fear etc.

[Denys33]

@Helen427 

Thank you for your empathy and understanding. Please see my comments below:

RE: “hello @Denys33 , it's the law in most countries to hold onto any property left behind and or send them or collect them from where they were left. Did the host contact you after you left?”

I was in contact with the host immediately following the cancellation trying to arrange collection of the belongings, but the host refused to acknowledge my request. Airbnb also tried to assist, but eventually given up. I really am not sure if China / airbnb hosts in China are subject to the laws you mentioned. I only found  the following guidance from airbnb https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1421/what-should-i-do-if-i-forgot-something-at-a-place-i-staye that does say: “If you left something behind at at a place you stayed, message your host directly for help. If you need to have an item sent to you, you can send your host money to cover the shipping cost directly through our Resolution Center.

RE: “@Denys33, your situation could have happened to anyone & is expect a lot of property has been left behind all over the world because of panic, fear etc.”

Completely agree and that’s why I think getting to the bottom and resolving this issue will benefit many people. I tried to get airbnb to do something about this either in terms of compensation or compelling the host to grant access to my belongings, but to no avail. Airbnb’s final reply was simply: ”Your belongings are your own responsibility. Even during these difficult times. The Host is not under no obligation to return your belongings. The Host can get rid of these, and we can't do anything about it. This case is now closed.”

If this indeed is true, the implications are quite disturbing for all of us travellers. Is there anything you could suggest I can do to escalate this case within Airbnb or draw more public attention and debate around the issue?

Thank you