I have a working wood fireplace and provide seasoned dry wood and set the fireplace up so it's ready to start with a simple match before guest arrival.
Had a couple last week who decided they wanted more wood the next morning. I figured they meant for their second evening and offered to bring some by in the afternoon. They asked if it was "cool" to get some from the wood pile. I replied no, it's in a private, locked, off-limits area, and repeated that I would bring more wood over before dinner.
They decided to drag in drift wood from the edge of the bay--wet, muddy, with seaweed still attached--and try to burn it in my indoor cottage fireplace as though it were an outdoor campfire pit on the beach! The only thing that alerted me was the sound of splitering wood---as the BF tried to break it up so it would fit into the fireplace. My cottage is clearly a nicely decorated indoor environment with decorations found in my own travels, white walls and new everything, not a rustic musty dusty log cabin in the woods. The last thing I need is smoke damage or a chimney fire !
I was in shock---that anyone would do such an ignorant thing, especially after we'd already discussed it! I had a relative lose everything after burning "green" wood that coated the chimney pipe with flammable resin and later set the whole house ablaze while everyone was asleep in bed. They barely escaped with only thier robes and slippers in the middle of the winter. The house and everything in it was a total loss.
I was upset they'd ignored my wishes and had to think of a diplomatic way to handle it and document what was happening in case things went south. I called ABB to report what was going on and was told to be very clear what they were doing was not allowed and it that did not work, to call back.
I explained to the guests the fireplace is only for ambience, for a romantic evening fire, and that only wood I provided was allowed, explaining the safety hazards, etc, and brought them enough for the second night. They thanked me. Had a nice rest of the stay. Left a lovely note in the guest book. Everything seemed fine, aside from the mess they left in the kitchen and the small pile of wet drift wood outside the back door...and evidence of illegal drug use, which is also against my house rules, knowing there was nothing I could do about it. I cleaned up the mess and got everything ready for the next guests, affirming they would NOT be welcome back.
It wasn't until 2 days later I discovered (thanks to my dog) that my locked wood shed had been broken into, a bunch of wood taken, and the door left open with the light on. They were the only ones other than me to be on the property. The shed isn't visible unless you go out to the back of the barn. It was dark and raining, with gale force winds, and the last thing I wanted to do was go out there...but my dog was insistent. It was literally raining sideways with rain coming in, showering the inside of the shed and the wood in it. Had my dog not alerted me, the light would likely have shorted out in the rain and caused a fire, destroying the shed, and the whole barn, tools, workshop, tractor, etc!
These were guests that seemed very polite, with photo, full profile, booked weeks in advance...who lied, stole from me, broke at least 4 of my house rules, and could have burned my place down. There's no way I could have predicted this.
It inspired me to rewrite my house rules specifying fees for broken rules and I reported them as a safety hazard to ABB Support and in that option of the host review.
Haven't had a problem surrounding the fireplace since then, but based on feedback in the forums, I'm also not trusting there'd be any backup from ABB, even with thier advertised million dollar protection. So, make sure you have homeowner's insurance with coverage for renters everyone!
No one can predict everything, and all I can say is, do more than a check in via messaging. GO check in, and be thorough. I live on the property, and this still happened. I've made a point to do 2-3 walk arounds/day when there are guests.