Item left behind........

Allison310
Level 2
Chandler's Ford, United Kingdom

Item left behind........

Hi all,

 

I’m looking for some advice as a guest please. We are currently on holiday and staying in our 2nd Airbnb of our trip. We left our 1st Airbnb property 4 days ago and I left a good review within 1 day of leaving. The property was great, perfect for our needs and my review reflected as much.

 

Just after I’d posted the review one of my teenagers admitted he’d left a relatively expensive item at the property, he was able to tell me exactly where he’d left it. I apologetically messaged the host explaining the situation, asked if he could return the item and, obviously, offered to pay any costs he incurred in returning the item to me.  The host replied promptly saying he’d ask his cleaners if they’d found it. I messaged him again today asking if he had an update and he responded with something along the lines of, ‘my cleaners couldn’t find it, sorry’. 

 

I’m fully aware we, my teenager, should have been more careful with his possessions but we all forget things, but I’m disappointed that our host has sent such a glib response when we know the item was definitely left in his property. I’m tempted to respond to his latest message explaining how disappointed I am but he hasn’t left us a review yet and I don’t want to risk upsetting him sufficiently to leave us a bad review. It was made very clear in the house rules that guests would be charged for any damage to his property, which is fair enough, and I’m assuming he was happy with the way we left it or we’d know by now albeit there is no reason for me to believe there would be any issues. 

 

Am I being unreasonable in expecting an item that we’d left behind at an Airbnb to be , at our expense, returned to us? 

 

Many thanks in advance for any responses. 

6 Replies 6
Yadira22
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

Hi @Allison310 

hope you are well.

it is not unreasonable- several guests have left personal items in our homes and we personally had to mail them back. The way I see it is that it’s not mine to keep so it’s only fair and I think the fact that you offered to pay any courier costs is very honorable on your end... 

If the host is not cooperating there could be the added potential that it really was not located or that the individual who found has not announced it to him, etc. If I were you- I would contact Airbnb and explain the situation, allow them to act as a mediator. I would suggest you approach it from a softer angle, no judgment- people generally are more helpful when asked through kindness, etc.

i truly hope you find it and good luck to you. 

Yadira 🙂

Kaylee18
Level 10
Hamilton, Canada

@Allison310   I would wait until they  have reviewed you first before reaching out to the host again. It is very possible the host was telling the truth and his/her cleaner did not find it. I don't think there is any need to reach out to Airbnb since all they can really do is ask the host if it was found, which they already told you it was not. It's an unfortunate situation. 

 

 I know the majority of hosts would not have a problem with mailing an item back to guest if the guest paid the expense, so not that's not unreasonable to think 🙂 

Alexandra316
Level 10
Lincoln, Canada

@Allison310The host should absolutely return an item if they have it, and your request isn't unreasonable at all.

 

However, I don't know that I would casually be throwing around an accusation of dishonesty on the part of your host or their cleaner. Your teenager believes that's where they left their widget: are you 100% sure that it's where they actually did leave it? You say the host's response was glib, but it seems fairly straightforward to the outside observer if they genuinely didn't find the item. I guess you have to decide if it's worthwhile to take this further and risk a poor review for asking these questions - and if it's fair to accuse them of something you don't really know they've done. Haven't we all been sure sure sure we left an item in a certain spot at one time or another, only to find it wasn't there at all?

 

I had a guest who came back to me looking for their MacBook Pro. I didn't have it: they never found it. I was sorry for their loss, but they accepted that at the end of the day, they had lost it somewhere and it was their error. I would have been pretty upset if they had accused me of taking it, and involving Airbnb would have run the risk of ending my hosting career. I'm quite glad they didn't take it any further. 

Jennifer1421
Level 10
Peterborough, Canada

Your request for the item's return is absolutely reasonable.

Of course, the other potential side to this, @Allison310 , is that the cleaners "disappeared" the item in question, and the host is being honest with you; as far as s/he has been told, the item wasn't found.

 

Chris232
Level 10
Petersfield, United Kingdom

I think its very fair to offer to pay for the return of your item.

 

On another story, a couple of months ago I had a repeat guest here. Very pleasant chap. All seemed well until a few hours after he had left I received a message asking me if I had found a wad of cash ... £350.

he could not find it and thought he had left behind.

I turned that room upside down as if my life depended on finding the missing cash. Twice I searched and nothing.

A few hours later I received a very apologetic message to let me know he had found the cash, which he had hidden in a secret pocket in his back pack.... massive relief.

 

Kelly149
Level 10
Austin, TX

No one gets into hosting (or cleaning houses either probably) to get rich quick with pilfering random bits of used clothing/electronics/etc. 

 

there are several scenarios:

#1- someone found it but they are being dishonest and keeping it. 

#2- it wasn’t found and it may yet turn up with the host or among your things

 

either way, what are your options? 

 

brow beat the host assuming 1 when 2 is just as likely? Make the host responsible for replacement when the only truly known thing is that kiddo had it but now doesn’t? ABB won’t do anything about this, they barely pay for known damages, definitely not for gone missing items. 

I’d tell host “thanks for looking, we still haven’t found it with us, we’d be so happy to hear if it does turn up at your place. Thanks!” And maybe even forward a photograph if you can. 

 

Losing things stinks but it happens and is a fairly common possibility with travel. 

 

I hope you continue to enjoy your trip!