Charge a Convenience Fee for Return of Left-Behind Items?

[James105]

We run a popular property, and guests often leave articles behind. We contact them and send them back their stuff via snail mail, and charge them for the envelope/box and the postage, using the "request funds from a guest" feature. We have so far always been reimbursed for these costs. Just did one today and it was $20 for three clothing items. But for us, this is a real hassle.

I would expect that a major hotel wouldn't charge a guest for the process of returning an item. But we *aren't* a hotel, we run our own busy businesses and AirBNB is not our main income source. I feel like I want to charge a $10-15 "service fee" or "convenience fee" for returning left behind items. I would like to hear perspectives from other hosts in a similar situation. We are superhosts and go the extra mile for our guests (I changed a guest's flat tire once, just as one example). We've all forgotten things at hotels, but this hassle really irks me.

Shold I just grin and bear it? Look forward to your thoughts, all. Thank you. 

[Kate157]

@James105 I think you are perfectly entitled to add extra for your trouble. Just quote the quest the entire price when you tell them how much it will cost- you do not have to state that part of it is your "return fee" of $15. It is just the cost to get their items back. They can accept or deny the charges, and if they deny you can get rid of the stuff.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@James105

I'm not sure about major hotels in your area, but my experience at the resorts I've been to is that they do not send you your stuff back - even if you say you will pay for postage. (Happened with a friend of mine.) They will hold onto it endlessly for you if you specifically say "don't throw it away" but the guest has to arrange for pick up. Officially, they will not package it for courier pickup either. (If you ask really nicely and offer separate compensation to the hotel employee, they might do it as a personal favor.)

But if you want to send it back to them I think @Kate157's idea is good. Just lump-sum a figure to them. They don't need to know exactly what the postage or shipping fee is.

[George82]

I took a pair of eyeglasses to a UPS store to return to guest.  Packaging plus mailing cost $17.

[Sam32]

I paid about the same to return a wallet that had money, credit cards, driver's license etc. to a Rock band from Chicago (The Morlocks) not even a thank you did I get in return. 

[Cynthia-and-Chris1]

I say it’s just a cost of doing business. You can wait and take one trip to the post office each month and mail everything at once instead of making a few one-off trips every couple weeks. 

[Stan-and-Sherry0]

I know exactly how you feel. I have a very busy Airbnb  with 3 rooms I rent and it seems like 3 times a month I have guests leave things and want them returned. I don't have the heart to tell them no, but we live in Mexico so I have to go to DHL. I have a busy life and it is a huge hassle for me since I don't drive a car in Mexico.  Right now I am in the U.S. and have been gone 3 weeks and already have 2 guests wanting things mailed to them. Today it is a computer! I am not there to handle it and my property manager I guess will have to take it to DHL. I am not sure if it will get to him in one piece.  

[Debra333]

i agree with the reply above that is the cost of being a host. by all means gang it together for once a month or even every other month. please hear my perspective: i live in los angeles. i stayed as a guest in a cabin in northern california. i am a spotless resident when i stay ANYWHERE, but particularly at an air bnb. i was in residence for a week, left the place spotless. never asked for a thing from the host-only ran into her once in the driveway and said a pleasant hello. left a glowing review. then realized i had left my hat hanging on a hook inside the door. i wrote to her explaining that it was a sentimental item that had traveled all over ecuador and and the galapagos with me. there was no hurry and could be returned any time at her convenience and that, of course i would pay postage. she responded saying, "look, i know your hat is important to you, but my time is important to me. send me a personal check for $50 and i'll get it back to you." now. i have an ebay business so i know that it would cost no more than $10 with a box that could be obtained FREE OF CHARGE at the post office. i feel my personal belongings are now under ransom and this was a deplorable way to respond. a property i would have gone back to and recommended to friends: NO MORE. 

[Robin4]

@Debra333 

I understand your point of view Debra but, you do have to keep in mind what happened to you is not an isolated incident to hosts. I would say one guest in five leaves something behind, a phone charger lead, a couple of shirts in the cupboard, I even had an Apple TV box left behind dangling from my TV two guests ago.

As soon as a guest leaves I immediately do the 'idiot check' they should have done before they departed so I can phone them before they get too far and give them the opportunity of returning. But I am not always on hand when they leave.

One woman left 5 dresses draped across the bed, asked me to mail them to her, for which I never got paid!

Sure we can all put our prices up $10 per guest stay to allow for these incidents and then everyone pays for the carelessness of a few. Our bookings slump because of the extra cost we are expected to simply absorb.

You annoyed me by saying it should be a cost associated with hosting, Debra it is not!

After covering my costs I make a net $65 per night . Do you seriously think I should just accept another $20 hit to that simply because you didn't bother to make sure you left with what you came with!! 

We try to offer the best value we can for the money we charge and I just wish I had some way of picking these ditzy individuals before accepting them as guests. They just expect us to be their personal dustpan through life and be happy to do it!

I was happy when I Logged on, I am da*ned annoyed after reading that!

Cheers.......Rob

[Debra333]

rob.

let's clarify a couple things here:

1) this is a thread SPECIFICALLY about charging a "convenience fee" for the return of items and it is to this matter i was speaking when i posited that it was a cost (should i have said "inconvenience"?) associated with hosting--NOT meaning that the host should pay out of pocket for the postage return of items but rather that i was being asked to send a personal check to the host for $50 before we could even begin to discuss the return of my item. if you don't believe this is out of line--that this hosts action is tantamount to ransom--then we need speak no further. we have an obvious disagreement about the ethics of hosting. 

(i also want to note that more than a couple others in this thread, other hosts in fact, have said the same exact same thing, using the exact same words--"it's one of those things that goes along with being in the service and hosting business."  why you felt i should be singled out for your tirade is dubious to me. )

2) i paid $165 a night for five nights. i communicated promptly in advance. i was unfailingly polite and i asked for nothing before or during my stay. i left the place in spotless condition as i always do when i am graced by being in another's home. i wrote within 12 hours of my leave that i had left behind my hat and i would gratefully pay for it's return at a time convenient for the host. 

i posted a legitimate complaint to a discussion board thread that had to do directly with my issue at hand: being asked to pay an exorbitant fee ON TOP of postage or never see my item again. 

i am a woman of higher than reasonable intelligence. i am also kind and reasonable and have successfully used those tools to work in industries where there is a customer service component. and i've also all to often run across people who should not be engaging in a field where such interaction is called up on if one holds the opinion that people are "idiots and ditzes". 

i have traveled extensively in my 55 years and this is the first and only time i have forgotten/left something behind. may the gods bless you, rob, if you are so perfect as to have never forgotten or misplaced something in your life. i implore you to get some perspective. there are people out there doing far more egregious things than leaving behind phone cords and dresses... (like...pedophilia, rape, murder, terrorism, posting vitriolic tirades in online forums...).

i urge you to seek some relief from the obvious anger issues you have. maybe you need to step away from hosting. or try some methods of stress relief (yoga, exercise, mindfulness practice, gratefulness practice, meditation, even a walk out in nature) than by dashing off angry presumptive and mistaken responses on a forum that should be a place where people can go to respectfully discuss issues and share ideas. 

may peace find you,

debra

[Pete69]

Charge for postage or charge nothing if it's really cheap.  I look at it as a small courtesy thing. It's just part of this business -- like people canceling or one guest out of 25 that goes an entire bag of coffee while 80% of guests drink no coffee. You win some you lose some. Sometimes guests leave unopened food or beverages behind that I use. Win for me. Give and take. It all evens out.

[Xu5]

As a guest that uses Airbnb, i can accept:

1. guest arrange UPS/fedex pickup with a prepaid shipping label.

2. host send items back and charge $10-$20 convenience fee

But all fees should be written in house rules or agreements with your listing.

My recent experience with a host is he charged me $100 deposit for ship my item back (with in the same state, i think the shipping will be no more than $40). When I ask for the rest to be refund to me, he says he cannot refund it due to whatever reason..

[Danielle476]

I'd charge a fee, absolutely.  Those saying it's the 'cost of doing business' fail to consider the other 'costs of doing business'...replacing broken dinnerware, soiled linens, damaged goods in the home, etc.  Those are legitimate costs associated with running a BNB.  Spending my own money to return a forgotten item to a forgetful guest?  Storing that item (and anyone else's) for weeks in my 500 square foot condo?  Nope.  If they'd left an item behind at a hotel, they wouldn't have it mailed back to them.  If they'd left it at a resort, it would never be seen again, never mind be mailed back.  IF I can feasibly get an item back to somebody, I would absolutely charge a fee.  Fortunately when presented with this option, most choose to forget about it - mailing someone their $30 hair wand for $40 makes less sense than just buying a new one.  Sorry, not sorry.  C'est la vie.

[Michelle53]

I don't think it's fair to make the comparison  that hotels don't mail packages back. Airbnb hosts, for the most part, aren't running hotels.   It's a much more personal business. Even if one has several properties, and one doesn't meet the guests in person,  it's still not the same as staying in a hotel. 

While I can understand that folks feel put out by having to return someone's possessions that were left behind, I think it's good service to do so. 

I keep a supply of standard, flat-rate post office priority mail boxes, and labels. There's no guesswork involved with pricing. Yes, I have to write an address label, and drop it off at the post office - but since I'm in the general area every few days, anyway, I don't feel a service fee is warranted. 

Returning an item has, now and then, resulted in return business for me, or a referral to friends. 

Most people don't bother with small items like socks, caps, inexpensive jewelry items, phone cables etc. 

 If I find a larger item, I'll usually reach out to the guest and ask if they want it back, and let them know I use USPS Standard Flat Rate Priority Mail, and the cost.  They can then decide if they want it back or not.   I get payment through the resolution center before packing and mailing. 

[Allison-and-Anthony0]

If you're in the US, there's an app you may find useful ..

We recently launched a couple Airbnb suites, this issue has come up. For convenience, like @Michelle53 above, we've picked up a selection of Priority Flat Rate USPO boxes (small, medium & large) and use the USPS Mobile app to print "If it fits, it ships" labels (Click-N-Ship menu), and the Schedule Pickup menu to arrange pickup at our house. If you don't have easy access to a printer, you can also (under the Buy Stamps menu), arrange free delivery of Priority Mail Forever Prepaid boxes in batches of 5.

If you are in the US or a US miltary protectorate, this at least eliminates the trouble of running to the post office, and standing in line - it can all be handled in a few minutes from home. Rates on prepaid boxes are currently $9.20 for small or envelope, $16.25 for medium, $22.65 for large.

Currently, we're absorbing the cost to ship little stuff, and ask for reimbursement for larger packages. So far, it seems like the exception when a guest has left something behind; if it becomes onerus, we'll reevaluate..