Items Left Behind

[Quincy]

 

Hello everybody!

Do you know that moment when you're cleaning after your guest has left and you find all kinds of things and you think, how could one forget that? I have found iPods, keys, headphones, and even tablets/laptops!

I once had to call my guests to let them know that one of them forgot their laptop (found it behind the bed!). My poor guests had to travel all the way back from the airport to collect it.

I'm wondering if any of you have had the same experience?

Love to hear what you've got to say 🙂

[April--Mike--And-Maggie0]

I've cut down on this somewhat by changing our check-out instructions to remind guests to look under beds, behind the sofa, in the washer and dryer, etc.

Many of our guests are visiting family that lives nearby, so they ask their local family members to come by to get things; others come once or twice a year, so if they wish I can hold things for their next visit; some things I ship, others I've been told to donate of recycle. 

I do wonder what my host in Venice thought upon finding the bike helmet I left on top of a wardrobe.  It was a cool color and looked good there, but I had taken a fall in it and didn't think it worthwhile to carry home to the states.

[Francesca18]

In  years hardly anything a used hm hm under the bed (forgetful man) and a pair of pants on the doorstep clean dropped out of a bag I guess.. and an umbrella,

 (same people) I keep for them in case they come back as I am moving soon maybe I need to trace these people now. a necklace of little value and a ring...which I held on to for 2 years as I was so busy I could not find time to drop it off at a niece of the guests (she obviously could not be bothered to walk up here to get it either) this was all in the UK in ~Brighton in the end I dropped ring  off...and she was pleased. 

[Francesca18]

To the person with the helmet - what if someone else used it damaged  -unknowingly..and is it fair to leave large items for someone else to deal with? I don't think so, but that is an opinion not a fact ..I would have asked host what to do with it and she might have had an idea of where you could of disposed of it. 

[Mehri0]

Someone else using it would do it for their own risk.

[Em4]

@Quincy  after checking each room for its contents against a written record and photos, checking under the bed is the next action.  ive not found a laptop but the same as everyone else, headphones, pens, pads, books, sunglasses, open condom packets etc.  everything except rubbish is bagged and stored with the room number, date, name.  the guest is emailed for instructions.  my recording protocols are based on robin's (mount barker, oz).

what i have been asked is to organise the return of clothing items that were forgotten at another BNB.

🙂

Em

Hukawai Lodge

Franz Josef, NZ

https://www.airbnb.co.nz/rooms/15418840

[Quincy]

Impressive! You seem to operate very efficiently.

With all the stuff I found over the past few months, I could open up a shop! 🙂

It's unbelievable what guests leave behind don't you think @Em4? 

[Em4]

@Quincy  a lot of my protocols are based on challenges BNB hosts have discussed here, on the ingenious and practical ways they've overcome those challenges and on the recording protocols they've developed.  re the latter i've based a lot of my recording protocols on robin's (mt barker, oz).

laughing, its entirely comic the items either left behind or that guests would like returned.

🙂

[Sharron21]

Do you all throw out all food and wine or liquor that is left. Sjould these items go to the host or let the cleaner keep if she wants the liquor or food

[Quincy]

Hi @Sharron21, 

Welcome to the Community Center!

I suppose you could discuss this with your cleaner? 

[Annette33]

I had guests leave a few things behind, nothing of much value. some I shipped, some they said they don't care, so I tossed them. Still, this is my personal "policy" about things left behind :

1.) no matter what it is, I message the guest as soon as I find the item, offering to send it, asking for shipping address.

2.) if it is an item easy to ship within the US, I do it as a curtesy to the guest, up to a cost of about $15-18. ( which is less than 10% of my minimum 2 night stay) . I think such curtesy without looking for reimbursement goes a long way in building trust and goodwill. I see it in relation to how much they spent for their stay. If shipping costs were higher than 10-15% of the stay, I would kindly ask for reimbursement by using Airbnb's platform for "request money".

[Quincy]

 That's so nice of you @Annette33!

Some do not realise that they lost an item until after some time passes. It's very kind that you let your guests know they've lost an item and even decide to send the item back as a goodwill gesture!

I'd love to hear more of your stories.

Keep up the good work!

[Kelly149]

@Annette33 For me the trouble is more about making time to get to the post office or shipping place so my new policy is to allow the guest to decide how put out they'd like to be to receive their item back : I ask them to mail me an addressed/stamped package and then I will return the item to them in that. 

So far, the guy who left his motorcycle helmet did, the people who left costume jewelry or clothes behind haven't. 

But like you I always notify them and let them decide

[Annette33]

@Kelly149 , I hear you about the time factor... Still, I find that being accommodating about it will benefit a host on the long run. We are in the service industry. Packing something into a box a customer might send me sounds more time consuming than me just doing it, grabbing the right size from what I have handy, or using US postal priority boxes , as most clothing fits easily  into a US priority box.

I was so thankful to a small hotel owner who shipped me my hiking shoes, notified me before I even noticed it. Had she asked me to send her a stamped box, I wouldn't be nearly as appreciative and impressed as I was with them.( I did reimburse them for the shipping cost and was very pleased she had found the cheapest and fastest:US Mail). They did get business through me  after that, so there is the pay off - in contrast to another hotel that i had to ask 3 times to send my favorite T-Shirt. They finally did, then charged $36.00 to my credit card for what should not have been more than $10.  I was not pleased, left a review on tripadvisor about that, many people read it..

[Helga0]

@Annette33, if the hotel has to send a paid employee to the post office and loose an hour of paid work time there, which would happen in our post offices, 36 $ seems a reasonable price. If I charge my time correctly, I need to add at least 25 to 30 € for the post office trips. Plus postal fee. 

For t-shirts, I usually offer send or donate to charity and so far everyone chose charity. I'd not ask sending an item that's worth less than the postal fee and if a guest asks for that, it's fee plus my time. 

It's astonishing that they sent it your clothes. I lost quite a few items in hotels: my sister deposited my umbrella at the reception at departure and when I wanted to pick it up the next day, it was not there. A converter in a room: called, returned a few days later: no converter, a business leather bag, which I packed with our professional material for shipping and my collegue did not recognise and deposited at the reception. Again: call, drive there next time, no bag. It was a few weeks later, but we paid about 8 000 for the stay plus a few clients stayed there too. Maybe your report "they send a tshirt for 36 $ " is an incentive to book there 😉

[Annette33]

@Helga0 , it's a pity that these  days, people expect to get paid for just about everything, there is no "free lunch". Yet, in the service industry, a little bit of curtesy goes a long way. I owned a gallery, spent many many hours talking to  and advising potential customers , then they walked out, so I had nothing. It happens, but then comes that big, huge payoff, when out of the blue a huge piece gets sold, without hassle, super easy. I consider  that good karma, or  my day for "pay it forward", instead of counting the minutes it takes me to run to the Post Office and needing to get paid for that. PS: hotels have their in house account with fedex or UPS, they come by and just  pick it up.