Items Left Behind

Quincy
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Items Left Behind

 How could I forget that_.png

 

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 🙂

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110 Replies 110

Our last guest that we had was supposed to check out at 11 AM on a Saturday. This guest had terrible communication style and stayed with us for 24 days. On the day he was supposed to check out we went down to clean and found many of his items left behind. One of those items was his cell phone. It looks like he had just ran to the store to get something and left a bunch of items behind. We sent him a message and a text to find out what had happened. We didn’t hear back for about five hours. In that amount of time we got nervous and went out to purchase new locks. Our guest finally wrote to us and told us that he had been admitted to the hospital a few days earlier. Again no communication regarding the hospital stay. Now we are wondering if we should keep some of the deposit to replace our locks? From what I have read this is a challenging thing to collect on. Any suggestions?

@Renee-And-Miguel0  Hmm, this is a tricky situation.  

 

From what you describe it sounds like he was in such medical distress being admitted to the hospital that he left his cell phone rendering him incapable of contacting you.  It sounds like an unavoidable circumstance.  

 

Whenever I've been unable to contact a guest or they have been unresponsive I contacted Airbnb for assistance.  They have more information such as emergency contact info. 

I'm curious to know your rationale for changing the locks.  

 

Not having any more information, my guess is that Airbnb would side with the guest and decline to charge the guest for the cost of changing the locks. 

 

Clare

 

Oomesh-Kumarsingh0
Level 10
Pamplemousses, Mauritius

@Quincy Once a guest left his wallet in the safe and left the country, on the next day i sent him the wallet via an express logistic company. He was happy to receive his belongs within 24hours.

While we haven't found electronics, we've had one guest leave her purse at our home and several others leave articles of clothing. Often times, they are unable to return because they have to catch their flight and we have to go through the process of mailing it to them and seeking reimbursement. 

Quincy
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

That's top notch service there @Jason91

 

What were the reactions of your guests? (I'm curious) 

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Quincy
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

@Oomesh-Kumarsingh0 wow, that's very fast!

 

To which country did it go? 🙂 

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@Quincy I sent the parcel from Mauritius island to South Africa via TNT express, their shipping price wasnt too expensive and the service was excellent.

@Oomesh-Kumarsingh0 you're fast

@Lilian20 As you know in this business speed is everything. Have a nice weekend!!!

Narcisa0
Level 2
Woodland, WA

I have experienced guest leaving behind personal clothing (which we discard), electronic adapters (kept in our found box), sweaters, coats and rented tux...which we've made arrangements to meet or mail back to them (awaiting reimbursements). Nevertheless, each attempt to return their items has been communicated. We've also found a prescription (which they told me to discard) and a "bong" which no one wanted to claim...(hmmm? illegal). Just part of thoroughly going through the cleaning process of our guest space. Interesting stories to keep us amused regarding "never judge a book by its cover" and worth story-telling. LOL. Keep the spirit fellow hosts and treat with utmost confidentiality (as appropriate).

Quincy
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Oh, my... I bet that was a suprise!

 

@Narcisa0 and here I am thinking that finding an old pair of shoes filled with food was already weird LOL 🙂

 

Let me know if you find more... *uhm* strange items!

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I've had a single traveller forget his wedding ring (which had been removed and placed in a very obvious place, but yet forgot it after a late night out!), and I've had another person leave behind a 'personal massager'. 



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Contact AirBNB

Mostly it's food items or cosmetics. Had a sock on the floor, pants in the dryer, and some games left behind. Once a guest left behind a mostly empty 2oz bottle of fairly common shampoo. She frantically texted me very late the next day insisting that I meet up with her daughter to return it!  The daughter was annoyed and embarrassed. 

Quincy
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Must have been magic shampoo then LOL! 

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