CCTV of guest stealing chopping board!

[Elaine712]

Hi,

Yes this is as crazy as it sounds. I have 3 adults and 1 child guest currently in my property. 2 of the adults are grandparents and 1 adult is their daughter.

I happened to check my blink cctv camera as id had trouble with a neighbour the other week-so just checked in and saw the elderly female guest taking my white chopping board to their car and hiding it under the passenger seat.  I also think she has been snaffling other items and trying to hide them-going out and placing things in her car boot but i cant quite see what they are.

They have been very odd guests. They first arrive and wanted a late checkout as they arrived late. i said I can let them stay til 1pm. response was-"can we have longer?" not even a thanks for the extra 3 hours! i said no due to cleaning etc - no response.

I've got a no smoking policy yet she is smoking at the back door and chucking fag-ends down the drains. 

Today I saw the old woman taking the chopping board etc and tonight the younger adult guest had 2 teenagers and another little girl over. the teenagers left late tonight but we now have another child over the agreed guest numbers.

im a bit miffed about the stealing (the cost is minimal) and slightly worried they are stealing more bits.

They check out today and I've decided I will go park on the drive to effectively block them in and do "check out checks" and just have a look around. if the chopping board and other bits are missing I will ask them there and then if they know where the items might be. if they deny it i will show them the cctv. 

also worth noting-they havent used my front door at all. i state i have cctv covering my property on the listing but i think they have assumed its just the front door! and my camera covers our whole drive-not just the door. just seems so odd not to use thte front door unless they were trying to sneak extra guests in and steal things without being seen by the camera.

Any thoughts on how you would deal with this issue? Its not about the money-just fuming about the theft. i can't sleep for thinking it over so much.

thanks

[Sarah977]

I have a friend with dementia, and while she's fairly functional, her husband has to clean out the kitchen cupboards when she's not home and take half the stuff to the second hand store. He found 8 food processors in there one day and 16 cookie trays. She's always had a thing for kitchen gear, but it's senseless now. She doesn't even cook anymore.

She doesn't steal the stuff, she buys it at the second hand store. Sometimes the very same items her husband dropped off the week before.

[Till-and-Jutta0]

I’m glad to hear from @Elaine712 that it has not been a case of theft here – so no need for a police report.

It’s really hard to deal with a real case of theft. Many hotels just ignore it, with the result that the honest guests have to compensate the damage. Other hosts in this forum talk about involving the police (also for insurance purposes), independent from the amount of loss.

[Anonymous]

@Till-and-Jutta0 The reason to involve police is simple :  if you want to make a claim for theft on the Host Guarantee as a host, or on your personal travel insurance as a guest, you'll be required to show a police report.

That makes sense, considering that it's impossible to prove that something that used to be there no longer is. 

If the item involved is not of very significant value, you wouldn't initiate a claim and therefore don't need a police report. I just don't see the point of calling the cops when an old lady runs off with your chopping board - is that something you would personally do? 

[Elaine712]

The point of reporting it isnt about monetary value- its the fact that theft is a crime-it sends a message that it wont be tolerated. Not that I've reported it-but if there wasn't the "dementia" reason I would have.

[Anonymous]

@Elaine712   There are many ways to Send A Message that don't involve wasting the time of your local law enforcement.

For example, you can literally send a message. With words. 

Or, if the guests' behavior is intolerable and they're not following your rules, you can evict them from the property. 

Getting police involved just to make a point is the kind of thing that tends to backfire. Just ask Amy Cooper.

[Elaine712]

Well it was advice from my good friend who has been a policeman for +20years so I'm happy to take his advice.

Sorry you disagree-we all have our own opinions and you are entitled to yours.

[Anonymous]

@Elaine712  Your policeman friend advised you to call the cops when someone to whom you gave the keys to your house moves a chopping board from the kitchen to their car?

That's almost as bracing as Skegness. 😉

[Elaine712]

he saw the cctv and advised me to call 101 and report the theft if they kicked off. giving the keys to someone doesnt give them a green light to steal property. but if that's what you find acceptable then please accept my booking of your place! 😉

[Anonymous]

@Elaine712  You're very welcome! If you try to steal something, I'm more than capable of handling the situation myself.

[Elaine712]

Good for you 👍 you are fantastic 😁

[Sarah977]

@Anonymous  You know we're all going to book your place now in order to steal your chopping board because we now know you won't involve the police? You'd best keep your eye out for a sale on chopping boards and stock up, because you're likely to have a lot of them go missing.

[Laura2592]

@Elaine712 I was going to say this sounded like some kind of mental health issue. I had a friend years ago who would steal very random and valueless things everywhere she went. She was diagnosed with schizophrenia in her 20s. Voices were telling her what to steal and where to hide it. Dementia makes sense in this case. Sad and difficult for all involved. 

But I did want to chime in and mention that my cutting boards disappeared one after another last year. I had a set of 3 bamboo ones in different sizes. Not particularly expensive or luxurious but they all seemed to find new homes. I bought a really cheap set from Target to replace them-- the kind that shows every knife nick. No takers on those 🙂

[Elaine712]

Well, glad that is all over-next people in have really good reviews from past hosts so I can relax. 

I arrived at my place at midday and popped in to say hello and that Id be back at 1pm for their "checkout checks" and then they can be on their way. id parked on my drive so they couldn't do a runner basically. You should have seen her face drop when I said "check out checks" she said "what, checks BEFORE we leave?" I said "oh yes-see you at 1pm"   So that gave them time to return the bits they had taken without causing a scene. I did a check round at 1pm and it was a mess and noticed the chopping board was still missing. I just said "oh the chopping board's missing" and the old woman said "i always take my own chopping boards everywhere i go" so strange. so just asked the daughter for a quiet word and told her what id seen and that theyd broken house rules regarding staying guests and smoking etc. but said I understand it must be a difficult situation looking after a mother with dementia.  So she got the chopping board out the car and they left. 

The place was filthy-dirty pots shoved back in cupboards, a disgusting "present" left in the toilet, the bath was mucky with grime and sticky hand marks on everything and oil and grease all over the worktops. The place stunk of a mixture of cigarettes and perfume sprayed to cover it up. BLURGH!

Such a shame to have people like that stay but I guess it happens. Everyone else so far has been lovely.

I've now decided to take a deposit for my bookings and only accept guests who have good reviews from other hosts.

[Laura2592 · Accepted solution]

@Elaine712 so sorry this happened. They sound like a handful.

I definitely agree with choosing "recommended by other hosts" if you do instant book but the flip side of that is that you have to push the "I would not host again" button when folks like these come your way and leave honest reviews. 

As for the deposit, its basically a chimera in the landscape of bad guests. You can put one in your listing but ABB does not collect anything. If you have a situation where you need to claim it the guest has to agree to pay or ABB comes in to adjudicate. And most times they make the hosts jump through hoops before denying their claim. Its basically worthless, but it is what it is. 

[Margaret1040]

I’ve just had a group of young lads check out leaving similar mess and damage.  Luckily, they stumped up without too much resistance but how do you take a deposit?  I can’t work out how on Air BnB - it seems more like a pledge than a deposit?