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It doesnโt happen often, but occasionally people take things. Usually it is something lovely and special that I like to have in the Airbnb apartment or in the garden, such as a crystal pitcher, a linen tea towel, a little garden art piece etc. Sometimes I notice right away but sometimes I donโt. I work hard to have the best for my guests and I donโt want to stop this. It seems to happen mainly when folks have guests overโฆYesterday I had a wedding party helping the bride get ready and several things went missing. I do not want to ask the bride to pay up or accuse her guests of stealing but they did!! It has happened more than once. I donโt want to raise my prices for all because a few bad eggs. Iโm considering have a very small gift shop so that folks can buy instead of steal? Has anyone ever done this and does it help??
@Huma0 No we dont have Lidl and I am not sure I have ever seen peonies like that for sale , but if I take it aright then they must grow from root division. certainly worth knowing as they are spectacular plants . Thanks Huma H
I've never tried it myself as I would be scared to harm the peonies and it's not difficult to find the bare roots for sale here. However, I just looked it up and apparently, it is possible to divide them. It's certainly something I would try if I had a big garden.
I read that the best time to do this is at the end of summer (September here, so I'm guessing around March for you?), but you can also do it in early spring provided there isn't too much growth yet, i.e. there can be a few shoots, but no leaves. You need to have a few 'eyes' and a healthy root system for each section.
I'm talking about herbaceous peonies though. I don't know if you can do this with tree peonies, which don't completely die back but have foliage all year round.
Since I put into my rules that I will sell them my special chicken tea towels, not one has been bought, but none have walked, either. They know the price will be $20!
@Jennifer1236 It's my 2023 goal to have a merch shop!
What you could do is have a page in your guest manual, stating that all the items in your airbnb are for sale, and put the price down of all the things you'd sell. and a note that anything missing will be charged to the guest post-stay.
@Ted307 I made a magnet for our farm and put 2 in each suite, thinking someone would take one, and I'm fine with that! and so far no one has.... i also have logo'd pens and only 1 has gone walkies.
@Jennifer1236 How essential to your business are these "guests with visitors"? I see that catered events are a part of your concept, but Airbnb doesn't really have any useful features supporting those. Instead of setting up a "gift shop," I'd recommend setting up a separate listing on an event-rental platform that allows you to set an hourly rate and a deposit, and keeping your Airbnb listing exclusive to overnight bookings without additional visitors allowed.
I find it to be really rare for primary, registered guests to deliberately steal things from the rental home, but once you have casual visitors passing through you're guaranteed to lose a lot of stuff. I seriously doubt you can prevent that with cameras or any other acts of intrusion. But you can set prices for those handsy bridal parties that cover the inevitable replacement of pretty little things.
@Jennifer1236 Is it possible that these items are being broken or damaged ? I have found towels that look like someone changed their oil with and things being super glued back together.
Some guests will not want to be charged and simply throw it away in the hope nobody notices.
@Karen114 That was my first thought about @Jennifer1236 's crystal pitcher. It seems likeliest that someone broke it and threw away the shards - I doubt a bridesmaid just slipped it into her purse.
@Karen114 @Anonymous
Yep, this definitely happens. I've found smashed dishes from the kitchen in the bin in a guest bedroom (like they didn't think I'd empty the bin when I cleaned). I've had a guest cut something on the dressing table (I saw her taking that watermelon to the room) with a sharp knife and try to hide it with a pile of neatly folded towels and then claim my cat did it. There's been other breakages where the broken pieces have simply vanished, so it's obvious whoever broke it was fully aware. It wouldn't surprise me at all if things went missing because they were damaged, especially during things like bridal parties...
@Huma0 I like to believe all people are good and wouldn't steal however if they are breaking things and hiding it, I guess it makes them less than good lol.
For sure. It makes them less than good. But actually, I don't necessarily think it makes them bad people. It just means they are immature, and people of all ages can be immature.
It's funny how many people would rather try to hide damages than face the music.
My approach is to forgive and forget for every guest who accidentally causes damage, tells me and apologises and offers to replace or cover the cost. Okay, so none of these are major damages, but every time that happens (happened just the other day and the guy was only 20 years old), I just tell them, "Please don't worry about it," even if they are insistent. I appreciate their honesty and that they are well meaning.
Unfortunately, I have found that most people are not that mature. A lot seem to have an aversion to telling the truth and taking the consequences for their mistakes.
Honestly you are allowing unknown guests into your home. You HAVE to expect this. Put nothing you cant stand to lose in an airbnb. You can never expect others to treat your possessions the same as you. This is a basic principle of renting. I'm sorry this has happened and yes, its frustrating. It's happened to me, and probably most people here. But I've never lost anything that really upset me because it was honestly expected.