How to stop the Steal! I’m venting here😟

[Jennifer1236]

It doesn’t 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 don’t. I work hard to have the best for my guests and I don’t want to stop this. It seems to happen mainly when folks have guests over…Yesterday 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 don’t want to raise my prices for all because a few bad eggs. I’m considering have a very small gift shop so that folks can buy instead of steal? Has anyone ever done this and does it help??

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Jennifer1236 

Would it help to eliminate visitors to your registered guests? 

[Gillian166]

@Kitty-and-Creek0 @Jennifer1236 
if someone is getting ready for a wedding there are unavoidable extra guests. We have a special listing just for this, and I charge more. I also take all the names of the other guests and all the vendors who turn up to work on the day. 

The other issue here is that I wouldn't dare approach a bride on her honeymoon about this. as it is i often don't get reviews for this listing as the bride forgets and I don't want to nag her about it. 

[Huma0]

@Jennifer1236 

Sorry to hear this is happening to you. Your listing is very nice and your garden is stunning. I don't have problems with theft, but that's probably because I am a live in host. People do damage things, but not on purpose. Theft, on the other hand, hasn't really been an issue for me and there are lots of nice little things in my home that could easily be slipped into a suitcase!

I agree with @Kitty-and-Creek0 . Say no to visitors that are not official guests on the booking. Not only are they far less likely to be respectful (after all, what are the consequences of them stealing or getting up to no good in other ways to them personally when you don't even know who they are?) but Airbnb's insurance will not cover you if something goes very wrong.

You need to take control over who is in your space. Stipulate in your house rules that visitors are not allowed and that all guests must provide full names (and ID if you feel this might be necessary). 

If your market is such that you depend on wedding parties and such, then you need to take a deposit and do an inventory, with timed photos/videos, and the booking guest needs to be made aware that they will be charged for anything that is missing or damaged. Ideally, you'd want the guest to check and sign this inventory.

That's a lot of extra work though and might not be possible in the timeframes you have, so I would say it's easier just to not allow visitors, in which case you might need external cameras by the doors, which you must fully disclose on your listing + get guests to confirm in a written message on the Airbnb system that they understand these cameras are there and that they are okay with that.

[Louise0]

I've had quite a bit of stuff walk over the years.  It most often happens when a group includes children.  However, I have noticed that women are decidedly more light-fingered than men.

I don't think banning visitors will help, and it may be detrimental to your ability to attract bookings.  The only feasible solution is to film or photograph every inch of the place, including inside cupboards, immediately before the guests' arrival.  That gives you some degree of reasonable evidence to use if you subsequently discover theft. 

Another (albeit slightly provocative) move is to make a bit of 'theatre' out of filming the place when guests arrive.  Explain that you are doing it for their protection and yours in the event of any subsequent allegation of theft, damage or the condition of the property.  This should make them think twice about misbehaving.

[Helen744]

@Jennifer1236 who knows why people steal?Its generally impulse but not everyone steals . the thing is for you that the impulse to 'make your nest attractive to yourself , also makes it attractive to other bower birds' the old rule , never put anything in your hosting house that you are not ready to lose.Go and take out all your precious bits and l keep them at your own home. People steal from gift shops too but no reason not to have one . Just insure yourself for theft .H

[Gillian166]

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@Helen744 wrote:

the old rule , never put anything in your hosting house that you are not ready to lose. 

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It's a good rule but we had some awful BDC guests steal: the blanket off the bed, a black euro pillow off the couch, 2 whiskey glasses, and the entire basket of "forget me not" items, including the basket!!

I actually have a stack of vintage books in there that are precious to me, those girls (lesbian couple) only took useful things! All of our glassware/crockery in the "luxury" suite are brand name, because we are charging good money (even though my daughter says we are still too cheap), so i'm not going to put cheaper things in there. Hopefully this only happens one. 

btw these 2 thieves turned up in a BMW, although they looked like bogans. You never can tell a type who will steal, but the only thing that is constant: all BDC guests have been awful in some way.  

[Helen744]

@Gillian166 theft always makes me feel ill. If someone stole all those things from me they would receive a bill and a review to state that things were stolen . Sorry but its not about being cheap for me , I collect antique books and will leave copies of all of these books in a 'cheap ' copy , so if they walk away because someone is reading them , then often they will ask , but if not , who cares . I love that people read. I find that it is losing the  pillows that annoys me most because you cannot pretend that you didnt take it. But pillows are replaced pretty often so expensive ones are not necessary . A few good glasses are nice but like all things they are sometimes broken and I would prefer easy come easy go .I like decent plates and cutlery but not top range just good enough to feel like you are having a meal in your own home and not camping out . After all Gillian a good whiskey tastes just as well out of a vegemite jar as a lovely whiskey glass. you may love good whiskey glasses but do your guests even care , probably not . I love flowers , expensive flowers cheap flowers , pot plants trees , shrubberies , any plant really and will pay a mint for something which stands a good chance of dying under my ministrations, but do my guests , who knows . Some guests are allergic . I spend money in winter as in now, to put in daffodils jonquils and other winter flowering plants . some japanese people love flowering cherry trees , I feel that my lovely tree will bring them as much pleasure as it does me and am thinking of having a little September flowering cherry festival. So we all have our 'thing'.  H

[Gillian166]

@Helen744  if you "know" me by now you'll know I op-shop a lot. 
the euro pillow was ikea, not expensive, but it was <1month old, so that's annoying. 
the whiskey glasses were lovely, but op-shop finds, i've got more in storage. (recently got a gorgeous vintage decanter with 5 glasses for $12!)
we have gorgeous black country road mugs, I got a set of 6 for $8, I only have 4 in the cottage and 2 in storage. 

maxwell & williams glass jars, $2 each. 
we get all our Riedel glassware from winery friends, so we pay industry rates for them. 
I am a very good bargain hunter! it's annoying cos whenever i go to an opshop i will find a bargain that I MUST buy. 

do my guests even care?

we are in a wine region, caring about food/drink is important here, and I do think most guests appreciate this, but even if they don't I feel it's important to set the standard high for their experience. If you've been out and bought an expensive bottle of wine, i'd hate to ruin the experience by making you use a cheapo small glass to drink from.  Although ikea glassware is actually lovely, we have those in our cottage which has a more relaxed vibe. 

I do love to repurpose old jars though, and gin bottles, anything really. 
Also love our flowering trees, and the jonquils! I can't wait to see them each spring. 

We had a tragic death in our family of a young woman and we'd pledged to plant a tree for her and was thinking a cherry blossom might be a perfect choice, and I think now you've mentioned it here that's the sign I need to make the choice. 


 

[Helen744]

@Gillian166 a cherry blossom tree rewards you and improves every year until it dies of old age . I see your jonquils and raise you a jar my friend , all the best . You are the real deal . Your guests should bow down  H

[Gillian166]

@Helen744  we had 2 blossom trees (apricot, not cherry) and they both split and fell over in the past 2 years. One of the first things i spotted at your listing was the cherry tree, and how you photographed it. 

Do i have to plant jonquils? or do they just keep multiplying by themselves? the gardens here were apparently amazing in the 60s, and we are not green thumbs. There were even irises here when we first arrived.  

[Helen744]

@Gillian166 My childhood home had part of an old homstead,  but all that remained were the daffodils. We called it the daffodil paddock . It bloomed for over sixty years but the bulbs were, in old lingo, about three feet under the ground . People tried to dig them up but it would need an ecavator. . Jonquils and all bulbs love being lifted out of the ground every couple of years and separated and replanted. Do the biggest bunches on a rotation every year do one or two after they stop blooming but remember to put them back in the ground right way up .Dahlias are tricky . I do not have much luck with them . I have some at the moment that did not flower last year but I am hoping they do this year.Irises are very rewarding although you can lose special colors without really knowing why . They like to have the upper most part of the bulbs exposed to the sun . They also need turfing out now and again and a bit of a feed too. H

[Gillian166]

sounds good, i'll instruct my daughter on what to do as she'll be in charge of that job! thanks @Helen744 

our first year we had peony poppies,  but as part of our earth works they were flattened and i did save seeds but never got them to grow again. like i said, I'm not much of a green thumb.  

[Helen744]

@Gillian lovely things. We call them peony roses . I am not sure how to grow them from seed either but worth a try . I have one bush and they bloom for a short time but it faces a blank wall in my driveway so Ionly see them when I am coming and going but I will be putting in more windows so maybe I will move it . good idea H

[Huma0]

@Helen744 @Gillian166 

I've never tried growing peonies from seed. I suspect it would not be easy and, even if they did germinate, it would take forever for them to mature enough to flower. I could be wrong though and if you have the seeds, no harm in trying. I've grown all of mine from bare roots, which has been really effective so far. I've even had to give away a few to my mum as I had too many!

I've bought bare root peonies from Lidl for next to nothing. If you don't have a Lidl or yours doesn't sell that sort of stuff, I've also managed to buy some for good prices online. Unlike some other live plants, bare roots seem to survive the post pretty well!

I love my peonies. They don't flower for long, but it is so rewarding when they do.