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 🙂

[Darva1]

Our last guests left a lot of drinks (two full cases) and an electric rice cooker, still in the box. I sent them a note right after they left, but I was expecting them back 2 weeks later, so I just told them where they could find their belongings when they came back. 

A few days leter thay cancelled their next trip through Airbnb, but didn't leave a note. I have since sent 2 notes asking if we can send back their rice cooker . . . but have recieved no response. 

i don't want it, as I already have an Instant Pot (which also does rice), and the kitchen is a tiny galley kitchen, without extra room for appliances I do not use . . . 

How long do I need to keep their rice cooker before I donate it? It's been about 3 weeks since they left. Our next guests come in a week. I guess I could find a space in the garage to store it for awhile . . . I'm just wondering how long that needs to be, as i've swent two messages, and not heard anything back.  

[Helga0]

@Darva1 there is no strict rule, but common sense would suggest, that you adapt your action to the value if the item. There are rice cookers available for 15€ or $ and others costing a fortune. 

As you asked them about sending it, they may now expect to have some time to come up with a decision or finalise their plans when they may return. I made that mistake at the beginning and had a collection of worthless items, mostly clothes, some prescription drugs, perfume etc, that the owner asked me to keep till “next year”. Which is obviously never. Even if they do come back and you tell them where you stored the stuff, they manage to forget the thing again 😉

I would write to them a last time, to let them know that you need to remove the items from the flat and in absence of a forwarding address and the postal fees sent via airbnb in advance till ...  , you will donate it to ....

come up with a nice destination, charity collection or fundraiser sale and they will feel better about loosing it. It’s probably not worth the postal fee and definitely not worth your time to write them many times. (Include a fee for posting the stuff if you calculate postal fees).

i would put ot into the garage for a month longer though. 

[Darva1]

Thank you. I followed your advice, and got a response saying it was intended as a house gift, so ... no more worries! 🙂 

[Renee-And-Miguel0]

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?

[Clare0]

@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

[Susan1188]

A guest called in a panic because they left an expensive jacket inside upon check out and had left the keys inside.
I am a remote host, so these kinds of things are very challenging for me but with lots of planning for alternate solutions I do have some systems in place.
I was able to get the guest back into the building and open the door with a hidden emergency lockbox, the people were really happy to be able to get their jacket back.