Lots of bags left behind.

[Michael8577]

Hi all,

had 2 awful guests recently - honestly up there with the worst we have had.

Messy, loud, smoking weed in the home, etc…

1 of guests checked out the night before.

The 2nd ‘slept in’ and didn’t leave until 2 hrs after check out - noticed about 3 bags left and when questioned - the 2nd chap said that’s his friends and he will come back for it.

The assumption that was ok, annoyed me from the off - so I said, he can come back specific hours next day. 
These are huge bags just taking up space we don’t have - 

The next day - nobody came - I messaged the guest, now the person I’m messaging isn’t the one who has left belongings behind…

Personally I want to bin them, they left the room in a terrible mess and the room stinks of weed - took me ages to clean before the next guest came in.

I send another messaging saying they need to be collected or they are going in the rubbish.

I had a reply saying ‘no need they are personal belongings he will need later & needs more time’ 

How much time do we give? 
I did say, I will give them a few more days max -& noted that after the mess they left, the smoking, etc this just adds to the disrespect, so I’m hardly inclined to do favours.

I’ve never had this before, I couldn’t see any rules on air BnB regarding this.

any thoughts? 

[Mike-And-Jane0 · Accepted solution]

@Michael8577 Different jurisdictions have different laws on what to do with 'lost' property. No idea what the law is in Wales (in fact I don't even know if it is a devolved matter). A bit go googling needed perhaps.

The rules for a Hotel are shown below (visit Britain website). Apparently the definition of hotel is antiquated so not clear if an Airbnb would be treated the same.

Returning guests’ property

If a guest accidentally leaves an item behind, you have both a duty to look after the item (you can be liable for any loss or damage that occurs while it is in your possession) and a duty to reunite the owner with their property. Therefore, you should make every effort to contact the guest to inform them that you have an item belonging to them, rather than just putting it in a lost property box.

If you are able to contact the owner, you can mutually agree on what to do with the item (for example, whether to post it to them, hold it for collection or to simply dispose of the item). You are within your rights to charge the guest for posting the item back, should you wish to do so, as this is an additional service outside the contract you have with them to provide accommodation. However, the charge should be limited to actual justifiable costs.

If it is not possible to contact the guest, your actions should depend on the nature of the item. For most relatively low-value items (for example clothes) it is sufficient to retain the item for a reasonable period before disposing of it (usually around three months). However, items such as bank cards or driving licences should be handed to the appropriate issuing authority, and high-value items should be handed to the police.

[Michael8577]

Thank you - that’s helpful 🙂