Hi - I've recently had a few guests leave behind items that they requested be shipped to them, at their expense. How do other hosts manage this? Are there other pros or cons I haven't considered?
Venmo/Zelle (what I've historically done)
Pro: Ensures I receive the full amount of the shipping cost to reimburse me for the associated cost. Sometimes, the person with the left behind item wasn't the person who booked the stay, so this is convenient to bill the relevant guest directly.
Con: If a guest doesn't pay for the item after I ship it, I'm out the cost of shipping with no recourse - there's nothing Air BNB can do to recover this. This hasn't happened yet, but I'm sure it's a risk.
Air BNB Resolution
Pro: Recourse if a guest doesn't pay.
Con: The payment will be split between the owner and myself according to our split payment rules. I then have to go "recover" the payment that gets sent to the owner. Most of my owners are older and are intentionally uninvolved. I worry they would be confused by the payment in the first place and then why I'm telling them they need to pay me back. Additionally, they have hired me so that they don't have to be involved in or manage the day to day operations. I'm worried that asking them to remit back their portion of the payment would build frustration for how much "work" they have to do.
Are there other options? Factors I haven't considered? What's your preference?
