Guests leaving things behind!

[Dan-And-Melissa0]

Hello,

how do you hosts handle different guests seemingly repetitively leaving behind items? I have shipped things ranging from a pair of stiletto heels, to a cell phone charger with cord.  I don't ask the guest for shipping, but the last two back-to-back guests have left behind items and I have had to ship them back.  Is this typical? We are new hosts.

granted it is only $10-$20 for Shipping charges so far for each time, but it seems to be pretty constant for us now. We don't have a high level of profit, so the trips to the UPS and the additional shipping charges, although not the end of the world, are eating into our small profit.

what are your guys/gals thoughts?

thanks!

[Amy42]

If they ask, I would offer to mail it at their expense. I have a donation box where anything useful that gets left behind (that I don't want) gets boxed, until I make a thrift store run. Almost always, guests have left something behind -- little lotion samples, shampoo, whatever, usually nothing valuable.

I once left a hair brush at a regular hotel and they offered to mail it to me-- I just bought a new one but appreciated their offer. 

Another time I left behind my favorite workout capris (at a different hotel), and I was furious when they told me they throw things out. I was visiting the same area the following week and could easily have picked them up from a Lost and Found bin.

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

Ask them to send you either a reply paid envelope - or the correct amount of postage in stamps

[Dan-And-Melissa0]

Thanks everyone!! 

We appreciate all of your input and help!

We will take each reply and suggestion and figure out what we should do, moving forward.  We kinda feel bad for our guests, as everyone makes mistakes, but the packaging, travel to the UPS store (the post office lines are around the corner in Chicago sometimes, so there's no way we can do that without pulling out all our hair!) the cost for shipping, the time involved for all this before our workday starts, seems too much sometimes. 

But, we don't want the possible lesser review, so we almost feel trapped into doing all this so much, so far. Hopefully our future guests will pay more attention to their stuff.

thanks again everyone!!

[Jiw0]

If at all possible, one of the best ways to prevent this, AND get really good reviews is to meet your guests at check-out.  This can be reall helpful when you genuinely ask if there is something the guests can think of that would make the place better; you can good input that way.  And there's no substitute for personal interaction in terms of how positive they'll feel about their stay, which is typically right before writing a review.

So if at all possible I pop around and drop them at the airport, and at the same time you can do a quick walk around to make sure they've turned off lights and air conditioning and the like, and you'd also notice if they left something behind.

I guess this is not for everyone especially if you have a job where you can't easily take up to an hour out to meet your guests, but sometimes you can. 

[Alexandra238]

Guest wants to email a shipping label... how do we do that when Airbnb won't show email addresses?

[Kelly149]

@Dan-And-Melissa0 Ask for reimbursement!!

[Carola31]

My guest left passports behind. No idea how they got home. I'd love to send it to them but when they tell me their address via ArBnB airbnb blocks half of it out as it looks like a phone number. Anyone any idea how I can get the address? I did also ask them to facebook it to me but the word 'facebook' also gets blocked out by airbnb.

[Helen56]

If you go to your reservations list you will see their phone number so you can just call them or text.

[Sierra10]

I have had guests remember everything out of the guest room and shared space and then forget items by the front door! I always meet them at the door and ask if they have everything. I am thinking of starting a checklist of areas to double check upon check out for items. Something fun like: please don't leave me behind, I am your items and commonly left in the following areas: fridge, outlets, closet, front entry.  Could be for my use or even the guests use too if they want.

[Tatjana6]

Airbnb MUST have proper rules regarding the issue. 

Personally, I'm considering delivery or posting as an extra service, which a guest MUST compensate by in advance.

[Tatjana6]

I m a frequent traveller as well as a host ( in the best times up to 7 listings).

The first time the problem of "forgotten belongings " appeared when I was a traveller. I sent a message to my host about it and ... I haven't got any reply. After that, I rated my stay as a "5-stars". Why? Because I understood, that the HOSTING for the host was a BUSINESS, not a charity.
During 5-years of my hosting, I have got only a couple of requests for the returning things. The easiest case was a girl who has forgotten her charger and came back in the agreed hour to pick it up; another - a family with kids; they paid relatively good and left the apartment in OK-condition after themselves - I posted their goods without asking a service fee.

However, the latest case was extreme- a woman on a business trip forgot her jacket; instead of the taking a taxi (10 min) and pick it up at the suggested hours she advised me to ask a friend of mine (???) to travel to her office and deliver the thing.

Personally, I'm against SLAVERY.

[Allison241]

I recently left a pair of (expensive) earrings behind at the airbnb we rented. I realized it only two hours after we left and I contacted the host. As we were leaving, the cleaning person pulled up into the driveway. The host replied right away and asked where I left them, and I told them EXACTLY where they were (and I’m 100% positive where I had put them). They said they’d check with the cleaner. Then I heard nothing for an entire day. Today I just got a message back saying the cleaner didn’t find anything and that someone had went over and checked and they didn’t find them. Any idea what I can do now? Clearly, someone took them. 

[Tom794 · Accepted solution]

Guests leaving stuff behind is really painful and costs not just money, but also the time and hassle to post the item back to them. So what I do now is add to my Check-out rules a comment for Guests to double check to ensure they have all their belongs. However if they do realize they have left something of value behind, then they must contact me ASAP. Next I have the next line that states we are not responsible for any items left behind, but if they are left behind, there is no guarantee we can get it back to them, however if it is possible, I state we charge a $20 handling fee, plus the postage and any other costs involved in getting the item back to them. Now my Check-out rules are in my user manual and I've also printed them out, put them in a picture frame, and hung this picture frame next to the front door. And guess what? ... No items left behind for a few months now 🙂 I know this may seem a little strict, but it's such a drain on time to post items back and now with this strategy in place, seems to be working well!

[Helen56]

I love the 'handling fee' idea!

[Tom794]

Thanks Helen, yes, we also factor in the time & effort we have to put into operating the airbnb rental to determine if the business model is a viable one. This helps reduce the time we have to spend, however in the cases where we still have to do it, well, at least we get compensated for it!