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Being nosy - Holiday home owners - do people steal stuff?

393 replies

Polkadotpjs · 03/07/2023 21:06

On the back of the other thread about what people want to see in holiday homes I wondered if half of it is practical or workable. I was thinking about y work where we have a dishwasher that can't be used because if dishwasher tablets are left for it, people steal them ! Ditto spare loo rolls in the cubicles or nice hand soap! I'm not a journalist so don't think that. Just wondered if there's a balance between nice stuff and risking it going walkabout.
We went away last weekend and was pleased to see dishwasher tablets and laundry liquid but then disappointed there was no foil ! I'd have taken some and left it if there if I'd thought

OP posts:
Elphame · 04/07/2023 13:54

Seeingadistance · 04/07/2023 13:44

@Elphame

“I have had all my furniture moved out though by guests who brought their own. I didn't find out until afterwards or they'd have been out instantly”

They brought their own furniture!?!

Yes - beyond belief isn't it. I found out afterwards they'd had one of those small self drive vans and my furniture was taken away. I can't believe no one thought to tell me at the time.

It was returned at the end of the stay but all in the wrong place and the sofa was actually upside down. That was the nightmare changeover I shall never forget. We had 6 hours to get everything straight. We had to re-plaster part of two of the bedrooms, rehang 2curtain poles and two blinds, repaint part of the sitting room and stairwell as I couldn't get the green felt tip scribbles out, remove 5 bin bags or rubbish from the garden and sweep up the smashed garden mosaic as well as the basic cleaning and bed making etc.

They did get a huge bill from me which they paid after I threatened court action.

Conkersinautumn · 04/07/2023 13:59

Oh yes I've stayed places where in the folder of information there is a complete inventory and the cost / charge that will be sought if things are damaged or missing. One place included the obvious such as mugs (where to get them if you had broken one as well) but also listed the sofas.!
I once turned around a good 30 mins into my journey home to see my son playing with something he'd taken a shine to from a cottage, so back we went to return it!

Waffle78 · 04/07/2023 14:00

I really wish they would leave more than just the one bin liner than just the one in the bin. One we stayed at last week I had to buy some. There was nothing to clean with only a little bit of washing up liquid and a manky sponge. I had to buy washing up sponge's. You would think they would want you to keep the place clean. Nobody wants to buy that shit when they're away. Said it had a dishwasher there wasn't one. Most have a lockable cupboard so they leave like 3 dishwasher tablets and 3 liquitabs for the washing machine. Which is fine I just take a few extra dishwasher tablets.

Pharos · 04/07/2023 14:01

Our holiday let is managed by a local agency and they supply the amenity pack and linen which removes a lot of stress.

I made sure the kitchen was well-equipped but hit IKEA for the basics and so far, we’re seriously down on glasses but nothing else.

People have taken, rather than exchanged, books so I now replace with charity shop ones and have removed any nice ones. We’ve equally not had chargers left but the couple I’d put in the ‘odds and ends’ drawer disappeared very quickly. I usually get a few cheap ones from Primark each year, once they’re gone that’s it until the next season.

Weirdest thing taken, and it was definitely nicked, was a brass barometer. We’re by the sea and get a lot of sailing groups so having one makes sense. The cleaner hadn’t noticed unfortunately so there were four different groups it could have been. Not expensive to replace but a very deliberate act to take it. It’s now the first thing the cleaner looks at after check out…

Weirdest guests were the pissed-up party who decided to climb on to the roof -it’s a two storey semi - and across to the neighbour's first floor balcony. Neighbour was not best pleased as his infant was asleep in the room next to it and let them know exactly what he thought about what they’d done… We get on really well with them so it wasn’t a problem for us but why a group of grown adults thought it was appropriate I don’t know. Luckily they hadn’t damaged any tiles, if they’d fallen off it would not have ended well. Needless to say they were barred by the agency…

Conkersinautumn · 04/07/2023 14:02

But on the flipside I often repair door handles, put doors back on runners or curtains properly on hooks and replace batteries in clocks where I stay as I am a fidgeter. Only a couple of owners have mentioned they'd noticed these minor repairs

Davros · 04/07/2023 14:04

tectonicplates it's an upright but it's oak Arts & Crafts made by Liberty

Pam100127 · 04/07/2023 14:11

We run an Airbnb. The majority of people are really lovely.
However, even some of those who are nice are light-fingered.
We’ve had towels stolen (a very posh lady attending a local Regatta + having booked for two people, she brought a third & when we said that there was an extra charge (£12) she shrugged her shoulders, but didn’t pay up). I now only leave two towels per person & one spare.
A clock taken from bathroom wall (a group of girls in their 20s)
A brand new salt & pepper mill taken (an American brother & sister)
Several times there have been straighteners set on an almost brand new carpet (which matches throughout the whole apartment) leaving what looks like huge chicken footprints 🤷🏻‍♀️ despite having a mat left for that purpose, which I now always point out.
Leaving an abundance of toilet paper, towels, even sugar sachets, they are an invitation & it wouldn’t be cost effective.
We only live 3 doors away & check that everyone has what they need.

Allthegoodnamesarechosen · 04/07/2023 14:13

SpaceRaiders · 04/07/2023 10:11

My lovely dualit kettle, 24 roll of toilet roll, a hoover, a mop/bucket, brand new bales of bath sheets all went within 6 months! And cutlery, it’s always fecking cutlery that disappears. I started off kitting my place with good quality items but it’s ikea only these days. Guests will steal anything that isn’t glued down!

It is possible that cutlery gets thrown away accidentally? As many people may not be entirely sober when clearing their plates

I’ve lost gazillions of teaspoons at home when stone cold sober, because the buggers just seem to leg it to the bin when your pack is turned. They must yearn for the Shangri La of the dump.

Sennelier1 · 04/07/2023 14:17

@110APiccadilly why would one have to pay postage to get your own chargers back? The lodgers pinched them!

MamaBobo · 04/07/2023 14:18

We stayed at a lovely cottage many times and when it changed hands the new owner changed a lot of things. The dining table had been turned through 90 degrees so that instead of both being able to look out the window one of us had their back to it and the other had the sun full in their eyes. I confess that we did carefully turn it back to what we were used to….but we did turn it back the way it was before we left!

weightymatters73 · 04/07/2023 14:20

family member has cottages, the worst she has had is someone pay on a stolen credit card for a last minute stay (which then charged back a month later), they left with lots of things - microwave, TV, toaster, kettle, bedding....but that was a deliberate and planned theft. They literally checked in then removed the stuff overnight.

Sennelier1 · 04/07/2023 14:29

We (me and DH, our 2 DC and CIL and 3 GC) rented a very nice place in France (Côte Opale) and the owners had left really enough to start with - some olive oil, herbs and spices, washing powder, dishwasher tablets, roll of paper towels, loo paper, trashbags etc. etc. We didn't know in advance so took some stuff from home as well. We started with what the owners had left and replaced it with what we brought - and left everything we hadn't used. It seemed right because they treated us very nicely ❤️ The person who checked out the house before we went home was very happy with how we left the house and garden, she hardly had to do anything. But she told us some stories about renters who she couldn't give one single € of their garantie back!

amicissimma · 04/07/2023 14:32

I find it really annoying when there isn't enough toilet roll or dishwasher tablets for the stay. Ie one dishwasher tablet per day. Toilet roll maybe 1.5 to 2 per person per week.

But it seems that some letters who find that 8 people have 'taken' 12 toilet rolls seem to think that the customers have 'stolen' them.

It's so annoying to have to source something as bulky as loo roll, specially when between two bathrooms there are two rolls with about 6 sheets each on them when 8 of you check in late on a Saturday in the middle of nowhere.

If the cost of a dozen loo rolls is the difference between breaking even and starving, for goodness sake charge an extra £5 and provide enough. A huge surplus isn't necessary. Most people can get to a shop mid-week for extras if they see they are using a lot.

Diorling · 04/07/2023 14:33

Yep. I’ve recently sold , but it’s surprising what goes. Games, books, towels, videos, oh and face cloths in huge numbers - went. Not uncommon either for my expensive M & S duvets to go, and be replaced by horrible cheap ones. The worst was the keys to the balcony - the tenants completely denied taking it, but they had gone, and there was no doubt it was them who had taken them. In fact the state they left the house in was unbelievable (duvets - still in their covers - dumped in the bath and the tap then turned on, kitchen with dirty washing up piled high, drips of batter all over the place, half eaten sandwiches under cushions etc, broken drinking glasses, food trampled into the carpets, bedside emergency torches gone, remote for tv missing (found it in the garden), garden chairs left out with the cushions (stored on the terrace in a weather proof box) left out and soaking - one turned up under a bush - etc etc. ) The house was filthy. I had so many complaints from the neighbours that week about the ‘feral children’ running wild in the street, shrieking obscenities at them, with parents screaming abuse at the children from the windows. The list just went on. They were only there a week! Naturally they were also late to leave. My normal 6 hour full clean took more than double that, and had to get in extra help (luckily I kept high stocks of bedding and towels etc) and it cost me a meal for the next tenants as the house wasn’t ready in time so had to stand dinner for the 6 of them. I did eventually get an acknowledgment that that family did have the keys ‘the kids took them’ and they did return them (after threats to bill them for the cost of a locksmith) - but minus much postage, so that cost me too. But most tenants were lovely, would often leave a thank you card and a bottle of wine - and more often the house was left as immaculate as they found it - and what went missing was often in error, and they’d contact me to apologise. I just accepted there would sometimes be the occasional item missing, or occasional less desirable tenant. i just put it all down to life’s rich pattern. What I did find hard was when the house had a smell. They might have used a ton of perfume, or smoked inside (pretty obvious), or sneaked an animal in (it happens) or cooked something especially malodorous. That’s a real issue if you’ve someone coming in later, if the carpets and curtains and bedding are all reeking. Thank goodness for ozone generators! But most folk, fortunately, are lovely and I enjoyed meeting them.

BodegaSushi · 04/07/2023 14:46

justasking111 · 04/07/2023 12:43

Anyone ever had a porno movie made in their holiday let? That was an industrial clean up

🤢

SpaceRaiders · 04/07/2023 14:47

Allthegoodnamesarechosen · 04/07/2023 14:13

It is possible that cutlery gets thrown away accidentally? As many people may not be entirely sober when clearing their plates

I’ve lost gazillions of teaspoons at home when stone cold sober, because the buggers just seem to leg it to the bin when your pack is turned. They must yearn for the Shangri La of the dump.

Quite possibly. But I think in our case it’s more likely they’re taken to eat lunch with and just never returned. It’s fairly normal to loose a teaspoon but less so for 4 forks to disappear.

SpaceRaiders · 04/07/2023 14:50

The loo roll debate always seems to get guests and hosts pretty heated on various forums that I frequent.

Some guests will use a roll a day, for others a roll will last 2/3 days. It’s one of those things which is hard to gauge usage, leave too much and it gets nicked. Leave too little, guests complain. For us it’s one on the holder and two spares for every bathroom. And there’s always an extra 2/3 spare rolls hidden in the house out of sight. Seems to work.

TheWalrusdidbeseech · 04/07/2023 15:02

SpaceRaiders · 04/07/2023 14:50

The loo roll debate always seems to get guests and hosts pretty heated on various forums that I frequent.

Some guests will use a roll a day, for others a roll will last 2/3 days. It’s one of those things which is hard to gauge usage, leave too much and it gets nicked. Leave too little, guests complain. For us it’s one on the holder and two spares for every bathroom. And there’s always an extra 2/3 spare rolls hidden in the house out of sight. Seems to work.

even if 2 or 3 loo rolls get "nicked", who cares? They are included in the price aren't they?

A woman who is on her periods will need more during that time, needs vary.

Remember the panic loo roll buying in the pandemic? You can take a lot of things away, but loo roll is not one of them 😂

Goatsanddogs · 04/07/2023 15:05

I regularly stay at Airbnbs in North Wales. The things I would suggest owners providing is a splatter cover for frying pan, food cover for microwave and foil and cling. This would make it a lot easier to keep the ovens and fridge clean. I take my own cling and foil because it actually saves me time when I clean the fridge and oven when I leave. I would expect plenty of toilet roll as a basic and kitchen towel would be nice. but again I bring mine just in case of spills anywhere.

Thank you to all the kind hosts, if I stay at a really clean, welcoming place the only cleaning they need to do after my visit is the towel and bed linen.

Diorling · 04/07/2023 15:07

Yep, always left 2 loo rolls per loo, plus dishwasher tablets, washing up liquid, cleaning products, washing machine tabs for the washing machine, a pack of spare bedding for both a single and double bed in case of emergencies, salt and pepper and various condiments, spare house towels, barbecue and tools, plus a hospitality basket with sachets of tea, coffee, squash, biscuits etc, plus would buy in whatever the preferred milk was (asked them first of course) and made sure there was a litre in the fridge. However as time went on was finding more and more would get a supermarket food delivery direct to the house (often arriving at very inconvenient times, despite promises at booking time!).

A couple of other actions were to change the oven gloves to silicon ones as easier to better keep them clean. My best tip though was finding the cheap tea towels in IKEA. Would buy a large number at a time, wash and iron them all, then leave 2 as complimentary tea towels for each booking. They didn’t cost me much (40p to 50p each), it was something nice for the family not to have to worry about and to take home, and it worked out cheaper than paying the laundry costs per tea towel. Win win!

EggInANest · 04/07/2023 15:14

Elphame · 04/07/2023 13:54

Yes - beyond belief isn't it. I found out afterwards they'd had one of those small self drive vans and my furniture was taken away. I can't believe no one thought to tell me at the time.

It was returned at the end of the stay but all in the wrong place and the sofa was actually upside down. That was the nightmare changeover I shall never forget. We had 6 hours to get everything straight. We had to re-plaster part of two of the bedrooms, rehang 2curtain poles and two blinds, repaint part of the sitting room and stairwell as I couldn't get the green felt tip scribbles out, remove 5 bin bags or rubbish from the garden and sweep up the smashed garden mosaic as well as the basic cleaning and bed making etc.

They did get a huge bill from me which they paid after I threatened court action.

Was it an independent / student film crew using it as an unofficial location?

Elphame · 04/07/2023 15:22

EggInANest · 04/07/2023 15:14

Was it an independent / student film crew using it as an unofficial location?

No it was a family. It's the only time we have ever had complaints from the neighbours about guest conduct.

The children were out playing in the road and the group were making a racket in the garden late at night. They had friends or relations staying nearby so I suspect they used my lovely garden as party central. I don't mind guests having visitors but this lot really took the piss.

ItsNotTheGirlsWhoRiotAndStartWars · 04/07/2023 15:27

I don't have stuff stolen really, but broken. People are quite careless. Chunks gauged out of walls, a plant pot placed on a wooden shelf with no tray underneath. Two windows torn off their hinges by the same guest. The tiny oven heating up indicator light poked out and lost. The washing machine overloaded. Paint chipped off walls, and dirty marks. Carpets wrecked. Beds broken after just two guests. Table scratched. DH wants to sell up as some of these things are very disheartening.

Cismyfatarse · 04/07/2023 15:35

justasking111 · 04/07/2023 12:43

Anyone ever had a porno movie made in their holiday let? That was an industrial clean up

No but Miriam Margoyles tells a very funny story about her holiday let in Kent being used as the centre of a drug smuggling ring.

ItsNotTheGirlsWhoRiotAndStartWars · 04/07/2023 15:40

Even though I said I don't get much theft from my holiday let, I work at a small photobooth company as well, and a lot of people think it's no problem at all to take the props home. Not cardboard props on sticks, but hats, glasses, boas, the lot. Again, it can be hard to inventorise at the time and it's a similar mentality to stealing from a holiday let.
Or, if they don't take them home, they chuck them about so that they break. I'm thinking, thanks guys, that's more plastic waste to landfill :-/

Sorry to sidetrack the thread!