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

[Polkadotpjs]

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

@Pringleface WTF? What did you do with the parcel?

From a different perspective, I’m never sure what to do with our opened ‘leftovers’ when leaving a rental property.
So should I bin the half used bottle of olive oil we bought or leave it for the owners to dump? Same with other non perishables? Not easy to take home if you’re flying.
Do owners worry that opened left overs like oil, vinegar, ketchup etc could have been contaminated by someone malicious?

@BertieBotts I didn't say anything about taking 100 tablets away or taking the remainder home, it is possible to buy a small amount before you leave, enough for the stay as I have done in the past. It is also possible to buy smaller packs in actual shops where I live. Packs of 10 or 20.

I have never found a holiday let that has provided everything, a few washing up tablets and some detergent for the washing machine, hand soap, shower cream, towels, and bedding, pool towels. Sometimes milk in the fridge. Often condiments and open packets of stuff that people had left. Never expected everything to be provided in a self catering let. Always enough toilet rolls and never stole anything. Went and did a shop on arrival for things we hadn't taken with us.

I’ve only ever left things (like books, loo rolls, logs for fires etc).

Some people are just scuzzers.

I always message the host and ask whether they’d like cupboard stuff leaving. Most have said yes.

We bin any opened food left behind. The cleaners get anything unopened if they want it. I don’t think it’s very hygienic to leave opened packets of food.

I have had guests complain about there not being food, I mean wtf? It’s self catering! We leave bread, milk, juice and some biscuits or cake. Cooking oil, salt and pepper is also provided. I used to leave butter but 8/10 times people weren’t eating it so I stopped.

I hate the rationing that seems to now to
be rife to prevent people who take the piss. So often people running cottages seem to leave fewer dishwasher tablets than days of the stay, and no there isn’t enough cutlery and crockery to last everyone three meals a day without a dishwasher load (or more!) per day.

Don’t get me started on toilet roll stinginess.

That’s very generous and thoughtful. You seem to have the right balance.

Agree with PringleFace about discarding anything opened, some people are right dirty buggers. But leave any unopened food as then the cleaners/hosts can do what they want with it. As an ex housekeeper, I liked trying the random stuff left behind that I wouldn't usually buy. Now I always leave an unopened drink in the fridge for the cleaner as I LOVED finding one after a hot, hard day.
Personally, I class a toilet roll part used as ours. I wouldn't leave it as I wouldn't want someone else's part used shit-spore laden, possible piss sprayed toilet roll either (light hearted!) We actually refused to stay at a b&b last weekend as the only loo roll in the bathroom was half used and had shit smeared finger prints inside the tube. No idea how the cleaner missed that as it was the first thing I noticed! Though she didn't see all the foundation smudged across the wall by the bed either... But yeah, who the hell would think to steal? It's basically someone's home from home and should be respected as such.

She’s really not talking rubbish

https://www.bmstores.co.uk/products/fairy-original-all-in-one-dishwasher-capsules-14pk-401689

pack of 14 here, I’ve bought boxes of ten for a quid in discount stores in the UK.

I’m on holiday in Italy right now and bought a box of 15 for two euros.

If guest’s don’t bin it then my cleaners will.

Unfortunately we can’t take the risk of it being contaminated

We have a holiday home and I'd be furious if anyone took any of the books. They're mine and I've deliberately selected them for the house. Plus I leave things there that I know friends who are coming will want to read, that I haven't had a chance to read yet and want to, or that I want to read again.

Why not put it in the car and take it home? I always do.

Oh god I’ve done this for years 😳 naturally I wouldn’t take hardbacks or books about the local area that are useful for the next visitors etc. but I take and leAve fiction books all over, hotels in vacation spots usually have little libraries so I assumed holiday houses were doing the same thing! So sorry if I’ve ever stolen one of yours!

Pillows and bath mats flat sheets pillow cases hair driers shower heads you name it my parents used to do bed and breakfast we used to have a table in the dining room and leave yogurts and fruit on it and when we had American tours they would put all the yogurts and fruit in their bags for their lunch so they wouldn’t have to buy anything something they asked for packed lunch to be made 😂😂 I rented out my own house for a couple of months and they took my American fridge freezer never got it back

I don’t leave a welcome pack but I do leave a Booths voucher so guests can buy some nice wine, cheese or whatever they wish.
I expect guests may take the odd paperback but not the coffee table books or guides.
We also have a picnic hamper and camping chairs, I really cannot think of anything we don’t provide, most of the kitchen equipment is better than I have at home.

I've had two holiday cottage stays in the last two years.

Accidentally took a sharp knife home from the first place. It had been used to cut Christmas cake and got bundled wu with foil and left-over cake when we packed. I emailed the owners to apologise and they kindly said not to worry. But I have it on one side to drop off if we ever pass that way again!

Second place I knocked a fancy fragile glass bauble off the Christmas tree. I visited all the gift shops in town and bought the most similar replacement I could find. Also took a lovely coffee mug out from the back of a cupboard to use for the first time and it had a big crack in it. Didn't replace as we hadn't caused it. Just let the owner know in case they wanted to replace it on changeover day.

It's not hard, things occasionally get broken, it's life - just replace and let the owner/agency know. If it's a big item like furniture or danage to the building, the insurance cover taken out with the booking should cover it.

On the flip side I find a lot of Airbnb really tight! Just got back from one with about a cm of hand wash in the bathroom soap dispenser and 3 loo rolls for 6 people for 4 days. So you go out and buy supplies and more often than not leave them behind. I imagine a lot of these places do very well with ‘ leftovers’.
Even our honeymoon in Capri in an expensive villa, they left about a cm of olive oil, ditto the balsamic etc so we had to buy it all and leave it all behind. It’s infuriating!

It’s not usually allowed to drive the hire car onto the plane!

They took your fridge?!! 🥴

They took your fridge freezer? Did you call the police?

Is there anyone else reading this and thinking they will never ever go to stay in an Airbnb again?

These threads are always off putting. Though after past threads I'd always take a travel kettle, even to a hotel

Yes, the hairdryer

Back when EVERYBODY smoked, ashtrays were big...especially if they had a logo on them. My mother used to buy them by the case, and those cases didn't last that long!