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

My in laws have a place they rent out, someone stole the grill pan! Weirdos

I don't replace broken glasses but I do tell the owner.

I have left finished books and have occasionally taken a book in return but only if it's clearly a job lot second hand rather than some curated shelf. I was horribly tempted by an amazing folk tales book once but avoided temptation and got it myself off ebay, which I'm glad about now as it's such a great book I would feel awful knowing I'd not.left it for the next people to enjoy.

I've never taken anything from an air bnb. I have taken the little shampoo bottles from hotels.

I can't think of anything worse than renting out my actual home on air bnb. The previous pp letting theirs out for a month is shocking if I'm honest. I feel stressed just thinking about it.

My parents used to rent out their big static caravan home for a few weeks a year. My mum used to do the cleaning herself.

One year renters had taken 3 beautiful wool blankets off the beds and taken them down to the pebbly beach and got tar all over them, bought them back up and stuffed them in the bottom of a wardrobe.

One hot year my mum arrived a few days late to do the cleaning after the last set of guests. When she opened the door there was a weird smell - she kept smelling it as she worked her way around cleaning. Got to the oven and opened the door and there was a huge stinky green hairy football in there ... no! on closer inspection the last people had left a whole raw chicken in there! 😵😖

So how do home owners deal with the items that people keep stealing? A hoover is not something cheap and every little adds up.

I agreed with the miserliness of some holiday home owners wrt minimal loo roll and dishwasher tablets… but after reading this, I now understand why they do it!

It would be nice to just throw in one or two more dishwasher tablets than the days you’re staying.

I pretty much always travel with foil ( to wrap sandwiches and line grill pan) and plastic bags. Washing powder too. It all inevitably gets left behind when I go.

How did you determine it was the cleaners? I would have thought it more likely to be a guest who had enjoyed the bedlinen, so stole and replaced it.

I wouldn't dream of taking anything, especially loo roll! I use what's there, which is usually only a couple of rolls, and then supply my own. I admit I don't leave any - if it's mine I take the rest of the roll home - but I wouldn't take anything I hadn't supplied.

Never. We leave loads of toilet rolls. Spare towels. Spa towels. Beach towels. A massive box of dishwasher tablets and washing tabs. A big jar of Nespresso caps. Dressing gowns etc. bottles of Aesop hand wash shower gel and body lotion. Emergency supplies of make up wipes, sanitary protection, toothbrushes etc. huge bookshelf of books and games. Big jar of cookies. Yea towels napkins cleaning supplies. Cashmere throws. It's all there.

People use them but we've never ever had anyone steal anything or use more than I thought they would. Ever.

Had people leave us more! Bottles of wine, local preserves, chocolates, gift vouchers for local restaurants, flowers!

I'm in New Zealand tho!

No.
we have a holiday rental attached to our our home. So we do ‘live on site’ as it were. It’s just small families or couples staying, no parties or groups.

6 years renting so far, it’s a ‘high end’ standard I would say ie we have 100% wool items, nice dressing gowns/bedding, locctaine toiletries, wooden toys and games. Etc.
we provide full bags of bbq coals, dishwashing tablets, everyone just uses what they need and leaves the rest.

Nothing as far as I know has ever been stolen.
If anything has been broken ie crockery, they tell us

I never go back to houses where the owners are mean.
Thankfully we have found a place that is pretty much perfect. Everything you want is in the kitchen.

I can't understand the mentality of anyone taking home a loo roll or dishwasher tablets. But likewise I can't understand owners who don't leave enough! The cost to them is pence, literally, if a loo roll is nicked.

I'd never steal a book. Can't understand why anyone would think it's okay to do that. If it was something I'd not finished reading, I'd buy it when I got home.

That will be why then… New Zealand.

It’s not like that in the UK.

You are lucky to get left more then one loo roll and dishwasher tab 😂

Your place sounds fab!

<makes note to contact @meatbaseddessert when I go to NZ…>

Well this is an eye opening thread.
We would never steal from a holiday let. We clean everywhere and strip the beds and leave it looking as we got it aswell.
Im now amazed people bother to make their properties so lovely with nice ornaments and such. Our last holiday let a few weeks back even had dog treats.

In terms of toilet roll dishwasher tablets etc, why not leave just enough for the week to stop the extras going walkies..

@dinoice here you go:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4840618-what-would-you-expect-to-findlove-to-find-in-a-holiday-let?page=1

I just can't imagine taking something valuable, deliberately! Yes putting something in your bag by accident, or swapping a book you've finished, but not actual theft, nor leaving the place in a state!

I'm interested in how there seems to be a divide, though. Some owners have never had any thefts; what are you doing differently, or are they just lucky???

Oh yes we’ve had lots of things “go walkies”… thing is, the cleaners can’t stock check everything every changeover so it’s only when we visit every couple of months that we notice (unless guests are nice enough to let us know if they have broken something like a glass). Each time I go I notice the book shelf is a little smaller… I’m sure dvds have gone too and last time I noticed that we only had a couple of dog bowls left whereas I usually leave a selection for guests to use for dogs. My fault getting prettier ones from homesense 🙄

We had one guest clear out everything from under the sink including all the cleaning sprays/dishwasher tablets/bin bags etc. Also took the oil, salt, pepper and herbs spices/ketchup etc…. Literally everything of that calibre!! I didn't say anything at the time but they did request to rebook again and I just ignored it. They also let their children destroy the play room and didn't attempt to tidy it, just left it for the cleaners and left dog pee on the carpet even though we say that dogs have to be toilet trained.

Airbnb have a review system that isn’t very host friendly so you end up weighing up whether to mention things in case you get a retaliation review (although airbnb say they will remove these they usually don’t). If you get one of them it can screw up future earnings so I would only say if it’s something big that’s been taken.

I don’t leave anything in the house that I really care about going missing and have a stash of books/games that I take over to replace those going missing over time.

We had one guest clear out everything from under the sink including all the cleaning sprays/dishwasher tablets/bin bags etc. Also took the oil, salt, pepper and herbs spices/ketchup etc…. Literally everything of that calibre!! I didn't say anything at the time but they did request to rebook again and I just ignored it. They also let their children destroy the play room and didn't attempt to tidy it, just left it for the cleaners and left dog pee on the carpet even though we say that dogs have to be toilet trained.

You should have billed them for this and if necessary used the small claims court for your costs.

I had a beautiful, extremely large and expensive cactus (planted in the ground) stolen.
Books always get stolen but also left behind.

Lots of towels get taken to beach and left.

In terms of toilet roll dishwasher tablets etc, why not leave just enough for the week to stop the extras going walkies..

Because they can't always know how much anyone will use!
Some people poo 3 x a day, others 3 x a week.

And the expense of a loo roll is what? 50p even if you buy from Waitrose!

You bought stick blenders to leave behind?

That;s kinda unusual! And, infers that the other stick blenders were stolen - which is also a bit strange!

@lifesabitchandthenyoudie - I think it’s a mixture. Ours it’s priced at slightly higher, so maybe we avoid penny pinchers taking spare items. We probably have been lucky also.
It’s also location, we are more semi rural, hikers, nature based. It’s unlikely to appeal to party goers etc. We focus on couples or families ( provide most small children related stuff).
We also have max 4 guests, in a property many would rent to 6-7 people, no sofa bed, no pets.
Most of our guests stay 2+ weeks so across the summer it’s not that many different families tbh between say June-September. We also have several guests that now return every year, I guess they don’t want to return to less stuff the following year if they knew they had taken stuff the year before

I have a policy of leaving LOTS of bog rolls, cleaning stuff, kitchen staples etc where guests can get them. There is a note in our info pack to say extra supplies are available in X cupboard but please don't use up everything. But I have to rely on the cleaners to make sure there is enough there. I've arrived before and found supplies low so I always top up when I'm there. We supply rubber gloves, salt & pepper, cooking oil, ketchup, washing capsules and fabric conditioner, dishwasher tabs etc etc.

Why??? They don't belong to you!

Honestly, I can't believe people steal things from holiday lets, it wouldn't even occur to me! I'd be more likely to leave stuff that might be useful to others.

I have a large holiday let and generally get multi-generational families. Very little goes missing, and teaspoons have been added to, as have glasses as I think so many guests are used to the bare minimum being left. Whilst I don’t leave a box of dishwasher tablets I leave enough for the week plus a few extra. I don’t have enough storage to leave loo rolls for a week (they are very bulky and the wholesalers are miles away) I leave 2 per loo (4 loos in total).

If something is taken I imagine it’s because it’s assumed to belong to the extended family etc, and as nothing was rabidly expensive it really doesn’t matter. Occasionally I’m convinced something’s been stolen, then find it a week later in an obscure place. I’m not at all bothered by the odd book being taken, and usually one is left in its place.

I'm pretty sure cleaners don’t intentionally swap bedding, but if they’re doing the laundry themselves remember they’ve probably got six or seven cottages’ worth of white bedding and despite the best of intentions it can be easy to muddle up. The odd towel/sheet/pillowcase does get irreparably stained, but I have lots and it’s just part of costs.

What I absolutely hate is wilful damage - sofas jumped on til their springs break, chewing gum left under rugs, lamps broken then reassembled to look ok, locks broken on storage cupboards, children allowed to dig plants out of pots. It’s very rare this happens but of course rather than remembering the 95% lovely guests these 5% are etched forever in my memory.

I take the small bottles of shampoo from a hotel (if they are nice), but most hotels have bigger bottles now that are screwed in (mainly for environmental reasons, but it also stops people taking the smaller ones).

I very rarely do self-catering but when I have I've tended to leave things rather than nick anything - eg once there was no washing powder so I bought a box and left it. I hope the owner left it for subsequent lets. I would also leave books if I have finished with them.

DS came home from a school trip with a pillow case that wasn't his once. And a small towel another time. I think both were accidents but goodness knows why he brought a pillow case home, he hadn't taken one with him!