Airbnb host refusing to send AirPods without me paying?

[moryn]

Recently got back from a short break in Paris.

I left my AirPods on the bed, the host refuses to send them back unless I pay £50 plus postage.

AIBU to think this is ridiculous?

Why not?

Right so the Air BnB host should just package them up and send them, using their own time to do so, because you're too disorganised to make sure you've got all your stuff when you leave?

Just realised in addition so that is a bit steep

Yes it is ridiculous that you won’t pay for someone to post your AirPods that you left there.

I think it would be unreasonable to expect not to pay anything at all (postage plus recorded delivery, insurance etc)
When I ran a B&B we would always endeavour to return left ehind items to the guests.its just common courtesy, but would never dream of charging £50 for the privilege, unless of course the nearest post office was 50 miles away.

They can’t just “send them to you”. Took me about 7 hours to get my head around the import rules to recover my DD’s school coat and other things she left in France during a school trip.

can you block them so no one else can use them
then I would put the £50 plus postage to buying some more

This happened to me, had to pay £40 to hotel in Paris, then got stung for £56 customs charge!! So ask them to clearly mark that they’re returning personal belongings

On the face of it £50 in addition to postage seems excessive but if the owners are using a management company I suppose this could realistically be what they are charged for someone to go out to the property to find lost items, package them up and take them to post. If that's the case I can see why they would want to pass that expense along.

They’ll need an import certificate and all sorts, and they can’t use the French postal system to send stuff to the UK since Brexit.

It depends. If the host isn’t on site themselves then they’ll have to pay someone (the cleaner I’d imagine who would go there often with keys) to go and get them and take them to the post office for you. Their time plus postage and packaging, petrol etc all costs money… is a pain but look at it that you’re lucky to be able to get them back and they weren’t left on a bus or a taxi. I’m sure they would cost more than £50 to replace….

£50! That's ridiculous. You should cover P&P and that should be it.

They are just charging you for a service you want & need. Hardly holding your AirPods ransom. Seems a bit steep, but that is capitalism for you. At least you will get them back.

all you can do is suck it up & double check next time.

Why on earth not? If someone's time is worth that amount then they have every right to spend any time that they aren't being paid that amount sitting on their sofa watching Strictly.

A hotel in France charged me £25 last week. Could you counter offer?! I’m afraid you do need to compensate them for the time and inconvenience but £50 is on the high side, especially for such a small item.

It's not ridiculous as they're under no obligation to send them to you. Feel free to pop back over to Paris and go get them yourself...

£50 admin fee is a little steep but not over the top. Someone has to get packaging for them, box them up, print a label, take them to a parcel shop etc... it's probably 30 mins of admin.

It's the price of being careless I'm afraid. You either pay, fetch them yourself, or perhaps you have an insurance policy that pays out for these sort of things??

Only if she doesn’t want her item returned I guess!

How much would you consider fair OP?

Honestly, if I ran an AirBnB I wouldn't be posting any lost property back anywhere, for any price. What a ballache!

I'd have a lost property box to keep stuff in for 6 months and then donate to charity - or people could come and collect.

Same. God some of the responses are so pathetic and grabby, to be desperately trying to justify the 'time' and 'petrol' and 'packaging.'

They already have the airpods, or otherwise wouldn't be able to post them to the OP at all, so no need to make further trips to the air bnb to collect them. Just stick them in any old plastic bag or box you have to hand, and take them to the post office/in post/corner shop (I'm sure France has similar options to us for posting things internationally) next time you're passing. Loads don't even need to print labels anymore. By all means ask for the postage to be paid, but £50 is an absolute piss take!

What happened to just being a decent human and helping someone else out with (despite the desperate attempts at inflating it) a very minor favour that is of minimal effort to you - and could even be of benefit, as presumably if they'd just said 'yes, send me the money for postage and I'll send them within the next week,' OP would have hopefully given them a glowing review.

I bet all the people on this thread supporting the owner are the same people bemoaning that they don't have a 'village' and people don't help them out...!

As an Airbnb host, in the past I've returned lost property free of charge and most guests haven't thanked me or bothered to let me know that they've received their parcel. I now have a minimum charge for my time and cost of postage, which is higher for returns outside of the UK, and for larger items, clearly stated on our Ts and Cs. People are so dismissive of the time and nuisance involved in returning lost property. £50 seems toppy, but they may be having to pay an agent or cleaner to sort out the postage as well as the postage cost.

I don’t understand why you think they’re in the wrong.

You misplaced your belongings and potentially left the country. For them to facilitate your admin work, you need to bear the costs. It’s not their fault you fucked up. And insured, signed for postage across countries for the value of AirPods likely does cost around £50 without packing materials.

They want £50 + postage

Returning left-behind items abroad is such an inconvenient ballache. This will probably be outsourced too hence the fee.

They are running a business and an airbnb in Paris is most likely a faceless one with no in-person check in etc. They will have a flat rate fee for the inconvenience of packing and returning any item that has been left.

Last year we had guests claimed to have left brand new earpods in one of our rentals. Cleaners searched high and low, only for us to receive a text some hours later informing us that they had found them in one of their bags.

Folk need to understand that their belongings are their responsibility and good will isn't always guaranteed or afforded

It’s not just about the cost of postage. I live remotely and the nearest place with a post office is a 1 hour and 20 minutes round trip. I’d also have to take tIme out of my work to go. It’s possible it’s similar for the host.