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?

We were at war with France for 500 years.

can see why.

I think the people who are calling them CFs and suggesting that they see it as a handy nice little earner are completely barking up the wrong tree. They don't WANT to have to do it at all, so the fee is to dissuade you from taking up so much of their time and headspace.

They would far prefer people to do the obvious standard thing of taking a couple of minutes to walk around the property just before you leave to check if you've left anything. For something both expensive and very little and easy to overlook such as Airpods, I'd make a special note to myself or set an alarm so as not to forget them - or even just put them right next to your car keys or passport so you can't possibly miss them.

To you, it's a one-off; but to them, it's an extra big burden that they never agreed to and don't want to do for every single person who doesn't bother checking that they've got all of their belongings before leaving. They're a business - and this is not even part of their actual business; it's nothing like asking your mum or dad to pop something in the post to you that you forgot when you last visited.

I know it's not exactly the same thing, but it reminds me of the businesses in busy public places that have a permanent stream of non-customers wanting to use their toilets - it's seen as no big deal by every individual in isolation, but dozens if not hundreds of extra people every day represent a very significant cost to their business, not to mention the inconvenience and delay for their actual customers.

Might be because it is done via a management company. They will be charging the owner

This!!

It's someone's time and materials outside of their remit.

If OP was asked to sweep the car park at work but wouldn't be paid for it I doubt she would want to.

Do people really not routinely have a quick check around everywhere just before they vacate temporary accommodation? Just grab what you can see in the hallway, slam the door and toddle away nonchalantly?

You could have left/dropped anything - passport, purse/wallet, your house keys that you need as soon as you get back home... Surely that's worth a couple of minutes every time?

Omg 😮

I had exactly this! Left my kindle in an airbnb in Paris. Total nightmare to get it back. Here’s my sorry tale.

Host super kind and agreed to package and post back. Paid 40EUR for postage (tracked so that we both knew it was on it’s way).

Unfortunately, the sender did not specify the contents, that it was a gift/not a commercial item on the endless forms required to send from EU to UK (thanks Brexit).

Arrived here; with a £60 tax charge…….

Refused it and just bought a new kindle in the sale.

It is a NIGHTMARE posting stuff to and from the EU. Truly. We have family abroad and it is painfully slow, eyewateringly expensive and you never know what, if any tax is going to be payable. Seems to be totally random.

I really don’t think they are taking the piss. It is just hideous now with postage.

I agree also.

Yes it may be in inconvenient but for the sake of being a good person and also to ensure happy/return guests I would absolutely do this.

we left a bulky/heavy item (memory foam pillow) at an Airbnb recently and the hosts were lovely and sent it back via InPost and only asked us for what it cost them.

As an Airbnb host I get a lot of left behind items and always happy to post at postage cost. Yes it does take time & petrol etc but I consider that part of the service.

Proper good hosts!!

But how is it hideous for them?

They are wanting £50 plus the postage, so it’s £50 total profit and the OP pays the postage.

They just go to the PO post it stating what it is, then get OP to pay that amount plus their £50 in addition.

Im sorry I don’t get it’s nightmare for them.

It’s a pair of AirPods, not a live elephant.

Find small padded Jiffy bag as sold in all supermarkets. Wrap AirPods in tissue .Put AirPods in a small box eg a matchbox. Put box in jiffy bag. Write OPs address, Stick on stamps. Put in postbox.

Maybe next time you won't be so careless?

I would report to Airbnb about this behaviour. This is little more than theft/extortion. Charging for return postage is fair enough but not £50 on top! Sure the owner is trying it on to either keep the airpods or sell them on.
Look at whether your travel insurance will cover the cost to replace them. Or house insurance.......Report them as stolen by the Airbnb people.
Leave a poor review on the property....

Greed from the air BB. Not worth being left bad review for?

Oh to be so fucking if perfect! I’m sure everyone can only aspire to be so perfect as you!

Any hints and tips?

As a disorganised person, I have always found glancing round the room after picking up my luggage is an easy way to avoid leaving expensive items on the bed. If I did leave something behind, I would obviously expect to reimburse the owner for the inconvenience of returning them.

You left them there if you want them back you pay the postage why should they have to?

no, the £50 is someone taking the absolute piss

so you’re disorganised but op is careless?

OP is asking the question is the fee amount ridiy?

Not saying that no fee should be charged! Read the OP more carefully.

Do you realise how many guest carelessly leave their shit every stay? A decent guest would take time to ensure they'd packed everything. I manage bookings for a couple of Airbnbs and have people regularly say "Oh sorry I've left two pairs of jeans and a hoody in the drawer, can you just pop them in the post?".

So that involves the cleaner having to take the items to her house, store them there, go to the shop to buy correct packaging, drive to post office, find parking in town centre in a busy tourist town often in high season, stand in a queue, post it and then get home. During which time she's had to take time off her actual work.

This is not a one-off type thing, its almost every week sometimes. It all adds up. And whilst I do think £50 is a bit on the excessive side, a charge for picking up after a careless guest is within reason.

It’s due to the fact they contain lithium batteries and are currently abroad - nothing to do with being nice or otherwise: https://www.reddit.com/r/shipping/comments/1fb6198/cananybodyhelpmeoutforadeliveryfrom/

A similar thing happened to a friend in Spain and she bought herself a new pair.

Link not working, here’s the gist: I went on holiday to Berlin.
When I came back to the UK, I noticed I left my AirPod in the hotel.
I requested a receptionist to send this out to me.
I received an email like this below:
We went to the Post Office to confirm we are able to send a package to the UK and they told us you are not allowed to send them normally, due to the Airpods being deemed a Battery.Just spoke to the DHL hotline; you can only send the package via DHL Express.For the Shipment we need:

1. A safety data sheet from the manufacturer of the pods.
2. Then we enter the data for the parcel, print the label and book the driver.
3. We have to declare the shipment of goods with a Proformer invoice for customs.
4. All data is then written on it: Guest, product, declaration that it was a forgotten item, etc.

The Shipment costs around 90€ depending on how big the package is and what customs says, since they decide the pricing on site.Let us know how you would like to proceed and apologies for any inconveniences! Is this a normal process? And can anyone advise me for a better option? Many thanks,

I hosted a holiday rental for 5 years can count on one hand the amount of times things were left!

Seems v unreasonable of them. Just wanted to add though that when we left AirPods abroad (in Europe) last summer, they couldn’t post them to us because of the batteries (no courier or postal service would touch them). We ended up finding someone out there (friend of a friend) who could bring them home for us. Do you think the air bnb owner would hand them over to someone else without charging you, if you could find someone over there?