what do you do with things left behind?

[ginocat]

Unless it's really valuable I don't contact the guests - I let them contact me. If I have to send something back I charge their credit card. I charge for the postage, I buy a postage bag or box to put it in and charge for that and will also add another dollar or two for my time and to cover the credit card fees. Of course I tell them I will be charging them before I do it/send it. I've had some people tell me not to bother sending the item then. That's fine too as it takes me time and energy to deal with it.

 

[JBloggs]

A guest left a pillow behind and contacted me to send it COD. Can you still send things COD?
Not to mention MY TIME AND MY GAS. I thought COD was a thing of the past?

 

[EmptyNest]

A guest left a pillow behind and contacted me to send it COD. Can you still send things COD?
Not to mention MY TIME AND MY GAS. I thought COD was a thing of the past?.

I don't think you can send anything COD any longer. I have never heard of anyone doing it in a long long time. Tell her you will charge her card or else forget it.
THis from Wikipediat: This type of transaction was previously known better as cash on delivery, however as other forms of payment became more common, . Even with this, COD has become much less common now, and most companies will not ship this way.
SO, WHY SHOULD YOU? OK ..so I got curious. See this...it does still exist.

 

[Samster]

A guest left a pillow behind and contacted me to send it COD. Can you still send things COD?
Not to mention MY TIME AND MY GAS. I thought COD was a thing of the past?.

I had a guest send me a prepaid envelope to return a couple of polo shirts. I guess he thought that I'd overcharge his credit card?? Whatever.....
I thought COD was a thing of the past, too.

 

[JBloggs]

A guest left a pillow behind and contacted me to send it COD. Can you still send things COD?
Not to mention MY TIME AND MY GAS. I thought COD was a thing of the past?.

I don't think you can send anything COD any longer. I have never heard of anyone doing it in a long long time. Tell her you will charge her card or else forget it.
THis from Wikipediat: This type of transaction was previously known better as cash on delivery, however as other forms of payment became more common, . Even with this, COD has become much less common now, and most companies will not ship this way.
SO, WHY SHOULD YOU? OK ..so I got curious. See this...it does still exist.
.

What happens on the other end if they don't pay, do they return it to ME and I have to pay plus? I am reading that and trying to figure it out. There must be sentimental value to this small pillow, it is just a small 10 "pillow.
Okay so from the link it is $5.50 and my time and my gas to go mail this to her. Let me see if I have her cc card details, I probably purged them.

 

[user 26]

if i was returning things, i asked guests to authorize payment by credit card. we had stuff left behind all the time and i could not afford to be shipping things all over the place. shipping a few of these every couple days and it really adds up. it was mostly sweatshirts that were left on the decks, on the chairs in the yard and in the library.
phone chargers were hands down most often the thing left behind ... and folks usually called me to ask if they'd left them. that's a good idea to ask 'do you have your phone charger?' when saying goodbye.
i think you can ship via UPS c.o.d. i have no idea how it works.

 

[Iris]

We don't notify for the simple reason that we don't have the dang time. If someone calls and asks me to send back things I send them COD for the shipping and packaging cost.
There are years when nearly everyone forgets something. This year, however, is the year that my T.V.remote controlls are being packed and not sent back. Grrrrr...

 

[Breakfast Diva]

A guest left a pillow behind and contacted me to send it COD. Can you still send things COD?
Not to mention MY TIME AND MY GAS. I thought COD was a thing of the past?.

A guest left a pillow behind and contacted me to send it COD. Can you still send things COD?
Not to mention MY TIME AND MY GAS. I thought COD was a thing of the past?

If you go to usps.com you can order flat rate boxes and priority boxes free of charge. They deliver them right to you. Also, go on the website and you can do shipping online and it prints up the mailing label and figures out the postage. The mail carrier will pick it up with your regular delivery. The flat rate boxes are a set dollar amount and you can shove as much stuff in them as you can for the same charge. This is a good option if you don't have a scale to weigh the package. I use it all the time and charge the guest. It's very convenient and I don't have to leave the inn to go to the post office.

 

[The Farmers Daughter]

I keep them for a month and then donate them to the salvation army if they are clothing or shoes. For jewelry or eyeglasses, the guest nearly always calls and I ship it to them at their expense.

 

[Joey Camb]

We keep for 3 months then chuck (except underpants and socks) if it is something expensive such as a mobile or Ipod I would try and call most people offer to pay and I keep a stack of padded envelopes from when I have ordered stuff to save money on packaging. I only post them when I am going to the town centre anyway (that is where the post office is) I had one chap stay where I used to work in a hotel and he was awful so offensive and rude the duty manager chucked him and his wife out. Then she had the cheek to ring and say she had forgotten to pack her hot water bottle. We found it and rang back and said could we have a card number to charge (he had paid in cash for the stay) and he wouldn't give me one he said he would send a cheque for the postage when it came. I said I wouldn't post it without the money in advance where by was treated to a lecture about how much money he had to the point where I hung up. Don't know what it is like in USA but in this country if you post something without stamps on the people receiving it have to collect it from their post office and pay about 4 times as much so I popped it in the post with no postage on and serves him right. I won't take assurances they will send money when it arrives as I think that's a fairy story.

 

[JBloggs]

Just wondering, you know this thread was started in 2008 right? Please, feel free to start NEW THREADS on any subject...these are pretty old.

 

[The Farmers Daughter]

Here is a true story I will share about an Inn close to me.
They had couple come for the weekend and stay in one of their more expensive, upscale suites.
After the couple departed, the housekeeper found a brand new and very expensive mans dress shirt in a gift box under the bed. The shirt was a custom shirt from a London tailor, complete with the mans initials monogramed on the cuffs.
Certainly this was overlooked when they packed up to leave!
The innkeeper (out of the kindness of his heart) packed up the beautiful shirt and returned it, insured and at his expense to the address the couple used at check it.
A few days later, he gets a telephone call from this mans enraged wife, wanting to know what tramp he had been there with when he told his wife he was at a conference in Chicago that weekend!
The poor innkeeper was subpoena for the divorce case.
This is why I always wait for the customer to call for anything left behind.

 

[BBBBoB]

Here is a true story I will share about an Inn close to me.
They had couple come for the weekend and stay in one of their more expensive, upscale suites.
After the couple departed, the housekeeper found a brand new and very expensive mans dress shirt in a gift box under the bed. The shirt was a custom shirt from a London tailor, complete with the mans initials monogramed on the cuffs.
Certainly this was overlooked when they packed up to leave!
The innkeeper (out of the kindness of his heart) packed up the beautiful shirt and returned it, insured and at his expense to the address the couple used at check it.
A few days later, he gets a telephone call from this mans enraged wife, wanting to know what tramp he had been there with when he told his wife he was at a conference in Chicago that weekend!
The poor innkeeper was subpoena for the divorce case.
This is why I always wait for the customer to call for anything left behind..

I guess you never know!

 

[EmptyNest]

Just wondering, you know this thread was started in 2008 right? Please, feel free to start NEW THREADS on any subject...these are pretty old..

My guess is, most new people coming in here don't really read the posting date and so just reply thinking they are helping out by sharing. But you are right...gets kind of confusing for us "old folks here" who have already been through these old ones. Rather than posting new, it is just easier to reply to the old posting.

 

[white pine]

Just wondering, you know this thread was started in 2008 right? Please, feel free to start NEW THREADS on any subject...these are pretty old..

My guess is, most new people coming in here don't really read the posting date and so just reply thinking they are helping out by sharing. But you are right...gets kind of confusing for us "old folks here" who have already been through these old ones. Rather than posting new, it is just easier to reply to the old posting.
.

Hi guys-
From a newbie standpoint, a lot here is kind of confusing. No posting rules we see. Perhaps there are standard posting rules of the web we don't know about, but we don't mean to be stupid we are just uneducated and trying to learn.
I read the old threads and am never sure if I should make a comment there--seems too old so I don't.
I search the forum and read before I post because I don't feel that I should open up something that has been gone over before.
Do really consider this a great place to learn and thank you all for your patience and willingness to share.

 

[swirt]

Just wondering, you know this thread was started in 2008 right? Please, feel free to start NEW THREADS on any subject...these are pretty old..

My guess is, most new people coming in here don't really read the posting date and so just reply thinking they are helping out by sharing. But you are right...gets kind of confusing for us "old folks here" who have already been through these old ones. Rather than posting new, it is just easier to reply to the old posting.
.

Hi guys-
From a newbie standpoint, a lot here is kind of confusing. No posting rules we see. Perhaps there are standard posting rules of the web we don't know about, but we don't mean to be stupid we are just uneducated and trying to learn.
I read the old threads and am never sure if I should make a comment there--seems too old so I don't.
I search the forum and read before I post because I don't feel that I should open up something that has been gone over before.
Do really consider this a great place to learn and thank you all for your patience and willingness to share.
.

I actually prefer, if the topic is not time-related, to have the old threads continue ... that way we don't have to reference people back to where it has been discussed before.
Admittedly, it is easy to get caught up in reading a thread and not pay attention to the date of the original post (the discussions here are often that engrossing)... and to not know whether the person you are responding to is even active anymore.

 

[JBloggs]

Just wondering, you know this thread was started in 2008 right? Please, feel free to start NEW THREADS on any subject...these are pretty old..

My guess is, most new people coming in here don't really read the posting date and so just reply thinking they are helping out by sharing. But you are right...gets kind of confusing for us "old folks here" who have already been through these old ones. Rather than posting new, it is just easier to reply to the old posting.
.

Hi guys-
From a newbie standpoint, a lot here is kind of confusing. No posting rules we see. Perhaps there are standard posting rules of the web we don't know about, but we don't mean to be stupid we are just uneducated and trying to learn.
I read the old threads and am never sure if I should make a comment there--seems too old so I don't.
I search the forum and read before I post because I don't feel that I should open up something that has been gone over before.
Do really consider this a great place to learn and thank you all for your patience and willingness to share.
.

I actually prefer, if the topic is not time-related, to have the old threads continue ... that way we don't have to reference people back to where it has been discussed before.
Admittedly, it is easy to get caught up in reading a thread and not pay attention to the date of the original post (the discussions here are often that engrossing)... and to not know whether the person you are responding to is even active anymore.
.

I actually prefer, if the topic is not time-related, to have the old threads continue ... that way we don't have to reference people back to where it has been discussed before.
Admittedly, it is easy to get caught up in reading a thread and not pay attention to the date of the original post (the discussions here are often that engrossing)... and to not know whether the person you are responding to is even active anymore.

Sometimes the threads can go on and on and on and sidetrack and then someone comments on something very out of date and/or that person is no longer even an innkeeper on the forum, and then you have to ready pages of comments on one thread to even get what they are talking about.
This is where I was asking a while back to have an ignore thread button, so we can skip the "baking bread" thread if we are totally uninterested in it.
If the title of the thread is appropriate it really helps with this as well, many times people use exclamation marks and make the threads too personal to begin with. I have no problem is the moderator changes a title of a thread I have started to keep it on topic.

 

[Copperhead]

Just wondering, you know this thread was started in 2008 right? Please, feel free to start NEW THREADS on any subject...these are pretty old..

My guess is, most new people coming in here don't really read the posting date and so just reply thinking they are helping out by sharing. But you are right...gets kind of confusing for us "old folks here" who have already been through these old ones. Rather than posting new, it is just easier to reply to the old posting.
.

Hi guys-
From a newbie standpoint, a lot here is kind of confusing. No posting rules we see. Perhaps there are standard posting rules of the web we don't know about, but we don't mean to be stupid we are just uneducated and trying to learn.
I read the old threads and am never sure if I should make a comment there--seems too old so I don't.
I search the forum and read before I post because I don't feel that I should open up something that has been gone over before.
Do really consider this a great place to learn and thank you all for your patience and willingness to share.
.

I actually prefer, if the topic is not time-related, to have the old threads continue ... that way we don't have to reference people back to where it has been discussed before.
Admittedly, it is easy to get caught up in reading a thread and not pay attention to the date of the original post (the discussions here are often that engrossing)... and to not know whether the person you are responding to is even active anymore.
.

I agree with you Swirt, it is easlier (at least most of the time) to continue old threads. I have seen too many "we discussed this already" statements. Maybe the new post may shed new light to the subject. Now if the subject is time sensitive, as in problems with a certain guest, etc, best just to leave those topics closed once they have passed as bringing them back up does make for me to scatch my head

.
As for all the newbees on here...we welcome you and your comments. As far as I am concerned - no problems - keep posting, I enjoy fresh ideas!

 

[EmptyNest]

Just wondering, you know this thread was started in 2008 right? Please, feel free to start NEW THREADS on any subject...these are pretty old..

My guess is, most new people coming in here don't really read the posting date and so just reply thinking they are helping out by sharing. But you are right...gets kind of confusing for us "old folks here" who have already been through these old ones. Rather than posting new, it is just easier to reply to the old posting.
.

Hi guys-
From a newbie standpoint, a lot here is kind of confusing. No posting rules we see. Perhaps there are standard posting rules of the web we don't know about, but we don't mean to be stupid we are just uneducated and trying to learn.
I read the old threads and am never sure if I should make a comment there--seems too old so I don't.
I search the forum and read before I post because I don't feel that I should open up something that has been gone over before.
Do really consider this a great place to learn and thank you all for your patience and willingness to share.
.

I actually prefer, if the topic is not time-related, to have the old threads continue ... that way we don't have to reference people back to where it has been discussed before.
Admittedly, it is easy to get caught up in reading a thread and not pay attention to the date of the original post (the discussions here are often that engrossing)... and to not know whether the person you are responding to is even active anymore.
.

I agree with you Swirt, it is easlier (at least most of the time) to continue old threads. I have seen too many "we discussed this already" statements. Maybe the new post may shed new light to the subject. Now if the subject is time sensitive, as in problems with a certain guest, etc, best just to leave those topics closed once they have passed as bringing them back up does make for me to scatch my head

.
As for all the newbees on here...we welcome you and your comments. As far as I am concerned - no problems - keep posting, I enjoy fresh ideas!
.

Please note, it has been ages since I said..... "we discussed this already"

I keep quiet and move on

 

[gillumhouse]

A recent guest asked about her phone charger. I found it. she mentioned senf=ding postage for it or she would buy a new one. Well I sent it. Was not disappointed - no postage received as of yet (nor do I expect it to arrive) and if hers was like my phone charger (well the one for the car anyway) it will be about $30. I know A charger comes with the phone, but a replacement? They probably make a nice profit on replacing lost ones....