Theft of toilet rolls and tissue box!

Agencies and other headaches, keys and cleaners, running costs and contracts...in short, all the things we spend so much of our time doing behind the scenes.<br>
zebedee
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Post by zebedee »

I would not consider this theft.

If you leave something out for guests to use, then don't be too surprised if they use it. Why else is it there?

Over time, you will have some who use everything you leave out and others who use little or nothing, so it all balances.

You are talking about costs of some loose change and if I were a guest I would not want to think I was being watched so closely. There are all kinds of personal and medical reasons why someone may have needed what they used.....
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Casscat
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Post by Casscat »

I really cannot get hung up about loo rolls and tissues. I provide loads of loo rolls and no one has yet run out. I provide one box of tissues per bedroom but don't replenish if they run out during their stay. Buying a single box of tissues is easy, but if you run out of toilet rolls in Spain you generally have to buy a pack of about a dozen. These paper goods are cheap in relation to the rental generated and I have no issue with supplying a generous stock.
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French Cricket
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Post by French Cricket »

I'm with zebedee and Casscat. MaryE, your accommodation sleeps 2 and sells on airbnb for 101 euros a night. Really, is it worth getting your knickers in a twist about guests' use of loo rolls and tissues? To the point where you refer to it as theft?

Sorry, but I think if you're going to enjoy being a host you probably need to lighten up a bit :?
GillianF
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Post by GillianF »

I leave two rolls in each loo. Two loos in a house sleeping 6.

I've never left tissues except in our B&B room. I leave a pump soap dispenser (at least half full) beside the kitchen sink and in the bathroom. When we go to a hotel the first thing we do is go to the loo and we don't want to have to unpack our toilet bag to get the soap to wash our hands so it's nice to have soap and a towel there ready. That's my theory with B&B and self-catering. It's not a big expense.

If guests need more loo rolls they replenish when they go shopping. Occasionally, they leave the rolls they don't use behind. Sometimes, a guest has come around and asked for more and I've given them a couple of rolls with a smile. It's hardly going to break my bank.

As said, if you leave it there they will use it.
jlaceysmith
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Post by jlaceysmith »

Two new rolls and a box of tissues in each bathroom, handwash on all bathroom and kitchen sinks. Never thought of any usage as theft (although now I'm thinking that there must be a thief in my own house - we go through far more than the national average so I may need to start rationing)

http://encyclopedia.toiletpaperworld.co ... statistics
akwe-xavante
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Post by akwe-xavante »

My limited experience is after only 18 months is that if you leave something out for them to use however much or little of whatever consider it used or taken home already. So OK on occasions I'm wrong and on a rare occasion I end up with more than I left out for them.

I started by leaving out all sorts of things for them and very quickly realised this was a mistake and now leave out comparatively little. 2 x Loo rolls only for 1 to 4 people, a roll of kitchen paper and 5 poo bags, a cup full of coffee and sugar and a small handful of tea bags. 1/8 full handwash dispensers, 1 1/2" ish of washing up liquid.

Used to leave out a small box of washing powder & scoop, the scoop disappeared within the first month followed by a second one shortly afterwards (But off course you no longer get a new scoop with a new box of powder anymore!). The whole box of washing powder went in one go & the second box went so I put a couple of cups of powder into a sealable plastic box, that lasted less than a month before it went. I started leaving out a full bag of 200 poo bags and I lost a few full bags before I stopped, I only leave out 5 or so now. Batteries for the various remotes, at home I use decent branded Duracell's and that's how I started out and the lot went missing 3 times within the first few months so now I use the cheapest unbranded batteries I can find, they don't go missing anymore.

If it's considered to be a consumable and it isn't screwed down or chained it will get used or and get taken more often than not.
Zur Alten Weinkelter
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Post by Zur Alten Weinkelter »

yes it is amazing what guests think is included in the rental price

we have also had the Duracell batteries thief i now buy the ones when i am in the Uk from the pound shops " ok they do not last as long ...but they don't go missing

i wonder what other paraphernalia they try to take home

maybe my departure speech should be instead of

"are you sure you have not left anything behind"
to
"are you sure you have not taken anything that is not yours" :shock:
When it comes to wine, I tell people to invest in a good corkscrew. The best way to learn about wine is the drinking

The truth is the best German wine remains in Germany
So forget your memories of Blue Nun & Black Tower
akwe-xavante
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Post by akwe-xavante »

With my cottage there's a garden, has anybody else had plants taken? The problem here is I don't know for sure when they went missing!
jlaceysmith
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Post by jlaceysmith »

[quote]a cup full of coffee and sugar and a small handful of tea bags. 1/8 full handwash dispensers, 1 1/2" ish of washing up liquid.

I'm sorry, but I'd just hate it if I rented somewhere and it had dregs - I'd rather have nothing. I have coffee, tea and sugar in nice storage jars and I always put new handwash, washing up liquid etc in my gites (or refill up to full). It's all stuff I can use in my own house anyway, which is why the handwash in our bathroom is always 1/8th full and I never have a new kitchen roll....
Jenster
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Post by Jenster »

I leave batteries on the top shelf of the corner cupboard above the sink, with a note in the house file where to find them. This seems to work - people would have to climb on the surface or stand on a chair to get them (unless very tall) so don't tend to bother unless they really need them
louloup
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Post by louloup »

Going back to the original post, if you use quality toilet rolls, they are thicker and have more sheets unlike the cheaper ones where the rolls seem to be loosely wound and contain very little paper, so the number you use is definitely relative to that.

When I saw the title of this post I assumed that guests had broken into a store and taken a years supply or something like that. Theft seems a bit strong for two loo rolls & some tissues.
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AngloDutch
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Post by AngloDutch »

What we put in our farmhouse we expect to be used (up) and don't expect to see most of it when we go in to do the changeover.

As others have said, the amount of consumables (the clue is in the word) you should put in to an accommodation depends on the number of guests staying, how large the accommodation is, how long the guests are staying and how much they are paying.

We ensure that both WCs are stocked with at least 3 loo rolls each (no partially used rolls!), as well as a hand soap pump.

In the bathroom there is a soap pump and up to 42 bath/hand towels and face flannels (including for any babies).

In the kitchen there are always a good range of herbs, spices, cooking oils and condiments (with labels in various languages, all left by previous guests!), as well as a new roll of kitchen towel, a filled paper serviette dispenser and a soap pump.

There is a roll of biodegradable bags for the small pedal bin's green waste (as we are asking our guests to comply with our local recycling regulations after all) and a bottle of all-purpose cleaner to give them a hint to clean a bit during their stay.
The washing up brush is only replaced when the bristles are flattened/discoloured and if the scouring pad looks unused then it won't be replaced either for the next guests. The same with washing-up cloths. The thick ones are not thrown out unless they are discoloured. Just washed and reused. Otherwise we would go through a huge amount of brushes, pads and cloths each year.
The soap in the hand pumps and washing up liquid is topped up during the changeovers.

In the utility room, 2 dishwasher tablets per night's stay (but if we have a party staying a month during the summer, we will cap it at around 30 tablets). We have never provided washing powder, as we find that our guests have their own preferences, often bringing their own with them if travelling by car.

Every party booking via our own site as well as via each listing site receive a welcome pack, except for agency bookings. This contains 1 lt milk, 2 lts mango juice, pack of butter, 10 eggs, pack of ham, pack of Dutch cheese, pack of unsalted butter, 2 half loaves of bread, 1-2 bottles of wine, 4-6 cans of beer, 2 packs of coffee, sugar and pack of 20 tea bags.

In all, the cost is around €20-€25 for the welcome pack and another €5 for the loo rolls and coffee. And that on a 2-night weekend booking averaging around €650. The cost is of course calculated in our rates but we have countless comments in reviews from international guests saying how much they appreciated the welcome pack, so we find that it is much more worthwhile giving an little bit more than just coffee, tea and milk.

At the moment we have 10 guests staying a week through itravex (Owner Direct com's exchange programme), but
even though they are just paying $110 towards the cost of the end cleaning (they offered this themselves because they were so pleased that we accepted the exchange!), we have still given them the same welcome pack, as we would hope that other owners would do for us when we stay in their properties.

We do not put light bulb/battery or vacuum cleaner bag spares into drawers or cupboards as these have tended in the past to disappear at a slightly too fast a rate unfortunately. As we are on site, we just say to ask us if guests need something replaced, which is normally a set of batteries in a remote control. We use LED bulbs and check the vacuum cleaner bags regularly so there is really very little that they would need replaced during their stay.

And yes, we have had the odd guest coming around and asking for extra loo rolls. We buy 3-ply rolls in packs of 40 for €8, so that's 20 cents each roll. We just hand them another 4 or so rolls if they ask for them. The supermarket is 150 metres walk away, and normally open on Sundays as well, so really no excuse why they couldn't buy them themselves, but as we see it, if a group is paying €1,400 for a week's stay and wants another euro's worth of loo rolls, it really is no problem for us.

Happy guests (even the cheeky ones!) mean often repeat guests. And if they come back again and pay another €1,500, then they're welcome to have the extra €1's worth of loo rolls! :D
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