Odd things vanishing.

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>
Hells Bells
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Odd things vanishing.

Post by Hells Bells »

I've noticed some strange things disappearing from our place recently. A UK 4-gang extension cable with French plug, parts of the light fittings that hold the shades in place (bulbs hadn't been changed), a curry recipe book, a walking map and all of our UK travel adaptors have gone in the past year. The dining chairs have lost several screws from the brackets that hold the seats in place. We replaced the covers in October and have only had 2 sets of guests since then. Screws have obviously just been thrown away.
newtimber
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Re: Odd things vanishing.

Post by newtimber »

Hells Bells wrote: The dining chairs have lost several screws from the brackets that hold the seats in place. We replaced the covers in October and have only had 2 sets of guests since then. Screws have obviously just been thrown away.
The screws often fall out - you need to check regularly and tighten any that are loose...
Hells Bells
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Post by Hells Bells »

We do, and we've only had one set of guests since they were done, and screws have now been thrown away
Sam V
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Post by Sam V »

Sounds like you may have a poltergeist with a compulsive interest in maps, electrical and fittings removed in a circular motion. You may soon find all the items behind an unrelated item of furniture.
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russellt
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Post by russellt »

We have definitely seen an increase in petty pilfering in the last couple of years. Things just disappear.

My theory? More bookings via the big booking sites + increased cost of booking for the guest + no direct relationship with the owner = warped sense of guest getting more value for money.

Some guests also believe that owners are now so beholden to online reviews that we would never make the accusation of theft.
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COYS
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Post by COYS »

DVD's & playstation games as regular as clockwork.
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Circé
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Post by Circé »

Staying in a French-owned Gite de France property last Autumn (third stay in 3 years, & booked again for next year!), the owner knowing what we do for a living asked me if I'd make her a list of missing/broken/would be useful items. She was shocked when I said there was no oven tray (the sort that comes with the oven), nor any of the roasting dishes/pans she supplied.
Who walks away with an oven tray? And it's hardly something you'd bin by mistake like cutlery.
windrush
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Post by windrush »

We had a large wicker laundry basket vanish into thin air.
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Post by GillianF »

I hope this is not going to be a trend.

I think it is a lot to do with a lack of respect in life generally and the idea that gite owners are 'rich, retired' and 'coining it in' and if owners are not on site there is no 'face'.

The growing trend of booking remotely through the internet, bookings sites etc. makes owners appear invisible, corporate, faceless.

Joe Public is, I think, generally fed up with the 'haves' and sees the gite as just another example of it.

I'm sure those that pilfer do not see it as theft but just that it is there, available, no-one will know and "why shouldn't I".

Add to that the owners' fear of a bad review and it's a lethal cocktail.
COYS
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Post by COYS »

Circé wrote:She was shocked when I said there was no oven tray (the sort that comes with the oven), nor any of the roasting dishes/pans she supplied.
Who walks away with an oven tray? And it's hardly something you'd bin by mistake like cutlery.
Just as likely thrown away by somebody who couldn't be arsed to clean it after use?
I've lost count of the amount of oven/cookware/barbecue tools that have probably met a similar fate & been replaced time & again.
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pambon
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Post by pambon »

I'm shocked at the amount of pilfering you have all suffered. In ten years the only thing 'pilfered' were two batteries removed from the wall clock!!
OSINCLAIR
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Post by OSINCLAIR »

We do not suffer much from pilfering but when done must be deliberate - an iron, an ethernet cable and most bizarrely a dustbin? Not have I yet been confident enough to level an accusation, I just suck it up and buy another. We do not clean ourselves but have a cleaner who goes in and I can never be sure whether it was the most recent guests that made off with the item or whether absence was just not noticed on an earlier clean. However we have also had te opposite where guests buy items as a thankyou or replace something they have broken that I would just put down to wear and tear. Generally I am heartened by how well our place is treated. It was not what I expected when I went into this business and my faith in human nature is generally restored!!!
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Post by AndrewH »

With some items it could be souvenir hunting, but mostly I would think this is pilfering based on the dishonest premise that this owner must be loaded to own this place, so it's OK to steal a small item.

Last year a potato masher went missing, and two years ago we lost a whole new packet of large bin liners. Not big stuff so I just shrug my shoulders. (Bit cross about the potato masher actually, because they don't seem to sell them in Greece).
Ecosse
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Post by Ecosse »

AndrewH wrote: (Bit cross about the potato masher actually, because they don't seem to sell them in Greece).
That's probably why it went missing
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PW in Polemi
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Post by PW in Polemi »

We've been very fortunate, no pilfering, petty or otherwise. But we have had things bought and left behind - replacement "nibbles" bowl, local "briki" (pot for cookling Cyprus coffee), tablecloth, assorted pool toys, DVDs, maps and books by the dozen ...

Like others, I believe that if the guest meets you and realises that the holiday accommodation is not owned by an anonymous entity, then the guest is much less likely to indulge in bad behaviour and petty pilfering.
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