Guests taking host's food

Gonçalo shared Nov 1 2015

Guest Stealing Expensive Gourmet

So same thing happened again...

Background: We offer self-service breakfast in our home. The fridge has been divided & tagged into different parts: shared part, our part, and each guest room has their own part. Guest normally are offered with basics for breakfast: egg, ham, cheese, jam, butter, orange juice etc ..

This morning I woke up and opened the fridge - guess what, half package of my turkey bacon is gone, even there were still a lot of normal ham in the shared part...

Same thing happened to my coconut oil, sesame oil, jam hand made by my grandma, expensive honey...

These kind of things are just so upsetting - not about the food itself just feel like some people are just not respectful at all.. Bahhhhhhb...

Anyone has solution? Thoughts?

Thanks


Serena
Get a small separate guest fridge.

Gonçalo
Hi Serena, I'm still have some concerns over the second fridge idea. If the guest is comfortable taking food from the part with our names on, i think they would also open the host fridge... What you think?

Kelly
It is a different level of temptation when you see vs. when you don't see.

Serena
A small fridge would be worth a try. Clearly labeled for guests. Get a fridge lock for your main fridge.

Fiona
I have a small fridge in each guest room. Well worth the expense.

nathalie
Is it noisy?

Carrie
Either as Serena suggests, or another fridge that is either locked or in a hidden location for your own "private" items. I share everything with my guests, so I just show them the fridge & pantry & tell them to help themselves. I do have a favorite coffee mug I don't want my guests to use, so I've started putting my mug in a high cabinet shelf, away from the rest of my coffee mugs.

Gonçalo
Hi Carrie, We have one kitchen and its pretty open. Would be pretty messed up if we have to move the food upstairs everything is we want to cook...

nathalie
Goncalo, i suggest you to think in a more global way. If 99% of your guests do not take anything and 1% take honey and beacon and you keep making profit, it is not a big deal. I come from the home exchange world and i do not mind guests use oil, coffee , pasta etc. Some do. Other do not. Some use soap and shampoo. Other don't. It is just included in my gross price. If you start to be upsetting by some honey, you may loose your joy in hosting.


Gonçalo
Hi Nathelie,

Please read my post before you comment - I did offer all the basic for the guest. Everything you mentioned it's in my offering listing

I am saying that there are some gourmet that I'm reluctant to share, which I'm entitled. e.g a jar of coconut oil is 10x more than olive oil. Same as the ham of my grandma, which she only makes a small portion every year for special family treat.

Read before judge please

Carrie
I don't believe that Nathalie was judging, I think she was trying to be helpful, and I agree with her view. If you're having a problem with guests taking things that you don't want them to take, your choices seem to either be to decide to share, or to find a way (like keeping them in a place they can't find them) that they won't or can't take your things. Just like I put my favorite coffee mug in a place that I hope guests won't see it.


Gonçalo
Hi Carrie I don't agree with Natalie because she misread my post and jumped into the conclusion that " I am not willing to share basic", which is not my attitude at all. I can't find that helpful. I value your suggestion but I still can't get over the concept of hiding my things in my own house ...

nathalie
Goncalo, i did read you post and understood there was some kitchen item you do not want to share. There is kitchen access , so or you put in perspective as i suggest or you remove them as Carrie said or you forbid kitchen access as some hosts do. Please read carefully my reply before jumping on wrong conclusions.

Gonçalo
Nathalie, I ready very carefully of what you said. You started with economical analysis. you mentioned that the basics are included in your gloss price, so do I. But there are things beyond basic, which are not included in the "gloss price". And it's exactly the things that are not included, I am upsetting about. I don't agree with the idea of hiding things in my own house. I leave my things in a place with my name tag, which make it more than obvious that guests should not touch them. It's a principle. I am asking suggestion to improve on the guest end, instead of the host end because I don't agree that this is an issue hosts should compromise ours life habit for

Fiona
Gonçalo is perfectly entitled to share or not share whatever he chooses with guests. The reason I am doing Airbnb is not to feed the world but rather to make money and I'm sure most other people are the same. People are in our homes which is very different from renting out a separate apartment. In the UK it breaches fire regulations to let guests use the kitchen so I'd be very careful about that. Gonçalo - get a fridge in each guest room or at least one guest fridge. Alternatively charge for breakfast. It soon puts people off! You have to be in control in your own home and ignore others who think we are here to fund the worlds' travel experience. Being a good host has everything to do with personality and nothing to do with funding the travelling public. If I have money to throw away I'll give it to starving children in Africa first.

Keith
Fiona, you're comments demonstrate an extremely myopic and self centered view. All this money you're making... it comes form customers who are buying your product.. just as you're entitled to share or not share, they're entitled to have reasonable expectations. they're paying customers and this person is providing breakfast--being nitpicky about the difference between ham and turkey bacon is not something a rational person, especially one paying for a listing that provides breakfast items, can really easily understand. As for use of kitchen... if local law makes it impossible that's fine, but make sure you don't mention it or show pictures of it in the listing. a photo is an invitation even though the words say "look at this wonderful thing you can't use". In any case... guests are paying customers without whom you have no business. It would serve hosts well to remember that guests have the right to expect value for their money just as hosts can expect guests expectations are managed and fair.

nathalie
Agree with Keith

Carrie

I would expect that with sixteen separate listings, it's very hard to police... uhm... manage... what each set of guest might do.

Gonçalo
Exactly. it's always hard to manage human natures, irrelevant to how many listings one has. That's why I believe the solution should be more imposed on the guest end, instead of compromising on the host end.


nathalie
Goncalo ,i understand but human beings are... human beings.
You will have 99% alright and 1% not alright.

The basic advice is to remove anything you care and values.

To remove my things everytime i rent take me more time than the cleaning.
It is boring and time consuming but it is the only way not to have them disapeared.


Keith
This is simply a cost of doing business.. while people should just stick to the parts allocated to them, this is how some people are and you'll just have to roll with the punches. Make sure you're room rate covers the occasional extra consumption from a guest.

Alternatively stop offering an elaborate breakfast. Put in your listing that "continental breakfast" is provided (these don't include eggs--usually cereal, baked goods and maybe fruit).. inviting people to make an omelette with your ingredients will invite them to prefer your turkey bacon over the ham you provide.

The view from the guest is that they used some turkey bacon in lieu of ham so your costs are the same. they're probably right although they didn't consider that you had plans for the turkey bacon.


Gonçalo
Hi Nathalie,

I don't agree with what you said.

If it's what you say, I can't enjoy my own kitchen fully because I have to not use anything i care or value. That's just not the right way thing should be regardless of how human nature is, even its just 1%. And exactly because the number is so small, I dont think hosts should just change our life habit to adapt. As I believe you should not suffer from all those boring and time consuming works. It's not part of offering the best service, instead if encourage "victim blaming" - if you don't hide your things in your own house, you deserve to be stolen - that's just not right.


Carrie
Goncalo - I thought you were posting here for advice on what to do. Are you just asking for sympathy? If so: I'm so sorry that some guests used items that you did not want them to use. If you are asking for advice, and people are offering it, you might think about being gracious even if you disagree with them.

nathalie
Keith , why are you asking advice if you do not want to listen to experimented host as Keith and Carrie?
Why do you think many hosts forbid kitchen access?
Why do you think many hosts have lockers on some drawers?

The world is as it is not as you want it to be.

Last try : put a post-it on the honey pot !


nathalie
sorry not Keith, Goncalo, why are you asking...

Gonçalo
Hi Carrie, I value your opinion, as in the previous post i already said it. But sorry it's not what i would do because it against my principal.


Gonçalo
Hi Nathalie, people do things in their own way and Im asking suggestion but doesn't mean i will have to take them. It's alway good to hear other opinions but if it doesn't work for me, it doesn't. And why make you think I dont listen to Keith?

Gonçalo
Keith - thank you for your fair opinion. I agree with you. With all the cleaning fee I am paying to the cleaning company every month, I think it's enough to hire a housekeeper for the house including making breakfast by portion. This way guest might not mess up my kitchen while still able to enjoy the breakfast.


Fiona
Hi Gonçalo, I think if you have designated areas in the fridge that are shared then guests should respect that. If they don't, put a t in their review and future guests will get the message. I wouldn't worry too much about changing things and agree you shouldn't have to hoard and hide food in your own house. I would absolutely take different measures over things that are precious to you like your grandmothers homemade jam. Put it in a brown paper bag with your name on it and a clip on top or something like that.

Anne
I'm wanting to hear CC'S response!

Deborah
CC is probably standing by with a rolling pin, frying pan or broom ready to bop a guest who filches grandma's ham...

Andrew (andrew)
Without knowing how clear your kitchen labeling system is, the way it's divided up sounds like quite a complicated and potentially confusing system to have in your own household. A guest who mistakes your personal stuff for shared items may be an annoyance to you, but it would be an even bigger problem if they started taking stuff from the other guests. And as for the condiments like coconut oil, sesame oil, and honey - well, either you offer stuff like condiments, oils, and spices for guests to use or you don't, but you can't expect guests to instinctively know that it's OK to use the olive oil but not the coconut, or the sugar but not the honey.

As an in-home host, it is worthwhile to make a serious cost/benefit analysis of granting guests access to the kitchen and offering "self-serve" breakfast. It may be a selling feature for many, but on the other hand it means you'll attract more guests who intend to make heavy use of the kitchen, risk having your boundaries overstepped, have more potential issues with cleaning and conflicts of timing when everyone in the house wants to prepare a meal at the same time. Since I stopped offering breakfast, I have gotten almost exclusively guests who prefer to have their meals out, and only use the kitchen for chilling their beers or making coffee.


Kelly
Always prepare for the worst case - I would love to live in the world where no one takes other people's groceries. But it is not the case. If you leave things where guests can see, some will use it. No matter how strongly you said not to. If you hide it somewhere, but without the lock, still some will use it - but less than before.


HELEN
I have read this thread with interest. I think that when you come into this group to relate a hosting problem, you should expect to receive a wide range of comments and you will not always like what you hear. To me, the solution is very simple: don't allow cooking in your kitchen, period. In my house manual I invite my guests to use the microwave for heating food, but a NO COOKING rule applies.
I also agree that when the occasional unfortunate thing happens - such as someone dipping into your honey pot - or leaving a stain on the bed sheets - one has to accept it as part of the business risk. As long as it only happens occasionally, we should take it on the chin. We earn a good income with Airbnb revenue, and little things that go wrong should be considered part of our expenses.
Just my two cents.

Deborah (High Priestess)
I'm not clear Goncalo if you made it crystal clear that guests cannot eat food that they did not themselves buy, or which is in your section. The first way to prevent guests eating your food, it is to make it 100%, abundantly, crystal clear that guests cannot eat your food. I would further suggest that it is not good to offer self-service breakfast to guests, or have "shared food" section if you want to draw strict boundaries between your food and theirs. Once you start givng guests some food or sharing any food at all, the boundaries start to blur and just a few inches to left or right, fingers grab at food that maybe they hope is shared food too. And the concept of private food goes out the window.

This is an example of the kind of situation where I think you need not only clear rules, but you need a sensible system that doesn't lend itself to abuse and tempt guests to violate rules and take what isn't theirs.

If you are having this problem often, meaning, with more than just one guest, I recommend that you STOP giving guests a self-serve breakfast. Make it 100% clear that you provide no food for guests and that they must buy ALL their own food. Then, I suggest also having an entirely separate refrigerator for guests to use. ANd make it clear that they are never to open your refrigerator for any purpose, as all things inside it are yours and you are not sharing them.

Making rules and keeping boundaries is an art. It is difficult but we learn by doing and making mistakes.