Guest took loads of my food?

[Libby14]

Hiya! recently I went away and had guests in the flat.On the phone they asked if they could use stuff in the kicthen and I said yes, but I thought they meant utensils and tea and coffee (the stuff with labels saying help yourself). Upon my return i've noticed theyve taken so much stuff. Like 10 cans of cider, expensive organic cupboard contents like seitan, full jars of honey and peanut butter. I'm really annoyed but it' probably was a misunderstanding. I just dont know how they could have thought that was ok? What should I do?

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Libby14

as you said this was probably misunderstanding. In the future you should treat your guests like small children when you give them any info or instructions. Short but clear. Never assume they understand, assume they don't.

I don't want to say that all guests are stupid, but, some of them don't understand and don't speak very well English, some of them are not thinking, some of them have a head full of informations because they travel and visit so many places in a short time, some will come from totally different cultures and have different habits... 

I would write them in a private message that they obviously didn't understand me and in the future they should not do that and should read labels . That's not what you do when you are ABB guest.

But you are not the only one with this experience. If you rent your home to strangers while you are away you should remove all your personal stuff in a separate room and lock it. Maybe this guest have done it because of misunderstanding, but someone else will maybe do it deliberately 😞

[Libby14]

Thanks for the reply. Do you think I should ask them to pay some of it? I just went on the balcony and realised theyve drank all the can of coke too. But I cant find any rubbish for this so I think they've just taken it for the road 😞

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Libby14

That must have been a shock - but as you say it was a misunderstanding. They asked if they could use the stuff in the kitchen and you said yes, but didn't qualify that in any way by saying (yes, except....).

I am not sure you can blame them as they did ask.

[Hilary-And-Ed0]

What a bummer.  I don't think you should charge them for it, however. It does seem to be a misunderstanding, as they did ask permission. It just seems they were asking about permission to use certain things (food), and you assumed they were asking about other things (pots/pans). I guess just chalk this one up to a learning experience.  From here forward you might keep a locked cabinet, or clearly tell people what they can/can't use when you are showing them around.