Breathing easier now, but....may I vent?

I do it whenever possible and sometimes, depending on the check in schedule of the next guest, I offer it when they haven’t even asked. I believe our two bad experiences are the outliers.

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I use a Schlage Sense smart lock. The lock is super smart - I fell short this time.

That’s exactly it, I think. It was my first impression.

Nope…4 stars. It did affect my overall percentage rating.

There are guests who feel that 5 stars is for “absolutely perfect in every way.” They equate 5 stars to a 100, not a 90-100. It’s unjust that you don’t get “extra credit” for early check in. I suppose that’s why some people say don’t do anything extra. I have seven four star reviews and every one of them seemed unjust to me and 6 of them involved me doing something extra (like letting the guest use my kitchen even though no kitchen is listed. English wasn’t their native language so I took the blame.) Another was from a woman who stayed twice with me. First time she left no review after telling me she loved it and would give a 5 star review. On her return trip she left 4 stars and a very mediocre review. I gave her a bowl and a spoon even though my listing says no kitchen, no dishes, no utensils. And so on. I remember every single 4 star guest.

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It stings, doesn’t it? Especially since, as hosts, we try so hard to be accommodating. So did you message any of the four privately? I just wanted to message her something along the lines of “again I am really sorry the inconvenience my code error caused, but I thought perhaps you’d forgive me that since I arranged to have the apartment ready three hours early at your request.”

I also learnt this lesson. Early and late check outs did absolutely nothing for my reviews either so good riddance

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It’s annoying, no doubt. I didn’t message any of them as I learned early on (thanks to the forum) that it’s not worth my time. I was a public school high school teacher for 28 years and I quit taking things personally long ago. For every student who said I was a terrible, unfair teacher there were 10 telling me how great I was (and 20 who were indifferent lol) Still a lot of things were said to me over the years that were intended to be insulting but you learn that they just don’t matter. I have 487 five star reviews so I just read them instead.

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Tell her, not airbnb. SHe needs to learn! If you don’t tell her she might do the same thing to another host. And yes, please reply to her review and state that you allowed her to come in 3 hrs early and she gave you a 3 star review because you accidentally gave her a wrong code but you were at home and let her in. If I read that, I would not want to host this woman.

I, as tourist, had this from a host in Brooklyn. The guy was at home, I texted him the code didn’t work and he came downstairs and let me in. Gave him 5 stars. I only gave a host 3 stars when he forgot to give me the lockbox code and I was in the car reading the communication between us. Texted him, no answer. Called him, no answer. This was before I was a host myself. Then I got out of the car and rang the bell. His house mate opened the door and refused to let me in saying “he should have sent you the lockbox code” and slammed the door in my face. All this time I badly needed to go to the bathroom. Stayed a while in the car wondering what to do and when I felt I could pee myself, I banged on the door again and yelled at the roommate to let me in and that the host forgot to send me the code and doesn’t answer his phone and I needed to pee badly. that evening I didn’t dare to go out to have dinner bc I was afraid I would not be able to get back in. The host was working the night shift. So I left the first thing in the am and gave him a bad review.

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I thought of that. Future hosts would appreciate the warning that she won’t hesitate to zing them at the slightest annoyance. I wouldn’t ever host her again. That makes me wonder - is there anywhere where we can block someone from booking again? Should be. Otherwise, they could auto book and then we’d have to cancel.

Yes, if she had been inconvenienced that way you were with the lack of code in Brooklyn, I’d be much more understanding of a low rating.

You could try looking under “report this guest.” Sometimes there are options ( I can’t recall which ones) to block. Or call Airbnb and tell them to block her for you.

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the old ‘do a guest a favour and lose a star’ scenario.

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One other thing, I forgot to mention… if this access code is a regular thing that doesn’t change, then create a saved note in Airbnb messaging that contains that information. That way you never have to worry about transposing the numbers. I have a bunch of standard messages. I usually customize the intro, or alter some of the details if needed, but there is always information that doesn’t change, so I can leave that and just concentrate on any new info that I am including.

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Note that some insurance companies will insist that every group of guests get a different code. It’s not brilliant for security if the code doesn’t change but is regularly given to strangers. Some companies also want to know how far in advance the guest receives the code.

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Good point @jaquo. In @Arbek’s case, I was thinking… because it is an apartment building, that the ability to change the code is limited. I have an alarm system for my home, which is a bit different. Each guest chooses their own code. I am able to program it myself and then delete it when they leave.

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The code is different for every guest. A Schlage Sense lock.

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And the guest doesn’t get the code until the previous guest has checked out and their code is deleted.

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Ah ha… okay… well then… never mind my last post :blush:

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It isn’t an apartment building - it is an English basement w/ private entrance in my historic row house.

Because we almost always leave a full day between stays we can allow early check-in from a stated 2pm and I usually mention this in my week before arrival message to guests as a “special favour” Not ONE single guests has ever remarked on it or thanked us for it. I don’t really know why we state a check-in time, I might as well just say “What the heck, turn up when you feel like” since they’re going to do that anyway …

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