Hi Folks, this isn’t even a moan but just rather an amusing saga about a guest who couldn’t use the Airbnb system. Skip it by all means!
So, I was contacted by E about a potential booking. She said she was checking availability for her mother-in-law (D) who was going to pay for E, husband and herself to stay.
Eventually, D booked the place for 5 days and paid in full. I sent my usual greetings and details to D. Then I got a message from E asking if the booking had gone through as D had no confirmation. I sent info again. Still no response. After obtaining E’s number on the app in single digit messages (quickly deleted by Airbnb), I got D’s landline.
They were great guests but we couldn’t use the app and D was extremely apologetic that she was unable to write a 5* review.
D had registered with Airbnb but given an incorrect email address (she couldn’t remember what it was) and her landline (not her mobile). She had also forgotten the password. Despite calls to Airbnb she was unable to resurrect her account and I didn’t get the promised 5* review!
My inlaws stayed at our apartment recently. They were the first to have problems with our keypad and could not seem to open the door. My husband had to intervene and open the door for them…
30 min after their arrival, they had logged onto our WiFi with two iPhones, two smart watches, two tablets, a GPS, and a bunch of other stuff. Another half an hour later they needed an extra large charger for all their devices…
Edit: In the end we all had a good laugh about it. They told us themselves how silly they felt not being able to open a door but logging onto their devices and using them was no issue. 
I can’t critize them because I’m not tech savy. I can’t even scan the QR code in restaurants so I always have to ask for a paper menu. LOL
For my Airbnb I use an old fashion lock box and not a keypad. Not only because I’m not tech savy but also because during storms we lose WiFi.
I’m sorry that after dealing with all those tech issues with your guests, they didn’t leave you a review. They should have asked their grandchildren for tech help, especially for writing a review.
QR Codes in restaurants??? I won’t eat anywhere that doesn’t offer me a printed and bound menu when I walk through the door.
They did try but with the wrong email, a forgotten password and a landline that didn’t receive texts Airbnb couldn’t confirm it was her!
Caroline
| Ritz3
September 26 |
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I can’t critize them because I’m not tech savy. I can’t even scan the QR code in restaurants so I always have to ask for a paper menu. LOL
For my Airbnb I use an old fashion lock box and not a keypad. Not only because I’m not tech savy but also because during storms we lose WiFi.
I’m sorry that after dealing with all those tech issues with your guests, they didn’t leave you a review. They should have asked their grandchildren for tech help, especially for writing a review.
Weird flex but ok
To check in for a Routine exam, scanning a QR code was required. They have a touch kiosk and are trying to phase it out. While there, I saw a woman look at both options & go immediately to a intake window and loudly announce, “I’m here. Who do I tell?” She don’t say her name was @Ken though….
Not sure what you mean by “Weird flex”. 
That’s not a phrase that is common here in South Florida.
IMHO a “restaurant” that doesn’t offer a printed menu isn’t a real restaurant, and ‘fast food joints’ are not worth my dining dollars.
It’s a meme… it means bragging about something that isn’t necessarily praiseworthy.
It probably is as common online in South Florida as it is anywhere, but it’s a bit outdated— although not as bad as “Ok, boomer” which was my first reaction!
(I’m a boomer myself, but I teach middle school so I have to keep up, at least a bit. And yes, you have the right to spend your $$$ wherever you like!)
Never forget when a guest at my first Air wrote in my guest book, “this place is da bomb”. I thought, what the hell? Of course, looked it up to see it was a great comment.
these are not IT skills, they are life skills. Age related?
You’d never eat in my area (NY / CT / NJ) then…
Yes, here in Jersey because of COVID last year, restaurants stopped using paper menus and started using QR scans instead.
Now a year and a half later, they’re still expecting customers to scan the QR. I suspect they realized how much they saved by not printing menus.
In one restaurant, they stopped bringing glasses of water to the table. Customers have to walk to the water station to get it themselves. I’m assuming it’s because they’re short handed.
Many of them are not even bringing customers the bill. The customer has to use the QR again in order to access their bill and pay electronically.
It no longer feels like one is dining out : (
The restaurants were not fast food restaurants. They were bistros with outdoor seating.
She appeared about my age (66) so no excuse!
I know that I’m going to sound snooty here (so I apologise in advance) but anyone who isn’t fully au fait with “tech” drives me mad. The world changes. Technology changes. And those who don’t keep up with it aren’t doing themselves any favours.
I also particularly get annoyed when people think that it’s ‘older people’ who don’t understand. We ‘older people’ have been using computers, social media, cellphones, QR codes, email, phone apps, online accounts, GPS, smart locks, self-checkouts etc. etc. etc. since they were invented (many years ago in most cases) whereas our grandchildren have just been using them for a handful of years.
Being ‘older’ is no excuse.
Sorry. Rant. 
Look at it another way: The menus are instantly accurate (specials, for example); some restaurants remove items as the evening progresses if supplies run out; greasy menus and checks are no longer all over my hands. We can also see them before we go to the venue.
Pre-Covid I went to lunch at a restaurant with a tablet on the table.
Via tablet, I viewed menu, placed order, made in-meal requests & received & paid bill. The only in-person interaction was food delivery. It was a strange experience.
BTW I haven’t been back. I don’t know if it was a pilot but I didn’t like it.
It’s one thing to follow this process at Sheetz but not at a full service restaurant.
https://www.sheetz.com/
My 90 year old stepmom navigates her smart phone like a teenager.
Better, probably.