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Absolutely bizarre experience. Guest books for a week. Shows up on first day and is just off. Made me a little uncomfortable, but the guest house is separate from the main house. I give him the key. He doesn’t come back that night. Says he will the next. And so on. Every single night for six nights. Then he leaves. His flight is at 3am, but at 11am he sends me a text (not through platform) that I’m an incredibly beautiful woman and he’s been dreaming about me every night. That he wishes he had a chance, etc. Meanwhile, I still haven’t seen him since Day 1.
He hasn’t asked for his money back. And I was careful to document things over the platform. He still has my key. It’s just a copy. This is so probably nothing, but it’s also so weird. Part of me wants to change the locks. I’m guessing AirBnb won’t go for it. Should I just let things drop and hope nothing comes from all this? He does live in Canada, (I’m in US), and is presumably back there, so there’s distance.
And other general advice? I kind of don’t even want to review him cause I don’t want to give any additional fuel of any kind. But would welcome advice here.
Maybe also time to consider investing in some sort of a code-based (numeric/digital) lock. One where you can change the codes for each guest. We’ve discussed options for this in the past here.
Assuming a smart lock will fit the existing door. We had problems with that here when we tried to get a smart lock. But provided it’s a good quality lock (lots of electronic rubbish out there these days) it’s definitely a good idea.
Indeed. A pre-purchase assessment is implicit in any such investment/installation.
My Yale lock has stood the test of time (ie, about 2 years now) and going good.
We got a “Kwikset 92640-001 Contemporary Electronic Keypad Single Cylinder Deadbolt with 1-Touch Motorized Locking, Satin Nickel” It’s Amazon’s #1 seller. It’s $59. We actually got it at Home Depot for $39 but they don’t seem to have it anymore. There are many different types. They can get expensive. This one was reasonable, was easy to install, fit perfectly for us, and has worked very well. You simply change the code when guests leave. You never have to worry about getting keys back or someone copying them.
Can’t go wrong with the quickset 916 electronic lock. It has the added bonus of getting a notice to your phone when it locks/unlocks. (When using zigbee or zwave). Here’s my regular scenario…
Guest is due to check in. Phone beeps and tells me which code unlocked my door. I then go and remotely view my security cameras from my phone. I like to make sure the correct amount of persons entered the apartment. I call it “keeping honest people honest”.
The code is deleted upon checkout. Heres a screenshot of my cameras on my phone…tis a beautiful thing…
Not tied to airbnb. When programming a new code from your smart phone, you have the ability to enter the time when the code is activated, and then deactivated. I program the guests code to be the last 4 numbers of the guests phone number. A nice touch of convenience for them.
This is distressing but please report him and review him. Do you want him to do this to another host? Maybe Airbnb will block him from using the platform.
I agree! He should be blocked from using Airbnb. This guy seriously sounds sick. After your experience I wouldn’t trust a word he says - his name, where he is from, that he left… anything.
Consider calling the police to accompany you when you re-enter the unit. Call non emergency number, say you had a guest who took the key and sent you a disturbing message, and would like an officer to accompany you when you are opening it to clean. They can give you additional tips beyond changing the locks. They won’t mind – that’s what they’re there for and what you pay taxes for. They would rather do some prevention now than find you dead later. I’m not saying this to freak you out, and statistically speaking it is highly unlikely that anything will come of it (fortunately we don’t live in a Lifetime movie) but it’s not overreacting to take some common sense steps. If he made your skin crawl that means something.
I had a weird guest that went off with my keys, Airbnb arranged for me to get an out of hours lock smith to come change the locks and replacement keys immediately. I told them that I did not feel safe as my keys could be anywhere. No issue at all, actually the rep suggested the locksmith.
