Guest locked himself out - should I send compensation?

22

Hmm. Interesting point. Landlord duty of care to guests staying just a few nights is vastly higher than to those tenants who are living in a place as their own home. Short term guests are probably unfamiliar with the property and are not there long enough to have to deal with emergencies, whether self inflicted or not. They might not even speak the local language that well, and they are definitely paying more for some degree of ‘serviced’ accommodation (in comparison to rental costs for a hands off LTR).

Having a local emergency contact available promptly is a reasonable expectation.

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23

Does a hotel state it has a 24 hour reception? YES
Does Airbnb state that hosts provide 24/7 support? NO
Does Airbnb have a required minimum response time for hosts during a guest stay? NO
If Airbnb wanted hosts to provide 24/7 support I’m sure it would have it as a tick-box option on the amenities page, along with smoke alarm, fire extinguisher, Wifi etc.
That is probably why Airbnb knows it cannot legally enforce compensation caused by issues arising from a late response. It relies on the kind heartedness of hosts like me :rofl:

24

I really don’t care one way or the other about bad reviews, I have over 250 and 60 new guests each year, so any bad reviews quickly disappear. My overall rating is 4.72, which for an absentee landlord, without the chance to tell people in person to give good reviews, is excellent. I would never ever consider what kind of review I might get as a factor in whether to compensate a guest, that seems to me to be faintly ridiculous.

25

I’ve spent time doing the research for you, so you don’t try in the future to gaslight hosts:

[quote=“thesentinel, post:23, topic:62838”]
Does a hotel state it has a 24 hour reception? YES
Possibly, but not an ‘in person’ clerk; hotels are slowly turning to the airbnb model,. Especially these days, when ‘night clerks’ are slowly being replaced by ‘on call’. Some hotels may lock the front desk after a certain hour, requiring guests to use a keypad entry or call a staff member

Does Airbnb state that hosts provide 24/7 support? NO
Yes airbnb expects fast response at all times. That is why airbnb has tools to make responses quick:

Does Airbnb have a required minimum response time for hosts during a guest stay? NO
Yes, Airbnb expects hosts to respond within 1 hour to guest messages during local daytime hours, especially if the inquiry is related to check-in, missing amenities, or urgent issues. As a host, you were required to agree to these, remember?

Hosts know these things - why don’t you take some time and do the research?

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26

First of all, “landlord” refers to the owner of a rental that rents long term, usually with a rental lease. Landlords don’t provide amenities like toilet paper, soap, coffee, towels and sheets. They aren’t cleaning the place every few days for a change of guests. The place may come furnished or unfurnished. The renters are referred to as tenants and usually have rights under the law.

STRs, that cater to tourists and travelers, provide amenities that long term rentals don’t, the owners or managers are referred to as hosts and the renters are guests, not tenants. Their stays are not covered under landlord/tenant laws.

And where did you get the erroneous idea that non-absentee hosts “tell” guests to give good reviews? Good reviews are earned, not solicited.

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27

I have never been an ‘absentee landlord’ (and thank you to @muddy for pointing out the differences between STR hospitality and the landlord/tenant relationship) but I can assure you that I never never, ever asked a guest for a review, let alone a good review.

I have heard of hosts who do, but I would like to assure readers of this forum that asking for reviews is not a normal practice and is something that is often seen by other hosts and by guests as being overly pushy - and indeed, rather desperate.

Good hosts who provide a great service to their clients don’t need to ask for reviews. As @muddy says so well:

28

I sometimes ask for a review, but never for a good review - I leave that up to the guest.

Of course, I don’t usually ask for a review from a guest unless I’m pretty sure it will be a good one.

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29

An alternative, but not a one for one replacement.

Anyone that books an Airbnb has to be prepared to be disappointed, especially if things go wrong like in this scenario.

30

Hey thesentinel, seeing the way you’re being piled on in the responses here is kind of disappointing (though not surprising unfortunately).

You asked for advice, you received it, and then acted upon that advice, so good work!

I can see you trying to explain your position, underlining the fact that it’s a set up that has worked successfully for you over a number of years, only to get point by point rebuttals, dictionary definitions of words that you used, and generalised statements that don’t really align with contemporary Airbnb experiences as either a host or a guest.

I would like to assure readers of this forum that the frequent posters here are not representative of the wider Airbnb community. Five or so years ago they may have been, but this forum is steadily losing readership and relevance. There is still some good advice to be had here, but at times you will need to search a bit to find it.

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31

Thanks - yes not sure why it was so aggressive, but no worries. I do know how to run my STR and make a profit, it was just this particular situation that had me in 2 minds what to do.

I’m thinking the guy is quite lucky I paid him. I checked a link above, and Airbnb’s expectation for responses out of hours is 12 hours "Otherwise, when a guest reaches out to you during the stay or within five days of their arrival, it’s best to respond within 12 hours to guest messages received during local daytime hours. ". There’s no way they could have enforced me compensating the guest, since he called the locksmith within 2 hours of locking himself out.

Let’s say I rent a car from Hertz for 4 days, and somehow manage to lock the key in the car a few hours before I need to catch a flight (it is difficult but technically possible to do so). First I try their helpline, but it’s not working. Then I call a guy to open the car and repair any damage caused in the process. Then I drive back to Hertz and hand back the keys. Can you imagine if I then asked Hertz to reimburse me $200 for the guy who got the car open? Hertz would not only refuse, they might charge me extra for carrying out an unauthorised procedure on the car!

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32

May I add that (again) every Airbnb accommodation is different (in terms of location, amenities, pricing, house rules etc. etc.).

What works well for one host, may be disastrous for another.

We run our studios differently than 99% of our competition in town. While pretty much every other STR has a self-check in lock box with 24/7 check-in (we do have one for emergencies) we do welcome our guests in person in a relatively small time window during the day. We live on the same property and work from home. Rarely, one of us is not present while guests are home.

Therefore we’re able to react instantaneously when an issue comes up. This is what we communicate to our guests in our automated booking confirmation messages along with other important information (like presenting their ID upon check-in and having to fill out their personal details on a form that is required by law).

Communication BEFORE check-in is vital in our opinion. It clarifies what guests can expect and then there is little to no chance for surprises.

What I’m trying to say is, if a host cannot provide round the clock “guest service” it’s is easily communicated in such messages to make sure that guests understand what they are in for. So after the fact, they cannot show up with such an invoice due to a mistake on their end.

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33

:thinking: The fact that he was so quick to solve the problem suggests to me that quite possibly he was advised to do so by Airbnb customer service, with an assurance it would be reimbursed… or maybe he just locks himself out regularly.

34

No I’m pretty sure he didn’t get approval from Airbnb. He contacted them and they emailed me, and then I think he just panicked and called the locksmith. There was no indication the cost had already been approved, in fact I think Airbnb was quite surprised I agreed to pay it.

35

Jaquo - goodness, I certainly didn’t say or even think that all STR’s are cheaper than premium hotels. I see you added the word all, but that isn’t at all my meaning. If guests want premium service - they have to pay a premium price. There is a cost for a hotel doorman, an on-site repair tech to fix somethings, and room service etc. You could pay for a cheaper hotel, but might not get the premium service. So paying for (cheaper than premium) STR you may well be at the front door having locked yourself out, and have to wait quite some time, if the owner is across town. It’s very common to have non-hosted STR, and I think guests have to accept that it is DIFFERENT to hotels which have on-site staff, and presumably response times in minutes.

I could certainly pay for an on-site manager for my Airbnb, but then I would have to charge more to guests to cover it.

Also, hotels are far smaller. The space you get in a STR is usually cheaper by size than a hotel box. If you paid for a Suite to get a similar size, it would of course be far more expensive.

Can I also gently point out that comments on rates do not mean denigrating. There are many reasons for varying rates, and cheap compared to a premium price doesn’t mean a run down shack with peeling paint or anything lol.

Maybe I was unclear. You get what you pay for - and if a STR guest requires on-site staff or 20 min or less response times, they probably need to pay more premium rates, or take more care to book a STR that includes on-site staff. Unless sharing a room though, a whole house STR usually does NOT have on-site staff, and a 2am call to the owner if locked out will more likely result in Zzzzz no answer I would imagine from most hosts. Not all, but guests have to take personal responsibility, and STR is not a 24/7 Premium hotel with the associated customer service.

You are also right though that some STR’s can be more expensive, but I still disagree if you look at floor space. If you want a whole house, STR will almost always (almost!) be cheaper than an equivalent size space in a hotel, as hotels are smaller. AND probably don’t have a washer. That’s why I always prefer a STR over a hotel. You get a lot more for your money. Cheap doesn’t necessarily mean bad - it means relatively less expensive than some other alternative. I am quite sure you deliver amazing service with your STR’s and guests are very happy, so please don’t think the pricing / value comments relate anything other than ‘cost for space and services provided’. If you include yourself as on-site manager available even at 2am for a lockout call - then more power to you, and lucky for your happy guests!

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