I am new to Airbnb and hosting. When I started a few months back I didn’t provide my address and would message guests the address after confirmed bookings. I forgot to message a guest the address once and he ended up at the wrong house about a block away. I didn’t realize this could happen as I thought Airbnb just gave a general pinpoint of the location. After this happened I contacted Airbnb and they assured me that this wrong address was not anywhere on my listing, and that the guest must have assumed they were at the right place based on the general pinpoint. I apologized to the homeowner and assured her this would never happen again. Fast forward 2 months, my quests that checked in today went to that same wrong house!!! They said the Airbnb directions specifically said that address. The address is not even on the same street! And I have my settings to provide the address after confirmed booking. I also messaged the guest my address to make sure! After receiving a 2nd angry phone call from the neighbour I am so upset and embarrassed that this could happen again. When I asked our new guest to show me where she found the directions to our listing she clicked on what I believe said “get directions” which brought her to a new screen…perhaps google maps? And it did flash the wrong address of my neighbors and quickly changed to mine… the correct address. Could this be an issue with google maps? Not sure how to handle this situation? Has anyone experienced a similar situation?
You might need to delete your entire listing and do it all over again. Repost photos, descriptions, etc.
You might need to reregister your bank account with Airbnb, so rental payments are sent to you.
Make sure your correct address is correctly shown on the re-do attempt.
P.S.: Bring a bottle of nice wine to your upset neighbor to help heal the online mapping error.
Please don’t follow @Don_Burns advice to delete the entire listing you will lose all your reviews and ratings.
@Kimber you really need to have your full address on your listing rather than manually sending it to guests. Just add your address and tick the box that guests can only see it once the 48 cancellation period has passed.
Why?
You hadn’t checked the listing yourself previously? The listing is your sales tool - you should know it inside out, back to front and be able to recite it in your sleep.
The only thing I can think of is that you’re expecting an automatic system to do the work for you instead of being personally involved with your guests and communicating with them directly. Please don’t do this. The point of Airbnb is peer-to-peer relationships. No automated system (Airbnb, Google Maps) is going to take the place of real humans anytime soon.
I’d suggest that you get to know more about the system and how Airbnb works by studying their site - and this one. It might be an idea to snooze your listing until you’re better equipped with knowledge about hospitality and how the system works. If not, you run the risk of getting irate neighbours and unhappy guests.
I just discovered this as a guest, even though my stay is months away the address is now available to me. So of course when I was in San Diego last weekend I did a drive by:) I can see how this may worry some hosts, having guests show up to check out listing in advance there have been several posts about it. I just installed 7’ gates at my listing, go ahead and drive by you will not get in:)
RR
Once a guest books, you can includes links in your messages to them. At that point, you can send your own link to google maps with the exact location.
Your assumptions are off…of course I checked the listing myself. That is why it is such a mystery why 2 guests have been directed to the wrong address. Airbnb has also confirmed the address on my listing is correct. My guest and I had very clear communication, including confirmation of the address days before her arrival date. The problem is that she clicked on “get directions” and the map within Airbnb told her a different address.
The hosting dashboard is different from what guests see, that is why I asked her to show me how she got the directions from her view/guest platform. I am very involved with my guests and lacking hospitality is not the issue nor do I expect the automated system to do any work for me.
You didn’t mention why you didn’t add the address to the listing?
At first, I didn’t post the exact address, just general area as I was concerned about having my address public. I know now that it is not provided until a booking is made.
I think I’m being a bit thick or something this morning.
Although you give the guests check in instructions with the correct address, personally, they are still going to the wrong place?
yes! I think it may be a glitch with the online mapping when the guest clicks on “get directions”. So strange and frustrating.
But you tell the guests the accurate address and the directions so it shouldn’t matter?
you are right, it shouldn’t matter but a guest can still click on get directions and be given incorrect address. I guess I will just have to specifically ask guests not to follow those directions.
Apologies, I though you already did that.