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In addition to our “advertised number”, we provide guests with both of our personal mobile numbers for use in the case of an emergency. Just in case…
So far, this has never been abused, although one wonders if sending an SMS at 22:30 on a Saturday night to say “we’re in a restaurant round the corner and ordered too much wine, do you want to come and help us out?” would count as abuse? As it happened, we weren’t far away and came to their assistance
Ah… pre pandemic hosting, what a good night we had!
Anything can happen overnight, from a burst pipe to a medical emergency, and if I’m a host, I want to know immediately.
In the case of a medical emergency, many of our guests speak minimal (or nada) Spanish and I wouldn’t want them to have to deal with a situation on their own, just because I was in bed.
It does, and given the circumstances, entirely reasonable.
THIS. A smart lock that can be programmed with the last 4 digits of a guest’s phone number, deleted at the time of scheduled checkout works wonders. Has saved my bacon a couple of times. Just to a quick tutorial before they check in because some folks don’t know how to use them.
Ah - ok you need to make it idiot proof especially since this is not an isolated incident. Replace handle with one that does not lock.
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Also, add an outside lockbox, coded as desired. We use the last 4 digits of the guest’s phone.
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It is the guests’ fault so we would not eat the $300. But we would make sure it can not happen again.
I’d agree. I tell guests that I’m available from 8 in the morning until 6 in the evening (those are the hours published on my business card) but that obviously to contact me at any time in the case of genuine emergencies.
It’s also a good idea to have a back-up co-host in case you’re not available for any reason. When I started using Airbnb I had at first a twenty-something trainee pilot who agreed to be my co-host if necessary but he was never needed.
But a couple of years ago, I was unexpectedly in hospital for a couple of months and another emergency co-host took over with great results. (Although we had fewer reviews of course).
It’s as well always to have a contingency plan because the unexpected will happen one day.
Exactly. I don’t want to belittle the situation. I am empathetic as both my wife and I lost a parent in the past 6 months. We can debate about how one emergency trumps another emergency, but this doesn’t actually seem to be the case. An experienced host would have the backup plan in place which would involve a cohost that is available for guest emergencies. I would be petrified about a not being able to help in an emergency where the outcome could impact both my livelihood and my VERY expensive investment, not to mention the safety of another person.
To be clear, I think that @hey_kelly is being extremely professional in approaching the situation and my advice is only preemptive/cautionary for other hosts that don’t think they need to be available 24/7.
I’m agreeing again. I think that sometimes people don’t realise that we’re writing advice and ideas here for general readership - and that readership is often people who are considering hosting or who have just started.
UPDATE: We reimbursed them for one night’s stay and Airbnb covered their hotel costs. The guests are 100% appreciative and all is good. Several things:
Thanks so much to all of you who offered your condolences on the loss of my mother. It’s been a rough road and she was an amazing human.
We do typically have our cell phone ringers on during the night for emergences and this was an unfortunate exception with the timing of their incident.
We do have a Smartlock and the issue was with the lower door handle which also locks. We will be swapping it out for a handle that doesn’t lock as well as providing information to guests as to the location of an “emergency key” in case the Smartlock fails. They can then access the back door.
We will also be identifying a back up emergency person in the event this scenario ever happens again.
Thank you everyone for your input. It was very helpful! And thanks to Airbnb for covering the cost of their hotel! (It is a one time courtesy.)
Air hosts are different than hotels and often run by people with families who value sleep. Our relationship with guests is not parent to child. It is adult to adult. Adults recognize responsibility for their actions and behave accordingly. We leave an emergency key taped to the back of the lockbox (smart locks have a high failure rate) to only be used in the event of lost key and guest must tell us that they used it. We are available normal business hours. We had a guest who told us they were arriving at 10p, show up at 1a and text us at 1a saying they were wandering the property and couldn’t find the studio. We are going to assume that drinking was involved, as there is only one structure on our property and it is visible from the street. No other guest has ever been “lost.” Had our ringers been on, this guest would have at the very least caused a sleep disruption. We’ve had other guests call at late hours asking for wifi code (which is available on app), and tv remote assistance. They received a polite response the next day after 9a. We do make exceptions for same day late bookings as most of those are weary on the road travelers looking for a last minute place to sleep, and they need reassurance they can get in. Maybe you hosts who offer 24/7 service have the ability to go right back to sleep. What a fantastic skill. Count yourself very lucky. Also, to the host who gave a $550 credit to the guest who lost their key. Wow, you basically said “You lost your key and airbnb paid for your hotel, here let me give you some money, a lot of it!” My expectations for adult behavior is of a higher standard. It was the guest’s mistake. I would give them sympathy, but the compensation would stop there. Despite our draconian customer service, we are superhosts and book almost 100% during high seasons, with income exceeding expectations the rest of the year. I’ve also been a guest at a couple dozen airbnbs, and have never called a host late, and would only do so if I was the last minute late booking, or their building was on fire, or subject to some other life threatening disaster.
I know a host in my town who had just completed 2 new units to str. His very first booking was a young couple who got drunk at the bar the first night and realized when they got back to the house that they had lost the key.
The host lives right next door, told them to call if they had any problems, and while I’m sure he wouldn’t have appreciated a 2 am phone call to unlock the door, he sure would have preferred it to what they did- smashed the window of the brand new house to get in.
He kicked them out the next morning and has since come up with a better entry system.
Also, you mentioned that you turn off communication after a certain hour. If, for example, your guest needed to report a burst pipe, or an electrical fire, how would your policy be considered helpful to you as host, or your guest?
Amazon reviews. What is a high failure rate is subjective, but I’m not happy with 1% when it is a lock on home and guests only access. Blu-tooth and batteries add to the uncertainty of smart lock’s electronics. Guests are told where our easily accessible water main valve is. We also installed laminate flooring that is guaranteed 4 days under water. In the event of a fire, there are two fire extinguishers, and they should call 911. We are not firemen. Repairs will not be conducted in the middle of the night.
3 years and never a failure except when I forgot the change the combo. I replace the batteries on a regular schedule.
Pushbutton smart locks don’t fail much. OTOH I had problems at 2 AirBnBs that had August locks — app just wouldn’t work on my iPhone.
I had enough problems with LTR tenants losing keys. Schlage smart locks were the solution. If they can’t remember that the combo is the last 4 digits of their cell phone do you want them staying there?
I’ve been amazed at how many people don’t know their own phone number. I’m serious. I’ll ask a client for their phone number and they say they don’t know it because they never need to call their own phone. So they ask for my number instead, so they can text me so I’ll get their number.
I started Airbnb with guests coming into my home and staying in my guest room. I have a keyed lock on the front door and a lock box next to the front door for late arrivals after I’d gone to bed. This was manual coded lockbox. When I made a separate entrance to the room I installed a digital lock. In the last month I installed a smart lock.
Over 7 years/800+ stays I’d attribute a good part of the failure of any lock to factors aside from the lock. Guest failure, host failure, even door failure. Nothing and no one is perfect. Things happen in off hours and it’s part of the host’s job to deal with it.
I think it’s great that you’ve managed to arrange your life and thoughts so that you can excuse yourself from being available at night but I wouldn’t be able to do it in good conscience.
That’s why we give them the “long code” that the ResortLock generates, them tell them how to change it to a shorter code they can remember, like the last four of their phone number, their house number, a birthday, etc.
I appreciate all of the differing opinions and it’s great for each host to determine what works for them. I should point out that my guests did not lose their key in the middle of the night nor were they drinking and careless. Fortunately, they were a kind, responsible and very polite group. The setup of my lock situation isn’t ideal and I will be changing it so the bottom handle doesn’t lock guests out as well as providing info. for a backup key. If this would have happened to me as a guest, I absolutely would have expected my night to be comped.
Our property is our second home and we do want to be alerted to emergencies. For the guests’ sake as well as simply taking care of our home. I do wish I would have had my ringer on but as I stated, I lost my mom a few days prior and it was a rough week.
Thanks again to everyone for the feedback. All of the opinions are very helpful.
of course).
