This forum is dedicated to connecting hosts with other hosts. Sign up to get the latest updates and news just for AirBnb hosts! Note that we are not affiliated with Airbnb - we are just passionate hosts!
It’s been so long since I signed up for Airbnb that I can’t remember whether in the sign up process a new user is prompted/strongly encouraged to download the phone app. Just curious because I’ve got one of those guests I’m going to need to document AND who appears not to have the app.
She is a newbie, and communication prior to arrival was a little awkward. She seemed nice enough on arrival, but both she and her daughter seemed really nervous (never a good sign). She booked for 3 (for a family wedding weekend) and it seems when the 3rd guest arrived very (very) late last night they brought an extra guest or maybe even two. My husband woke up, but I didn’t, and he decided not to wake me up to let me know. What can I say? It was a long week and he is a nice guy and decided to let me sleep.
Anyway, sent my usual morning-after-checkin message and in it responded to a question she asked me yesterday about an event going on today. Now she’s sent me a return text (not through the platform) asking me to stop texting her. Um…it was one message and I’m guessing relayed to her text through the platform. I’m also guessing she doesn’t have the app on her phone and tried to reply to the relay, which is frustrating, of course because it bounces back when you do that.
Yeah, I’ll handle in person and hopefully can smooth it over. And of course ask how many people are staying in the cottage. It’s not like they can keep it a secret – we share the courtyard and they have to walk right by our windows to exit through their garden gate. Sigh.
My guess is that she didn’t download the app.
Of course I’ll keep communicating through the platform if I have to get in touch and then copy the message, send it directly to her phone, and explaining that’s what I am doing . . .
There is no requirement that people have the app or even a smartphone. It’s not like Lyft where you pretty much can’t use it without the app. There are even some hosts here (looking at you @KenH) who are notoriously anti-app. I wouldn’t be surprised if Airbnb doesn’t put more and more on the app in the future but for now, don’t be shocked if people don’t have the app.
Months ago when I had people I had to kick out, the CS rep emphasized a million times on the phone with me that I should only communicate via the app – I agreed, but the-block-and-copy-to-text strategy is your only choice when they either don’t have the app or are ignoring your messages.
You’re right, some folks don’t travel with a smartphone or computer.
By now you think I would be used to guests who don’t read the listing. Patience.
What many advocate here is going straight to the app after you talk to the guest via other means and recap the convo there as a means of documentation.
“Betty, this message is to confirm that you’ve agreed to pay for the additional guests. I’ll be sending the request via the resolution center shortly. Once you accept we are all set. blah de blah.”
If she doesn’t accept then contact Airbnb so you can get this mess documented with them. You can get your money after check out if you have further problems.
It’s all good. We had a face to face discussion, and she admitted she read absolutely nothing on the listing except that it was near the wedding venue. She said she didn’t expect to have any contact at all, so she was really surprised to find out that we live right across the courtyard from the rental cottage. As for the extra guests, soon after I spoke to the mom, I saw them loading their stuff in their car out front. Her daughter, who has stayed in Airbnbs before, took me aside and said she was embarrassed, but not to worry about it-- she’d told her mom sneaking people in was not cool, and that they’re staying elsewhere for the rest of the trip.
As in another thread be careful of the forum thread curse. I usually always get guests using the app or who will use it if nudged. Tonight I had an orphan night and it got booked last minute by a French host who does not use the app! My intuition told me to check my email and there was her IB reservation. The notification process isn’t as clear off the app. I wish everyone would get on board! Apart from not using the app my guest is lovely!
Do I understand you correctly? You believe that you only get app notifications if the reservation is made on the app? If so, what led you to this conclusion?
Normally I get the communication from the guest as a notification showing the beginning of the message which I touch and it goes through to the full message. With her off app communication there was no sign until I looked at my email. I think it’s the guest’s message which triggers this rather than the booking.
I always assumed this was a glitch with Airbnb. I’ve never had any occasion to ask a guest if they used the app or the website so I have no way of confirming this. But the other day my current guest who booked the rest of the night made 6-8 reservations in the morning between 7:30 and 8 am. I was checking my email and I saw them there first. Then I went to the website to confirm is wasn’t an accident and they were there. As he left in the morning I talked to him in person to find out about his upcoming stays. The app notifications came through all in a row in the in afternoon.
Yikes. I hope she doesn’t ding you in the review for anything. Glad you were able to sort out the extra guests. I don’t understand why people pay for something and don’t bother to read anything to make sure they know what they’re getting.
Oh lord you two. This just scared the daylights out of me. I don’t check my email religiously unless I’ve got something going on at work. Yes, daily but…I had no idea someone could book and I wouldn’t get the “phone chime” instantaneously. I offer same day booking…I could have easily had a couple of very bad stays if I had fallen victim to this!!!
Oh, absolutely. Do you also have texts enabled? You should opt into all the notifications if you work. I tend to clean the room ASAP after a guest checks out and stay home a lot. I have self check in too. So if someone waltzed up to the door and said “I’m tonight’s guest” I’d have no problems 99% of the time. But Airbnb is sometimes glitchy.
Yes I have texts enabled so I always get a text and an app chime right away. Will texts alert me even if app does not? I work from home it’s no big deal. I don’t have many days off so it’s not been an issue, but could have been a.couple of times. I will admit that on that rare day off I Lolly gag with the cleaning. I should probably just block the day.
Yes I agree it’s best to clean asap. Because I have a large washing machine I get obsessed about not doing small loads. Because of this quick turnaround orphan night I will need to use reserve bedding, not the matchy matchy stuff. (Normally I have a grey pattern duvet cover remarkably similar to Karma’s avatar with a matching patterned sheet, but tomorrow plain grey satin cotton.) It’s a man so I might stereotype that he won’t give two hoots.
LOL. Let’s have fun with stereotypes. I need some street cred when it comes to stereotyping.
I wouldn’t say that I do differently for men per se but not all my guests get treated the same. The guests who get the best linens are always the singles unless they are traveling with dogs. Those folks get one of the “dog linens” sets (and yes I have two sets I used for people with dogs. People that pay a higher rate also tend to get the nicer stuff like newer, fluffier towels (eye on the value rating). Repeat guests get preferential treatment. There are some other categories of preferential treatment that I’m not going to discuss in this public forum. LOL.
And I have certain folks who get the matchy matchy and some I don’t care.
I house doctors from the local hospital for approximately a week at a time. There are a few choices in town for the hospital, but because I take great care to ensure the doctors are comfortable i am becoming the accommodation of choice. I had one inform me yesterday that she refuses to stay anywhere else. This is why - i put a breakfast pack in the fridge and the first time she stayed she did not touch the milk and cheese. A bottle of almond milk was in the fridge. Next time I saw she was coming, her brand was there for her. She tells me it is like coming “home”. She sleeps better, as things are familiar. She now won’t come here unless she can stay with me.
These kinds of awareness and action are what separates the sheep from the goats. Oftentimes in trying to tell “newbies” what they are doing wrong, I mean, what they can do better, there is a certain Je ne sais quoi that is hard to explain to some. You get it.
