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!
When jxxx booked my apartment he expressed surprise that I had a cutoff checkin time and charged extra after that time.
“I’ve been in airbnbs all over the world” he tells me “this is the first time anyone asks for a late checkin fee!”
I then explain to him (In far too much detail) that I don’t live there, pay à property manager to meet him, it actually costs me more than what I’m asking him, and late arrivals usually come along with more delays and problems than early in the day etc.
My property manager sends him an email to get his flights and eta they have the same discussion
4 days before his trip I reach out and confirm his eta asking him to communicate well on arrival day etc.
Today is arrival day. He had told us his flight was landing at 16:50. At 16:00 he sends me a text question about parking. What? You’re supposed to be in the plane!
He had give us the wrong flight info. Instead of arriving at 16:50 he arrived at 19:30 then instead of taking a taxi, one hour wait to get rental car. So he arrived more than 4 hours after my checkin cutoff which I had already agreed to waive because supposedly he was only going to arrive one hour after the cutoff time.
Property manager lives an hour away from my apartment, he was already waiting for the arrival when we figured this out, his whole planning was screwed he had to go all the way home and back. And I owe him 60 euros for the late night lost time and 2 hours in the car.
Calling for suggestions how would you handle the review for this guest.
Not sure if he did this on purpose to somehow not pay late fee. Or Maybe his lowcost flight changer schedules and he didn’t tell us.
I would have started with a smart lock and getting rid of the need for a PM an hour away.
This is a business process flub on your part. It is about customer service, not living in the past. Not sure why you are here trying to get feedback on what I consider your blunder
You can’t blame the guest for your problems. Yes, ideally he should have communicated his exact times to you before the trip - if he knew them. An hour’s wait for a rental car isn’t unusual. Did you discuss parking with him previously? I’d say that about half our guests - maybe more - who arrive by plane then get a rental car.
You’d already agreed to waive the check in time. So you’d demonstrated to him that your times were flexible.
my unit is in a building with a street door where I cannot install a smart lock.it is forbidden to attach key lock boxes to building facades in my city.
Point taken about the property manager and one hour drive I’m in the process of fixing that.
However I don’t agree that we must allow self check in if we want to be hosts. I want to see who is coming give a personal greeting and also respect the law which requires me to physically check their id and get their signature.
I am also a bit taken aback by the harsh tone of this reply,
Dear jaquo you are a moderator will you please delete this subject as I feel personally attacked by one or the responses, which i perceive to be harsh and critical not “tough love” as you say.
Please delete this thread and I will be more careful what I post in the future.
I will if you really want me to. But why not have a think about it for a little while? Remember that this forum is public and can be read by anyone so it can be a very valuable resource for people who are thinking about hosting. (I sometimes think it’s the Airbnb University!)
I don’t see any attacks, just the usual fairly blunt comments you get here. All the suggestions are considering the future on how to deal with your particular set up and we all do things in the way that suits our particular set up. Everything from lock boxes, key cafes, personal check in and keys under the mat.
To be here you need a fairly thick skin…when it gets stupid and personal, it is efficiently dealt with. but it can be very entertaining and educational.
“Cannot recommend Guest – poor communications on his arrival time caused a number of problems and added expense. Other than that he was an acceptable guest.”
I do agree with the others that some of the issue falls on you – having a manager over an hour away, agreeing to waive the late fee, and expecting guests to have everything arranged perfectly for your convenience.
Your guest didn’t have a time problem! I once arrived an entire day early because I accidently mis-calculated the change of things when traveling across the International Dateline from where I was to where I was going!!!
You do not have to agree, do what works for you while you can. If you get less bookings or bad reviews as a result then that’s the cost of doing business your way.
I agree with those that say self check-in if you can’t meet guests.
Seriously, unless you have a super duper extraordinary listing that is booked up two years in advance, you can’t really fanny about with such strict check-in times.
Please leave this thread!!! Coming here and expecting agreement with your complaint is very common, and the reaction to helpful people is expected - the new member does not realize that the answers given, without 'frills" are excellent ones.
People always find it hard when they come here for commiseration and instead find that the members here see them as the problem, or that changing the new member’s mindset is the answer. This group, IMHO, is about helping; telling a host how to improve their situation can sometimes be difficult for the recipient…
Perhaps if those comments were also accompanied by an answer, or even an attempt at an answer, to the question for review writing assistance @lililou1 wouldn’t have felt so attacked. It can be tough on this forum but please remember that when hosts post for help after difficult situations they are also usually quite stressed by the situation as well and could use some compassion. I know the tincture of time helps but not until the situation is handled and “done and dusted” as they say.
@lililou1 - I suspect the same as you - that he deliberately lied to get out of the fee. At best, he was a poor communicator. He already knew late check-in was a problem for you, and he was not upfront about a flight change or a flight delay. The four hour delay was not about a rental car.
Because of the inconsistency of flights these days giving even approx. arrival time is very difficult which I imagine can be quite frustrating for you especially since you personally do not attend to the home and have to make arrangements to accommodate those who come in later. You have stated you can not have self check -in, ok that makes things a bit more difficult, maybe you can arrange someone closer to let those occasional individuals who require a different check in time than during your normal hours? Unfortunately, guests seem to change their minds about taxi’s/uber/lfyts vs rental cars… I have limited parking and have on occasion thinking I would not have an issue only to be surprise, Oh we decided to get a rental… oh jeez… ok put on my smile and get it arranged. IMHO…sometimes we just have to bite the financial bullet when it comes to outside hours, without knowing your circumstances or listing it is hard to completely answer your question but I would try and reasonably accommodate the guest. In IMHO if arrival time is between the hours of 3pm and 10-11pm that would be normal check in hours and would not warrant extra charge. But foremost this is your listing and you must do what you feel is the most comfortable for you and what you can accommodate. We for the most part have been there in frustrating situations, whether it be a PITA guest, party guests, No shows, arriving hours early or later than scheduled.
Would like other constructive recommendations or tips from people in the same situation. I’m sorry if my original post seemed, naive, complaining or self pitying but I am not an idiot, my environment and regulations are surely different than others on this forum, and like most of us here doing our best and looking for support and advice.
It’s center city I don’t see how I can reasonably put the key under the mat,if my neighbours or building administrator sees me doing that all hell will break loose! Justifiably so for their security!
There are no key cafés in my area. One started up, a great idea with lock boxes installed in 24 hour parking garages. They went bust in the first year, no other solutions. I would LOVE to pay for a key café.
It is forbidden to install lock boxes on building facades in the whole area. I would have to find somewhere far away to hide a lock box somewhere. Or pay a local business to put it inside their establishment and then depend on their opening hours and days. I have tried this nobody around wants the hassle of managing keys or even having a lockbox inside their property, even if I pay rent for it.
my building had a keypad code before - that was great! - they just changed it for security reasons the key code cuts off at 8pm until the next morning you need a key to get into the street door. Hence, the cutoff time and extra fee for late arrival.
I have even considered setting up myself the business of a key-drop service at the main airport nearby. But local laws also say
you must physically view the ID cards of the travellers when they arrive
you cannot ask them to send you a photo (which is what most people do, and it is illegal).
you have to literally rewrite the passport data or copy it manually and have them sign it
you have to record their data via a website in the police registry database
you have to keep the original signed copy of every arrival document on the property in a binder
you cannot register people in advance (so for example getting the signed paper in advance and not having to be there when they arrive), you can only do it within 24 hours of arrival.
So as you see, I’m not “living in the past”, just a stupid complaining person who doesn’t want to spend for a smartlock on the front door.
In fact, I’m living in the modern world that may come to your area some day: where there is a crackdown on all sides, between neighbors, police, town rental permit rules, and tax laws. You can’t just put the key under the mat let people waltz in and out without registering with the police, the town hall, etc.
And finally I consider self-check in at night time hours to be a true nuisance for the neighbors and shoud be justifiably cracked-down on. When people arrive in the middle of the night with nobody to show them around, they talk loud, bang suitcases, slam doors, open and close cupboards and closets… If you are there you can try to set the tone and keep things respectful for the neighbors. With self check-in, you’re going to have problems.
