yes it happens although rare
so I have 3 sets of keys - one in lockbox for guests
one in lockbox just for cleaners and a spare set for me incase guests lock themselves out -
ahhh, I’m confused. Guest takes off with key. (Possibly hands it off to buddy.) Locks don’t get changed…house gets robbed or worse, next guest compromised…Am I missing something here?
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Guest FORGOT key in flat,lock got changed because apparently damaged by locksmith when trying to get in without key.
| yecatsr
May 6 |
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Cillikugel:
Smart locks are much less reliable than traditional key locks
ahhh, I’m confused. Guest takes off with key. (Possibly hands it off to buddy.) Locks don’t get changed…house gets robbed or worse, next guest compromised…Am I missing something here?
I host in the uk and also co-host .
The cleaners have their own keys and there is a separate lock box on the premises with an emergency key for this sort of situation. For others we have electronic check in with the cleaner having their own code and guest code changing for each check in.
Your management company should have suggested a much better system . And when this happened they should have just couriered over the keys.
I would find yourself a new management company 
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Any recommendations?
| Helsi
May 6 |
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I host in the uk and also co-host .
The cleaners have their own keys and there is a separate lock box on the premises with an emergency key for this sort of situation. For others we have electronic check in with the cleaner having their own code and guest code changing for each check in.
Your management company should have suggested a much better system . And when this happened they should have just couriered over the keys.
I would find yourself a new management company
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Just saying here’s another reason to be careful about smart tech—Ring doorbell suddenly not functioning properly. Guests thought wi-fi extender was speaker or camera so unplugged it. Great just great. After they check out I will label it.
A locksmith who can’t open a lock without breaking it sounds like an incompetent or dishonest locksmith.
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I agree! Glad you folks have got me doing sonething about this!
Hide it! That and the router and modem should be in a locked closet or a lockbox on the wall.
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Love to but can’t.
- No power outlet in locked closet
- Extender Installed to boost signal to Ring doorbell so must be fairly close to doorbell
- After a power outage (blip) the sometimes the modem must be rebooted
Labeling the extender is probably the easiest thing.
I have an extender (Actiontec or similar) that is hard wired to coax in the room, next to the bed.
I have labelled the plug as I understand some people are concerned about RF signal and EMF radiation, so they can easily unplug it if they want. Wireless connectivity is restored when it is plugged back in.
I’ve made a few modifications to make it tamper-resistant.
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Not an option in my situation. Good to know though
I sometimes imagine the conversations that Airbnb CS reps have in the lift or over their coffee in the canteen … comparing stories of the weirdest host phone calls they’ve had to deal with that day.
And this must have been one of the weirdest or at least the most unprepared host. And to top that, the unprepared host expected Airbnb to fork out £300.
Like others who have posted here, I’d have been furious if a host expected me to pay that sort of money for what was probably a simple oversight.
So the lesson here for new or potential hosts is to be prepared for any eventuality but certainly make sure that your cleaners, your co-host, your handyman etc. all have keys or their own code.
For the last five or six years we’ve had keypads but before, in the days of keys, we’d get guests losing or misplacing a key every now and again. We simply couldn’t have managed if we hadn’t had easily accessible spares. And I would have never even considered charging guests for a lost key.
Hosts are being paid for their services so should be professional.
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I realize I’m responding from a different perspective and location, but I avoid all the above BS by having guests leave property unlocked with keys on the counter. I’ve never had a problem.
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Exactly what I used to do in the days of using keys. I never had a problem with that either, Although I do like to see guests before they leave so that I can wish them bon voyage and say that I hope they’ll be back. So if it’s mutually convenient, and because I live on the premises, I’d ask them to hand over the keys to me when they leave.
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The main reason giving guests keys is a terrible safety issue is that keys can be copied, handed over to accomplices, and your str is now accessible to whoever has the copy. If I was to stay at your airbnb as a guest, knowing that such keys were ‘out there’ would make me afraid of the security.
A smart lock removes this issue.
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Are they really? It seems like this is a story we make up to justify smart locks. It could happen, but does it?
As you said…
What has always struck me as funny is how skewed people’s perceptions of danger are. Most people who are raped, murdered or assaulted are victimized by someone known to them: a co-worker, family member, neighbor, etc. But people don’t stop having friends, relatives and neighbors.
Not arguing, just musing.
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Going back six or seven years, the owner of the apartment next to our first rental had a smart lock that required the use of an app. (I’m pretty sure it began with ‘v’ but I could be way out).
He was an absentee host. I was on the premises and so very often I saw his guests having a hard time using it. People had phones that had run out of power, some guests still had old no-app phones, guests who had been on flights hadn’t received the instructions etc.
There are some people (me) who have so many often-used apps on their phones that they really don’t want to add more.
The app wasn’t intuitive to use. It only kicked in at exactly check in time and stopped working at check out time. I remember one couple who were loading their car and just had one more bag to fetch but the app decided it was cut-off time. This is not hospitality and of course, the neighbour only hosted for a few months before realising that it’s not an auto-money-making-machine.
So often, the owner (he was local) had to drive over and fix whatever the problem was negating the “auto system”.
For several years now we’ve been using a simple keypad entry and it’s working splendidly for me and for the guests.
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Not something that concerns me. I don’t get low life guests who hang out or plot with thieves.
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