In reference to the stupid part of this post…The other night I was awakened by my guests. They had to ring the doorbell because Airbnb messaging was down and they couldn’t message that way. They had locked themselves out. It was the third night of a three night stay and they had already been in and out several times. But for some reason when they left earlier that day they locked the bottom lock and the digital lock which is a deadbolt just above the knob. I go out, enter the code and go to open the door…“uh, you locked the bottom lock. Do you have the key?” “no, I guess we misunderstood the instructions.” Reply in my head "the instructions worked fine the other times you locked the door. " What I say “the code only works on the top lock.” I go get the key and let them in. Then I lay awake for an hour trying to think of how to idiot proof the door locking system.
@KKC It must be a lock week. My guest complains that the deadbolt isn’t locking.
On the INSIDE of the unit, there is a sign/label that says “lock deadbolt first”. It is not on the outside because the outer door is subject to weather so the label will fall off.
I asked if she was able to use the deadbolt while in the unit. “oh yes, we have to wiggle it a little, then we lock the bottom lock” Me,“you have to jiggle it to lock it when you leave too” Her, “we can’t adjust the door after we lock the bottom lock” …well ok, let’s lock the deadbolt first
(over the years the door & frame are slightly out of alignment & frame has been damaged repaired, next would be replacing the frame & door, expensive fix when locking the deadbolt first works fine)
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Years ago a friend traveled with her giant-breed rabbit. He was litter box trained and loved to ride in her late 60’s VW beetle with his front paws on the dash handle and look out with windows Don’t you know that was a sight!!!
For young-uns who don’t know old VW beetles in the 60’s had a white plastic grab bar across the passenger side dash
My next step is going to be to remove the bottom inside lock and replace with non-locking lever. To lock they will have to use the digital lock. They can also take the key to use for that lock. Then I’ll wait for someone to lock the outside metal door locks and then realize the key doesn’t work on them.
The only thing I’ve found that’s completely fool proof is just leaving the door unlocked, which I can’t always do.
Even though I leave the door unlocked and instructions in the arrival message to “go in through the unlocked side door” I still get people, always Asian visitors, come upstairs and knock on my door and introduce themselves and ask to be let in. I guess the word “unlocked” might be confused with “locked” to a non-English speaker but I don’t know how else to put it.