I think the guest means what you want him to say which is he asked you prior to arrival about leaving luggage (after checkout, even tho he didn’t actually say after check out that’s what I got that he wants to leave the luggage after check out! )
As you said faheem, you’re not making much money on these ingrates so I would ignore the review (which isn’t so bad and if anything highlights your inability to store luggage, ever…)
Highlight the non storage in your rules
and carry on as is.
Your guests have other almost as easy options.
Not worth it for you I reckon.
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Of course, it will be different in India but locally, we have a hotel and a UPS store both of which will store bags for $5 per bag per period of no more than 24 hours.
Look what happens when I go to bed and then make some ciabatta bread!
Faheem, that is NOT a three star review. What he wrote is in the 5-star range, and then, like a difficult toddler, he stomped his feet and yelled “But you didn’t give me everything I wanted!!!” so I am taking my toys and going home. Oh, and the bit about the late breakfast? If you want breakfast before the posted time, you do what every able-bodied person with some cash does… you LEAVE the building and go somewhere else to eat! This is not rocket science.
I do not understand why your guests are so difficult. I have read your listing, and there is nothing in there that should attract the whimpering people that you seem to end up with.
I think that you have made it clear that keeping luggage is not something that you are comfortable with. It is clearly stated in your listing. My only thought is that you really need to leave the building and scout out where you are telling people to store their luggage at the station. Get the cost, perhaps a sheet with services, hours of operation. Luggage actually is a real issue for travelers and maybe being a little more informed about the options would make your guests less irritated.
Here in Boston, there is absolutely nowhere you can store your luggage for free or for a ransom. It simply doesn’t exist anymore. All lockers and storage facilities for luggage were ripped out of the stations and airport follow 9-11. I am allowing, with a polite request, guests to leave luggage in the corner of the living room before and after their reservations. So far, the request has been on days that I will be home. If I was not going to be here, I would have to decline their request. [Did that once, and they stored their bags in the backyard at their own risk.] They do not get access to their “former” or “to-be” rooms however so no showering. I do have a tiny guest toilet on the first floor which they are welcome to use.
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Hi @Chloe,
Well, that’s not a major issue. But having even more random strangers wandering around inside our complex with no clear schedule certainly isn’t welcome.
The entry way is just a hall. It’s quite public. And we do have servants here, and misc people wandering around - occasionally doing maintenance work and so forth. Not at all secure.
@jaquo suggested a cupboard with a lock on it. That would certainly be feasible, but I don’t have a convenient cupboard ready to hand. One doesn’t typically keep empty cupboards around in case you want to put stuff in them.
Heh, people typically don’t pay much attention to times, in my experience. They suit themselves.Check-ins are typically quite predictable, but that’s because they come direct from a train station and/or airport.
Also, I imagine, hard to enforce. I have a hard time imagining myself preventing someone from using the bathroom. This could easily cause as much ill-feeling as the original refusal to store luggage.
Actually funny thing. There’s this girl not far away, and she’s also an Airbnb host. Her setup is quite similar to mine. Private room, and private, but non-attached bathroom.
But she has IB and flexible cancellation, and Airbnb really likes her listing. She’s tops for the city, and gets a ton of bookings. I was just looking at her review just now. And the last but one review was someone complaining about not being allowed to use the bathroom when they came to pick up their bags! So, it seems she allows the pick up baggage option too. I wonder how she finds it. It would be interesting to compare notes.
That’s a fair point, in practice. Yes, they can lock it from the inside, and I make a point of telling them to do so. But I also have a spare key to that lock, though I do not make a point of telling them about it. I’d tell them if they asked, of course. But nobody has yet. So, yes, in theory I have access, but the dynamics of having someone stay here and keeping their stuff behind a locked door, vs me holding on to it for them, are quite different.
I don’t really know what Indian law says about this, if anything, but it does seem to me to make a difference whether it is in my possession rather than mine.
Yes, and I appreciate that you took time out of your busy schedule to poke holes. Really. 
Given that I don’t really want to do it, I’d incline towards a rather exortionate paid service. Like USD 30, which would be the same price as the nightly room charge. And I don’t even really want to do it at that price, but they’d probably not take me up on it either. But I don’t really know if it would be a better solution - it might attract cries of racketeer. Faheem the Racketeer. That would be a new role for me. :-\
Ah. Interesting thing, that. I wasn’t sure if it was actually there (in any form) when this guy did his reservation. I added it around that time, and as discussed before, by me, at least, Airbnb does not notify hosts of changes to the listing. So, yay, no record.
Then I bethought myself, hey, they record a snapshot of the house rules at the time of reservation, don’t they? Ah, but mark the sequel. I went to this chap’s reservation. And sure enough, there was a copy of the house rules. But guess what, the sentence I added this afternoon was right there:
For reasons of security and liability, among others, we cannot accommodate requests fo store luggage for guests before check-in or after check-out.
Bear in mind that this guy checked out a couple of days ago.
So, the snapshot of the house rules? Not so much. Yet another example of Airbnb programming incompetence. You guys can easily check this yourselves. Make a change in your house rules, and check the house rules for a reservation that has already finished.
The upshot is, I don’t know whether that wording was present when the guy booked. And no way of finding out, that I can tell. BTW, for good measure I’ve now added this baggage thing to my guest guide. But probably people won’t read that either.
(Ooh, long post.)
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There is one glaring statement you made which is unequivocally the bottom line and governs: “…I don’t really want to do it.”
I think your concerns and reasons are valid and the desire toward achieving total guest satisfaction can only stretch so far. You are not being paid enough to include luggage storage and all that it entails in the deal.
5 Likes
I would still respond to the guy as if it has always been stated in your house rules. He is being childish - he booked your place without confirming the luggage deal. No need to show him consideration now.
Anyway, it sounds like there are too many servants, etc walking around your compount - and it makes you nervous that you are responsible for their actions. The only thing I was a possible option - is allowing guests to pay the watchman $5 to keep it with him. Then again, I don’t know what a watchman does. I just pictured this guy outside of your gate, keeping watch 24 hrs. (in a tiny closed building). But, if your watchman steals stuff, then the guest will still blame you. So I guess it’s not an option.
How much does the local place charge to leave luggage? Surely guests will be satisfied with that. …esp. if you bring up the topic first.
Hi @Mearns,
Hmm. No, not really. I don’t really want to do it - that’s clear I think.
But at something like the USD 30 price point, I might consider it. But also nobody would take me up on it, because they could rent the room for that price. Well, unless they were nuts.
It’s probably worth mentioning one more thing about this bag pickup deal. This is really a one-man show. I mean, there are other people involved; I have someone doing the cleaning, and my cook makes people breakfast if they want, but nobody else really knows what’s going on. I don’t know how common this setup is; I hope most of you here have someone doing backup. If you get ill, or have to travel etc. Or get busy with some emergency. Also, the people around me aren’t really competent adults - there’s nobody I’d be comfortable giving the responsibility to.
So, yeah, if I was to accept people’s luggage it would be on me to return it to them safely. And it would be just one more thing.
I mentioned that other Airbnb host, the girl, in my reply to Chloe. She definitely has backup. There are mentions of her being away, and it seems there are other people who take care of the Airbnb stuff for her.
Oh, and part of the reason I notice her is that her listing is apparently a permanent fixture at the bottom of my listing. 
Too much responsibility really, for the money. If I didn’t have the deli, I wouldn’t do it either.
For me, the less I get Airbnb involved in my affairs, the better. That is why I have never call them about anything, ever. They do their thing, I do mine.
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Aha! (Slaps head.) Yes, I think you’re right. He made the request prior arrival. I was misreading it. Silly me. Thanks for the clarification.
Actually, I think I’ll take a shot at getting Airbnb to remove the review. This probably isn’t worth the trouble, but I have more than a little of the Sheldon Cooper in me. If you’ve ever watched TBBT, you’ll know what I mean.
Thanks for the moral support.
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True, but the staff are there anyway. And presumably that’s part of their job.
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Hi Faheem!
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The “factual error” is just a writing error on his part – “prior arrival” refers to when he asked the question and not when he wanted to store his luggage.
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I think you’ve made it clear that you do not want to deal with storing luggage for many good reasons. (I store luggage because it’s easy for me to do which is not the case in your situation). If late evening and red-eye flights are common for your guests, maybe add a line like this in your description?
“For those who have a late evening flight out of Mumbai, many guests simply book another night so they can actually enjoy a full “last day & night” in the city , with access to their room, restroom, and without stressing about cumbersome luggage.”
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Yikes! Sorry this happened to you.
When I see a place that has all great reviews and then one like this jerk’s, I just roll my eyes and think, “oh, you’re one of those!”
If I see a host respond to it, I pay more attention to the review than I would have otherwise, because it really stands out on the page.
Reading his review? He’s another one of those “not suited to the Air community, should be in a hotel” people.
I hope you find a solution, @faheem and hope Air removes his review.
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Yes, I thought it could read like that too. We can slam the guest for behaving like a toddler in a tantrum, Faheem, but I don’t think we can slam him for his poor grammar and inability to use commas, sadly! [quote=“faheem, post:1, topic:7781”]
I did request the host to leave my luggage prior arrival due my flight is midnight
[/quote]
What he obviously meant to say was “Prior to my arrival, I requested the host to leave my luggage …”
It would obviously be more trouble than it’s worth to you to store luggage. Don’t do it, of course, but I do like @chicagohost’s line about booking an extra night. If I saw that and was staying somewhere with a bargain price anyway, I’d think “Hey, great idea!” It would be a win-win situation for you and the guest.
As for that other Bombay host:
[quote=“faheem, post:27, topic:7781”]
Oh, and part of the reason I notice her is that her listing is apparently a permanent fixture at the bottom of my listing.
[/quote] I do so hate those “Hey, you may not think much of this listing, but look at these other much nicer/cheaper/nearer to the beach ones we have for you!” from Airbnb.
Nil desperandum, Faheem!
Since this is a constant issue now, I think your only feasible alternative is to add the suggestion about booking a second night if you have a late flight. And to make sure this very firm and clear disclaimer about not storing luggage is perhaps at the top of your house rules. With the suggestion to book another night.
I think that should work well!
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Don’t forget to change that f to a t
Well put @faheem. Clean. No doubt, the whole luggage things is potentially a can of worms, who needs it. I do it because od the tricky logistics of my scene, no other reason.
/I am leaving that erroneous od on purpose to see if @Australia picks up on it. LoL
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And she does!
Those don’t go checking my spelling, especially as i do mist of this chit chat on my mobile wich akes ut uch arder ti rite on
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Hi @smtucker,
Thanks for the moral support.
Well, that’s just part of the territory, isn’t it? Without difficult guests, this forum might not exist… And all of us have our crosses to bear. Well, except for @jaquo. And I want the contact information for whoever makes her magical amulets.
And really, most of the people who have passed through here have been no trouble. It’s just you guys get to hear about those that weren’t. And I suppose the same is true for everyone else.
Very good point about checking out the left luggage place personally. But I already have got the cost sheet. I had someone go there a few days ago, photograph the cost sheet, and the luggage racks. He said they wouldn’t let him photograph anything else. Have I mentioned I’m lazy? So does anyone want to see it? The rates for days 1 to 5 are: Rs 16, 35, 55, 75, and 95 + tax (possibly 4.35). And it’s 24x7 - it would have to be. But I read on the net that they do shut down occasionally for short periods. Personally I wouldn’t be comfortable leaving my luggage for a long time in such a place, but for a few hours I guess it is Ok. Are there any other better options in the vicinity? The net doesn’t say.
That’s terrible. What are people supposed to do?
Do they turn up at the agreed time? What if they don’t, and you want to go out?
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