Friday July 1st, received a request from a newbie who did have profile filled out, verified ID, to reserve for Monday July 4th, check out Tuesday July 5th. The request stated they would be in my neck of the woods kayaking, but wanted to be closer to the nearby town that does a fireworks show on the 4th.
I accepted, sending standard email saying looking forward to your stay, asking where in the local area they would be kayaking as I could send them exact directions from that location, that traffic would delay their trip to the other town by at least 30 mins, and with reminder to keep me updated on approximate time of arrival, if they have any questions, to please ask.
I sent emails via ABB system on Saturday July 2nd and again on July 3rd again basically saying the same thing, including weather outlook and whatever.
July 4th rolls around and they still have not responded. So, I send an email at 11am, letting them know their room is ready as previous guest left early and they are welcome to check in early, reminding them of the check-in window and asking them to keep me updated of arrival time.
Some of the things I did not do on July 4th because I did not want to be inaccessible to the newbie ABB’er—pontoon boat tour of the river, BBQ at friends house (30 minutes away).
At 7pm, they sent an email saying they hit a spot of cell service (not having cell service is a real issue up here), that the river they were on was taking them much longer than expected, (I have no idea if they were with a guided trip or on their own) and they would update when they could.
I wrote back advising that check in window ends at 9pm, but understanding their situation, they could self check in late as I would be sleeping (I despise late check ins because I work and have to sleep and don’t like having people enter my home when I’m sleeping).
At 1130pm, they sent email saying they were not going to make it as they were awaiting Triple A services, they ran out of gas (in a town more than an hour away).
Of course, despite needing sleep, I was still awake waiting for them, got the alert on the phone but did not respond.
IDIOTS.
And I feel so bad for the Triple A person who was on call—on a holiday night! Ran out of gas in an area of the country that is well known for limited cell services and is well known for having vast expanses of many miles of roads and absolutely no standard services (gas stations, coffee places, etc).
This is why just a little more forthrightness with hosts is crucial, if I would have known which river, I could have maybe foreseen that they would not have been able to make the drive in time to check in, of course, I would not have been able to foresee that they would have an empty gas tank.
In any case–
1), what is your check in window? mine is currently 3pm-9pm
2) think ABB will give refund if they ask?
3) would you write a review if they don’t get refund if they ask?
My check in is 3-8 pm. No late check ins. I would do nothing. Wouldn’t even think about it.
I see no reason for them to get a refund. I would fight air on this. They ruined your 4th. If you review them, I would only say guest did not show up, but I’m not sure I would bother.
Should I contact Air? I think this is a no brainer and they should not get refund.
Hi @brook2adks,
Your no-show guests sound like a pain. Sorry about that.
I’m puzzled by the “do I leave review” thing. If the guests don’t arrive, you can’t leave a review, right?
I don’t think Airbnb should give a refund. This situation does not sound like extenuating circumstances to me. But who can say what Airbnb will do; they’re a bit wacky.
Hi @faheem, I think ABB, unless contacted by the guest asking for a refund, has no way of knowing whether they show up or not.
So, if they do not ask for a refund, ABB will think they stayed here, and we will both get the emails asking us to review our experience.
And yes, ABB is wacky! Poor communication and planning on guests part seems to frequently rewarded with refunds any time a guest inquires!
I just changed my check in window to end at 8pm.
Good point. I momentarily forgot Airbnb is not a celestial eye in the sky. 
The cell coverage sounds like a real challenge. However, I hope in future you enjoy your well deserved holiday & not give up not opportunities to enjoy at BBQ at your friends. I ask guests to contact me min. 48 hours prior with their checkin time, after 2pm, else I’ll not be home (but usually am) & this way if they don’t respond to my 1 or 2 reminders I don’t feel bad at all going out & having a life. I do allow really late checking though (despite having to work business hours & regretting it next day!) as most of my guests are international. Most international flights into Melbourne are early to late evening due to international flight route scheduled through Asia at this time so I need to be flexible. I am much less flexible on locals or interstate guests but they usually don’t ask for late check-in.
IMHO your no shows have no grounds for a refund & I don’t believe Air would give them one gather, their stuff up, their loss. They can claim on travel insurance which is what I would say if they contacted me too!
I’ve decided, as @Maggieroni mentioned, to do nothing. Not going to contact ABB.
I had a woman cancel the day before arrival saying she decided to fly instead of drive. I didn’t contact ABB and she didn’t get a refund.
My check in window is 3pm until whenever the guest gets here. I think between 1 and 2 am is the latest anyone has arrived. Now that I have a Ring doorbell with motion detector I will always be able to determine when someone arrived. Check out time is 11 am but I’m flexible depending on circumstances. As for the guests, they shouldn’t get a refund as it was not your fault and they blocked out a potentially high demand holiday. Although I guess it wasn’t high demand since the room was still available on the 1st. It did ruin your day waiting for them but they seemed to have a bad day too so…karma. I agree with Emily that in the future you shouldn’t forego fun activities. It sounds like for a one night booking you should have just turned them down and said you had plans. We can’t control what others do and it sounds like you are on the edge of burnout anyway so take control of your rental. Make holidays where you are going to do something a two night minimum so they check in before your event and so the money is worth it.
Or make peace with them checking in while you aren’t there. Even before I added the separate entrance I had some people come in while I wasn’t home. I never had any big issue. One couple ended up giving me 3 stars because they had trouble unlocking the door (the were using the key to lock doors that weren’t locked!!!) and the dogs in my bedroom behind a baby gate were barking furiously at them when they got in. That’s it. Everyone else did fine. Maybe put a security camera at the entrance so you know for sure when they are arriving or put one in the common area.
I had rented the room the 3 days previous, because I wasn’t working that holiday (I do frequently work holidays), I was able to do the room cleaning after the guest checked out.
I would contact Air and tell them your side of the story. Get it in first, before these guests come up with some fake extenuating circumstance. Hopefully it is nothing…but I would want the rep. to be reading my side, just in case the guests call. I would tell Air to please not contact them, but you just wanted to report what happened.
They did not ask to cancel and you have not received word of a refund request so you can assume they are not coming and you get to keep their cash. You won’t get to review them though. Complete bother.
I would have probably told them since they missed the check in window they would be out of luck until you got back from your 4th of July activities. A complete headache!!!
PS?. I learned long ago never to let guests break up my holidays. This epiphany came when I found myself on my hands and knees scrubbing the toilet on Christmas Eve rather than making cookies and being holly jolly. 
They are idiots! Its way worse when guests don’t show up and don’t tell you their reason. At least you never had to meet them! Keep the money, they won’t get a refund.
@brook2adks did you end up writing these guests a review? Did they write you a review? I had a somewhat similar situation. I don’t care to leave a review. But if the no-show guest does not leave me a review, it sort of “could” hurt my super-host qualification… because to be a super-host, you must have reviews on at least 50% of your stays in the past year.
You can’t leave a review if the stay was not completed, as I understand it???
I did not write a review.
You can write a review, as long as no one cancels the reservation. ABB doesn’t know that they didn’t show up.
But say they see your review and write one. They can’t review you if they didn’t stay?