I have a guest from China. My posted check-in times are 3 p.m. to 9 pm. But of course, she’s coming for the State Fair and her flight arrived at 11 PM. I have self check-in and I always describe the outside of my house and of course she has the address. There is a lockbox to get the key and she lets herself in and everything goes fine. At least ideally. I told her that I would be in bed because she was arriving after midnight and I was making an exception for her but made sure she had the address and knew where she was going. Unfortunately, she took an Uber and was not able to get the right house. She switched the numbers on my House around and went to a neighbor’s. Rather than ask questions, when they saw a strange woman with a suitcase trying to enter their front porch, they called the police. She had my adult daughter’s number because I told her I had to be in bed early so she called her. But the police came and escorted her to my house and ask my daughter are you expecting someone and she said yes. The people on my street are so paranoid about anyone who’s not white specially if it’s late at night. I’m glad it ended well but I just feel so bad. But this is why I’m not allowing any exceptions to late check-in this because if I had been awake, I would have probably seen her and run outside and said hey over here or something. I also don’t know how someone can make a mistake like that when they have the address and I left my porch light on. But Jesus what a mistake.
Ouch! If they had your daughter’s number, there was really no need to call the police before calling her.
At least the police seem to have handled the matter appropriately. Be thankful for that, and for the sake of neighbourly relations, apologise without smacking them in the face!
The neighbor, whose house the Chinese guest was attempting to enter called the police. The neighbor didn’t have the adult daughter’s number, the Chinese woman did.
You can’t really blame all that on late check-in. Imagine the guest had turned up at 8:30pm two blocks away (because they got a slightly different number mixed up) and the owner of that home was away? The neighbors might have called the police and the outcome would’ve been similar.
Seems like everything might have turned out OK, if your neighbors weren’t so skittish.
Exactly. I plan on talking to them. This is St. Paul ffs, a very diverse and low crime community. She could have needed help and to just call 911 instead of even asking from inside without opening the door is unacceptable. I can’t apologize enough to her for their paranoid behavior.
Don’t agree. It’s stupidity like this that gets Airbnb banned from entire communities. There’s absolutely no excuse, I’d have called the police or responded with a weapon at midnight if I wasn’t expecting anyone. Apologize to neighbor. Profusely. Give a one star to the utter moron who couldn’t read street numbers and yup… because Airbnb guests are often stunningly stupid, don’t do self check in.
700 guests and 3 problems with self check in. Without self check in I have a fraction of the money. And the late same day bookings and arrivals like the one for tonight that I just had would be impossible because I’ll be sleeping by the time they arrive.
It does benefit me that so many hosts are so limited as that leaves more guests for me, so thanks for that.
You are so lucky guys - you can afford not making the late checkin and self checkin options works for u. In our area if you don’t do that in person every time and during any time of the day and night you wouldn’t have any guests either.
Wow you have angry paranoid issues you need help for. Like many people, this guest didn’t speak English as their first language. It is not uncommon for guest to be a little confused. It was an honest mistake. Get help.
Thanks, doc. Glad you can diagnose from afar. While I’m getting help, worry hard about a stupid guest getting shot when they walk into the wrong house. If you can’t read numbers, you definitely need to hotel it the first night on arrival in a foreign country. Again, your neighbors have a legit complaint about how you run your Airbnb business in their residential neighborhood if total strangers are knocking on their door in the middle of the night.
Don’t you have a rally to get to or something?
Sorry but I get really annoyed by this whole ‘guests are stupid’ thing. I read it all the time - it’s the guests’ stupidity, the fact that they don’t read, the idiot guest who gets lost, the inconsiderate potential guest who has the temerity to ask for a discount… etc. etc.
In many years, I don’t think I’ve ever had a stupid guest. Strange ones, yes. Bizarre ones, certainly. But who are we to decide what’s ‘normal’ and what’s ‘weird’?
Because I have to show a guest how to work something simple (the last time it was a cafetiere) that doesn’t mean that the guest is stupid. Or if they’re not sure how to work the shower, that doesn’t make them idiots. They are just unfamiliar with things they don’t know - especially if they are in a strange country.
Describing guests as stupid or moronic is hardly offering great hospitality, is it?
I’m here on Reddit, not offering you any hospitality. I have 600 five star reviews across three OTA’s, and can freely say what I think here. Stupid exists. For instance, I had stunningly stupid guests actually stay overnight at a neighbor’s property and call in the morning complaining about missing amenities. Wrong address. Not a single photo matched. Beds weren’t made. Place wasnt cleaned. But 1+1 didn’t equal 2. They thought they’d been misled instead of considering they were in the wrong place. Really let me have it until I asked what address they were at. Go look outside…what’s the number? Oh here’s one: I had a guest arrive a week ago and refuse to move her car because she “doesn’t do reverse.” A woman in her fifties could not put her vehicle in reverse. And this more than once: I’ve had guests arrive so drunk my husband has to carry them in, and I’ve had guests unable to read a DO NOT ENTER sign, drive right past and into a ditch. I had a guest drive right into a livestock area, right past a NO VEHICLES sign and nearly run over my peacock. And then complained in their review that my sign was confusing. I call 'em like I see 'em. Dumb as rocks. I try to keep my humor, vent when I need to, and provide unconditionally exceptional customer service irregardless of IQ.
LOLOLLOLOLLLOOLLOLLLOL
Me too.
Oh, I’d love an explanation.
Oh, I bet we’re gonna get one.
Sorry I’m newly branching out from fb forums and thought I was on Reddit. Totally my error, sorry.
Funny enough, I thought so too.