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What has been everyone’s experiences when the guest does not communicate regarding their arrival time and you have been unable to reach them by text on the Air BnB platform or by the number that they provide? I have instant book on and a guest Booked yesterday for today but has not said what time she is arriving. It is a condition of my booking. For past 24 hours I tried reaching her by phone and by text and she is not answering. It literally just hangs up immediately and I think it might not even be legit number. I reached out to Air BnB today and they also cannot contact her. But they said that I have to wait for 24 hours before it’s considered canceled. From now on, I am going to call every single guess that books with me immediately so I talked to them and find out. I really don’t have the time for this but I guess I will make the time. Just wondering if anyone has had this experience.
it is my understanding that one of the What am I missing? I am turning instant book back off. I don’t need this.
The couple if times I wasn’t able to reach a guest- they simply did not receive their door code. Sometimes it was because of data/phone plan issues while travelling but luckily both arrived at decent times. I started telling guests when they book that I send their door code the day of and to be sure to check their platform messages. No problems since.
I’ve only had this once or twice and it’s been no problem. The guest has turned up just after check in time (I think once it was about an hour into the check in window) so that’s fine.
After all, the guest knows what time they need to check in and that they won’t get in without contacting me so it’s never been a problem.
I usually ask guests for a rough ETA on the morning of check in - at about 11 am - and then if I don’t hear from them, again at about 4 in the afternoon (when the check in window begins). What time did you try to contact the guest? Could it simply be that they’re without internet?
So I have it right in my listing that I need an updated cell phone number and I need time of arrival because it’s my home. It’s just about basic respect annoying when someone’s going to come through my door. It’s not a big house and that’s just something I need to know. After two phone calls to customer support that did not resolve it, I contacted them on Facebook messenger and lo and behold they suddenly were responsive. I don’t know how they paid managed to contact the guests at a completely different phone number. She then told me by Facebook or by the platform that she changed her number. Which is odd because she just signed up yesterday for the spot. And she is a host herself which is very strange that she does not respect basic rules. She is in the process of moving which would explain not having internet but I am sure that there are places she could go during the day to at least check things like email or messages. Anyway, she claimed ignorance but I am tired of it. I’m probably not going to host after this. I’m just sick and tired of the lack of connection between Airbnb and host. They do not show any respect for my privacy.
I did that for a few nights a few years ago. You’re right, not worth it. Instead of “taking a break” why not try raising your price. It will have the same effect if the price is really too high.
I raised prices on the advice of a fellow host who has become a regular cash booking. Business is better than ever.
We had a debacle like that happen last month. The guest had booked our place months in advance. Lots of questions. Then crickets for two days. In that two days, we had issues come up and were not going to be here that evening. We have self check in with electric door lock. So I messaged her on the platform and directly to the number she had listed on her profile. Saying we would not be here and here is the door code. No response. We get home from our appointment to an angry letter on our door. From the guest, “We have been back here three times, you do not answer your phone!”. Come to find out she was calling my landline, which is designated a land line. She never called my cell. The number she had on her profile was actually her landline at home, where she had not been for the past three days, enroute to here.
I finally got ahold of her, calling the phone number on the note.
She yelled at me, I cancelled here, said no refund. That a guests must provide traveling contact info. Platform backed me up due to my message stream. Jeez. So now I message guests who are new and they must provide traveling contact info.
I agree that there are many red flags. Airbnb called me just now to pressure me to keep the reservation. They said they will penalize me for canceling. I said I don’t care and you need to stick by your own rules of being able to cancel as an instant book if you feel uncomfortable. This woman claims that she forgot to update her number even though she is a host herself. She said she’s moving and didn’t have access to the phone. She said that when she finally could use her phone it was wet. But yet she’s not able to arrive till later because she has family coming over. What? Why not stay with family then? There are so many red flags and I’m disgusted Airbnb keeps trying to tell me that I’m the one being unreasonable. I’m done with this platform. I’m not doing this to myself anymore.
She gave every excuse in the book for not being able to provide her ETA. Moving, phone not working, change number. I’m not having any of it. She knows she’s supposed to provide her estimated time of arrival. She is a host herself.
No she did not. Because it took 4 phone conversations and several messages to Airbnb customer support before they finally got it through their thick skull that I did not feel comfortable having this guest in my house and therefore I was canceling the reservation in my mind and if she showed up, I would not admit her and I will call the police for trespassing. I did not feel safe and they just could not comprehend that. I just stuck my ground and said I’m not letting her because you didn’t even check her phone number. So no she did not show up
We talk a lot here about different kinds of hosts, properties and hosting styles. There is nothing wrong with having the kind of business the OP has as long as they are happy with the amount of business they have.
Do you know where they are coming from? I travel internationally A LOT and I have Verizon so I get ZERO coverage unless I’m on WiFi I know it’s super frustrating for me I need to switch to T mobile … just consider you might not be being ignored.
However I want to know what happens!
Dang just read up.
