Hi,
I have a 1 bedroom with 1 bathroom apartment as part-time office and I only stay there 1 hr per weekday. So I try to do airbnb. Frankly speaking, the apartment is not new, and carpet is not very new. I do my best to clean things and I clearly mention it is sofa bed and the apartment cann’t be compared with a high standard hotel. I used instant booking which seems wrong now.
There is a lady registered my apt >1 month ago and since it is IB(Instant booking), I could do nothing to do background check. They just registered(the lady with her boyfriend). two days ago(Saturday, Jan 7, 2017), they came and were unsatisfied with my apt(I listed very cheap price since I still have some stuff in the apt, so totally they will only be charged $700+, I paid more than $1000/month for this apt because I might use it one hour in the afternoon of weekdays);
It is a free country, they are unsatisfied, that fine, you could cancel; Airbnb case manager help them cancel the order(1 month) which is fine, but they show"I cancelled", which damage my credit; Then strange things happened: they didn’t give me the key of front door, they didn’t answer my call for the past two days and they told me this morning it is airbnb manager told them not to contact me which I doubted;
They just played me a lot, made promise would return the key today 3:45pm in front of leasing office, then the guy just want to ignore me, he changed a lot, he just directly return the key to leasing office agent(which I introduced him to get a card for washing machine room use).
I am just totally lost, you have the freedom to choose, you called airbnb agents to cancel reservation with my name to do it! They didn’t lose any penny, but they just didn’t return my key on Saturday(two days ago), kept my key, annoyed me, avoided meeting me. Giving me trouble.
Those guests did not lose anything, but they kept my key which make me very unsafe and uncomfortable; since you cancelled the reservation, you should return the key and card to me immediately, right? Normal people will do that, why did they hold my key and lied to me,eg, we meet around 3:45pm at front door, then didn’t show up, gave me lots of trouble, etc.
Will airbnb just please those guests? never care about hosts’ feelings?
Shall I cancel instant booking? It seems I could not cancel once someone registered my calendar. Though, they said hosts could cancel IB which is more like a lie.
I am in very bad mood for those guests who just did very strange things to hurt you.
No, they don’t care about your feelings. But you should call them and see if they can help you.
I don’t know how the guest could cancel claiming they are you but you should let Airbnb know immediately.
I don’t like IB anyway because of the loss of control. But after reading the description of your space I would remove IB so you can make sure people are aware of the setup of your home before they complete the booking. There will be no misunderstandings then. I’m sure it is uncomfortable to deal with guests who are unhappy because they didn’t read your listing properly.
They have the right to cancel which I understand, though, I mentioned in my post, the whole environment can’t be compared with a 3 or 5 star hotel; the two guests may think there are too much dust in my apt, the carpet is not new,etc;
They didn’t lose anything, however, I lost quite a lot because my former guest enjoyed the cheap price and quiet community, he is single and focused on some personal papers, etc; he told me he would have registered more, but the whole month from Jan 7, 2017 has been registered by others.
I lose potential guests, those two guests just lost nothing, they just could say your place is not clean enough for us, so they canceled, and I found it damaged my credit since it showed" I canceled the reservation"!
Do all the hosts have those experiences? Airbnb don’t care hosts’ benefits that much, they just want to earn more money and they don’t want to lose guests, so they will help guests more.
As @KKC suggested, please call AirBNB and let them know your side of the situation. I would definitely let them know that you did not cancel and that the guest hasn’t returned the key.
We have had instant booking on for a month or so now and had our first IB guest. They were fantastic. We decided to turn it on after I heard the frustration of guest-hosts who didn’t get responses from hosts with non-IB. The issue also is that you could get dud guests without IB, too.
Some guests have high expectations. Once you’re calmer, sit down and see if there is anything you could objectively take from this interaction to improve your listing.
I am sorry you had a couple of dud guests. They’re not all like that!
Thanks for suggestions.
This is the first time I met this situation: guests canceled the reservation, but hold my key, avoiding meeting me, after two days, threw my key in the leasing office.
I am hesitating if I should use instant booking.
I will keep my cell on and set alarm on for airbnb which might solve the problem.
Thanks for all the answering.
Some repetition in your posts?
Anyway, yes feel free to turn instant book off!
Normally when guests cancel, they would rather not meet you, so this is normal.
If uncomfortable with security, you may consider changing the locks, or getting one of those locks that has a numerical digipad instead of keys!
I was thinking the same thing. Could turn this into a drinking game! Every time they say “key” take a drink…
Ok - enough of that foolishness and random thought
Boo Instant Book
Good Question on your part about taking Instant Booking off.
Glad you did finally get the key back. Perhaps you could consider one of those coded door locks where you can change the code between guests
Tough one. I host in a flat where everything is original to the flat which was built 25 years ago. Everything is old old old, but as clean as I can get it. Mostly people call my place charming and I have 98% for cleanliness. I also repainted some of the furniture that came with the flat using Annie Sloan chalk paint which can be used on everything.
Are you able to give your flat a cleaning blitz so you don’t get complaints like this again ?
Thank you all for good advices.
I try to change carpet, but leasing office didn’t agree.
That male(boyfriend of the lady who registered my apt) returned the key to the leasing office!
That made me very unhappy.
I personally welcomed the two guests and handed the key to them, even if they decided to cancel the reservation, they could give me the key back on the same exact day. I did my best to help them, so I helped the male to get a card in leasing office for using washing machine; I just told the girl of leasing office my friend may need to use washing machine. That’s the mistake.
Like AquaticQuests mentioned, they might just want to avoid me after they canceled, however, returned the key to leasing office made me awkward. The girl said it is not permitted(I don’t sign contract directly with them, my cooperator did before). I don’t know if it is true for most apartment complex management company.
I have hosted 13 times since Nov 2016. I listed cheap price since I know I have some stuff,eg, computer,printer in living room, but I only used living room for 1 hr per weekday. So most male solo travelers enjoyed the location close to NRG,TMC(Texas Medical Center) and cheap price and safety(you need pass-code to enter our apt complex), they know I provided good price and safe apt, didn’t care much about dust.
The 14th time, the lady told me: "dust in the corner, wall, etc, if she wanted to find dust things, she could always find something, I could not guarantee no dust and keep it clean like a star hotel. And that’s why I offer cheap price.
So I canceled instant booking, I will ask future guests first if they care environment very much.
Yeah it doesn’t really work like that. Even if you tell guests hey it’s discounted because I haven’t dusted as well as I could have they’ll complain. Raise your prices and use the money to pay for a cleaner. Old carpet is easily covered and updated with a cheap (but New) rug from ikea.
My carpet is very old and worn in patches … I’ve covered it with 3 x £19 sisal rugs from ikea.
Use a programmable lock. No keys and you can pre-program the dates and hours of entry with an over-ride number for yourself
Subletting your apartment is in violation of your lease with the apartment complex. You are probably going to lose your lease and your deposits.
I understand it now, I live in a condo and there is an extra room in my condo( I own it), I may not sublet my part-time office then.