Guest left and returned keys in the wrong place

[Peyman1]

Hello Airbnb community.

My last guest says that he has left and (without consulting with me) has left the keys in the post box, and I do not have the key for that.
Shall I just bring in a locksmith and charge him for that?

He could've asked me to organise a key pick up when he checked out, as we did, when he checked in. 

Thank you in advance.

[Inna22]

@Peyman1 I hate to engage in victim blaming but...has the guest been given instructions on what to do with the key? Did they guest leave early and abruptly or was it either at scheduled time or you did not ask when he/she was leaving? My advice would depend on this

Do you have a spare key and make a copy of it? This would be much cheaper than getting a locksmith. If your mailbox is that difficult to get into, the other key will just be safe there. Perhaps even a nice hidden back up if you ever lose all sets!

If at all possible, install a keypad lock. You will avoid this and many other problems going forward.  

[Heidi588]

I feel like there's something missing here, did the guest leave early without advising you first? Or did you not make checkout arrangements with each other?

I once had a host show up late for my checkout, and I couldn't just leave because I had the only key to her place and it would have been bad form to leave the key in the apartment with the door unlocked (she was a new host and had a lot to learn, it wasn't the first time I had to take care of her instead of the other way around). Fortunately, I already knew lateness was her norm and planned for it, so I was irritated but it didn't impact my travel arrangements. Anyhow, maybe your guest was acting in bad form for the checkout, I don't have enough details to know, but I can imagine it would make sense, at least it would to me, that your place would be secured and you would have a key to your own post box to retrieve the door key. Personally, I think it would be in bad form to charge the guest for the locksmith. 

[Anonymous]

@Peyman1  To echo @Inna22 's advice - if you provided clear checkout instructions somewhere on Airbnb (House Rules, House Manual, or direct messaging with the guest) and the guest failed to follow them, you can request payment for the locksmith. But if you'd forgotten to give specific instructions, you should pay for it yourself.

[Anna9170]

@Peyman1  Frankly speaking, it is a slightly strange situation when the host has no additional keys to its apartment and no mailbox key. This is YOUR security. To make an additional set of keys is not much, and does not deserve the nerves of the guest and the host and extra fees.

[Dimitar27]

@Peyman1, believe me, it will be 1000 times easier for you and for your future guests if you buy and install a lockbox. People like and appreciate to be independent. This is the first point.

Second: always, always, always...keep at least 3 full sets of keys. Full sets. Always!

[Inna22]

@Dimitar27 oh, yes, lock box, of course! I have coded locks on all doors and did not even think of it. Lock box is something anyone should be able to incorporate, no excuses 

[Christine615]

I typed a long response which the system ate. But suffice it to say I just went through something similar as @Peyman1 and I think the responses show no understanding of quirks of buildings that aren't those generic cookie-cutter buildings going up right now.

Our house is 100 years old with very thick doors and thick plaster walls (making an electronic lock not feasible). Nothing is standard and we can't use "off the shelf" locks. It also has built in internal mailboxes that NO locksmith has been able to open. I have to use extra long tongs when people put something inside accidentally (they tilt forward but the door doesn't open). We did put in  a lock-box but we have all had guests that are a few forks short of a picnic who don't or won't read the instructions.

So I'm sympathetic having just had to make a Host guarantee claim (pending) for the cost of a locksmith because the guests went clubbing downtown, somehow got robbed of a wallet and the spare set of keys and waited days after the robbery to tell me (36 hours after they checked out, 48 hours after they were robbed). Because it's a shared entry with the other apartment we had to have the building re-keyed. The guests admitted fault in their message but didn't respond to a request to help pay for the locksmith. Didn't respond to my question about whether there was a police report. Also left the apartment in appalling shape but that's another story.

So without knowing the host's circumstances, I can say that although we have a master set of keys and spares for the building and apartment, there is no option if someone decides to use the mailboxes inside.

We do, however, have a lockbox. Some guests manage to get the keys but then put them back at check-out without closing the box. Or give the keys to friends (in violation of the rules) and then we have to chase them down. We no longer provide a spare set. And we are going to do what some owners did when we stayed at an Airbnb - put in the check-in instructions that losing the keys will result in a $350 fine (the cost of having a locksmith rekey the locks for safety.

[Pete69]

This story doesn't add up. Whose mailbox? A general mailbox for the apartment complex? Ask the manager to pull it out. Simple.

The most you could charge them is for a new key (if even that). You do have backup keys, like you should,  don't you???

[Helen3]

Hey @Soundra0 

Can you stop pulling up old posts about key lock issues and using them to promote your business?