Guest not locking door even with easy keypad

[Staci146]

Hi! We have our second guest in our Airbnb now and they are not locking the door at night or during the day when they leave. We have a Yale keypad that works super easy and I’ve put instructions online, on the printed house manual at the house, and I messaged them to him again. I decided to just lock the door from my app and let him know since they are gone all day once they leave, he said. 

I’m wondering if anyone has encountered this, what they did, also what the liabilities are. If they don’t lock the door and someone comes in and steals things, are they liable for that? 

[Robert6]

Can you not set up the lock to auto lock in, say, one minute?  I am fairly sure that your software could be set to do this.  

[Staci146]

That is a new idea. Thank you for that. I will look into it. 

[Suzanne302]

@Staci146 

Yes, I have experienced this. No matter how often/how many places you tell them, for some reason some guests just do not lock the door. 

You could try putting a note on the inside of the door, or, as @Robert6  suggested, many keypad locks have the auto-lock feature. That is what I use.

[Staci146]

So how long is it programmed to lock after? I was thinking that’s a good solution for those who won’t lock the door but for those who are conscious of it, they may get irritated being locked in or locked out when it’s not in their control- also if they’re going in and out to unpack or pack up. Would love to hear a little bit more about how that works for you. Thank you. @Suzanne302 

[Suzanne302]

@Staci146 

By default, I leave the auto-lock feature off. But if I notice a guest leaving the door unlocked one time, I turn it on to auto-lock after 30 seconds. It's been my experience that if a guest doesn't lock the door once, they're not going to lock it at all!

I have a Kwikset lock so it's easy to do everything from the app. I get notifications when the door is locked/unlocked, so that's how I know if a guest hasn't locked the door.

I can understand guests who might not be used to keeping their door locked when they're home, but if you're staying in an unknown place why wouldn't you lock the door when you leave? I don't get it, but I'm thankful for the auto-lock!

I'm sure it's a minor annoyance if they are loading/unloading, so that's why I keep it off by default.

[Staci146]

Thank you! That was very helpful. 

[Staci146]

So how long is it programmed to lock after? I was thinking that’s a good solution for those who won’t lock the door but for those who are conscious of it, they may get irritated being locked in or locked out when it’s not in their control- also if they’re going in and out to unpack or pack up. Would love to hear a little bit more about how that works for you. Thank you. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Staci146  Yale digital locks can be set to auto-lock (after a few seconds is the best) ..... or.... set to be locked manually by touching the screen.

You can change the setting if you open the lock cover from the inside of the door and push a small button on/off

In the beginning, I had the classic, old-school lock with a key and noticed how many guests (non-European) struggled with it. I was really surprised. Then I've changed it to digital, auto-lock and everyone immediately gets it. No unlock doors anymore.... except when they get drunk and leave the door wide open.

[Staci146]

Thank you!