Guests paid for one night, left all their stuff this morning and I have other guest coming

[Alana114]

I think my guests are confused and think they booked two nights.  She is supposedly also a host but has 0 reviews.   

i thought they checked out but their stuff is all over the space so its obvious they are coming back.   They are not answering their phone.  

i have new guests coming today, what do I do?   Gather their stuff up and put it on the porch?  

[Huma0]

@Alana114 

Make sure you message the guests via the Airbnb system so there is a record of it, reminding them again that they only booked for one night, check out was at X time and that you have other guests arriving so must clean the place. Write also that you have been trying to contact them on their phone and there is no answer, so you have no choice but to pack their stuff and ask that they come to collect it ASAP. The important thing is to get the place ready for the new guests. 

Is there anywhere other than the porch to store the stuff? Is it secure there or could it be stolen? Of course, it is the guest's mistake, but you don't want to have to deal with furious guests if you can help it. They may be inconsiderate and completely ignoring your check out time or they might genuinely think they have booked two nights and don't have their phones on or something. They sound disorganised to me.

[Alana114]

She texted just now and says she booked for 2 nights.   Obviously the way Airbnb works the mistake cannot be mine.  Thanks for the advice, I did message through Airbnb.  

[Mark116]

@Alana114  I would send a message to Airbnb Help on the platform as well.  Maybe they can assist with finding a last minute place for them to spend the night.  It will also protect you from baseless claims that you entered the space without their permission.  I would recommend that you video yourself walking though the space to show their stuff and if it's possible have yourself videod as everything is packed up to prevent any eroneous claims of theft or damage.

I've had this happen I think 2x since we've been hosting where the person thought the check out date was the date of their last night, but in each case the night was free so they were able to stay with no complications.

[Clay29]

I had this happen when the guest who booked was not the guest who arrived and I had failed to check ID. The photo was close enough that I could not tell a difference. They had a miscommunication and tried to shift blame on me until I caught up with the person who was staying and verified they were not the same. Needless to say, I left an appropriate review so others would be warned.

[Alana114]

Thats really creepy

[Jonathan6]

Suggestions here are all about messaging to CYA, but in my experience in addition to the messaging getting on the phone with ABB is a must.  They have always worked proactively to rectify a situation like this and you should be communicating with your guest that you are trying to work something out for them with ABB.  ABB will also give them that message and they most likely will find other accommodations.

You should also have a backup plan as these things happen. I had a situation where my cleaning service went under quarantine last year for Covid and I couldn't turn over the unit, but I had a hotel in the area that I had a relationship with (I have sent them guests that I couldn't accommodate)  and put up the arriving ABB guests for 1 night (I paid for the night) at a reduced rate and got my backup service to cover the next day.

Your running a business, it's all about customer service.

[Alana114]

Good suggestion.  We tried to think of where we could suggest they stay the second night but in our rural area other options are more expensive than we are so they were better off just doing their own search for accomodations.   We are a great value!   And really, they should have realized it would be ridiculous to oay what they did for two nights! 

[Gillian166]

I've had this exact thing happen recently. Guest thought they booked for two nights. HOW???? do you know how many annoying messages you get from abb when you travel. A lot. and they would have received a checkout notice from abb, plus i send one on the morning of check-out. Perhaps they didn't have the app on their phone (i also urge all guests to make sure the app is on their phone too), and I still don't know if they were dumbos or chancers. 

The worst part is, they must have thought the rate for 2 nights was acceptable, so can you imagine the rating you'll get for Value when they realise it's just 1 night.   

[Helen744]

@Alanna 144, while you are dealing with moving these people on and cleaning, then message the incoming guest and let them know that place is not yet ready and offer to pay for dinner a movie if they can hold off for a few hours and this may give you a chance to sort things out . the person who booked should be aware that it is there problem but you can also offer them a dinner or movie to soothe troubled waters and assist them or suggest another booking. H

[Amanda660]

@Alana114 how did it go?

[Alana114]

Thanks everyone.  The guest eventually was back within signal and received our texts and voicemails.  At first she texted that she was sure she booked for two nights but a little later she texted again apologetically that she had made a mistake and was heading back to clear out.  I had to strip the bed and get going on cleaning but left their stuff where they’d left it (all over everywhere).  Thankfully they arrived back in time and I’m thankful I did not have to pack up for them as it would have been time-consuming.  They said they were very sorry and would pay any late checkout fee etc but since it all turned out ok I didn’t charge anything extra and gave them a decent review.  It did cost me a little in time and frustration, not knowing what to do so glad for this forum as Airbnb never answered my call.  I am just super surprised she could make that mistake if she is really a host.  She has zero reviews so maybe she has listed a space and not yet had any guests.   

btw their stuff on the porch would have been perfectly safe. What I learned:     Check immediately after checkout time to make sure guests have really checked out!  

[Normen0]

Here in Canada, this often happens when persons of French decent (French Canadian) book a stay.

For example, If they say they want Dec 15-17, I think they check in on Dec 15 and checkout Dec 17 but they think they are booking until checkout on the 18th. So it could be a cultural difference. 

I have learned to double check with French Canadian folks for sure. If there is any questions/flags at all such as booking a weekend to check out on a Saturday instead of Sunday,  I will put in messaging something that will make then confirm, such as “When you are checking out on Saturday..” or  I may ask “ Please confirm this booking is for one guest and one night only”. 

And then sometimes you just show up to clean and there they are, reading a book on the porch after checkout… 🤷‍♀️ 

[Jonathan6]

I don't understand why everyone is not using the automated messages on the platform. In addition to the messages from ABB, I send out several messages that reiterates the dates. I send out a message at 8pm the day before checkout with a"Friendly" reminder of the checkout time the next day and instructions for checkout and ask the guest to contact me if they need a late checkout. I send an 8am checkout reminder the day of checkout as well.  

There is zero ability for a guest to ever claim an issue. In the hundreds of rentals I have done only once was a guest confused about the dates, they showed up a day late and then wanted to extend by a day.  They admitted it was all their fault as they didn't pay attention to all the messages.

If you haven't used this feature you really should.  I think it's one of the reasons that I have never had less than a 5 star rating for communication.

[Dora486]

I don’t use the automated messages but do personalised messages.  I always send a message morning before departure so they can plan pack up time into their last day.  Works a treat, no problems so far.