Sketchy Guest

[Saela0]

Yesterday my guest checked in after 3pm as agreed. Prior to accepting the trip, we confirmed that he'd be checking out early (5-6am) the next day because of his needs. I was fine with that arrangement and agreed to be around to collect the keys at checkout. When he arrived, he kept hinting at how early he would be leaving and suggesting that he leave my keys in the apartment  (leaving my door unlocked). I made it clear that I didn't want him doing that and no matter how early, I would be there to collect them. 5 hours into his stay, he contacts me saying his plans changed and he would be getting on the road that same night. I rushed from work to collect the keys, but I have a nagging feeling that he was trying to set me up or run some kind of scam. He seemed annoyed at how flexible I was about the checkout situation, like he reeeally wanted to leave my apartment unlocked. My apartment was left clean for the most part with the exception of some pocket change, a receipt, hairbrush and misplaced wash cloth. I don't *think* anything is missing but I still feel uneasy about how weird he was acting. I later looked at his profile and noticed that he supposedly lives in the same city as me (I completely missed that beforehand). He is a new user  (joined this month) so no reviews. But why would he need an airbnb in his home town for such a short time? Any idea what he was up to?!

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Saela0

Hard to know - argument with his partner? Been kicked out of his place for a few days..etc

Always good to ask guests why they are in the area: business, seeing friends, etc

How will you review him - given that he left the place as expected and really didn't stay there very long!

[Saela0]

He said he was in town with a friend looking at colleges. When he arrived, he was alone, but left right after check-in to go pick her up. When we were face to face in my apt, he kept saying they would need to get to the next city by 7am, so they'd leave before 5am. He just kept seeming to push the time back further and further as if I was going to give in and let him leave my place unlocked and just seemed frustrated about it. When I left, I had this nagging feeling that something wasn't right and I kind of felt like he would reach out to me when he thought I'd be sleep, occupied or far away. Sure enough 8:15 pm (15 min before I'd normally get off work) he says they have to go at 8:30. I wasn't surprised and I just felt like my fears made sense. I ran home and they weren't there. Ran to the parking garage they were loading their car quickly almost like I would have missed them had I been a minute past 8:30. He gave me the keys and seemed to have an attitude. I didn't see the girl's face, but she seemed young from a distance. It's all a blur because my heart was pounding and I was anxious to inspect my place. I've thought of every ridiculous possibility from identity theft, to hidden cameras, to human trafficking. I hope none of that is the case but it's really not sitting well with me. For 130, they could have gotten a nice hotel. Why would they pay that to spend 5 hours in a stranger's home? Then them leaving that way felt like it was BECAUSE they realized I would never agree to the key situation. I'm going to be very honest in my review and mention his demeanor/persistance. I called AirBnB and let them know everything in case there was a dispute, or I found anything missing, etc. I still have a sinking gut feeling that something is wrong. 

[Jen78]

5 hours for $130 with a "young" woman sounds like a Tndr hook up to me...the key thing may just have been the sneaky stuff that surrounds affairs or one time hook ups...hard to know. Might have been his first time! Definitely consider a master key and ask guests to lock up after leaving the keys inside.

[Lawrene0]

Well done being firm about collecting those keys, @Saela0. Who knows what was up, but my favourite forum stories have savvy heros!  

"Guest stayed only a few hours" might be enough of a review? It will make a host look at him twice at least. If you had looked twice, you say you would have noticed he is from your city. 

[Saela0]

Definitely. The only reason I missed the part where he lived in my city is because I had another person in my inbox who lived in California, but works in my city, so their profile had it listed instead of their home town because they're here more often. I must have overlooked it associating it with the other guest. Either way, it won't happen again!

[Denise80]

Sounds like they were up to no good...maybe an affair and wanted his car out of sight of the road???

Maybe leaving the house unlocked there was going to be a burglary and it was an eloborate way of setting up an alibi?

Maybe we could come up with some more theories about what he was or could have been up to!

[Miki16]

I agree with the possible scenario of leaving it unlocked for someone else to come and rob the place. That's the only thing that makes sense with him living in the same city combined with all of the other oddities added to that. 

[Paul154]

While your feelings are valid, i don't understand how leaving the keys inside with the door unlocked is a possibility.

Don't you have a master key so that guests can leave the keys inside with the door locked behind them?

It is a very common and standard way to leave an apartment.

I personally would not want to wait around for a  host to  check me out and I would despise having to pinpoint my departure time exactly. 

But this is Airbnb and you can do as you wish.

Have you considered a code entry?  No more worrying about keys.

[Saela0]

Master keying isn't an option in my apartments, so usually when I have a guest in, I'm near by for check-out. In this case, I was still on-site, so it was easy for me to come as soon as he was ready to check out. My office is next door. I made that clear, and said no matter the time it was no problem for me to come on the spot. The fact that he pressed the issue is what made me feel weird about the situation. I kept thinking he would try to get me to agree on the key situation so he could steal whatever and then say someone must have came in after he left. 

[Cormac0]

@Saela0

He may have being having a tryst with some well known person.

regards

Cormac

ECK III

ECK VIII

[Emma94]

@Saela0 change your lock if I were you.

[Helga0]

You can speculate, why they needed a place for such a short time, trying to prevent that you see the women. 

But checking out wothout the host around is pretty common. I used to offer that for years to all guests, 80% take it, even if the person taking back the apartment lives only 5 minutes away. 

Much less stress. 

You could get a lock, that locks itself, safe enough for a short while till ypu arrive. 

[Saela0]

I understand that, but unless I'm misunderstanding this master key concept, it's not an option where I live. I give guests a spare key, and a gate remote. I keep my own key of course, but my locks are deadbolt, so in order for them to leave my keys inside they'd be leaving my apt unlocked. This is why I arrange to be so close for situations like his where he was kind of flaky about when he would need to leave. 

[Lesley53]

He sounds decidedly 'iffy'. I know that having one nighters can mean extra cash but I stipulate a minimum of 3 nights. This seems to sort the chaff from the wheat. I suppose his actions could have good intentions but perhaps Airbnb should insist on references from someone of good standing who knows the guest. If the guest/s are genuine then they shouldn't have a problem in providing a reference.