Airbnb managed door lock gave access to guests days ahead of stay

[Joshua1217]

Curious if this is a problem others have had. I connected my schlage lock to airbnb a few weeks back and it has been great. Reduces my morning routine of making new codes for stays myself.

Until a few days ago when I got a booking and I noticed that it said the door code was active and shared with the person. I went over to the place and tried the code and to my surprise it worked. Somehow three days before the stay the guest had a code that worked.

I am still talking to support but they are having a hell of a time understanding what the issue is. Trying to tell me its a lock problem when the lock is behaving the way Airbnb is telling it to.

Anyone have tips on getting things escalated?

[Alicia753]

Hi Joshua,

Airbnb does manage the process of sending smart lock codes through integrations, but the code activation timing can sometimes get mixed up due to syncing issues on Airbnb’s end, rather than with the lock itself. When you integrate a Schlage or other smart lock with Airbnb, the platform sends activation and deactivation commands based on the booking dates and times. So, technically, the timing and sharing of the code are managed by Airbnb, not the lock provider.

While Airbnb works with third-party software to facilitate this connection, the behavior you’re seeing often results from Airbnb’s system pushing the command earlier than expected, potentially due to a delay or misalignment in its sync schedule. This is why support teams sometimes struggle to identify the problem as they may first assume it’s a problem with the lock or its configuration rather than with Airbnb’s backend commands.

When talking to Airbnb, clarify that the lock itself is working correctly but that Airbnb’s integration seems to have activated the code earlier than expected. Explain that the problem is with the timing of the code activation triggered by Airbnb’s system, not with the lock hardware or your setup.

Here’s how you might frame it:

"The Schlage lock is operating as expected, but the issue is with Airbnb’s timing for the code activation. Despite the reservation start date being three days away, Airbnb has already activated and shared the code with the guest. This is not a problem with the lock itself, as it’s following the commands it's receiving from Airbnb’s system. I need support to escalate this to the technical team managing Airbnb’s smart lock integration to review the timing settings on Airbnb’s end."

This emphasizes that it’s a scheduling sync issue within Airbnb’s system, which can help route your case more effectively to the team that handles smart lock integrations.

I hope this helps.

All the best,

Upfish Management

[Frances3408]

@Joshua1217. Hi Joshua, I am biased. I dont use the Airbnb integration lock tool with my Schlage Encode locks, just the Schlage app as I prefer to self manage. I can still have the same start times, set it up weeks in advance and I have never had any glitches like you and others describe. It takes me literally one minute to set up code, times and their number in my phone. I use the default message lock instructions most of the time too.

I also can change the times in seconds if they contact me because they arrived slightly ahead of schedule, or we are allowing a short notice late check out request.

[Joan2709]

@Joshua1217 

I agree with @Frances3408 . While the Schlage lock integration is a nice feature, most Hosts I work with prefer to control the lock themselves for the very reason you mentioned in your post. They generally create the codes using the last 4digits of the guests phone number (easier for guests to remember) and have full control of when the guest will receive that information and have access to the listing. However, Hosts with many properties may need the convenience of using the Airbnb interface.

@Alicia753 had some good advice on how to word your concerns with Airbnb. However, I fear you are going to have difficulty getting an answer from Airbnb on why this happened. This is relatively new software for Airbnb and front-line customer support is not going to be able to resolve. Generally we see ticket's closed even though we have asked it to be escalated.