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. 

[Hannah1523]

Hi Joshua,

I am super relieved I found someone who encountered same issue as I did and I feel like I just need to vent my frustration and distrust of Airbnb.

I use the Schlage smart lock for my Airbnb and this happened to me 3 weeks ago! A guest was scheduled for April 26-27 and another guest scheduled for April 27-30.

On April 26, the scheduled guest arrived at my unit and  raised an alarm that someone was in the unit. We were confused and thought they went to the wrong unit, it was our unit! Initially we thought it was a hack or something so we quickly deleted the code, immediately we deleted, airbnb generated another code for the April 27 guest and it was active, that was when we found out it was the April 27 guest. I was stuck with 2 guests.

The April 27 guest had unpacked and had their personal effect all over the place as the family arrived 2 hours earlier and kicking him out would mean we’d have to clean the unit and it was already late evening, cleaning company was closed. April 27 guest also said he had booked April 26-30 but when we asked him to check his confirmation showed April 27.

I called Airbnb and was told they would relocate the April 26 guest. After an hour of waiting and several calls they eventually reached out to the guest and assured her she’d be sorted out in 30 minutes so she left the unit. 5 hours later she was still on the call with Airbnb. I kept checking in with her and we kept calling to resolve. she didn’t get sorted till almost midnight! She had 2 kids! Sure enough she gave me a 1-star review with comments like we were helpful but it was a horrible experience. To add insult to injury Airbnb refused to remove the review because it didn’t fall into any of their criteria for review removal and “it was the customers true experience”. This set me back significantly on my rating as a superhost. 99% of my reviews are 5 star reviews and I started hosting less than a year ago so the impact is huge. As of today no one has given me an explanation how 2 guests got active codes for same day, after speaking with countless ambassadors and supervisors, many of whom are extremely inexperienced and just want to get rid of you- they didn’t even know what Schlage was and when I finally explained to the supervisor he said he would escalate for investigation. Finally they came back to say they investigated  and no one has ever had or reported this issue so it had nothing to do with Airbnb and I should contact Schlage. I found it very dismissive because guest scheduling happens on Airbnb app and that’s what triggers the Schlage code setup and active dates

This incident stressed me out and has hurt my ratings it’s probably going to take 50 5-star reviews to get back in 4.9 range. Airbnb has refused to take responsibility and is not even really investigating!  if this happened to you in 2024 and it’s happened to me in April then surely this is a technical scheduling problem and a potential safety/security risk. Imagine someone walking into someone else in a unit, that is unacceptable and Airbnb needs to step and take responsibility!

[Joan2709]

@Hannah1523 

What a mess! 

Sadly, I fear you will never get an answer regarding why this happened and Airbnb will point the finger at Schlage, and Schlage will point the finger at Airbnb. This is why we elected NOT to use the lock interface with Airbnb, even though the Hosts I work with use both Schlage and Yale locks that are eligible. If you have only one listing, I suggest you disconnect the lock from Airbnb and create the codes yourself. 

I understand why Hosts with many listings would prefer the automation, but there is always the chance this will happen.

[Hannah1523]

Thanks Joan! You are right, I never got any tangible response. It’s been a spin since the incident and the blatant refusal to remove the 1 star review makes it even more painful.

I will be removing my listing from Airbnb after the summer season once all my current bookings are done. I cannot continue to partner with a company that would not investigate a security risk but would rather let hosts bear the brunt. This could have gone very wrong.