Guest locked out

[Norman16]

Hi hosts,

I had a unpleasant experience last night when a guest called at 1am to inform me that he forgot the key in Canberra and is now in front of the place in Sydney realising he forgot the key and security swipe in Canberra. (3 hours away) and ask me if I could open the door. 
I live 45 min away from the Airbnb and 8$ toll 

so I wondering how other host deal with this. I am planing to add to my welcome letter a lock out fee of $40 

my questions: is that common? Is that a fair amount of money to ask for? 

now I even thinking further what to do if someone loose the key I would need to get a new lock installed and order a new security card. 
do you as other hosts include fees like this in the welcome letter since it’s easier to inform then to ask for it later.

any thoughts?

thanks 

[Sarah977]

You can avoid this in the future by installing a key lockbox that the swipe card would also fit in. The lockbox gets reprogrammed for each guest and you instruct guests not to take those keys and card with them when they leave the place- to put them back in the lockbox. 

Also have a fee for lost keys and cards on your listing, for those guests who refuse to follow instructions.

@Norman16 

[Anonymous]

@Norman16  If you're going to charge a set fee for a service, it should be disclosed in your listing rather than in post-booking materials. That's still no guarantee that Airbnb will extract it from the guest if they refuse to pay it. You have firmer ground for a damage claim if you can show receipts, so the better course of action would be to send an emergency locksmith and bill the guest for both this and the replacement security card. All the better if you make sure they've accepted your payment request before letting them back in, so you don't have to wait for customer support to get involved.

[Richard2073]

I just got the Populife and like what I see. Cheapest place to get it is directly from them. The lockbox is bluetooth only so your phone has to be close to it to program it. But they have a bluetooth gateway that will pair with your wifi so you can operate it remotely. The gateway need power and needs to be very close to the lockbox. I mounted it in a 2 gang light switch box in the wall with a blank faceplate over it. Gateway sits inside the condo wall and lockbox is right outside on the wall. I also programmed 10 permanent codes just in case I need to give someone a hard code to open the box and will only use these codes 1 time before I delete them. So I have the option to open it remotely or give them a hard code. I can also send them a bluetooth code but think they need to the app to do that.

Overall I like this option for me, gives me the most flexibility and the box seems to be built like a tank.

I have the Schlage Z wave FE599NX lock on my front door for entry. Using the Veralite bridge for control so there is no monthly fees. Gives me total control over entry and backup that I can control remotely to give them access. Not sure how you might solve the security card issue but you could always have an extra key and card in the lockbox. Get a Ring doorbell so you can witness them take it and then put it back.

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