Day of arrival and guests haven't responded to give a time of arrival - I'm waiting around. What can I do?

Natalie725
Level 10
Dublin, Ireland

Day of arrival and guests haven't responded to give a time of arrival - I'm waiting around. What can I do?

My guests didn't take heed of the pre-booking message asking to give an arrival time upon booking. They then didn't respond to my booking confirmation message, asking them to give an arrival time when they can. Three days before arrival, they also didn't respond to the message - yet again - asking for an arrival time (in this message, I also sent on the link for the check-in guide).

 

It's now 3pm on the day of their arrival and I'm waiting around here. I don't want to harass them but it's stressing me out a bit, not knowing when they're arriving and whether they'll be bad guests because of this. They have no previous reviews and no profile picture, but I accepted their request at the time because their initial message was polite. 

 

What can I do? Worst case scenario, if they don't arrive before 11pm, can I lock the front door and tell them that sorry, but they have to check in tomorrow because the check-in time is over? 

 

Advice is appreciated. Thanks! 

 

 

54 Replies 54

I also need to add that half the time I'm there to welcome guests, and half the time I'm not. So I can't do one or the other

@Natalie725 Hey, calling up there to your high horse! It can easily take 1.5 years before an inaccuracy in a listing becomes a problem. Because it's only going to be an issue to the rare guest for whom that detail is important.

 

But a small percentage of guests choose listings offering self check-in specifically because they have late or uncertain arrival times. Like all other features of your listing, it should only be there if you can guarantee it for 100% of your bookings. I hope this booking goes well for you, but it won't be a surprise to anyone who's been hosting for years more than you, if this discrepancy winds up being at the heart of what now seems likely to be a bad review. Good luck with that... 

Andrew, with all due respect, the years don't matter once you've been doing it for 6 months to a year. That's how long it takes to get into a groove (like anything, relationships, a job...) What matters is host ratings; you can be very mediocre at something for years... That does not make you immediately at a higher standard than someone who has been hosting for less time but has worked in related industries or is a real detail oriented person. FYI, guests were apologetic and everything is fine - they appear to be happy now that they've arrived. You don't have to be so clinical, opinionated and argumentative when you comment on every thread. Self check in literally has nothing to do with a guest not giving an arrival time - I host a private room in my apartment. Guests know they have to interact with me throughout all of their stay and this is the expectation before arrival.

@Natalie725  Yes, the years matter. Hosts are constantly tweaking their listing info, the way they do things, etc, even if they have been hosting for 8 years or more. There are always things to relook at, improve, alter, add. Many long-term Airbnb hosts have said that the guest demographic and attitude has also changed over the years, so that has necessitated a change in the way hosts present info to guests, as well as adding, clarifying, or changing listing wording. 

You posted here asking for advice, but you pushed back at any advice you didn't want to hear. Other hosts are just trying to be helpful, whether you agree with what they have to say or not. There's no need to psychoanalyze or insult those who tried to address your dilemma.

I replied to your comment on another comment of yours below. I have only pushed back at those who have offered advice that is not related to the question I asked. And to those who have written to me in a condescending and "smart aleck" tone. I'm not going to sit here and be told by these particular hosts that I am the one who isn't doing my part when a guest doesn't give a check-in time and leaves me waiting all day long. 

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

Hi @Natalie725 

 

You have a really lovely place. Love the south side (my Grandad was from Monkstown).

 

Of course guests should provide us with a self-check in time but the reality is that many don't 😞

 

I think the learning for you on this, as I mentioned in my earlier post is if a guest doesn't respond then don't leave it till check in day to chase when you know you want to do a manual check in. I always diary in that if they haven't responded to my message and text after a week, I ask Airbnb to chase.

 

I actually operate similarly to you in that I try and meet my guests where possible, but if I can't they have self-check. I set up self check as my default option, but let guests know whether I am going to be around on the day closer to the time if they want to knock rather than use self check.

 

I have found a surprising number of guests prefer to be met in person.

Hi Helen, thank you very much! Likewise for your lovely home in the beautiful Bristol, one of my favourite and artsy places to visit. I agree that a lot of guests like to be met in person too! If they are staying in a private room, then surely they understand they would have to have some face-to-face contact. Quite frankly, I think it would be weird if you were living alongside other people and hearing their chatter and footsteps, but having never met them in person? 

 

I have just given some feedback to Airbnb about offering a more loosely worded check-in guide. Just like yourself, I feel that I can't say I'm totally "host meets you" or "self check in". To pick one and stick by that is a bit redundant and I feel like my guests understand that it's a partial check-in. This is something that tends to make sense when you arrive to our apartment area and see how the layout works. The visual cues are needed in my case (all houses look the same, apartments have similar names and also our formal address doesn't show up on Google Maps). It's just simply easier to link to upcoming guests to this, rather than having to manually add photos and text to every single guest, all while clogging up their inbox.

 

Continuing with my ramblings, I feel that even if there is a listing with a "self check-in," I would say that's only important for people who want total privacy and are booking an entire home for themselves?

 

Regardless of everything, if the host has a check in time of 2-11pm, I would still feel obliged as a guest to reach out and state a time within that given timeframe. If it was a round-the-clock check-in, then the host would surely have put the check-in window as "flexible." Therefore meaning that it's not the end of the world if there isn't a check-in window to adhere to. I'm very casual about arrival times and delays, etc, just as long as the guest can communicate this to me asap. 

 

And for a tiny percentage of people who don't read any of my messages whatsoever - seeing the highlighted "self check - check yourself in with keypad" bit at the top, might spark a general feeling of "I can check-in whenever." But I truly feel that its their own issue for not having common sense to think "the host also lives here... I probably have to see that person"... or wonder "will the host be here when I get there? If so, they're hardly going to ignore me as I arrive."

 

Today, I tried to get Airbnb to remove that particular highlight of "self check in with keypad" at the top of my listing and to change it to another amenity.. But they wouldn't do it.... It would be super if we could still use this method but label it differently. There are so many variations to hosting styles and its currently a bit "one size fits all."

 

 

Rowena29
Level 10
Australia

Hi @Natalie725 

I've read through 2 pages of responses, but not all, so apologies if I cover some of the same ground.

I am a remote host and I have been through what you are going through several times.

This is what I have done to mitigate..

I de selected "self check in" and changed it to "host will greet on arrival"  although theoretically self check in IS available on my listing.  In my area I learned the hard way that most guests saw the self check in icon, didn't read the listing, didn't read my messages and didn't give me an estimated arrival time - all what you are experiencing.  I also learned that the sort of guest who prefers self check in over being met and greeted is NOT  the sort of guest I prefer to host. this is just for me personally in my area. Of course it may well vary for other hosts in other locations, but I found 100% of my guests who booked when I had  self check in activated were distant, aloof, unfriendly, entitled.

 

IN my pre booking message ( I have IB) I ask for an approx arrival time.

In my house rules I have a paragraph like this "CHECK IN starts at 2 pm onward. Please let us know when you plan to arrive. Plans can change - JUST LET US KNOW - no one likes hanging around waiting for 2 hours. We DON'T live nearby. There is no front desk reception. Just us. Waiting"

 

I have a code word hidden in my house rules.  My last pre booking message is "have you really read my house rules? What is the code word?"  Which usually ensures that guest at least scan through the house rules adn see the bit about arrival time.

 

If none of this works and a guest doesn't let me know after I have messaged them, I would get airbnb to ring them and tell them I have been trying to contact them and they are not answering. ( I could ring as well, but I prefer to get CS to do it as it lends a bit more gravitas to the situation).  Almost always, this brings the guest to heel - they then respond and apologise.  Sometimes it's because they are inexperienced and just genuinely didn't realise and that's fine.

HOWEVER if I still get no response, or an unacceptable response. I would have no hesitation in cancelling. A guest who cannot be bothered to communicate after all these prompts is going to be TROUBLE.

 

I also get Cs to ring a guest if they have kept me waiting more than 1 hour. If thye've said 2 pm and it now 3, I put the wind up them.  I realise things can go wrong of course, but unless the circumstances are VERY extenuating, it's not ok to not communicate a change of plans.

 

Not foolproof but has helped enormously. I think my genuine shift in attitude, which is , if you stuff me around, I'm not putting up with it, I'm cancelling" helps too - I dont' say anything like that, but I do genuinely feel it, and it thin that subtly comes across in interactions  

 

I have template messages saved which I send to guests. Yes it is more time consuming but it also opens the lines of communication which is what I"m wanting.

 

Hope this is of some help.  

 

Cheers

 

We are on the same page! All the way! I use identical message templates to you, and today's guest still didn't respond to any of those messages. I rang Airbnb and asked them to call like you also would, because I too would prefer the sense of urgency that comes from an official Airbnb team member (as the guest is obviously not replying to me anyway). And I totally agree that a lack of communication from guests usually means they are trouble or are inexperienced. I have always found this to be the case.

 

I wanted to use the "host greets you" method since I set up my listing, but because my apartment is in a tricky location (two similarly named apartment buildings in close proximity and various access codes to get inside) I need to keep a step-by-step guide with visual cues as well as text. And I don't want to manually have to send photos over, when I can just use the guide with steps and pictures you can scroll within one link. 

 

I've basically gotten frustrated with a couple of people on this thread because they are bringing up this self check-in situation without any context of my life and my apartment setup. And bringing up an unrelated and non existent issue and presenting it to me like this is the sole reason for my guests not giving arrival times. 

 

I host a private room in my apartment and every guest staying will know that we have to interact during their stay, as we are sharing the home. I mention it in my listing and throughout communication with all guests and this has never caused any confusion or upset from guests before. But thanks Rowena, I am in total agreement with your methods! 

@Natalie725 ,

NOt sure if this is any use - and I meant to mention it above, I believe there is a way you can send a template with photos if you use the phone app - thought that might help you to get around the self check in thing?

  I know it's tricky. It really irritates me that the check in options are mutually exclusive - ie if I select "host greets you in person" it's just assumed self check in is not, can not be an option also.  This meant I was removed from the work collection which was irritating, but for me, the difference in type of guest  for "host will greet" outweighed that benefit.

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Natalie725  "If you read my listing, you will see that this information is plastered everywhere that you self check-in and I will meet you at the front door."

"I will meet you at the door" and "self-check-in" would seem to be 2 statements completely at odds with each other.  It's one or the other.

Look, I didn't ask for a "why" about guests not giving an arrival time. I asked for a "how" - how to approach a no-show or to get a response. My listing is 3/4 self check in. I live at the very top of an apartment complex and am claustrophobic, so I have to give guests a specific set of directions with codes and visual cues, which are easiest and most convenient to send over via self checkin method. 

Doing this means I don't have to take the lift down to collect them and bring them up. Half the time I'm also away and guests do have to self check-in. This is all very clearly and promptly communicated to my guests before booking AND arrival

You complain on many threads about guests not reading full listings. If a guest were to simply click on "read more" on my own listing, they would see exactly how this works. This is a frustrating "answer" that has come up to my question.

Marit-Anne0
Level 10
Bergen, Norway

@Natalie725   I do the same as @Rowena29 and write in my listing and in my messages to the guests that sometimes there may be self check-in for practical reasons.  This way it is not possible to select self check-in when searching, but still possible to arrive late as I set latest check-in to 11pm with an option to arrive later on request.  Those who read the listing and need late arrival do request. Those who do not read the listing, I would rather not have. I changed this after many years as I got requests for guests that I did not really want - one a potential sex worker (the listing were taken down immediately when reported).  I also hope it will deter those who want to sneak in extra guests, although I know from experience that it does not always help.