Guest locked out

[Kate762]

Hi all, 

I had a guest contact me about locking themselves out 4 hours ago. It’s the middle of the night and I was asleep. I woke 4 hours after they had contacted me and have replied back with instructions on how to access the spare keys but it’s the early hours and I haven’t heard back.. 

What do you do about this?? Is it expected that we are able to respond instantly 24/7? I mean I was asleep.. I’m not sure how to handle this and feel terrible they were locked out during the night time but also know I can’t stay up all night every night in case this happens. Any advice would be welcomed. 

Do you offer a refund to the guest? 

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Kate762 

Many great answers and food for thought 🙂 

We have a keypad but prefer to provide a key fob. They need a code to enter our building and we didn't want guests to have to memorize 2 codes. Also there is always a possibility of the guest sharing the code with someone else (we host long-term guests). 

We tell guests that in case of an emergency or when time is of the essence they should just call or text or IM us instead of sticking to the Airbnb messenger.

At check in, I usually give our exchange student guests one of my business cards with Henry's number written on the back. I tell them to keep it in their wallet for just in case situations. 

For us..... the door code is like our back up key. And once anyone other than Henry and I know what the entry code is, we change it.