Guest says they are having a Problem Checking In

[Joanne100]

I am a new Host and have successfully hosted 4 sets of guests so far. It's been great. I was expecting my latest guest today at 4pm. I received a text message at 2:54pm from airbnb that my guest was having trouble checking in. My normal check in time is 3pm. I immediately called the guest and confirmed with her that she was still an hour away from arriving at my house so there were no check in issues. I explained the message I got and she didn't say much about it. Being new to this I didn't give it too much thought but was worried it could hurt my status in the algorithm somehow. 

I was home when she arrived and I checked her in and she seemed nice enough. 

When I read my emails I had a second message from airbnb suggesting that I had to resolve these phantom check in issues within an hour or she would be able to get a full refund with no penatly.

I have some questions:

1. How likely is it that my guest lied on airbnb and was reconsidering her booking with me? 

2. Is it easy to accidentally tell the application you are having trouble checking in? 

3. Would I have been in a dispute with airbnb on this matter if the guest decided to bail on me?

4. Would I have incurred service charges? 

Thank you!

Joanne

[Marit-Anne0]

@Joanne100

1. Very likely - brace yourself for a bad review.

2. No, it is not easy at all.  They would have had to contact airbnb by phone or on social media.

3. Most likely - yes.

4. No, but you could face a cancellation and no payout.

Congratulate yourself on acting so quickly.

[Farah1]

@Joanne100 I have experienced this once. I called my guest right away within seconds and he WAS NOT in the house yet either. So, I explained to him that I received the alert from ABB. He said that his "big fingers" accidentally hit the wrong button, but everything was fine. So, I called ABB right away to clear things up and to make sure that all of us are on the same page. I asked ABB to call my guest to confirm that he was fine and ABB suggest me to send a confirmation message to my guest through the messaging system to confirm again that everything was fine. So, I messaged the guest saying "hi, I just want to confirm that everything is good and that you don't have any issue with check-in. Let me know if you have any questions." then the guest replied confirming that everything was ok.

He turned out to be a good and easy going guest.

[Jack70]

I had a simular issue a few weeks ago, After a couple of conversation e-mails with the guests ,telling him to please read our listing thoroughly, because they were not getting the whole house, only 3 rooms and that my wife and I lived in the house too. What happened a few minutes before they arrived, I recieved an e-mail from ABB telling me that the guests had cancled, I then called the guests and asked him what was going on, he told me they were on thier way from the airport. They arrived and some of the guests were not aware that my wife and I lived in the house, so that said no way they were staying. Luckly when they arrived I asked for an ID. ,I made a copy of it. After a few minutes they left, I immediately called ABB and told them the story, ABB told me that the guest told them that we were not in the house to check them in, which was a big lie. ABB asked me if I could proof we were home, I told them I had a copy of the guests Drivers license, ABB sent me my $526.00 that was owed, a few days latter I got an e-mail from ABB that the guests wanted to settle for $100.00, which I refused because of him telling a lie. I got my money and never heard a word again, I have to handed to ABB for backing me up. I suggest to make a copy of your guests ID in case you run into this problem of proof.

[Jack70]

We had a simular situation  a month ago, the guests were due to arrive around 7;00 PM, they called me from the airport and said they would be at our house at around 7;30 PM, I said ok then a few minutes latter I get an e-mail from ABB telling me that the guest had cancled. I then called the guest and asked him what was going on, he told me they were on their way, when they arrived, I asked him for his ID to make a copy. I took them upstairs where they were going to be staying and one of the guest asked me if my wife and I lived in the house too, which I answered yes, that I had told the one that made the booking to please read our listing thoroughly, which he said he had. They came downstairs and said they were leaving, I imediately called ABB and told them the story, they told me that the guest told them(ABB) that we were not home to check them in. I told the ABB that was a lie, that I had a copy of his drivers license, which ABB asked me to send them a copy, which I did and a few minutes later I recieved a call from ABB telling me I would be getting full payment minus the cleaning fee $526.00. I got paid and have to thank ABB for the way they handled the situation, and thank god I made a copy of his ID.

[Joanne100]

Oh well that is terrible. I don't get copies of ID but it sounds like I should? That way it proves they have checked in. I never considered that - maybe I should have the guest sign their name at least to a checked in slip and take a photo of their ID. The lady appears to be checked in and all good and I have received notice that the payment is coming. phew! There are so many small things to consider.  

[Jack70]

Yes you should , better safe than not.