No communication from guest, less than 24 hours till checkin

Frank-and-Kate0
Level 2
Christchurch, New Zealand

No communication from guest, less than 24 hours till checkin

I'm a new host, with pretty flexible booking options. A Chinese woman used instant booking to rent my room, with a message in chinese roughly translating to "I've booked and I'm very much looking forward to staying at your house". She hasn't responded to my messages in English, so I sent her another message in Chinese. And texted her phone in China. I should note my checkin time is set to "flexible" so it's important that guests communicate with me prior to arrival.

 

What are my rights here if there is literally zero communication right up until that point.

 

What do you do with these people? I live next to an International airport terminal - I've hosted about 6 people so far, and every single one of them underestimates the amount of time it takes to clear immigration and customs. And then think nothing of knocking on the door 3 hours AFTER the time they said again with no communication. Having said that, I now try to get their flight numbers and monitor the flight status live, which is much more accurate than the guest "guestimations".

14 Replies 14
Andrew157
Level 10
Windermere, United Kingdom

We ask people to text us when they leave the motorway or the supermarket if they plan to stock up outside the national park. This allows us to be there when guests arrive. We have a set of saved messages which we can personalise to fit each situation.

 

Having not really thought about it, I thought flexible check-in was "when I feel like turning up". Like most things on airBnB it needs a qualifier. For your listing it should read.

 

"As we are near an international airport we are flexible with check in. We know it takes time to clear customs etc. Please let us know when you leav the airport"

 

You need to send all communications via the site so there is a record of you trying to contact her.

Jonathan6
Level 10
Mamaroneck, NY

It looks like you have a niche market you are trying to exploit, this may create a need for multi-lingual communication.  Make sure your message on booking to the guest is complete and try and use Google Translate to give instructions in the native language (you should probably ask that immediatly on booking and place it in your setup).

 

I don't see anywhere in your listing that you put the items of concern (i.e. time to clear customs and language), if you put these up front it will help your guests.

 

You should be using the pre-book section as well to communicate this information so even when an inquiry comes in they will get a notice about your issues.

 

As far as the check-in issue, you have chosen to be flexible, so you need to be flexible.

Victoria57
Level 10
Strathpeffer, United Kingdom

"What are my rights here if there is literally zero communication right up until that point."

None at all. A guest is under no obligation to communicate with you.

 

"What do you do with these people?"

These people? Your guests you mean. They will either check in or they won't. You probably need to be a bit more flexible and relaxed about this.

"None at all. A guest is under no obligation to communicate with you."

 

There's obviously other implications

 

  1. Shirley uses Instant Booking to book my room 3 weeks in advance.
  2. There is no communication for the entire 3 weeks
  3. Shirley arrives at 8PM on the right day but I'm out shopping after staying at home waiting for her all day.

For all the other replies I agree I should be more flexible about this in general (I'm still learning aout being a host - most people arrive between midnight and 2AM on international flights, and I don't mind waiting up for them to pass customs but I'm sure you'll appreciate it makes my life markedly easier  when guests communicate and don't turn up at 4AM unannounced). I don't feel like I'm being inherently inflexible if I bitch about guests not communicating on forum for hosts either.

 

If someone can literally use Instant Booking to book my place, and then refuse to communicate with me at all regarding checkin times full stop then I'm turning instant booking off. Every other of my guests books without it, which allowed me to clear up the checkin time before I agreed to take them.

 

Regarding rights if I indeed have "none at all" then this is a ridiculous and absolutely untenable sitation regarding Instant Booking and you couldn't pay me enough to to use it. I obviously need a flexible checkin policy for my guests. However if a guest is allowed to book and is not required to have communication with me, and then can just turn up any old time she wants, and this is not negotiable, then I won't be using Airbnb to host anymore, period. 

Eileen0
Level 9
London, United Kingdom

Hi Frank, I would also ask for their flight number so that you can check when the flight lands and work out approximately what time they will arrive.  You could email the guests beforehand saying something like "your flight, number xxxx is due to land at xxxx, and it will take you approx xxx hours to get through customs.  The airport is approx 15 mins from my place so I will expect to see you at xxxx and xxx (another time maybe 1 hour)"  so that you are giving them a window of time to arrive.  You can also check the flight arrival times on the airport website, so that you know if they are going to be late.  Hope that helps

Thanks Eileen. I tried that for the first time with my last guest. The reality is I have a much better idea of their "guestimated" checkin time than they do. I live in a small town so it's normally easy to guess which flight they are on (it's not exactly Heathrow or JFK we're talking about here) as it wil be the only one landing from that country!

 

But I really like your idea about being proactive and messaging them once they land.  I'm definitely going to use that one next time!

You can put in your House Rules that although check in is flexible it is never without an appointment.

 

Check in times are flexible BY APPOINTMENT only.  This means you tell me when you will arrive, and I will accommodate your arrival.  You will not be able to access the listing without prior communication of arrival time.

 

 

Thank you for this suggestion -- I've been looking for an answer to this same problem, and have added it to the listing. I have guests due tomorrow for a one-night stay and I have had no communication from theem since her initial booking request. I've sent messages and emails, tried phoning her, left a voice mail. I'm happy to have a big check-in window, but it would be nice to know at least roughly when I can go to the shops or walk the dog! My guest sand I are both in the UK, they are coming to my area for an event on Sunday, so I can't believe they have not received the messages. No one is inconnected for three days! If they have gotten the messages, and not responded...well, that's bloody rude, isn't it?

Julie-and-Jose0
Level 2
Glengowrie, Australia

Hi All, I'm a bit befuddled with my guest/s.  They instantly booked about 2-3 weeks ago for one night.  Their original message says "me and my partner" are holidaying in ....... and will be staying on ....... (at our place).  I replied and got a thank you from them.  Since then I noticed that they have only booked and paid for 1 guest and not 2 guests (as their original message alluded to).  I have sent them 2 emails and left a message on their mobile today as they're due in within 24 hours and have heard nothing.  I'm assuming they have no idea where I live as I didn't want to send my address until they confirmed whether it's 1 or 2 guests.  So do I just wait?  I guess I can't do much more.  Anyone else has this issue and how did you deal with it please?  Thanks.

Hi Julie and Jose,

I have just come across this thread after searching for what to do if a guest turns up very late, but I have had this exact same issue. My second last guest booked for 4 adults, which is what my listing allows. During the initial messaging I realised he was talking about 5 people. I changed my settings temporarily and sent an alteration request. When I questioned him about it on arrival he said he couldn’t book for 5 so just booked for 4 because he knew I had enough floor mattresses! So basically he was trying it on. They also arrived an hour after last check-in, and didn’t reply to my two messages, as they “decided to take the last ferry”, so a conscious decision, which would definitely mean they would be late at my house. I am now sorry that I went to a lot of trouble for these people as they treated my house like a doss house and left the room full of rubbish including half eaten food and spilt beer. It’s a shame because all my guests so far have been lovely, apart from them. My present guest says that if people turn up after the check-in time I am not obliged to allow them in. I’m not sure what the official line is on this though and I would feel really bad doing this. Can I ask what eventually happened with your guests? My understanding of instant book is that they would be sent the address anyway, so would be able to turn up with any number of people. Is it a minefield or am I overthinking?

@Sheila228 

 

Thank you for reviving this thread. It bugs me to no end when a guest has poor communicaiton skills and/or no contact with me whatsoever before check-in and usually find it is newbies to AirBnb who do this. 

 

I guess more than 'rights' it's just common courtesy to communicate with people, especially when one is staying in someone else's home. It's that element of the unknown that is unsettling.  

 

I send another message to all guests a few days before check-in confirming need-to-know and policies, directions, the door code, etc. For the few who have not responded, I usually send one more message the day before check-in and come with something to mention, such as if there have been severe thunderstorms, I will mention that and remind them that as well as confirming their door code or something like that.  That usually gets them to respond with a one line response. 

 

Having that communication from guests is a nice peace of mind.

 

Good luck! 

Sheila228
Level 2
Scotland, United Kingdom

Thanks John, 

Perhaps I’ll try messaging guests the day before. Everyone else has replied on the check-in day apart from this guest. He joined in 2015 but has no reviews so either hasn’t stayed anywhere or hosts haven’t wanted to leave a negative review. (not sure why they wouldn’t though). I’m going to change that :).

I’m a newbie to hosting myself and only started in June. This is the first time I’ve posted here and wasn’t even sure if anyone would see it, so thanks for picking up on my questions. Is there a way I can get notifications of answers or is it a case of bookmarking the page, which is what I did this time?

cheers,

Sheila 

(Also not sure how to do the @ thing to get your attention!)

 

 

Haider1
Level 3
Denver, CO

I've had the same issues with guests. And there was no language barrier. They're just choosing to be non-communicative and it's annoying and it is unsettling. But hey, with Airbnb, guests are king, and hosts are there to obey. Example: automatic 48 hour grace period for guests to cancel. Do they allow this for hosts? Nope.

My suggestion about instant booking guests who don't communicate:

It won't help for that first guest that doesn't communicate with you, but how about this?  Get rid of "instant booking" as an option?