Not a word from my booking

[Ej3]

Hi, I'm brand-new at this and got my first booking, an instant-book confirmation, yesterday for tomorrow. Airbnb says to contact the guest to confirm arrival times, give directions, etc - fine - but I have now sent both texts and emails and nothing, not a word. 

The problem is that I am working until 5.30 tomorrow and don't, obviously, want to lose a day's pay by cancelling that. The last text I sent I did say if I didn't hear back I would be home by 5.30 but I'm fretting. Is this total silence normal? 

[Jeet0]

Hey @Ej3,

Wait for an hour and if there's no response, try calling the guest. 

If that fails too, reach out to Airbnb: https://community.airbnb.com/t5/Community-Help/Contact-Airbnb-A-Community-Help-Guide/td-p/16165

Hope this helps and you don't lose your booking.

All the best,

Jeet

[Ej3]

Thanks Jeet, I sent the first email yesterday! And it has been a couple of hours since the text, so I will follow those links. 

[Ej3]

I've sent a tweet, waiting on a reply from @airbnbhelp but out of curiosity, if the guest just doesn't pitch up, have I done all the preparation for nothing?  Does airbnb keep the payment? 

[City-Limits-Ranch0]

If guest no-shows but does not cancel you will receive the payment.

The good thing is that in your house rules it does say that check in before 17 30 must be arranged.  The bad thing is that this information is quite far down and quite subtle.

You should put this important information in caps and higher up in the House Rules.  You should also include a picture of you opening your front door and in the caption (again in CAPS) note that if the guest needs you to be home to open the door before 17 30 they MUST make this arrangement at the time of booking.

We also include a message that tells them that if they don't update us with their arrival time they WILL NOT be able to get in until they reach us.

If you don't reach your guest you can leave a note on the door in an envelope with their name on it saying 'Back at 17 30, you can wait at the Pub at the corner' (or whatever seems appropriate.)

[Ej3]

@City-Limits-Ranch0 oh thanks very much! That's great! 

[Scott80]

If your check in time is 5 pm, what is the problem? There is no obligation for guests to tell you their plans. Perhaps the person is en route, off-the-grid or is aware that he/she cannot check in until after 5 pm and is ok with it.

This idea that guests are *required* to tell hosts their plans is something that keeps recurring on this board. Keep in mind that getting that information is atypical. Guests are used to arriving anytime after check-in time and expecting their accommodation to be ready. In my 46 years, I have NEVER been asked or volunteered my arrival time or plans. Often if I was asked, the answer would be "I don't know" because I truly do not know what I am going to be doing, if I am going to get lost, my flight delayed, etc. 

Of course, it is your home, you can either be there at 5 pm or you can cancel the booking. There are several instances of hosts canceling on non-responsive guests on the day before posted on this board. There is even one on this board where the host was able to convince AirBnB to cancel for them, so the guest got inconvenienced and the host got no penalty. 

ETA: I missed your second question. If the guest does not cancel and does not show up, you still get paid everything except the cleaning fee (which is returned to the guest). If the guest cancels you will be paid based on your cancellation policy Also if the guest does not stay they cannot leave a review. 

[Ej3]

My bad I had set up that guests can check in between 3 pm and midnight. So I ought to be there at 3 pm in case, however that loses me more in income than I will get for the one-night stay. As I say, my bad, I will do it if I have to but since there's been no reply, and I did say 5.30 in my tweet, I'm going to leave it at that. 

Thanks for the response.  It's an hour since I sent the tweet to @airbnbhelp and nothing so I do appreciate it.

[City-Limits-Ranch0]

Some hosts have self check in with a programmable lock, key safe or 24 hour restaurant on the corner where they can leave the key.

We have a ranch, dogs, a locked gate and a camper with quirks that require explanation.

There are all hosting styles and accommodation types.  Some don't require the guest to communicate their arrival time to the host and some do.  Neither is wrong.  They are just different.

We do REQUIRE that information.  That's for the comfort and convenience of our GUESTS.  We know that they will be significantly inconvenienced if we don't know their arrival time, and we tell them that.  It's not because we are controlling or unreasonable, it's for THE GUEST'S benefit.

We have almost all 5 stars and are Superhosts so we must be doing something right.

[Ej3]

@City-Limits-Ranch0 haha you are very professional - mine is a single room in a fairly nondescript town, part of my worry is that public transport to get here sucks and the guest is coming from France and may be thinking I am in a suburb of Edinburgh and nothing could be easier than getting here. I've now changed my listing to include all sorts of warnings on that front so may never get another booking. 

Thanks for your time and good advice! 

[Scott80]

Yeah, at this point it becomes a judgment call. If the guest arrives between three and five and can't get in you may get a bad review and they might be able to get AirBnB to cancel for them and relocate them. If you wanted to be absolutely sure, you could hide a key or buy a lock box and text them the location and combination. 

In case they are off-the-grid you could always leave a note on your door telling them to wait or to call you for instructions.

[Ej3]

@Scott80 thanks very much - getting in for the first time when I'm not here will never be an option, my dog would take strong exception to a stranger coming in. This is provinig a major learning curve and the advice and responses are truly appreciated! 

[Lucy-and-Loic0]

It is very disconcerting not to get any reponse from an arriving guest, isn't it?  I know the feeling.  Often they're stuck in between wifi systems or phone connection situations at the airport when traveling.  My advice to you is to keep in mind your published check-in time, and just be prepared for a check-in at the earliest time you have published in your house rules.  In general, I have found that if peole want to check in early, they make an effort to express their needs in advance.  My advice to you in this situation is to just be available during your published check-in times.  Don't worry too much about people who don't communicate their travel intinerary, you will meet them when they arrive, and everything will be fine.

[Ej3]

Thanks for the reply, and oh yes very unnerving, especially first time out the box. Still, France is less than 3 hours by air and I sent the first message nearly 30 hours ago. If he only looks at texts / messages for the first time when wondering why I am not opening the door on the dot of 3 (my published time) he can text then, I can be home in half an hour.  Any text before then, I will be there at 3. 

As I am at this point not even sure he will arrive at all, I'm not losing 2 hours pay unnecessarily! When all is said and done, I'm doing this because I need the money 🙂 not a great start.  Not sure I am going to be cut out for this at-all-at-all. 

On the bright side, the responses have been incredibly nice and helpful and it's great for someone trying this to learn you're not entirely on your own, there's an experienced community out there -  

[Ej3]

BTW a quick update - guest never did appear, and @airbnbhelp on Twitter only responded at noon the next day. However, interestingly, he then checked out, so I could be paid (ta) and I was asked to leave a review. 

Quiet as a mouse? Barely knew he was there? 

I didn't because it made me a little nervous to think he might be creating a history on airbnb of several bookings - but anyway. Just thought any other newbie reading this might want to know the final outcome 🙂