Super early check in

[Annie-Jane-And-Tim0]

Hi - So I have a guest checking in on 7/5.  Our check in is any time after 3pm.  She is asking to check in at 5am as she will arrive to town for 4am.  I said no because that will prevent hosting the night before, July 4th.  She is upset because she read the checkin time as "anytime" when it clearly says anytime after 3pm.  Guest says she can't be on the street from 4am until 3 and what can I do about it.  I offer 1pm check in which would give us time to flip it between reservations.  This isn't good enough for her, she wants to check in at 5am or at least drop off luggage at that time - both of which are unreasonable as far as I'm concerned.  This reservation is off to a very rocky start and she hasn't even arrived yet.  What would you do?

[Anonymous]

@Annie-Jane-And-Tim0  Tell her that any time in the morning before your designated check-in time is considered the "night" of July 4th in accommodation terms. If the room is available and you're amenable to an early morning arrival, go to the "Reservations" tab, click "Change Booking," and submit a request to change the check-in date, with pricing adjusted accordingly (a full night stay would be appropriate). Tell her that she can check in early if she accepts this request.

If this doesn't work, you can suggest a place in the area that is open at 4 AM, such as a 24-hour diner, or a hotel with 24-hour check-in. That might at least help calm her down a bit, but remember that you aren't responsible for this person's poor planning and bizarre concept of how the world works. You can expect this guest to not be the brightest crayon in the box, so be sure you're very thorough going over your rules and check-out procedure when she arrives. 

[Mark116]

@Annie-Jane-And-Tim0  I would call airbnb and ask them to cancel her stay with no penalty since you can't accommodate her arrival time to her satisfaction and ask them to find her another place.

This person is already going to give you a bad review, better to cancel them before the arrival date. 

[Annie-Jane-And-Tim0]

Thanks for the quick response - how will this affect my payout?  I assume I won't get a payout.  

[Mark116]

@Annie-Jane-And-Tim0  Yeah, you won't get a pay out. You could also do as @Anonymous  advises and have her book tonight, but she will undoubtedly be upset about that because she's then paying for a night she didn't intend.

We had someone try to do this last year, they booked for X day, and wanted to arrive at 2am on that calendar date, basically getting a free night w/out paying and then wanted to also have a 6pm checkout, LOL, so basically getting an extra day on both ends.  We said no, and thankfully they never bothered to review us, so we didn't take a star hit.

[Anonymous]

@Annie-Jane-And-Tim0  If she accepts the Change Request, your payout will be updated to the amount that you specify. If she doesn't, your payout remains as-is and the booked period begins at 3 PM. 

If the guest chooses to cancel the entire booking, your payout should be in line with the terms of your Cancellation Policy. I don't recommend cancelling it yourself.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Mark116   Exactly my thoughts.

@Annie Jane And Tim whatever you do and agree on she will give you a bad review. She is totally unreasonable .  Run!

[Mark116]

@Annie-Jane-And-Tim0   Yes, by all means do NOT cancel yourselves, either get airbnb to do it penalty free or hope that the guest does it, if you do it, you will be penalized.

[Kelly149]

@Annie-Jane-And-Tim0 BUT keep in mind as soon as she gets within 24 hours of her scheduled arrival then she WILL get to review regardless of if she comes or not. Time is of the essence & I agree with the others: this guest needs an immediate hardline and/or an exit to another place. Payout be darned; I wouldn’t want her

[Mark116]

@Kelly149  I agree.  Unless she's got a 10 day stay or something, and these guys are local where there is some possibility of getting things on track, and where we're talking about a considerable sum of money that would probably be lost...I'd cancel her.  If she's only staying for 2 or 3 days, it's not worth the hit to the numbers [thanks airbnb!].  But, yes, if they're going to ask airbnb to cancel her they need to do it ASAP.

[Annie-Jane-And-Tim0]

Thanks, yall- your responses have been very helpful. Surprisingly, she paid for the previous night in order to check in at 5am tomorrow! I didn’t expect that, but hopefully it’s a positive sign. I was JUST about to reach out to Airbnb to cancel without penalties and she accepted the change in reservation. Now let’s just hope she either doesn’t review or leaves a good one. Happy 4th!

[Lyn3]

@Annie-Jane-And-Tim0 

Hi, you may have already done this now...could you maybe consider editing your check-in time to read  "From 3pm onwards" ? 

PS  I just  looked and I see that you've already clarified your check-in time, guys 🙂

Cheers 🙂

[Maria-Joanna0]

Have also a guest asking for early check in at 9AM while regular check-in Time is at 2PM. We have a guest before him that will checkout at 12noon. We tried our best to accommodate him earlier than 2PM, then boom! he left overall rating of 3* and left the room messy. 😞