Unreasonable Guest?

[Goran68]

Hello, i had a guest who booked  room 4 days ago and wrote me message which I replay in a minut and told him to tell me arrival time as soon as he find out. He didn’t answer so I wrote again yesterday for arrival time , because I left the town and left keys to my father and told him that I will tell him time when to come. Today was the time that he supposed to check in , and he came at 9pm and requesting the keys , and he was very pissed because he is waiting (as he said 30 minutes) but it was actually 15 minutes. When I explained situation and tell him that I will send my father as soon as he answer me (my father need 20 min drive because Belgrade is really big) he cancel the reservation... I got money anyway, but I just wanted to ask what to do in those situations when guest don’t answer my messages? 

Thank you , Goran.

[Sarah977]

@Goran68   Sometimes guest don't answer messages because they might be traveling, not have a Wifi connection, or they might not even know they have an Airbnb message because they have failed to set up their account to send notifications of messages. 

Then there are some who just don't respond because they can't be bothered. I'm not sure how guests think they will be able to enter a listing that doesn't have self-check-in if they don't communicate their arrival time. It's pretty stupid. Even if they didn't get your messages, you'd think they would realize that they need to let hosts know their arrival time. 

If your guests aren't responding to messages, you can contact Airbnb, who will try to get in touch with the guest for you. I have had to do this a couple of times.

And maybe in the future, when you get a booking, communicate to the guest in your initial message to them that they will need to let you know their arrival time so you can arrange to meet them with the keys, otherwise they might be standing on the street waiting for you or your dad to get there.

[Goran68]

He asks for refound now... and he wrote that was totally my mistake because he waited one and a half our what is a lie  ... what should i do? Decline request ? 

[Sarah977]

@Goran68    Yes, decline the request, but he'll probably talk Airbnb into refunding him anyway. But in the meantime, you can contact Airbnb and explain what happened- ask them to look at the messages you sent to the guest and the times they were sent (they should be able to see that he never answered your messages asking for arrival time, that his message when he arrived said he had been waiting for half an hour, and that now he's changed that to an hour and a half, so he's obviously lying) and make sure whoever you talk to at Airbnb is clear that this guest never communicated his arrival time, never answered your messages about that, yet somehow magically expected someone to be waiting there for him whenever he happened to show up.

[Goran68]

I will do like you Said , thank you for your response .

[Helen3]

If a guest doesn't confirm a check in time with me and I have asked them several time, I call airbnb and ask them to contact the guest.

I also use a lock box, so the guest can do self check in. Is that an option for you? @Goran68

[Goran68]

No , lock box is inside , after guest pass main door , so they cannot do self check in ... 

[Sarah977]

@Goran68   I had a look at your lisitng, and I would suggest that you make it clear in the listing description that you don't have self-check-in. I know you don't have it checked, but guests often make assumptions because they fail to read well through the listing. You offer very late check-ins, up until midnight, so somewhere in your listing info state "Host or co-host will meet you on arrival with keys, therefore you must make sure to give prior notice of your check-in time."

Reiterate this in a message when the guest first books and require them to acknowledge that they are clear about this.

Also, just a comment- you might want to get someone who is fluent in written English to help you correct the spelling in your listing info, or use an English dictionary. There are lots of words not spelled correctly, including in the heading. 

You have really nice reviews, your guests obviously like your place. 

[Goran68]

I wrote exacly like you wrote me , and i will try to spell all words on my profile correctly . Thank you for your advice. 

[Cormac0]

@Goran

In my opinion, if a guest does not apologise for not contacting you when he sees a slew of messages on his phone, the messages you sent to ascertain his time of arrival when he does eventually get connected? and then cancels the booking within fifteen minutes of arrival, while at the same time trying to put the blame on you, has an alternative agenda which involves not wanting to stay at your place.

it’s funny how he’s fully connected when it suits him.

do not reimburse him he's chancer.