What to do when your guests show up take the key and leave without saying a word?

Juan11
Level 3
Monteverde, Costa Rica

What to do when your guests show up take the key and leave without saying a word?

Our guests showed up and didn't say much. Took the key to the house and left to get gas and never returned. They decided to stay else where but didn't have the courtesy to inform us and in the meantime the owners of the house, who went to all the trouble to clean the house and have it ready for them, were so worried that they called the police to find out if there had been some accident or some incident with tourists or something.

The owner of the house lives 2 hours away and only came to clean the house and left. What to do about this?

Is that an acceptable behavior? Is that to be expected from certain kind of people?

 

11 Replies 11
Dave-and-Deb0
Level 10
Edmonton, Canada

Hi @Juan11,

 

That does sound a little weird.  I would contact Airbnb and have them reach out to the guest to get your key back and find out what the issue is.  Here is how you can contact Airbnb: https://community.airbnb.com/t5/Tips-Tricks/Contact-Airbnb-A-How-To-Guide/m-p/16165#M728

 

I noticed none of your properties have a security deposit so it will be tough to get reimbursed for replacing the keys/locks.  You might want to add a security deposit to cover breakage/theft of items in your listings.  Has the guest cancelled the reservation?  In any event, you should be paid for the dates as you have a strict cancellation policy.

 

You state that "they decided to stay else where but didn't have the courtesy to inform us".  How do you know they went to stay elsewhere if they did not inform you?

 

Dave

 

David

Superhost Ambassador ~ Host Club Community Leader ~ Community Expert ~ Experienced Co-Host

Hello there:

 

Thanks for your valuable information.

 

I e-mailed the guests with the airbnb page and with another e-mail we were provided.

Almost 24 hours later I got an answer saying that the place did not meet their expectations so they left and

found another place.

 

I e-mailed back and told them that the owners needed the key to the house soon and to tell me where they were so that I could go get the key

on my way to the town. I haven't hear back from them.

 

I tried to explain how the owners were so worried because in this culture when a family let's you stay in their home you are part of the family and

people will worry a lot if something were to happened.

 

That's how I found out some hours ago that they decided to stay somewhere else.

 

I was the one with the idea to place one of the homes in Airbnb and the owners were so happy with the result that they decided to place the other two homes too.

They are very nice people and they do whatever it takes to make sure each guests will enjoy the house and I guess the owners also enjoy part of it even when sometimes they don't get to meet all their guests because of how far one of them lives.

 

I will let the owners know about the deposit and check how that works.

 

So far everything has been great and all the people who have been here have been very nice people and one can tell they really enjoyed the forest and the trails and all of it.

 

I wanted to contact Airbnb but I wasn't sure how.

 

How am I supposed to write a review?

 

Thanks for your kind support.

 

Sincerely yours,

 

Dulce

Ed-and-Hugh0
Level 10
Miami, FL

I guess if you want to force guests to stay in the house against their will, you'll have to invest in some duct tape.

In fact I just used up all I had left of my duct tape for my motorcycle.

We don't force anyone to stay. I Just believe that if I do not like a place or is not what was expected, perhaps I should let the onwer know before taking off like that with the keys and without a word.

Any way, we can use some duct tape here, it is expensive in this country.

Evelyn0
Level 10
Arkport, NY

The host will get pay for the guests stay, whether they are there or not. But the guests need to return the keys. The host should keep all communication to this guests via the platform.

Juan11
Level 3
Monteverde, Costa Rica

The owner just told me that the keys were found under the mat so they returned then today some how but no one saw them.

 

Thanks for your advice.

Hi,

You will have a chance to review them approximately 24 hours after their check out date unless they end up canceling in which case neither will be able to leave a review.

Dave

David

Superhost Ambassador ~ Host Club Community Leader ~ Community Expert ~ Experienced Co-Host

I have never done this so thank you both for all your help.

Now I will just wait and see if they decide to cancel in the next few hours.

 

Have a great night and wondeful day tomorrow.

 

Sincerely yours,

Dulce

Hello again:

Hope you are all doing well today.

I hate to bother you again but I just got an e-mail outside the Airbnb page from the guest I mentioned. The key was found last night right under the mat by one of the owners.

The guests claims that the house doesn't have furniture and there is a description of the house that contradicts our description of the house. For instance the e-mail says the house has no place to sit only on the floor, there are single beds in each room and there's no couch, no desk, no table, etc.

The house has two rooms, each with a double bed and one has an extra single bed. There is a large table with 4 chairs and a large couch for about 4 people. There is a nice garden bench right outside the house and even a hammock.

 

I sent the message to the owners who were very surprised to hear a visitor lying that way and it is just something that we can't believe. The guests feel like taking the key was not a problem and not saying that they were not going to stay was not important. It seems like the whole issue was not unkind or uncondierate so what to do about a review? What if they write a bad review based of that wrong information that was described about the house? As far as I know they only went in to see the bathrooms and left right away so they did see all the furniture.

 

The owners are chocked. We have always had such nice people staying and we are geting the money too but that is not the point.

 

It is frustrating, that's all.

 

They may even be nice people, but it seems that communication is not a priority for them.

 

Am I wrong?

 

Hi @Juan11,

 

I think you need to move on and don't let your or the owners feelings be hurt.  Sometimes you will come across people that are like this and there is nothing you can do.

 

I might offer the person a partial refund if they cancel.  For example: "I would like to offer you $100 if you agree to cancel the reservation and free up my booking calendar.  If you do not, I will receive full payment since I have a "strict" cancellation policy".

 

This way, it will free up your calendar, you can book someone else in, they can't review you, and you will still get paid minus the amount you offer them.

 

If you are going to succeed with Airbnb, you may need to check your emotions at the door.

 

Dave

 

David

Superhost Ambassador ~ Host Club Community Leader ~ Community Expert ~ Experienced Co-Host

Well, they were supposed to check out 2 hours ago so technically we can't ask them to cancel.

Thanks so much for your words of wisdom. Under the circunstances I do not like being the host at all.

 

I will wait and see what they write and ask you guys again if they decide to write a bad review.

 

Have a great day and Muchas Gracias really.

 

See ya!