Check-in Time : Change Flexible to "Flexible: must contact host to confirm"

[Ange2]

Change the Flexible to  "Flexible: must contact host xxx days beforehand to confirm"

If you choose flexible Airbnb translates it as "anytime after check in start time "    Anytime is a long time in a day to be waiting around especially when guests assume that can can turn up anytime after ... without notice.  I know I can choose and end time but that doesn't work for me or guests.

 

btw: A lockbox with key does not work for me, I have to be here to let them in.

I always ask people for arrival time, but some do not get back to me or call me 20 minutes before they arrive and expect me to magically appear on the doorstep to meet them.  I am flexible if given notice but I cannot sit around all day and night on the off-chance.   Reason for suggesting this is that I do not appreciate being penalized by Airbnb or dinged by the guest because they arrive with no prior warning and then complain to Airbnb that I am not around or they had to wait for 10 minutes and my listing says "flexible", even though I state in my listing that they must tell me what their e.t.a  is.  I want to be flexible but not subject to a guests carelessness or whim or a penalty from Airbnb.

[Gina32]

@Ange2 You're absolutely right. I had a guest who booked a room at 1:35pm on Saturday and expected to rock up to my door in five minutes to check in.

Well I'm sorry I'm not home right now.

I eventually let him self check in after I had a conversation with him and I turned up about  hour and a half later.

Then there were the ones who landed at 8:30am and demanded to be able to check in....sorry I'm at appointments and won't be returning till 2pm

(and I still needed to cleanbut I didn't tell them that )

I have waited for ages for guests to turn up and now I say checkin 2-6. (then I try to be there) I also ask when they are expecting to check in.  Some guests seem to be able to work the Airbnb app to make a booking but then can't seem to make it work to reply to my messages....that is another strange phenomenon.

[Lois-and-Darryl0]

Excellent suggestion!  I totally agree - this makes excellent sense.  Some Hosts, it doesn't matter, and other Hosts must be there.  Putting this in the listing, rather than relying on the House Rules is totally sensical and good business.  Good luck.

[Marzena4]

Would be perfect to have it in the settings!

Beside all the last-minute guests expecting you to be within minutes, there are such that will not inform you (answer your own query as a host) about their travel arrangements until the day before, and then expecting you to change arrangements, and then leaving you a bad review - they can score you on their check-in experience, you cannot do the same to your guests. Once, after an unpleasant experience with Indian guests who wrote they would appear at 8:30 am, and about 9.00 am phoned me they had changed their mind and wanted to check in at 2 pm, irrespective of my other commitments. 

So the point specified in the original post should be addressed 

as well as a way for hosts to clearly review guests on their punctuality and reliability at check-in (I wrote about it directly to the support in a private message, but I guess it was ignored).

As AirBnB is a sharing community, and NOT a list of commercial lodgings (at least it was originally meant to be like that), it has to give hosts a chance to possess and use such tools that can enable them to carry on with their jobs and other commitments.

Sometimes we have to write some things to our guests almost in bold type, but they will still not get the message.