Guest Broke the Lock and Ran Away. Airbnb Asks us to Prove his Stay at Our Home!

[Cindy223]

Dec 26, [guest name hidden] broke our lock and ran away when I wasn't home. [Personal information hidden] I came home very late and couldn't open the door with the keys. So I called the 24hr locksmith to fix it at the midnight. He said the guest put something made of wood into the lock intentionally. It's too tiny inside the lock we can't take a photo to prove it, only the locksmith can see it. So he talked to airbnb Sherrie over phone as witness and I submitted the receipt as well.

Two weeks later, airbnb Carmen said we changed the lock so we have to provide photo as evidence. We didn't change the locks. If the guest steals the keys we change the locks. He didn't steal them. He broke the lock so we can't open the door. He left the keys inside. I thought him steal them until the door was opened by the locksmith. We fixed and opened the lock. We can't see it from the outside so we can't take a photo to prove it.

Then Carmen asked to prove that "the guest stayed in our place" within 48 hrs. I was shock! Airbnb has all the reservation info, payment info and transferred the rent to me. You pay me the rent after you confirm guests' stay. Now you said you don't believe the guest stayed in our place. If so, why do you pay me the rent? It is racial discrimination. Carmen refused to admit all the Chinese evidence and insists we provide photos or videos. We can't afford CCTV so we can't provide him photos or videos of guests sleeping at our home. He misunderstood because he didn't listen to the Chinese voice recording of the locksmith. He asked us to provide impossible evidence. When we said there is another tenant who speaks English witnesses the guest staying at our home, Carmen closed the case immediately.

**[Personal information removed from post for safety reasons]

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

So, @Cindy223 if I understood you well, as evidence you only have your locksmith's voice record on chinese. I am affraid it is not enough for Airbnb 😞

Next time it would be smart if you do what we do:

1) during check in ask for photo ID of your guests (or at least the one who did the booking), write down all his data on the paper (you can print a simple form for that purpose) and make him sign it. You can also take photos of passports of all other guests in that group. That way you will have a proof your guests actually checked in.

2) in case of any problems with keys and locks , make a video while the locksmith is opening your door and then , when the door opens make sure you continue to video tape until you locate the keys (in the lock, on the table or if there are no keys anywhere) .

3) make sure your locksmith provides you a bill .  

4) contact your guest through the resolution center and ask him to pay for the locksmith

5) if he refuses or don't respond then, after 72 h you involve Airbnb

[Rene-and-Zac0]

@Cindy223 I read that criminals will put items into a key hole to jam the lock. When the guest tries to lock the door, it’s jammed with wood or plastic. The guest can’t lock the door and the sneaky criminal ninjas go into the unlocked apartment and steal all the cranberry juice. They leave the Gin but take the juice, I know, it’s a messy world. 

When I try to figure things out and why people do things, the motive is the target, is always the answer. Who wanted that lock not to work? Why would a guest go through the trouble of shoving wood into the lock? 

This reeks of petty vandalism by a neighbor kid or more sinister would be a criminal element that has identified your listing as an easy target. 

What you should do is buy one of these locks here https://www.amazon.com/Schlage-Connect-Touchscreen-Deadbolt-SmartThings/dp/B00AGK9KOG/ref=sr_1_4?ie=...

You will never have a lost key again. No more chop sticks in the keyhole, more Chinese locksmith or any of that nonsense. I installed this lock myself in less than 30 minutes. 

In conclusion, there is no way you can prove the guest put wood in the lock. When they ask for photos, get out your smartphone and click away, iPhones aren’t just for selfies. Take photo of the wood inside the lock. You also need a paid receipt for the work they performed. A verbal confirmation is not enough. I had a guest break a bench and I had to send in photos AND receipts TWICE! So it does take time but you have to present your damage claim correctly or you get nothing. 

All this ‘did the guest really check in’ sounds like a whole lotta ‘who shot john’ to me. 

Good Luck!

’You know it’s hard out here for a Host’

[女士0]

1. Locksmiths are goverment licensed and have relations with the police. We reported to the police already. His word as professional witness is the most important evidence for the police.

2. Airbnb doesn't understand Chinese so didn't listent to the Chinese voice evidence that the police supported, but ask for a photo or video?

3. It is the room door so it is the guest who stayed in the room broke the door and ran away the day before he check out

Hope Airbnb Guys stop misleading the conversation and don't advertis any lock products.

Just show you that Airbnb Host Guarantee is not reliable. That's all.

[女士0]

[Guest name] broke our lock and ran away when I wasn't home.

The police said the guest's name is fake. So don't worry about exposing it.

[Rene-and-Zac0]

@女士0 I’m not an “Airbnb guy” and I’m not selling anything. 

[Inappropriate content hidden]

[Madison17]

I'm so sorry to hear about this horrible experience you've had! It's kind of strange that they broke the lock by shoving wood in it but left the keys inside... curious what their motive was? 

Anyways, my advice would be to ditch the key lock moving forward and get a good lock with a keypad. That will eliminate the need to keep up with keys and help you to avoid situations with the key locks like this again in the future. 

I'd highly reccommend this new lock we recently got! It syncs with your AirBNB calendar so each time a guest books a stay with you, it automatically sends them an email confirmation with their key code. It auto updates itself and auto switches codes for you when guests check in and check out! Saves me a whole world of time and makes hosting not only super easy on me, but easy and convenient for our guests! 

Here's a link to it for you to check out: 

https://www.amazon.com/AirLocking-Smart-Lock-for-AirBNB/dp/B0759NPC5Y/ref=as_sl_pc_tf_til?tag=airloc...

[April3]

thanks for the link Madison, I have a standard keyless entry system but I would consider something like this. Could you tell me if the lock is wi-fi controled from within the home? I've never purchased other programable lock like this because they always seem to be controled by the wifi. In my mountian town, when the power goes out, of course so does the wifi. And although it doesnt happen often, this would be the worst time to get locked out of a house (usually a power outage is connected with a big storm)

thanks!

[Sarah977]

If the wifi often goes out where you live, airbnb emailing the key code to the guest won't work for the guest anyway, because they would have to have to have a wifi signal on their phone to access the email.

For those of you hosts who live in the first world, remember that not all countries have the technological ease of access you are accustommed to. Don't just assume that these things will be a viable solution everywhere.

[Lauren125]

And some of us travel with throw away phones with SIMS we switch when we switch countries.  And then some of us lose our phones on buses.  It's always something.  Then again, usually can find free wifi somewhere for my tablet and if someone sends a code, I can USUALLY access that.

[Madhura0]

We switched from key locks to smart locks years ago at home and properties. Schlage and Yale are excellent ones, two of the ones we like the most:

Yale:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HS1O77G

Schlage:

https://www.amazon.com/Schlage-Connect-Touchscreen-Deadbolt-SmartThings/dp/B00AGK9KOG

Personally I prefer the Yale lock since it has better  battery life but very happy overall. We have been using them with SmartThings to program the remotely using rboy apps, it automatically connects to the airbnb property calendar, schedules the users and even sends them a customized text message. Basically it's completely hands off user management for us. we also use the low battery app to inform us when the battery needs to be changed (about once in 4-5 months).

https://community.smartthings.com/t/release-rental-lock-automater-automate-user-codes-with-airbnb-ho...

However as Sarah pointed out above, for SmartThings you need internet connectivity. The lock codes will work once programmed even if the internet connection drops but without the internet it won't be able to delete or create new codes.

So if you arent' connected to the internet then I guess you'll have to stick with a key based lock but if you have even basic internet connectivity it would be worth investing in a smartthings setup - plus we have to create an awesome experience when guests arrive, lights come on automatically, the thermostats turns on and when they leave everything turns off so we've saving money as well.

Does SmartThings operate in China?