Guests turning up late

[Jenny6]

Hey all,

I just wanted to post a question (I know it's been posted before but I didn't see a response that would help exactly).

I've been hosting for a few months now and have had good experiences. But my last 4 guests have all arrived much later than the time we decided. I know it can be hard when you are in a new city to know how long things will take and I'm fine about this and am flexible. However, the last 4 guests have already arrived in London but have just decided they want to go sightseeing. Generally they message me to say that they intend to come later but most of these times I have plans already at the later time they state which I have to cancel. This is pretty frustrating, as today we agreen on 1pm and at five to 1 I got a message to say they were coming at 7pm. 

I've just this minute added a sentence in my house rules to say that its important to let me know what time you will arrive so I can plan my day. I have also started emailing to ask what time they will arrive 'so I can plan my day' but it doesn't seem to work. I think people think it is like a hotel so check in can be any time. 

I also feel that Air BnB don't do enough to get guests to understand that hosts are humans, perhaps they should reinforce this point. Anyway, it seems that even if I do say its important to let me know, people don't read this.

Does anyone else have experiences of this? How can I write something that is polite but gets the point across? What do other hosts do?

It seems the problem is more with people that have never used Air bnb before.

Jenny

[Marit-Anne0]

Your listing says check-in anytime after 7pm, so asking to arrive at 7pm is a very reasonable request.  

If you change your settings, the settings at the time of booking is the one that rules. So if you have changed the check-in and check-out settings between time of booking and time of arrival, their itinerary may say something differnt to your current settings.  

You can of course discuss arrival time at the time of booking and only accept those that suit your plans.  

[Jenny6]

Hello, 

thanks for your response. Hmm yes my check in does say that time, the reason for this is that I work full time so I wouldn't want requests from people that need to check in earlier. However, I message guests to check what time they are arriving and if I can let them in earlier and that helps them then that's the time we go for. I don't really want to change the check in tiem to 'flexible' as I think this might confuse people if they can't chekc in earlier (on days I have meetings etc) and allows guests to choose other rentals with earlier check ins if necessary. 

I don't think it;s the check in time that's the problem though (I wish it was) as we agree on a time together. 

J

[Marit-Anne0]

@Jenny6

If I had booked with you, I would have assumed that arriving after 7pm would be possible even though we had agreed on an earlier check-in.  It is a bit confusing and I think if you agree on an earlier check-in with your guests, you need to communicate very clearly that this earlier check-in is non-flexible.

[Amaris0]

Hi, I understand this issue all too well.

My check in is between 4 - 10pm and I too normally email a day or two prior to arrival asking what time to expect them. Most times I receive a response confirming a time much earlier than my check in time. I normally have to remind the guest of the check in time and send them a link with few options to store their luggage pending check in, and to be honest, where I do try to be flexible and get home earlier but it is not always possible.

I recently had two guests with whom I went through the same process informing them of check-in time frame and enquiring what time to expect them but they did not respond.  On the day they were due to check in, they arrived in London at 11am and contacted me to inform me that they would be at the property by 12.30 pm, of course this was impossible due to work commitments and I reminded them again of the check in time and ask what time they would come back, they informed me around 5pm. By 8pm they had not arrived as such I contacted them to find out if they were Ok and what time to expect them and they informed me 9pm.

By 9.30 pm I contacted them again, reminding them of the check in time frame and enquiring what time exactly they will arrive, they confirmed by 10 pm at the latest. 10.45 pm, I contacted them again and suggested that perhaps they would like to reconsider booking into a hotel as it would be more flexible in terms of checking in. I received a very apologetic message at 11.25 pm informing me they were on their way and would be with me in 10 mins, they were very sorry and please let them stay; against my better judgement and since they were foreigners, I agreed on condition that they arrived before midnight .

Needless to say, by 12.30 pm they still hadn’t arrived as such I contacted Airbnb and cancelled the booking as I could no longer stay up waiting for them. I had attempted numerous times to sort out check-in and even reminded them that once they checked in and I had handed over the keys, they were free to go back out again for as long as they wished.

Their disregard for my check in time frame and lack of consideration for me as a host in terms of the impact of their extremely late arrival was sufficient to ring alarm bells for me. I informed Airbnb that as I was having problems with them even before they checked-in, I no longer felt comfortable with them being in my home. I didn't have faith they would observe any of my house rules which also made me concerned for my safety as well. Airbnb were able to view the thread of e-mails I had sent to them and although Airbnb did attempt to make me reconsider cancelling, I refused and they had to cancel the booking and contact the guest.

Luckly, this extreme case was a one off; sometimes you just have to be firm, stick to check- in confirmed in you listing where you have other commitments already in place/ suggest alternatives such as luggae storage.

Anyway, wish you all the best.

Ama