New host too lax with guest? Check out late - early arrival - free 1 night stay - public review

[Tam48]

Hi everyone, recently i had a guest who checked out late 2 hours past check out time though I knocked on her door once and dropped hints, she said she would check out at 1pm but she checked out at 2pm. when she arrived, she arrived early (12pm) and I didnt say anything (because im new host and still lenient...). Prior to this I offered her 1night free because we didn't have another set of key for her so she would have to share keys with us (of 2 people, and usually we put keys in the letterbox anyway) and she was ok about that.

The girl was overall quiet, polite and she left my room clean.

What do you think of my handling of the situation and do you think I'm too lax? Do you think I should write public review about her checking out late?

[Pete69]

1 night free because you didn't have an extra key??? That isn't cause for any refund.

Most guests respect chck out times. I've never had anyone over stay. I've had guests ask about potentially staying an hour or 2 later because of a late flight and I agreed because I didn't have anyone checking in that day.

I've had people ASK to check in early (before my 3 PM check-in) and I agree as long as I'm not going to be cleaning because a guest just checked out that day.

I would explain in your house rule book that checking out on time is important so that you have sufficient time to prepare for the next guest.

[Monique241]

I don't think you should write it on the public review as you do not bring it out to her directly. She might think you are ok and nice person. Instead, I will write in the private message and probably give lower star on observant of house rule. It is the same that I hope my guest will address the issue during their stay rather than in the review after they have checked out. I had a guest who wrote in the review saying the lock was damage and difficult to lock, which it can be fixed in 5 minutes, I did it with next guest who informed me right after check-in. 

[Rowena29]

Hi  fellow Australian @Tam48 !

To be honest I think this girl walked all over you.  I agree with @Pete69 a FREE NIGHT?  A choc bar or a bottle of wine MAYBE for the inconvenience, that would be it.

I've had a quick look at your listing and your see very clearly check out is "firmly 11 am."  Even if this guest is new to airbnb, that's pretty hard to misunderstand. Airbnb send guests several automated messages confirnimg details such as this, so I find it hard to believe there was genuine confusion on your guests part.  She was just rude.

I find saying anything negative in a public review difficult, but I would be inclined to mention this in this instance - I would want to know she had behaved like that if she were coming to my place. maybe something like  XXX was a polite, friendly guest who left her room very clean. However she arrived xx hours early for check in adn left 3 hours late for checkout without any prior discussion or communication, which did cause me some difficulties.  xxx would make an better future guest when she is more attentive to check in and check out proceedures.   I would mark her down on observance of house rules.  You sound like a very kind and diplomatic person so you can probably word this better than me.

Moving forward,  to try to prevent his sort of thing happening again, I have found the following strategies really helpful.

* leave a folder with the house rules,  and check out proceedure - including check out time - in the guest room.  Ipersonally use a lovely big font with plenty of white space between the lines so it's easy on teh eyes  to flip through and read/

*use the option to put a security deposit on your listing - make it quite a lot as you have new carpets etc. ( mine is $500). 

*Specifically refer to your security deposit in your listing desctiption and note that so long as house rules are followed and no damage occurs, there should be absolutely no problem with guests retaining their security deposit.

It just makes guests think twice, maybe 3 times before doing the wrong thing.  You'll find that "casual" guest such as this one magically notice these sorts of details and either go elsewhere or beahve.  And that way you don't have to face so assertive face to face, which is something I think you might struggle with.

I've never had a single guest question or complain about the security depsoit - but several have assured me they plan to take excellent care of my home.   Its not foolproof of course but I think it really helps.

I was in your position just a few months ago and I vividly remember how tough I found it trying to be gracious and generous and kind ( and get good reviews)  without being pushed around - you'll find it won't take you very long to find your mojo.   Good luck.

ps if you decide you DO want to make a comment on the public review, you might want to consider posting what you plan to say on these boards first to get some advice from other hosts - people are usually most helpful re this and you can pick and choose different phrases and approaches to suit you individual opinion and style.

Cheers

[Tam48]

Omg such a detailed answer, thank you Rowena, and yes since this is my first ever hosting experience and i find it harder to be more assertive, but will learn from now 🙂 also if i have a cat in my house, you know sometimes when the cat pees or poos it can cause odor, do you happen to know the way to word this in the "things to note" section? Thank you so much for your help! 

[Rowena29]

I think how you word it depends on your personality and style. I'm very direct and have a dry sense of humour which is often interpreted as rudeness by people who dont' know me,  so I'm the last person to ask re wording!   But if it helps,  I think you could say "I have a pet cat with all the joys and some of the neagtives that come with owning an indoor cat.   If you don't like cats, you probably won't be happy staying with me" Also when guests book I would mention the cat again in your welcome message, because you know, most guests don't bother to read what you say in the listing anyway.. "just making sure you are aware I have a cat as mentioned in the listing.  She is definitely an indoor cat with a big personality. if this bothers you, there is still time to cancel the booking without penalty" or something along those lines. You're being friendly but subtly making it clear it's YOUR  house with your rules - if they don't like it, go elsewhere.

Maybe look at other hosts listings ( the hosts who are most featured on the community boards are a good start) and see how they handle and word things on their listings - lots of inspiration to be found. click on their picture - takes you to their page adn then click oin their listing.  You're welcome to look at my house rules and use anything you think might be helpful - although I'm very far from being really experienced, I have got to a stage where I'm feeling pretty in control ( hope I don't jinx myself.....)

[Geoff1]

It is a learing  experience to begin for all hosts. Into my seventh year now and I still maintain a very relaxed happy hosting approach. Make them comfortable find your way through the experiences. Offering a free night does not matter, it will certainly not be a negative. Air BnB is about providing an alternative to what had become the expected corporate accommodation practice. I have never had a bad experience in all my time of doing this, sure been irritated, had mildly difficult guests of course. It will all become easier as you go along. Enjoythe learning experience develop your own unique hosted service and be another great Air bnb host

[Kath9]

@Tam48, you will most definitely need to set some boundaries if you want this to be sustainable for you. I agree with @Pete69 that a free night for not providing a key was far too generous on your part. Many guests are not given a key at all due to security issues. I think @Rowena29's suggestion for the review is good to alert other hosts of her behaviour. We need guests to respect the rules, otherwise it just becomes a burden. Definitely mark her down for communication and observance of house rules.

[Billy106]

Funny that you posted about checking out late when you have a negative review as a guest because you checked out late yourself not following house rules, then wanted a refund?

[Tam48]

Funny because she falsely advertised her place, I asked for the reasonable refund, she apologised and I said don’t worry about it, didn’t take her refund then she came back write me a bad review :)) and nah I left her place clean and checked out on time. next time know the situation before you mock anyone cuz it’s not cool bud 

[Sarah977]

@Tam48  Are you saying your cat has accidents in the house or that the litter box smells? As a guest I certainly wouldn't want to stay somewhere that smelled like cat urine or excrement and I wouldn't want to see a litter box in the bathroom I was using or any other common space. 

There are actually state of the art litter boxes these days- my daughter has one. I'm not sure how they work, but they are electronic, they are self-cleaning, eliminate odors entirely, and use some disposable trays that you just remove and slip in a new one. Probably pricey, but likely worth it to ward off bad reviews about the place smelling like cat poop or urine.

[Yolanda8]

invest in a digital lock; IMMEDIATELY..... -makes life much easier !    U can give each Guest own individual CODE.... U can change codes remotely...... -also put up security camers & a RING Doorbell to monitor the non-private areas ...... set a fee for "LATE Check-Out" .... -damand the fee be paid; if U've clearly stated in Guest "extra fees" & U have proof [screen shot from Ur camera]; then even if Guest refuses to pay... -guess what?  -AirBnb pays U the fee U've posted that the Guest violated !!!!!