Our guests forgot their keys inside the apartment and are asking for a partial refund

[Albert94]

Hi everyone,

A week ago we just had our first experience as a hosts, and a problem occurred:

Our guests booked our apartment for 2 nights in Helsinki while we were our of town. On Friday, they pick up the key from a friend to get into our apartment (they knew we wouldn't be in Helsinki). The first night went without a problem, but on Saturday afternoon, they texted us that they forgot the key inside the apartment and that they were locked out.

After speaking with them for a long while, we tried to help with all we could from the distance (we call the housing company from the building to try to open the door, we spoke with a locksmith, etc...), but because Finnish laws are really strict, they would only open the door to us (the tenants) presenting our ID's.

We said how sorry we were, gave them some information about hotels in town where to stay, and ask to wait for us until Monday evening to return and pick up their things. Because they live approximately 400km from Helsinki, and they came by car, they decided not to wait, go home, and come back on Tuesday to pick up their things.

One week after, they came to pick up their things, we received an email where they ask "because there was no copy, we had to spend extra money to get back for our things and the weekend was a bit spoiled" to get a one night refund. We believe that forgetting the keys was their mistake while knowing that we will be out of town, and the decision to leave and come back was as well theirs.

Did someone had the same situation? Should we do some kind of refund? Is our first hosting experience and we are not so sure how to proceed.

Thank you, and looking forward to hear from more experienced hosts.

Albert

[Albert94]

Dear @Momi0,

first of all, thank you so much for your answer and help. First thing is done, and I took away already that they can communicate with me outside airbnb. Next thing will be to write a House Manual with really clear facts like this one. I will check as well the responsible hosting link to learn a bit more. And I will add this specific case to the listing as well, making clear that if they forget the keys is in response of the guest, and no refund will be done. Thanks a lot for your recomendations. 

Related to the issue, the door needs the key to open, but it locks automatically once you close it. Maybe we didn't specified enough clear that if they close the door, they couldn't open again without the key, but being the second day at our place, I am sure they figured that out. What they just told is that they forgot the key inside the apartment, that's all. 

And well, not really apologize about anything, and not really answers when we were asking them if we could help after that somehow, if the could find somewhere to spend the night, etc...

We just wanted to hear if someone else had the same experience and how did they solve it. Being honest, our first experience as a hosts is being a bit bitter, and we wanted to hear some other voices.

Thank you a lot for your help, and for takng the time to answer our message.

BR,

Albert 

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[Momi0]

@Albert94

When I first started hosting in 2015, I didn't have a lot of help at all nor guidance but I did turn to the CC to get advice from seasoned hosts, and to pay it forward, I am now doing the same for the last 2 years for other hosts.  I am glad you felt helped by me.  And I am grateful in return that you actually took the time to acknowledge that you felt my advice was sound and good. 

I know I threw a lot at you, but I was only trying to keep you from making future mistakes that so many others hosts have made.  Good to know that you have updated your listing, as well as put a plan in place to keep others from getting frustrated.  Its important to think ahead of time for the guests because I have learned that many actually need their hand held.  

Wishing you all the best but keep in mind, its UP TO YOU if you want to refund or not.  I know you opened yourself up to received advice and opinions from other hosts, but that doesn't necessarily mean you have to be "pushed"  to give a refund.  None of us live in your shoes, nor do we know what you can afford to do, but what's important to note in this situation is, "How would you liked to be treated by your hosts should this happened to you as a guests?"  

I have given back a partial refund to a few guests when the mistake was THEIRS, not mine...(potential cat allergies and they couldn't stay) but I always note their ABB review that they should always take the time to view the entire listing and check for pets since they do have an allergy. This honest and fair review tells other hosts who read my reviews that the guests had to leave early due to negligence on their part, not mine.  I was not required to give back a refund, but did so because I wanted to.  Sometimes, a guest will book and not tell their traveling companion that the listing has cats.....to prevent this from happening again, all of my potential bookings have to write answering my questions: "  Do you and your traveling companion, spouse, or friend, like cats and dogs?"

Working out beautifully now even though my listing from the beginning has had 3 paragraphs about our furry babies, and 4th photo on  my listing is our beautiful cat HOKU RACER.....'Star Racer".  

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[Marit-Anne0]

@Albert94

I think you should take part responsibility for this kind of issue.  When leaving the guests on their own while you go out of town, you would need some sort of back-up, someone with a spare key.  

I had some sort of the same issue on a home exchange in Paris - the locks were changed from traditional lock to fob while I was out sightseeing.  In the end I got hold of the owner who could speak to the consierge of the building, they followed me in and I had to show my ID and my contract. 

All well that ends well, but it was a quite nerve wracking experience.

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[Cormac0]

@Albert

Sh*t happens, as the Americans are fond of saying! in my opinion this is a contingency you should have allowed for, so in this case I have some sympathy for your Guest's.

Their weekend was ruined and they had an 800km round trip to collect their belongings, I think you should put yourselves in their shoes and see how you would feel about it.

Be gracious and give them a nights refund or perhaps a free weekend by way of apolige.

Regards

Cormac

The Explorer's Club Krakow III

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[Albert94]

Dear Cormac,

First of all thanks for your answer.

I understand your words, and as a Airbnb not only host, but guest as well, I've thougt about what if it would have been me the one on their situation. I can see only that it would've been my mistake, and I would take responsabilty for it. That's why I want to hear more opinions about that matter.

I understand that is our contingency, but in our case, the apartment that we are living is a rented apartment, and in Finland, the number of copies that one can have comes predefined by the owner of the apartment, not the tenants. So, our guests had one key, and we had the other copy. They knew as well that we were out of the city. And for me, the most important think, is that by renting in Airbnb, specially when you are renting the whole premises, you know that you are going to someone's apartment, not to a hotel/hostel where you have a 24/7 desk in case something happen, and that is one of the only con's of it.

However, I will take your words, and think of them on my decision of refunding them the night that they didn't spend there.

Thanks again for your message, and best regards,

Albert

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[Kimberly54]

@Albert94(and all... impossible to name everyone with the little list that pops up),

What a great stir! 

I know what I did (still on SNOOZE, but quite proactive thanks to y'all!):  There is a silly garden gnome that came with my property when I bought it a bit over two years ago... totally kitchy garden gnome!  I kept it, and just today taped the spare key to his bottom this afternoon.  No one is going to forget where to find the spare key now! 

Yep, and y'all know my secret.  😉

I think I'm pretty safe with this crowd.

Bottoms UP!

[Dave-and-Deb0]

This really scares me @Kimberly54!

"No one is going to forget where to find the spare key now!"

That is correct.  I hope I will not be the one staying in your listing when the many people who know where your spare key is located come into the home and steal all my belongings.  

@Albert94, I agree with many who have said to refund and that this is also a hosting error as much as it is an issue with the guests.  The best piece of advice is what @Momi0 already mentioned.  Get a lockset on your door where you can program a code for each guest.  It is really easy to program for multiple guests and remove the code when they leave.  I love the Schlage sets and have never had an issue with lost keys or locked out guests.  That reminds me, I need to go program the door code for the guests who arrive tomorrow.

http://www.schlage.com/en/home/products/BE365CAMFFF.html

[David126]

This is really a management issue, you need a local contact in case something goes wrong who can deal with matters in your absence.

[Linda108]

In my city, there is a regulation that requires a local contact that can respond to issues within 40 minutes.  You can lose your license if you do not have a local contact.  The city is motivated by complaints by neighbors, but I think it makes sense for other issues as well.

[Fred13]

@Albert94, you are brand new to hosting, and the #1 thing to learn right off the bat is to give and take, especially when dealing with guests. At this point, also good reviews are important to you, thus doubly important.

1-You are away, and had zero contingency plan concerning the guests to be able to get back into your place (with all their belongings in it mind you), IF the ONE key they were given is lost.

2-They locked themselves out. They could have lost the key (fall out), they could have been robbed with the key in her purse or his wallet, the  key may not have worked a second time for some crazy reason.

3- Their position is to refund them for only the day they were locked out. Their weekend was ruined. Now, imagine having to come 800km (500 miles!) back to  retrieve their belongings, because they didn't want to hang out in a hotel without them till you got back.  (Please make sure you give them a 1-star for "Key Misplacement, and 10-stars for being such sweethearts.)

4- Now Airbnb will in all likelihood be involved. If they are, do not be surprised if they refund them in Full.

The real lessons here, in my book, are: A-The unexpected will happen. B- Guest will screw up, it is not their home. C- A 'situation' that could have been resolved amicably, on the spot, but can indeed escalate unnecessarily, when one looses sight of the 'big picture'. 

[Alexandre205]

Albert,

Bad guests do much (much) worse than forgetting their keys inside your apartment.

You can argue that it was their fault, but it has never happened to you?

If you rent your place while you're not available, you need a 100% solid backup on site.

Like in any business, you have to think about all the "what if". And that is a big one.

If the local laws are so strict to prevent the building's staff to open the door to somebody else than you, you have a problem that you have to fix.

You can't take such a big risk. If you're often away, maybe you can think about installing an electronic lock? Or at least, give a spare key to your friend. Make sure that somebody can open the door in your absence ...

Of course, their week-end got spoiled by this incident. How to enjoy then ...?

One night of refund isn't much. If it's the price to learn the lesson ...

I'm not trying to exonerate the guests from their faults, but like I said, there is so much worse that could happen with other guests ...

It's nothing compared to destroying your place or causing other serious problems.

Cat & Alex

[Albert94]

Dear everyone,

first of all thank you very much for all your messages, tips, ideas, etc.. Is amazing how much one can learn from a not so pleasant situation.

After hearing all your messages, we decided to do a partial refund to our guests as they asked even it wasn't our first idea. We wanted to be fair on that and that's why we asked opinions from others hosts. Lesson learned!

Thanks again for your comments and opinions. Have all a good one,

Albert

[Momi0]

EDITED:  to fix typo

@Albert94  

You are so welcome!  I am so glad to hear that you found my advice and suggestions to be the most helpful.  That's my goal here on the CC since so many helped me back in 2015 too.  #PayItForward

Thank you for taking the advice of the other seasoned hosts who took the time to write you advising you to give a refund.  As I wrote myself, "Put yourself in the shoes of your guests".   We all agree that giving a partial refund is the RIGHT thing to do.  And maybe, just maybe, you might want to consider writing your guests a private message asking them to give a second chance to host them and then surprising them with something yummy upon arrival that is popular in Finland. 

You're the type of host I would want to stay with one day.  🙂

HELPFUL TIP ON YOUR HOUSE KEY:  Do you know what a colorful LONG key holder is (it usually has words on it)  that one puts around their neck?  Thats what we have our keys on and its easy to carry other things in our hands as we leave the house while our house key is around our neck.  Ours says "HAWAII" repeatedly all over it.  They sell them in souvenir shops.  Bonus feature, makes it easier to find my keys in my purse :))