WWYD: Irish students let two extra people into house ... ?

Kenneth12
Level 10
Chicago, IL

WWYD: Irish students let two extra people into house ... ?

My wonderful scenario of the night:

~7:15p:  notification that the front door has not been locked for 5 minutes.

~7:18p:  Ring doorbell goes off;   I see guest A who has left the door unlocked,  enter and talk on cell phone;   about 20 seconds in,  two people enter from outside,  who are not guests.

~7:20p:  Neighborhood Watch texts to say that people who hang out on the block seem to have entered the front door (there is a problem with teenagers and others hanging out on property owners' porches when they are out,  etc).

~7:20p-7:45p:  I review video and try to figure things out,   messaging all parties;  I see a pair of Irish undergrads who are staying in a large bedroom upstairs,   handing out on porch with local teenagers; the latter are sitting over the stone eaves;  one is smoking and it doesn't seem to be tobacco *(I'm mean,  not necessary a big deal but given circumstances...) ;  the same woman was on the entry video.

~7:50p:  I've sent several messages to the Irish students and called 3 times;   I can see them on the front porch cam,   and the guy is looking at his phone.   I call the Superhost line...   

~8pm:   I'm on the line when I get a message from Irish guy that there must have been a misunderstanding, the people were people they work with;    while I'm on the line with SuperHost support.   Support says that if they're leaving,    they'll call and warn them that if they have unauthorized visitors again,   ABB will cancel at their cost.

~8:05p:  I see unauthorized guests leave.

Now-- for now,  I'll leave this to work out for yourself;   I've read over the other "sneaking in extra guests" threads.   How you handle it is one thing;  but I don't see,  at least in a shared environment with potential liabiities that abound,  how you can allow anyone not on the reservation in the property except with advance notice and many questions-- what if they steal from other guests,  for instance?   

If you've just allowed them to waltz in...  

FWIW:  my other question here,  is what would you do (WWYD?) in such circumstances;    (I'll have more of these scenarios in the future,  of course!).

Happy Hosting,   or at least-- may you avoid Unhappy Hosting.

2 Replies 2
Mike-And-Helen0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

Not sure what I would do but is sounds like airbnb were helpful?

@Mike-And-Helen0 :

Indeed and in contrast to many reports/claims,  I thought they were quite helpful and felt immediately backed up-- voicemail and messaging to the guest from the Big Guys to back up the point was appreciated.

There have been many discussions of "sneaking in extra guests" etc on this forum,   but as far as I know,  none have gone into the liability and other issues that were running through my mind during this incident.

I think hosts simply must have and monitor entrance security cameras,  and at the very least,  must restrict entry to people who are known and pre-approved.   As much as "trust" is a center of the ABB community,  sometimes you have to verify a little.

This incident,  given how it played out-- one guest leaving the door unlocked,  another guest entering with unknown people a little while afterward,   Neighborhood Watch alerting me that it appeared to be people who had "been causing trouble" -- was a true pain on a night when I was planning on doing something else,   (and wound up taking a patient into the ER for something that should never require an ER,  due to yet other unfortunately events involving the incompetence of the US medical system).

Thanks for the reply.