Problem with guests and August Smart Lock

Luke52
Level 1
Washington, DC

Problem with guests and August Smart Lock

I have been using the August Smart lock for a few months now, and on paper, it's been great. 

 

However, more often than not, guests show up at my door without having downloaded the app, much less created an account. August sends an email to all of my guests, but the majority tell me they've never seen it.

 

As a result, I'm left to guide them through the process of app installation and set up after letting them in. Not a HUGE problem. But, it kind of defeats the purpose of getting a smart lock. 

 

What have you guys done to encourage your guests to "come prepared". 

70 Replies 70

Our August keypad never worked from day 1, fortunately we also have the August Smart Lock and it’s simple to use on both guest & owners . Also, it is extra security  for us, we make every adult guests over the age of 18  that is staying  is on the guest list itinerary and if they want August Smart Lock access their Airbnb account must be government ID verified (all guests on the itinerary must have an Airbnb acct) with a current picture of of their full face. It’s a bit of extra security. The app is so simple,  RED for locked and  GREEN for open and unlocked. Super simple. 

We have been using the August lock system for the last couple of months.  We have 2 doors (front & side) and an August lock on each.  We also opted to get a keypad for the side door.  Each smart lock is connected to a Connect wifi bridge as well, so we can remotely lock/unlock the doors as needed and receive smary alerts which shows who is using the lock (based on entry ID) and the status of the door (open/closed/ locked/unlocked).

 

Generally our guests prefer NOT do download the app.  Rather they tend to rely on the keypad and not download the app at all.  As one guest mentioned to us, his phone died by the time he got home and he got locked out.  He liked the keypad much better.

 

That all said, when the August lock system works, especially the keypad/lock/Connect combo, it's great!  But when it fails, it's a recipe for disaster with guests.  

 

As of a couple of weeks ago, our side door Connect unit started losing its connection to the wifi.  We had a guest who got locked out as he arrived at 1am, bc unbeknownst to us, the entry code we created for the guest never synced with the unit!  Since that time, the side door Connect unit, even after being reset, has not stayed connected to the wifi.

 

Today, I got an alert that my 2nd Connect unit lost its wifi connection--the same symptoms the first unit had been having before it started experience these issues.  Without going into further detail, we have a number of automated devices in the house on the wifi and those are all still working fine.  The wifi signal is pretty darn reliable and the front door Connect unit is about 4 feet away from the router.

 

Has anybody experienced anything similar and/or have a solution to this issue?

 

We live out of state, so we aren't able to just pop into the property to easily troubleshoot the probelm.  Nor can we really ask our nearby relatives or cleaning company to do it for us.  The August support team has not been very helpful either in terms of troubleshooting and they actually closed my initial support ticket bc I guess I didnt respond quickly enough to them.  Whatever the case, it's been frustrating.

 

 

We have some workaround solutions that we've come up with for the time being until we can get to the property in the next 2 weeks to try and troubleshoot.   But these workarounds fully diminish value of the system.

 

If we had to do it again, we would choose another solution for house entry and security.

 

Hi  @Eric471.

 

I see you are with August . . . Do you have any suggestions on what might be causing our Connect units to lose the wifi connection and not successfully reconnect? 

 

We have looked at the documentation.  I won't be able to read the LED flashes until we are at the property in person, but I am not sure what is causing the issue.  The system worked really well for a solid couple of months without any issue. 

 

We haven't made any changes to the network or our configuration.  Were their changes made on your end? 

 

We really love this system when it works!  We are hoping we can get back up and running soon.

 

Thanks.

 

 

Hi, Jamie & Marie,

 

I will follow up with you directly to see how we can help diagnose this issue. Our apologies for the frustrating experience here.

John1080
Level 10
Westcliffe, CO

I just read through this thread and that seems like a real royal pain if you ask me. To have a situation, where a guest has to download an app in order to access the space, and/or for a host to have to walk many guests through the process seems like a lot of wasted time. 


We use a Schlage smart lock and simply set the code remotely for each guest a few days before and then send the code to the guest in their Airbnb inbox. Haven't had any trouble yet and all guests have been able to get in hassle-free. 

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

Your right John after reading about this I wouldn't be the August lock, seems far too difficult from a guest's prospective.

We absolutely love the August app!  We use it on both of our vacation rentals and it’s been a great tool for us to use. Of course there are issues, (show me any internet / Bluetooth item that does not), but the benefits out weighs the issues every time. Occasionally we do run into the issue of a guest not having a smartphone or not wanting to add another app on their phone, our solution to that is to have a backup phone for them to use (with a deposit of course)for their stay. 

 

We always double check to make sure our guests have downloaded the app prior to their stay, we send them an picture of the app to find to make it easier. We also have a guest guidebook that we send a link to our guests with all of the info for the house and area with local points of interests, that can also be seen via phone, which is also fun for our guests to have this information in the palm of their hands.

 

I’ll say it again WE ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE AUGUST SMART LOCK!😍

Earl21
Level 2
Albany, NY

I just use the August Lock with the Wi-Fi Connect Bridge (Pro version comes with a bundle) as well as the Smart Keypad. No app needed. I used to invite and generate new codes for each guest but it's such a hassle with no August API that I know of to integrate and automate invitation of new guests. Almost no one I invited ever used the app since I have a keypad for each August-enabled door. Now I'm just setting a keypad-only guest for each of my two units with access to both the front and back doors and changing the code remotely every few days. A little more anonymous on who exactly comes in and out but a whole lot less hassle. My only issue with the Android app is that it constantly freezes, crashes, or fails to sync with the devices (not a connectivity issue). The app is terribly buggy and I've had to delete it and relogin multiple times.

Andres290
Level 2
Boston, MA

So the biggest issue for me with August and AirBnB integration is that I have a total of 4 locks and keypads because its an apartment in a multi-family home with a front door and back door and then front and back doors to the apartment.

 

There is nowhere in the app settings for me to set so it generates one code for ALL of my locks. I can do this manually, and that is actually what I do, but I prefer the guest gets the automated code for all the locks.

 

My solution is to create one code manually on all the locks and message that to my guests in a welcome message.

And with all these problems, the host gets one start for the check in!!

 

How I get bad reviews just because I'm using what is recommended! 

 

Disappointed! 

 

 

Just installed my August Smart lock.  Then I read this thread......BTW, the integration that is supposed to show my quests isn't working.  It seems there should be an easier way to do this without burdening the quests to download the app.

Update.....

1 hour on the phone with support at August to recreate my account "that didn't exist".  Once my account was recreated, the integration with AirBNB still doesn't work.  While August app. shows I am connected to AirBNB, there is a "problem accessing my AirBNB data"  Right now I would not recommend an August lock to anyone using AirBNB.  August says,  it is easy to give access to guests in the product details.   What easy means to August is your guests have to download the August app, create an account with August, then it should work.  I haven't actually tried that part yet, due to my current experience with the buggy install and lack of AirBNB integration success.  Judging by other reviews and the problems with my install, I can't imagine the guest process being any better or easier.  I doubt I would risk my AirBNB rating on such buggy tech.  Maybe they will make it better in the future.  I'll say this, as long as I am in my house and connected to the same wifi as the lock I can lock and unlock it but that is all that I can do.  For that I give 2 stars to the whole experience.

My experience with August Smart Lock Pro... We installed August in our two Airb&b’s and it’s been an absolute headache! As a guest, you need to download the app, create an account, and link it to the airb&b reservation to get access. This is a lot of work and confusing for some of our older guests (someone asked me once what an app was). Not only that but we’ve had people forget their phone inside the house and get locked out or forget to charge it before going out (if their phone dies they can’t unlock the door).So for the last month, we’ve been calling August everyday to address different issues, their support team has been great and quick to respond but man this is a lot of work and we are done. This is considering that we took steps to prepare our guests.

1. In the house rules, we listed that guest must be willing to download the app and create an account 

2. We send a message to the guests after the booking reminding them to create an account 

3. In the house manual, we added screenshots of the app and a questions area

After all of this, we still need to walk people through the process very frequently. If power goes out, it's a DISASTER... I've had to reset the lock, re-calibrate it, etc. We wanted it to work and were reluctant to switching systems after investing $500 on August. Unfortunately, there are too many issues and I’m sure there is a better / easier solution out there.  Other hosts suggested adding the August Keypad to resolve this situation but I'm scared of spending one more dollar with August to continue to have issues. I have now resolved to switching to Schlage or RemoteLock entirely and taking the loss with the August system. If you guys wanna buy two August locks and the bridge lmk 😉 

My question to you is why are you linking your August to Airbnb in the first place, it is not necessary? They are two different companies and systems. We have mostly positive experiences with our Smart Lock, yes occasionally we run into issues but we are able to address that issue with the person who checks in all of our guests.(we pay him a small fee to check in each guest which is worth it because he tours both homes and answers questions & resets their apps for that occasional issue)

Kelli96
Level 2
Houston, TX

August with AIRBNB is a dud.  Caused me bad reviews because my guests did not receive a code.