Call the host or pay for parking?

[Inna22]

A guest that arrived last night could not find my garage. It is behind the house so you could see it with your eyes, I provide arial map and turn by turn directions. This is a fairly frequent problem. I guess many people are not used to the Chicago lay out with alleys in back. That was not the problem.

The problem was that it was midnight and the guest decided to wake me up to get help with the directions. Of course my poor husband who had to be up at 5 was woken up as well. I am thinking the guest should have just parked anywhere, even if he had to pay a few dollars to do so. There is paid parking a quarter of a block away and often free street parking. I do not think this justified a midnight call.

Thoughts?

[Inna22]

@Huma0 there are always people who are willing to pay but very few. I now have a non refundable security fee added for those who do not want to provide an ID. I do not do it to collect the money, I want them stop arguing with me. Now I tell them- sure, dont give me an ID but pay instead and all over sudden providing an ID does not sound like a bad idea after all. To my shock, two (so far) chose to pay. It will however I think deter most folk. And if anyone ever pays,  you can use the money to get your neighbors nice flowers

[Huma0]

@Inna22 

Yep, it's not about the money to me either. It's about stopping whatever the problematic behaviour is. 

And you are right, flowers or other gifts for the neighbours would be the way to go. They won't accept money from me. I've tried to book their drive for tradespeople, but they refuse to charge me, even though they would lose income as a result. They are lovely people so I want to make sure to be a good neighbour to them. We have a nice little community going here, which can be quite rare in central London, and it's important to me that we are kind and respectful to each other.

[Gillian166]

@Clara116  Yes you are correct, I didn't learn this at school (that would have been helpful) but i did learn it some time in the 90s via self help courses. If you tell yourself "I will NOT each ice cream after dinner" all your brain really understands is "eat ice cream after dinner" because the word "not" can't be translated well (this is especially true for dyslexics and neuro-divergents). So you have to change your self-talk to something else like, "after dinner I will go for a walk" or whatever positive thing you'll do to modify your behaviour. "I will not get upset at my husband when he does X". doesn't work! 😂 you have to use a positive statement to get a different result. 

[Kelly149]

@Inna22 and this is why my listing tells guests that they need to arrive by 9pm... bc they think they can manage no problem in a new place in the middle of the night, but if they can't well then guess who is dealing with them. So, in your case if someone was supposed to arrive at 5 and chose to arrive at 12, then yes I agree with you, they should have figured it out on their own. This is a bad review seems appropriate situation.

@Huma0 my listing is a RED BARN, my main house is a white stone/grey siding farmhouse. Guest still were capable of messing it up. Directions now say "DO NOT use the ABB GPS link, that will take you to the Main House. Follow these directions.... (and then I take them thru the possibilities from each direction)...it ends with: IF you're parked at a RED BARN you're in the right place. IF you're at the white stone/grey siding Farmhouse, turn around, go back to xxxx, turn right, there's the RED BARN."

I think some element do nots is still necessary. But I'd always lead with the Do THIS and then follow with the NOT THIS

[Huma0]

@Kelly149 

Well there is another perfect example. You would think it would be pretty obvious if you are at a RED BARN, no? And you would think that by the time they have arrived, they would have RED BARN firmly imprinted into their brains...

The thing is, my house with the PINK door is perfectly visible when guests are standing outside my neighbour's. I just don't get why they can't see it. I mean you really cannot miss it. There is no high wall or other visual obstruction in-between. See here. This is the angle if you are standing right in front of the neighbour's house:

Perhaps you are right that the wording needs to be reordered in terms of DOs and DON'Ts. I do start with DO make sure you come to number X... but maybe that is not enough.

I feel like I'm going to be screaming PINK DOOR! PINK DOOR!  for the rest of the day. I was thinking about changing the colour of the door, but then I'd really be getting myself into deep water...

I'm wondering how many of my guests actually use the Airbnb GPS link. None of my guests drive here themselves. They either come by public transport or by taxi. For the latter, the driver is using whatever GPS system they usually use rather than the Airbnb one. However, I am going to ask the next guests about this. I would be interested to see where the Airbnb GPS is sending them.

[Kelly149]

@Huma0 maybe you can get a sign for your neighbor and/or a real or faux surveillance camera, "unauthorized use of this driveway will be towed or ticketed"

[Huma0]

@Kelly149 

It's not really an issue of guests parking for prolonged periods as my guests do not bring cars. It's them getting dropped off/picked up, letting food delivery people park there etc. So, to the guests/taxi drivers etc. it's no big deal, but it can cause complications if my neighbour's clients need to use the drive at that moment, plus the previous two neighbours would get extremely upset about it. I mean screaming, shouting, hopping, door slammed in your face, mad.

So, I might suggest a towed/ticketed sign to the current neighbours anyway. Last Saturday I messaged to say one one the two cars parked on their driveway had the lights on. They told me they had no idea who those 'cheeky f*ckers were'. Those cars were parked there taking up the whole driveway for at least 12 hours. Some people have no shame!

I was also thinking about putting a camera outside my door due to the local plant thief (story for another day...) but I have heard from others that cameras do not deter her as she still steals even when there is a camera pointing right at her. Again, no shame...

[Huma0]

Actually, one thing I just noticed looking at the photo above (which was taken a while ago) is that the brick pillar in-between the front entrances to the two properties is no longer there.

My previous crazy neighbour drove into it with her Jaguar (which you can just see a bit of in this photo), knocking the whole thing down and then refused to reinstate it.

Perhaps that is not helping in terms of delineating the two properties, but I don't think that should make a huge difference? There is still a wall in between and the houses are painted different colours and have different numbers outside. If people can find the door to an apartment or hotel room which looks identical to every door around it just by looking at the number (hidden in the photos on the listing for security reasons, but it is there, believe me), why can't they find my PINK front door?

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Kelly149 

We also have an "arrive by" time. Between 3 pm and 9 pm. Getting here is so easy, if guests just follow my set of directions. I give mileage and landmarks. City folk here for the first time can get confused after dark and if they go past our driveway, it gets into a much less well maintained road with no guard rails on a narrow cliffside one lane. There are no houses close to the road where they could get directions. We always ask guests for an ETA and are available for giving advice while on the road. If they are going to be late, we definitely stay up to welcome and orient them. Returning guests can arrive whenever they wish after 3 pm, they already know their way around, and the front door is unlocked for them. We are rather protective, yes, but it is the least we can do out here in remote places.

[Mark116]

@Huma0  Maybe you should add that the house is set back from the street?  But really, the pink door should be all anyone needs to get it right.

[Huma0]

@Mark116 

All the houses here are set back from the street, and some much more so than mine, so that would probably just confuse people more. 

Maybe I need a neon door??

[Pat271]

@Huma0  Yes! And maybe rename the listing something like “Neon Haven”. Surely they’ll notice that!

[Sybe]

@Huma0 @Pat271 I both love and hate this door, very flashy and interesting yet it seems quite unpractical and not really that private! 

[Huma0]

@Sybe 

Lol. You're right, it's not the most private of front doors!

[David8879]

@Huma0 - apologies if that question was asked.

Is you house number lit at the night time? DO you have the one close to the road (not on the house) that is lit at the night or well reflective at night?

During my travles I found it to be quite difficult to look for the house number in unfamilar places