Concern for a no-show guest

[Stephen285]

A recent guest did not show show up for their reservation, did not respond to messages, did not cancel, did not request a refund, and did not respond when I let them know I was refunding their cleaning fee, when I let them know I was sorry they were unable to cancel before the reservation began.

the guest was a single female traveling for business.

I let AirBnB know about the situation, but they did not seem to be too concerned, but they did reach out to the guest, who did not respond to them either.

I also called the guest’s phone through the app, and was routed to voice mail. No response there either.

I am hoping the guest is okay. I know privacy has to be protected, but if anything unwanted happened to this person, or if people who care about her are looking for her, would anyone know her reservation at my studio was one of the last plans she’d had?

[Sarah977]

@Stephen285  It's wonderful that you have such concern. You've done all you can. Some guests don't turn their notifications on and don't even realize they have messages waiting. And while I've never had one, no shows do happen. Most likely she is just out of cell phone range or something, but you could try sending a text message or whatsapp. Chances are she is fine, just had a change of plans. It may never occur to a guest that the host would be worried about them, although not letting you know what's going on is pretty rude.  I'm sure someone in her orbit must know she had booked an Airbnb and if she doesn't show back up at home or work when scheduled to they will take action.

I did ask one of my guests if Airbnb asked for emergency contact info. She couldn't remember, so checked and said there was a place for that, but she had never filled it out, which I suspect is the case with most guests. 

So now when I have a guest in residence, I ask them for that. I figure if a guest disappeared, had an accident or got really ill, it would be good to have someone to contact, because as you found out, Airbnb is unconcerned.

Because I home-share and only host one guest at a time, I get a lot of female guests travelling solo, and as it's a 20 minute walk to town and the beach, I usually tell them to shoot me a quick text or whatsapp, if they like, when they are heading back, although no one has ever had a problem on the way, just so if they don't show up in 20 or 30 minutes, I'd go look for them. I apologized to a guest the first time I did this for my "mom brain", but she said she really appreciated it.

[Stephen285]

Thank you for your thoughtful response. As I say, I hope she is okay out there and that her unresponsiveness is mere oversight and not something less benign.

Be Well!

[Sarah977]

@Stephen285  I had a booking once and she wasn't answering any of my pre-arrival messages, which I need guests to do, as I send them a map to my hard to find house and need to know they received it. I coukdn't phone her because she was in Europe and it would have cost me a fortune.

Airbnb couldn't reach her either. She finally messaged back, apologizing profusely, saying a close family member had died, she had had her phone turned off and her Airbnb bookings, all of which she had to cancel, were far from her mind.

[Stephen285]

Typically, I am not one to go to a worst-case scenario. Hoping my bad feeling about this one is just a fluke and all is well.

[Anonymous]

@Stephen285 In the worst case scenario (by no means the likeliest), if the guest has truly gone missing, a normal investigation would involve her bank records and digital data trail. Both of these would indicate the planned stay in your property, but probably also far more specific details of her whereabouts. 

A more common occurrence is that the guest's plans abruptly change, and the Airbnb host isn't high on their list of people they feel the need to contact about it.  It doesn't occur to everyone that the host might be a caring individual who is worried about them, any more than the flight crew on a plane or the front desk staff at a hotel would be.

[Stephen285]

Makes sense. Thanks Andrew. First occurrence of this specific type in almost 4 years of busy hosting!

[Sarah977]

@Anonymous  That guest I first asked if Airbnb had a line for emergency contact info was prompted by her checking in, getting settled, and then saying she was going into town to meet up with some friends for dinner and drinks. I went to bed at some point and in the morning realized she had never come home. 

I wasn't too worried, I figured she spent the night with her friends, (which is exactly what had happened), but shot her a text asking if everything was okay. She apologized, saying it never occurred to her I'd be worried.

Single people tend to be more like this, I've found. They aren't used to letting someone know their plans or change thereof, or having anyone be worried about them just because they didn't show up when expected.

[M199]

@Stephen285 

My suggestion (life happens),  print screen and document all messages, etc.  There is probably a logical reason.  You just aren't Privy to it. As hard as it is, keep it in perspective.  You are providing a service, no more, no less.

[Stephen285]

Cheers, M. 

[Normen0]

I had one no show. No response to any messages. Got paid. She gave me a 5 star review. Go figure.