Flight cancelled, host not available for check-in following two days

[Kenneth12]

Dear hosts,

Recently,    we experienced a flight cancellation that made us unable to reach a destination (Paris) until the following day.

The host was fairly new (4 reviews),   out-of-town,    and had no one to check us in the follow two days.   Thus we had to make last-minute arrangements to stay somewhere else (ah,   the ongoing saga!).

How do other hosts see this?    I'm fine with paying for the day due to a flight problem (we have travel insurance),    but it seems to me as a host,   if you're not there and don't have someone to check your guests in if things change,   the days you couldn't get them in are largely on you.

Anyone have a different perspective?  Thanks.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Kenneth12 I guess this is the difference between Airbnb and hotels. As many a good review has apparently said ' this guest may be better suited to a hotel'

[Kenneth12]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

Well!

So you think a host should be able to not be available during the stay,  and have no one available?  That if you list check-in hours between 3pm and 10pm,   the guest says 6,    you can just disappear at 8 if the flight is late (or have no one there because you asked a friend-of-a-friend to hold the keys and they're not reliable)?   

Sheesh.  You do not appear to be a very experienced host.  I guess anyone can host a few dozen times now,  and get Superhost status ...  but I wouldn't expect that run to last with the attitude you appear to have to hosting.

Perhaps you not yet had guests whose train comes in 6 hours late?   (I've had dozens).  And who are definitely going to leave you a big fat 1 / 5 if you're not there?

What if the electricity goes out,  the toilet floods,   a window breaks,  there's a robbery,  the hot water goes out?   With the host in another country,  and no one around to deal with any issue?

And after over 500 ABB stays,   I'm "better suited to a hotel?" because I posted a simple question to this forum seeking advice and perspective from other hosts?  Your dedication to customer service empathy is sure to lead to long-term success!

[David3267]

Totally agree with you. It now seems all you get on here is personal abuse when you offer n opinion which doesn't meet their way of thinking. Certainly wouldn't want him staying at any of my properties if it's my fault his flight is cancelled!

[Kenneth12]

@David3267 

The problem with this forum,   is its unprofessional nature where anyone can offer any sort of "opinion" without ranking. 

You offer check-in between 4 and 10pm,  you have check-in available between 4 and 10 *on any day anyone might book*.   You don't run out of town the next three days,  and have no contingency plan if the keys get lost.

You can't offer that level of at least semi-professional service and dedication to your offering,  then perhaps Craigslist or the local classified are better platforms than Airbnb.

if you can't offer what you've promised,   who the Hades would want to stay at one of your properties,   and what is the platform worth with hosts like you on it?  You've just described the kind of unreliable,  unprofessional attitudes which make the platform unattractive for many travelers,   discourage use,  and devalue the platform and experience for everyone and especially other hosts.

P.S.  Evidently you mates would like to dish it,  and insult others,  without taking it in return.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

Once again, setting the tone for the whole thread. 

😱

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Kenneth12 

Airbnb was built on 'living like a local' and having the host on hand to help during your stay if you needed it, so a host not being available is a failure in the hosting and I would agree with your view.

This not only highlights the issues of offsite hosts operating like a hotel, obtaining star ratings as 'Superhosts' when they're not even in attendance, it points to hosts 'wanting' to be a hotel service with no interaction rather - leave all that up to the more traditional  'homeshare' style accommodation and trade on that legacy.

Your review could include " Host wants to be a hotel " . With such treatment, if you ever gain access, it's hardly surprising some guests might feel justified in treating homes so badly, maybe not this trip, but one of the next?

Surely dealing with travellers' unplanned delays and ensuring access to the accommodation in some way is a host responsibility? If the host was there ready for check-in but the guest didn't arrive, some kind of back-up plan could be created. The fact that payment was made for a non-arrival date should surely be incentive enough for the host to sort out the access situation.

[Kenneth12]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 :  in this case,  we have a relatively new host who is trying to let her flat while she is away.    Much about the accommodation (we are now here) reflects someone who has not thought much about hosting and making a place welcoming for others--  or basic questions such as,  is the food in the fridge in open containers,  free for us to eat (as it will surely mold while we are here!).

In this case,    I'm surprised that we have to talk about whether this is a breach.   It obviously is,  and hosts have to plan for such things.   Assuming your guest will show up when they said they would,   and having no plans in place,   is as newby a mistake as having a variety of quite personal items throughout the bath.  (Eheeeh... ) but no shampoo in sight,   towels only in a stack in one room,   curtains that don't easily open and close ... so much else.

The question here is,  how much compensation is appropriate?   I'm inclined to think,  if your flight is cancelled,  you pay for the day if you couldn't make it (all other policies aside-- this may have been a flexible).   If you as a host can't get your guests in,  because your friend's cousin George who you thought would bring over the keys,   suddenly happens not to be around,   then you don't get paid for those nights (at a minimum--  if it had been the first night,  which it sounded like it could have been since George is unreliable,   ABB may have made you cough up for alternative accommodations).

I am amenable to hearing other reasonable points of view,  but I am not amenable to the kind of "hosts can do no wrong" hostility to guests which is sometimes common on this forum.  It does hosts no good to have guests who come with questions here,  battered with unhelpful hostility and insults--  they're not going to use ABB again,  if that's what they find when they come here.

[Linda108]

@Kenneth12  I agree with you that a host cannot just abandon their guest because they are unavailable to be there.  I think it is the lack of host experience that put you into this situation. I have had some experience with a host being away who thought she could remotely deal with issues from another country.  Seriously stressed me out over the Christmas holiday but at least I had a place to stay.

In you situation, you were compensated for the nights you did not use the space, right?  Was this compensation through your insurance?  Your post is to explore whether the host owes you some compensation as well, I believe.

In terms of making you "whole", that is you are not out actual money,  your insurance coverage probably had limits or deductions.  I think the host could offer to cover that as a show of good faith.  If you feel that is sufficient, fine.  If you want to support the host with a bit of your experience, I would private message the host.  Still, I think a specific honest review is needed, including what the host did right.

[Maj-Britt0]

Hi Kenneth, As a host I would make sure that some one could let you in, Also on the second day- and if I am absent then there is at least an alternative local person to assist and be there for our guests. 
I am not a hotel - I am human and understand that flights and travel plans, especially right now, are difficult . When both sides are willing to work together then there is always a solution. 
Sorry to hear such a problem- I have also booked with abb expecting local human contact- and there was none- disappointing. Others were totally great.

Did you get a partial refund at least? Involve abb if not.

cheers

[Kenneth12]

Travelling right now is certainly hard,  and I can remember my first years of figuring out things such as key arrangements,   a few quick cross-town drives to fix things,  etc.

As the host isn't present,  I'm inclined to let things wrap up and then say "hey,  the way I see it is the night we couldn't get here we pay for,  but the two nights your friend was doing whatever instead of being available,   made us need to get another place,  so you need to pay for."

And in the meantime,   open to (reasonable) suggestions otherwise.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Kenneth12 

Many hosts hold the belief that "If no service is rendered, then no payment should be expected". In that situation you would be fully justified for paying nothing !!

I don't believe in that, but there is a contract in place and it would be best to adhere with that. Any host would want to retain any booking I would expect so they should  make every effort to accommodate the guest and be available to allow access whenever that would be reasonably provided. Text and message communication between Guest and Host is easily possible and as being a host yourself will understand the service level expected of a host make allowances for new hosts and their inexperience.

The French do have ways of doing things which often don't align to other European and International nations and some of the things you mention do sound like 'French ways'. They can appear careless, but are more French carefree.

I'm sure that you will come to an amicable agreement.

[Helen350]

@Kenneth12 Personally, as a host I make every effort to be accommodating, and to change my plans when guests unexpectedly change their plans.  (I've stayed up till 2.30am to let in a guest whose flight was delayed, after the guest kindly messaged "I realise this is too late for me to arrive, I'll go to a hotel." Because of HIS consideration, I welcomed him in!)

BUT, I also acknowledge that hosts have the right not to be held hostage by guest changes of plan. It's not the host's fault or problem if the guest fails to make it by the pre-arranged check in time. 

Airbnbs are NOT hotels. Yes, some operate like them, but others are unashamedly amateurish & there is nothing wrong with that! As a host yourself you should know that ANYONE can list ANY place on Airbnb... You use the word 'professional' upthread.... But we are NOT professionals, necessarily, tho' some may be...

Some hosts run a chain of highly professional lettings, like yourself, as their full time job, or have staff to do so...

Other hosts let a spare room, or their own place whilst away, like your host, and juggle this sideline with a busy life, maybe a full time job, & goodness knows how many other responsibilities. Some of these hosts have to have very strict & narrow check in times, & it's the responsibility of the guest to comply.

You can't expect a one-man operation  to man their 'reception' for hours on end , nor days in respect of cancelled flights. It's always been the Airbnb way to negotiate arrival time with the host & stick to it.

As a guest, surely it's your responsibility to be careful what you book if you are flying from abroad, & book a place with more of a hotel set up, not book a private home with an owner of limited availability? You can't expect your host to cancel THEIR trip away because YOU are late!

"Live like a local!" - Don't expect a hotel!

[Barry-and-Lera0]

@Kenneth12  It sounds like the host is unprepared to be a host. In a situation such as her's a lockbox or digital keypad should be in place. Key exchanges are cumbersome and lead to more problems then they are worth.  

[Kenneth12]

She was a replacement after a previous cancellation;  now that I've looked closely,  she's never listed the whole place before,   only one of the rooms (my lord,   shared hosting heading back to before the lockdown was lifted!,    I might have looked at that differently).

I absolutely agree that in-person key exchanges usually prove problematic.   One of many areas where ABB could provide better advise to new hosts.

I don't know the host,  but she is young from pictures here,   and doesn't seem to have planned.   As someone else said,   a courteous note and a request for refund of the two nights we couldn't be here because she had no one to check us in,   seems right.