Guest dishonesty about arrival

[Janet581]

A recent guest asked if she could arrive at our place in the AM rather than the 3 PM or later in our policy. We have always tried to accommodate our guests, so we obliged since the property was clean and ready to go. However, my husband wanted to measure for replacement windows before they arrived in the "AM." How shocked he was when he arrived at our rental at 7:30 AM to find them already in the house, with frost on their car windows, suggesting they had been there all night or at the very least, arrived in the wee morning hours.

Long story short, they got an extra night for free and that's just not cool. She was deceptive in her request.

I sent her a message explaining that my husband was there in the early morning and asked her to pay for the extra night. Granted, I really wasn't expecting a response, and of course heard nothing back from her. It was more to let her know that we know what she did.

Anybody else have this problem? How did you deal with it? 

J

[Linda108]

Perhaps you can moderate your negative feeling about the guest and send a request for money for the early arrival.  You might be right that the guest is deceptive, but if you communicate that assessment rather than a neutral response, you will only get a negative reaction.  Here's a thought about the communication.  "I am so pleased we were able to accommodate your early arrival and I am sure you got to the house much earlier than you had anticipated.  While there is no charge for 1-4 hours earlier, there is a charge for 5 or more hours earlier and it appears you had an 8 hour early check in.  Please accept this request for the additional charge for the early arrival.  Thank you and I hope you enjoy your stay."    Just a thought.

[Kelly149]

Technically 1201 am appears to fit with what you agreed to. Perhaps take this as a learning lesson to be specific. 

when guests ask me “can we check in early?” I will always ask, what time? And then I decide yes/no or charge/no charge based on that. 

[Helen350]

1* for house rules & communication, @Janet581 !

[Ute42]

.

@Helen350  

And here's the result from the German jury:

• 1*

Sorry, same as England. 🙂

[Helen350]

@Ute42 😂😂🤣🤣

[Sharon1014]

@Janet581   We always ask our guests for an exact ETA, including those occasions when we allow early check-in.  We advise them that they won't have access to the property until 30 minutes prior to the ETA they provide.  Never ever give guests your house door lock code, key box code or other access until you know they are within 1 hour of arrival.  Just have to chalk this one up to experience methinks.

[Cave0]

In my experience, it's a dangerous game to allow amendments to your house rules without being specific.  TIme and time again guests will ask for a late check-out or an early check-in only for the host to find that, in fact they are trying to avoid paying for an additional night.

One thing is for sure, whilst they may do this to avoid paying for an extra night, they don't curtail their use of aircon, electricity, hot water and so on, all of which are costs to the host.

So you have to decide really, allow an unspecified relaxation of the check-in or check-out times and take the consequences, or agree the new times and/or make an additional charge for the use of the accommodation which you now can't potentially sell for the previous or subsequent night.