Host mess-ups?

[Daniel9957]

I just had an awkward mess up with some guests.  In the ad I had written in "other notes" that towels and bedclothes were not included and guests should bring their own, but it later transpired I had forgotten to also click out this option in the list of provided amenities.  Had my two first bookings and everything went fine. Neither mentioned anything about the missing bedclothes and towels.  Today, when the third booking is due to arrive,  I received no notification from the app during the day, but late in the evening I decided to open the app and manually check the Inbox anyway. To my horror I discover the guest had messaged me hours earlier on their arrival, but the app didn't give me a notification (notifications were switched on and phone was not in silent mode).  They had said they couldn't find the bedclothes and towels.  I replied saying that it was stated in the ad that these weren't included, to which they sent me a screenshot of the ad showing the essentials list with bedclothes listed that I had forgotten to cross off! Aargh!  I offered to drive round some bedclothes and towels in the morning but assume they have already bought some after receiving no immediate reply to their app message.  I feel really bad for the guests and annoyed with myself. I will offer the guests a discount but wonder if AirBnB will also apply some kind of penalty. What is this likely to be?

Do any other hosts have similar mess-up stories to share?

[Pat271]

No, you won’t get a penalty from Airbnb, and I think you handled it well.

Host “mess-ups” are not rare.

Probably the most common one is not noticing that a cleaning is required. This can happen if there is an unnoticed, last-minute guest. It can also happen when the phone screen gets cut off on the left, making what’s underneath appear like a continual booking from the preceding calendar line, whereas in actuality there is a check-out/check-in that day. None of these reasons is excusable, but hosts and cleaners are human and sometimes imperfect.

One of the things I wish Airbnb would implement is the ability for a cleaner to be able to view the Airbnb calendar in read-only mode, and without having access to any of the other booking details and/or functions. Currently, my cohost has to constantly send copies of the calendar to the cleaners. That method is an accident waiting to happen.

[Fred13]

^^^ I run into the same thing with the people that do the pick ups, at airport and also to take guests to my place. They take screen captures at start of month, but then it changes and results in mistakes.

[Gillian166]

@Daniel9957  to mitigate this i would make it very clear you don't provide linen, and even include this in your bedroom captions. 

I had a stuff up once where I didn't sync my calendars properly and got a double booking, but luckily I have 3 listings here so I "upgraded" them.  We've had the hot water system fail, luckily only had a single guy staying and he was so nice about it (an actual adult who understands that things happen in the real world of home ownership), and we also had a spare bathroom he could use for the 2 days it took us to rectify. He didn't ask for a refund either!  And as it turned out, when the govt decided to decrease his covid qt time, he asked for early check out and we granted the refund for the unused days. A positive tale involving karma! 🙂 

[Sudsrung0]

@Daniel9957 

I guess really never assume anything with any app, 

I do have the app on my phone. most of the day our computer is on all day

My husband will see it, plus I know he's always checking things,

[Daniel9957]

Thanks for the advice and shared stories.

@Sudsrung0 I had left my phone number on a welcome note in the house so it is a shame the guests didn't just ring me.  Anyhow, the messaging in the app has failed to notify me of new messages before too, so in future I will be asking guests to ditch it and text or phone me directly. 

It turned out the guests were able to borrow some bedclothes and towels from a relative living nearby, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been for them.

@Gillian166 Thanks for your advice. What a good idea to mention this in photo captions. 

@Pat271 That issue with the calendars sounds really annoying and your proposed solution sounds ideal. Doesn't ABB listen to these kinds of suggestions for improvements?

[Sudsrung0]

@Daniel9957 

I always add them to Whats app as soon as I can, or whatever app they are using, we have them all here in Thailand,

If you ever get Chinese guest download WeChat, as the Chinese cant use Whats app, Facebook or Google unless they are using a VPN, 

[Helen3]

I would also make them a gift as an apology for this unhappy start to their stay. For example some local foods/drinks or breakfast somewhere maybe @Daniel9957 

As it's not common in many countries  outside of Scandinavian countries and some skiing areas in Europe to not provide linens/towels -  I would highlight that you don't provide these and if they are available at an extra costs when your guests book as many don't look at 'areas to note'  or noticed you have ticked the box not to provide them.

[Huma0]

@Daniel9957 

Yes, the App is pretty glitchy. It seems to be working better for me lately, but for a very, very long time, I was not getting all the notifications or they would be really delayed. When I called Airbnb about it, they said it must be my phone, but I have had several different phones (different makes completely) and it's been the same on all of them.

Luckily, so far I haven't had any major hiccups with guests. I did once almost check a guest into the wrong room though. I had two male solo travellers checking in the same afternoon. The first arrived and I showed him to the room, which he said was very nice. I then noticed the welcome blackboard where I write the guest's name and realised I had shown him the wrong room! It's strange that he didn't mention it because the two rooms look nothing like each other.

Fortunately for me, the room that he was actually in was bigger and better so he was not disappointed when I showed him to the room he had actually booked!" It would have been worse if it was the other way around or if I had not realised until the second guest arrived...

[Santiago60]

I think you handled it in the best way you can. The important thing is to communicate clearly and solve in a way that is convenient for both parties. I believe giving a quick call and discussing the matter is the best way possible always. Some guests are easygoing, some not. If you handle it on their check-in date, Airbnb wouldn't impose anything. If the guest calls the Airbnb on their check-in date and complaints about it while you don't answer at all, sometimes Airbnb might reach out to you for the missing amenities and ask you to provide a partial refund. I don't think in this case they would do such a thing as you had written in the listing details.  So they are also at fault for not reading it carefully. 

Best, 

Seda