How to deal with unexpected situations?

[Stephanie]

Hello everyone,

From time to time, unexpected situations are always going to crop up, such as your washing machine taking one look at the huge pile of washing and deciding to give up the go or your guests arriving much later than expected! You can’t prevent these from happening entirely, but there are some things you can put in place to minimise the risk of them happening and ways to help deal with them if they do.  

Things like great communication and doing regular home maintenance, along with some handy lists of emergency support numbers for local repair companies or plumbers are just a few examples. 

What things do you have in place to help you deal with unexpected situations?

Looking forward to hearing from you. 

Stephanie

[Mike-And-Helen0]

Our shower packed up when a guest was due.

We gave him the info and promised a full refund if he cancelled.

He chose to keep the booking and asked for a discount if it wasn't fixed in time.

As it happened it was all fine because someone turned off the isolator switch and when the electrician came out, he laughed, turned it on and very nicely didn't charge.

[Lizzie]

Well that's the kind of fix to dream for @Mike-And-Helen0 🙂 

Do you have an electrician that you rely on for situations like this–so you knew who to call?

[Lan1]

I have an old fashioned fuse break box, each time the power off due to heavy usage of power, guests got panic especially when I am out of town. Many times called electrician, he just screwed a replacement diskette in. After several times paid $150 appointment fee, I learned to purchase few boxes of fuse diskette, put somewhere inside closets. Each time guests complain power off, I just directed them to get the diskette box, replaced the burned one. It worked very well and guests were happy because I always called then hero fixed my electric issues.

[Susan151]

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@Lan1 wrote:

I have an old fashioned fuse break box, 

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Wow! Around here you can't get home insurance with old nob and tube wiring and fuses. I am astonished that this is not an issue in California. 

[Mary1751]

unexpected situations such as bringing company at night even having read and agree with the rules of the house, using washer and dryer excessively, what can I do in these situations?

[Sandra210]

I have strict rules that additional non paying guests are not allowed into the property unless prior permission is gained from me.

I recently had a situation where a single fee paying guest turned up with a female who he described as his driver, I commented on his arrival "oh are there two of you" he said no this is my driver.

After several hours of being in our accommodation I spotted her leaving and went out to discuss the matter with the guest.  I was polite but reminded him that it was against our rules to bring people  into the property without my consent.  The next morning the visitor reappeared quite early and stayed for 4 hours again, at this point I was quite annoyed but kept my cool then reminded them both of the rules.  I then asked the guest to limit the time with his friend at our property as it was without permission.   Thank fully this is an unusual situation.

[Diana1184]

I find it quite dishonest for guests to book as a single and then to turn up as a couple, or even throw in the odd extra teenager without warning!  i.e. turn up late at night when you can't turn them away. We have a fixed rate for our apartment so if single or a couple it makes no difference to the price. A third person makes a difference as there is an extra charge and another room needed??? 

In both instances it does destroy trust.

[Lizzie]

Hey @Diana1184,

Do you normally talk with your guests much before they arrive? I wonder if perhaps, if you don't already, double check the number of guests who will be staying–if it happens quite a lot? 

Do you think this might help?

Thanks,
Lizzie

[Diana1184]

Dear Lizzie appreciate your suggestion but even if I do chat to guests before they arrive the problem still occurs. Occasionally to get away with a free guests in which case they never come clean before arrival, but other times for no apparent reason. So easy to fill in the number on the booking request. I find it a little dishonest, like people breaking things and never mentioning it...

This is a service industry so we shouldn't complain, diana

[Helen44]

I have just had guests (3) who had 3 extra friends to stay the night . When I asked them to paty the extra 20 euros per person they told me that the guests had brought their own sheets and towells . I said it didnt matter that the rules clearly state that it is 20 euros per person extra , she then produced a load of complaints and photos , eg glass on the floor ...even after admitting that she had broken a glass ..that the dishwasher didnt work, photo of the dishwasher full of soap suds and food bits, that there were no t towels and they had to dry their dishes on a pillowslip! even though my son was there and had asked if they had any problems to tell him! 

They do not want to pay the money and I know they will leave a bad review... It seems to me they have found things to complain about only after I asked them to pay extra...any suggestions as to how I deal with this?

[Blair18]

Get on a siutation like yours immediately - as soon as you suspect or know that what is happening is not right.   

I would recommend not asking, but INstead state  that there will be a charge of X number of $ and that you've sent it thru the system for them to accept and have contacted Airbnb Support.  Make it as easy as you can.  If this kind of behavior is going on and particularly if the guest is not abiding by house rules by all means call the Airbnb Host support line and explain, and ask for their help.

I don't put up with unruly, rude or inappropriate stuff.

[Rochelle168]

Yeah this our situation right now, they want extra room for no extra charge

[Rebecca]

HI @Rochelle168, 

I'm sorry to hear you're having some issues with your guests!  If you'd like other experienced hosts to give you some advice on how to approach this, I would recommend explaining a bit more about it in a new post : 👉 start a new conversation

That will mean your question is more visible, so the community can try and help out. 😊

[Rhonda301]

Hi we are dealing with this now.fee guest brought someone and now she has left while the non fee paying guest who was never named in the request or reservation details is still at the house with no vehicle. Plus the fee guest who left admitted she damaged something but wouldn’t let us in because her guest who I didn’t t know about was In deposed. Still waiting to see if the one person leaves.