Airbnb host, was I wrong?

[newmomaboutthreads]

I had a guest stay at my airbnb. He was a bit difficult but one area of contention. Was I wrong?
He WhatsApp'd messaged me (which I hate as he should be using airbnb platform unless it's an emergency but anyway) to say there are not enough mugs and glasses as there are 6 of them. The apartment does sleep 6, in 3 double beds. I asked him what was there and he replied only 5 wine glasses and 4 mugs. I apologised and said some must have been broken and I will get some to him asap in the morning. (He messaged at midnight)
I went out and bought replacements, rung the door bell a few times, there was no answer, so I used my key to put in the missing mugs and glasses.
I then get phone calls and messages later that night furious that I entered my airbnb apartment when he was not in to replace the missing items.
Things like this have happened in the past and guests have never had an issue.
Was I wrong?

Air bnb have given me a full refund in the past when a host just walked into the apartment when I was there, and also a discounted rate for finding a replacement home to stay in.

YABU to not have enough crockery, and massively unreasonable to just walk in if you rented out the entire place.

We use air bnb quite often and I do try to be courteous to owners but I have to say I wouldn't like it if they'd been into the property while we were out.

You could have left the supplies in a bag by the door.

If I was staying in your Airbnb I would have been very happy you acted so quickly. If I was you I would have just left them inside the front door and contacted the guests to say you had left them there as you did not want to go further inside the property whilst they were renting it out.

As a last resort I would of opened the door and left them directly there
message them apologising explaining there was nowhere to leave them so you opened the door and left them there as you didn’t want to go in

Tbh OP, I did feel a bit weird when we stayed in an Air BnB and our host let himself in a couple of times. Just felt a bit like we had no privacy and for all we know he could have been going through our things etc.

I think when you have guests staying you should not enter the property unless they are present.

And this is why I no longer use Airbnb…

First step newmom, take a deep breath and don't be hard of yourself. I have worked in the family holiday rental business for 20+ years and I could write several screenplays on the curious behaviour of guests. This is a tough industry and you need to protect yourself. Most guests are lovely people, and even if they have a complaint then it can be sorted out rationally. However, we all get guests from hell and professional chargebackers who love a free holiday, and would moan in a palace. I have a booking form and make every lead guest sign it. This is regardless of what platform they come from. I suggest you do the same. In the agreement is a clause giving me or my staff the right to enter the holiday premises during the stay at times of emergency, or maintenance. On airbnb, the rules of the platform ban owners from going into properties during a guest stay (where it is self contained) from what I understand. I would check that as they do change the rules regularly, and I never keep up. However, if you had him sign a booking form then you would be able to defend yourself. Missing mugs is not the crime of the century. We do an inventory check every changeover, but it is easy to miss the odd item here and there. He sounds like he is looking for an excuse to get a refund from airbnb so brace yourself for impact, and show airbnb the messages with him requesting more mugs etc.

Yes it's part of my changeover: check all items and make sure they are clean: wash them if they are not. I also have (at least) twice as many whatevers (cups, plates, glasses, spoons, etc) as guests can be accommodated. Stinginess with space and towels and crockery etc is a pet hate in airbnb's.

I also would never enter the flat without guests consent during their rental time. Imo ìts their home/space while they are renting even if only for 24 hours. Not mine.

Going against the grain but if I asked for much needed glasses and mugs and you didn’t leave them because I wasn’t in I’d find it really inconvenient that I had to chase you again.

I wouldn’t mind you entering while I was out to rectify a problem at all.

Total and absolute rubbish....

Airbnb say OP can enter in an emergency she broke the rules!

Easy to miss and items? Well do t ring the holiday let so close to the wire that people can't have a glass of wine together or a hot drink on the morning.

I've also previously owned a HL, not airbnb and never would I have such a poor amount of basic items or enter their holiday home without permission! Hence I've never had an issue, never in five years have I found anyone just wanting to be awkward.

Its not a hotel. Renting a property is not the same as a daily serviced hotel room. Don’t use your key to enter the house when its rented out even if you’re dropping something off.

I’d leave a bad review for that, not so much for the lack of cups, but that’s because I always take my own when self catering, it makes me feel more at home.

I would be royally pissed off that there was not enough mugs glasses etc .
in my air b and b I provide double of everything so that when the dishwasher is full there’s still stuff to use
also would not of entered with out arrangement with my guests before hand
i would be messaging him with a sincere apology, and explain your cleaners did not notify you of shortages
seriously though a place for 6 needs more than six mugs ! They are cheap enough
sorry OP
but you screwed up

One thing, you seem fairly proud of your 4.85 rating - but AirBnb reviews are known to be skewed high, and 4.85 is the very lowest DH and I would ever consider. We normally focus on 4.9+ rating properties.

I'm not saying it's because people need more cups, but, PPs are right, for six people I'd expect 12 cups and 12 glasses, fewer than that feels mean.

If I didn't want the Airbnb owner/agent turning up when I complained there weren't enough mugs/glasses, I would have gone and bought them. I did that in an Airbnb that basically had no cooking facilities or toilet cleaner once. For a fiver it saves everyone hassle, and they were in London not in the middle of nowhere. So probably I'm part of the problem because I just take them with me when I go.

But yes you should have checked there were enough.

More fool you!

Couldn’t you have sent him a message and agreed a mutual time to hand them over.
There should have been enough in the first place

I'd double the amount of glasses , crockery and cutlery, people don't want to be washing up constantly while they're on a break.

Yes I'm such a fool, buying things I need, how very dare I.

Well, those things are supposed to be included in the cost so yes, I would say you are a bit of a fool.

@moomoomoo27 you're a fool not expecting things you need to provided, when you've paid for them.

Very foolish indeed!

Six people cannot drink out of four mugs....

Yeah, you were in the wrong. Imagine if it were you and a male owner came in while you were showering.

Well yes, I agree. But honestly, would you send a message to owner at midnight???

Agree that you shouldn't have let yourself in, but phoned them and say you would pop in at such and such a time, or left new supplies in hidden corner with a note to that effect through the door.

You need to have a word with your cleaner OP!

All mugs, plates, glasses, saucepans etc should be checked during a changeover, to make sure they havent been put away dirty.

If your cleaner had done her job properly, she wouldve noticed 2 mugs and a glass were missing! but you should also have extra anyway..

I say this as a cleaner!

I hate not having at least twice the necessary items per person, it's annoying to clean after each use.

We recently had an issue with a hairdryer, the flat was above the host's shop so we popped in and mentioned it, the issue was that the faulty one also blew the fuses, so a bit more than just broken.

We told her to just drop in to leave the replacement, we were out during the day. Otherwise I would have expected a short text that she would have dropped it off/popped in.

Just your opinion then, based on one HL you no longer own. We run lots of holiday rentals and have seen all sorts, good and bad, over the years. Only on mumsnet could a missing mug be the crime of the century.