“Pay the Locksmith Yourself”: Airbnb Guest Trapped Outside at 2 AM After Smart Lock Dies

Mila Cardozo

11 minutes ago

Pexels

Getting locked out at anytime sucks, but imagine getting locked out by an electronic lock that ran out of battery (did you know this could happen??) at 2 am when you share an Airbnb with people you barely know.

This happened to a man who was staying at the same Airbnb for more than three months, using the same electronic door code every day without any problems.

Then one night when he got up to use the bathroom, he came back to find the lock refusing to let him in.

He contacted the owner, but her response left him baffled.

The next morning, a locksmith eventually arrived and fixed the lock.

That could and should have been the end of it.

Except the owner then asked him to pay for the locksmith’s bill.

Read the full story below.

AITAH for refusing to pay the locksmith for fixing the lock on my bedroom?

I’m currently staying at an Airbnb. A longterm thing. It has one of those electronic locks with the code on it.

I share my apartment with 3 other people, and have my bedroom to myself.

We share two bathrooms and a kitchen. They’re all long term guests too, but we don’t really talk unless we cross paths in common areas (which rarely happens).

Last night, around 2 AM, I woke up to pee.

I didn’t lock my bedroom door, but just closed it. I had my phone with me, because I use my phone pretty much everywhere.

Lucky for her.

When I got back from the bathroom, I couldn’t get back into my bedroom. I didn’t want to bug the owner so late at night, so I just left her a text.

I got the “Read at timestamp” thing all the same, and I found her missed call (my phone was on DND because it was late). I called her back.

She accused me of putting in the wrong code.

Now, I’ve been staying at this Airbnb for 3+ months now, entering the same code day after day, so that was VERY unlikely.

But she was making an effort to be polite and reasonable.

I still double-checked the code on the Airbnb app, and sent her a video of myself entering it and getting the error message.

She said there was nothing she could do for me this late and suggested that I stay at a hotel.

I told her I couldn’t do that, because I didn’t have my ID (plus I didn’t want to shell out money, but I didn’t tell her that).

My license/passport were all locked up in my bedroom, because I didn’t anticipate needing an ID at 2 AM while getting up to use the bathroom.

But wait, it gets worse.

She said she could have me stay in another empty room, but I’d have to pay the cleaning fees.

Now, money’s tight for me because of some family emergencies, and I didn’t want to do that either.

So I refused.

I think it’s unfair that I’d have to pay extra cleaning fees when the lock gave me no indication that the battery is low.

She said “I could just have ignored your text, you know”.

Wow, thanks!? It was an absurd situation.

So instead of arguing with her, I asked her the proper time to call, and she said 7 AM when the locksmith/handyman would be available. I said it’s fine, and decided to spend the night in a dining room chair.

One of the next door guys, who is usually up late, walked in to help and loaned me his charger, and I spent the night sitting in the chair while doomscrolling and reading one of the books on the bookshelf.

After 7 AM, I texted the owner again.

The problem was solved, but the problem person wasn’t.

She told me she would check with the locksmith/handyman (let’s call him Kevin) and get back to me.

I kept on just scrolling through my phone until 7:40 or so, when she texted me that Kevin was on his way.

The guy that lent me his charger had told me that something similar had happened to him the previous year, but luckily it wasn’t late at night, so Kevin had responded promptly.

Anyway, Kevin showed up, fixed the lock, got my bedroom open, and left.

Now, the owner is asking me to pay Kevin.

They argued.

The next door guy hadn’t been asked to pay him when this happened to his door. She said it’s because she had to force Kevin out of his normal business hours.

I said it’s not my fault the door got locked, I hadn’t locked it. The battery had died.

And when she said it couldn’t be fixed until the morning, I hadn’t bothered her any further, but had spent the whole night in the kitchen.

She’s saying “You’re young, your body recovers quickly from a night out”.

The absurdity continued.

“We (herself and Kevin) aren’t young, we cannot be up so late”. I told her that all I did was send her one text.

I was fully prepared to stay outside all night if she hadn’t responded. It wasn’t my fault that the lock malfunctioned.

I hadn’t locked the room from inside (Kevin confirmed this) or entered any wrong code. If his business hours were from 9, she should’ve told me and I’d have stayed outside till 9.

She told me it was 7 so that’s why I called him then.

Now she’s second guessing herself.

I said it’s not sensitive to assume that just because I’m young I don’t need my rest too, but I didn’t complain and texted her (didn’t even call unless she called first) during the office hours that she herself had told me.

She called me cheap and just ended the discussion.

I am planning to leave the Airbnb and find another accommodation because of this.

AITAH?

I would definitely leave ASAP if I were treated like this. What did Reddit think?

A reader shares their thoughts.