Expert play: handling no-shows and very late pickups
When a guest is 30, 60, or 120 minutes late — the exact decision tree that keeps you paid without burning the relationship.
The grace-window framework
0–15 minutes late: do nothing. Traffic and rideshares run behind. Sending a 'where are you?' text at minute 10 reads as anxious and tanks your review.
15–30 minutes: send one warm message inside the FairCar inbox — 'Hey {{guest_first_name}}, no rush, just confirming you're still inbound. I'll wait until {{pickup_time + 45}}.' That single message creates the paper trail you'll need later.
30–60 minutes: call the phone number on the booking. If voicemail, send a second in-app message stating your new hard cutoff (typically pickup_time + 90 minutes). Save a screen recording of you opening the trip page so the timestamp is unambiguous.
Calling the no-show
Once your stated cutoff passes with no contact, open the trip → Report issue → Guest no-show. FairCar treats this as a host-initiated cancellation for cause: the guest forfeits the trip, you keep the night-one nightly rate as a no-show fee, and the rest is refunded.
Do NOT mark the trip as 'started' just to keep the money. If we later see a 'started' trip with no pickup inspection and no odometer photo, the funds are reversed and your account gets a warning.
Re-listing the dates fast
The moment you file the no-show, the calendar reopens. Push the dates to your saved-search subscribers by dropping the nightly price 10% for the first 24 hours — most no-show nights re-book within 6 hours in metro markets.
If the no-show was an airport pickup, message any guest who saved your listing in the last 14 days with the freed-up window. The Save/Notify system surfaces them in Dashboard → Listings → Audience.
Sign in and message the FairCar admin team from your in-app Messages — a real person replies within one business day. We don't outsource support.