Complicated rental request

[Dan11927]

I have just set up my rental, and on day one I recieved a complicated booking request.... Someone is in the area for work and is not sure whether to book a month or weekly... here is his message to me:

"Hello this is for work and I am Wondering if we can do it on a weekly basis it could be for longer as I do not know when the job is to end Or shorter so obviously I don’t want to pay out the full month in one hit and then only use it for two weeks thank you".

On the website, he has provisionally blocked out the whole month, and the site is now asking me to accept or decline.

Any advice how I should respond?

Thanks.

Dan

[Colleen253]

@Dan11927  Since he's 'requested to book', you normally need to accept or decline within 24 hours, but instead just ask him to withdraw his request for now, until you've had a chance to review further, since the request is for a month, which he already knows he doesn't want, and his request is blocking your calendar and is requiring action of some sort.

Since you're new to hosting, I'll ask, have you checked him out at all, to have a fair idea who this person is and be fairly sure you want to host him? What's on his profile...reviews from other hosts...is he 'verified', I.D uploaded, etc? Look him up online to see what comes up. Beyond that, you might start with a 5 day booking and go week to week from there. That way it isn't getting complicated further with the 7 day discount you offer, should he cancel midway through a week. He then also isn't filling your calendar for large blocks at a time, with uncertainty. But further to that, I see you have activated the 'new host' 20% off discount. Be aware that can be combined with your weekly and monthly discounts. Someone could end up staying for practically free. You might want to remove all of the discounts for now, until you get your hosting feet under you. Your price already seems pretty good to me. Let's see what advice other hosts have for you. There are a lot of experienced, clever folks on this forum.

[Dan11927]

Colleen, thanks so much for your help. Very helpful. I have emailed this guy and asked him to remove the request and try again when he knows his dates. I checked his profile and there is nothing there. No photo, no bio, no details, no verification. Just an email address. And he just joined in 2020. Should that set alarm bells ringing? Perhaps he is new to this whole Air BnB thing and is not interested in adding details. Perhaps he just wants a room with no fuss.

Anyway, I have done as you recommended and will wait to hear back.

Thanks again.

Dan

[Colleen253]

@Dan11927  If he doesn’t withdraw his request in fairly short order then go ahead and decline it. The more complete the profile the better. While not any guarantee against problems, verified ID, phone #, work, etc are best to see before booking anyone. Reviews and recommendations from other hosts are always good too, but always be cautious. 

[Helen3]

In your situation I wouldn't wait for the guest to withdraw the request, I would just decline it choosing the reason that the guest is choosing dates they don't require. @Dan11927 

I would tell the guest he can book on a week by week basis and to submit a request for the week he wants. I would also tell him that IF further weeks are available during his stay,  there is an option to extend his booking, but also the risk that the dates might not be available.

Personally I only accept guests with photo ID and who provide a profile photo. You won't see the photo until the guest books.

Also I wouldn't offer a 20 per cent discount - new hosts get a boost in the rankings, so wait and see whether you are getting bookings without it, before adding it to your profile.

[Dan11927]

Helen, thanks for taking the time to try to help me. Great advice. As you suggested, I removed the 20% discount (I hadn’t realised that this was in there). I checked this guy’s profile and there was nothing there. No photo, no I.d., no reviews, nothing. Also, he had made two identical requests from two different email addresses. It was all a bit suspect. Once he saw the 20% discount disappear he cancelled the booking! As I have just started, I think it would be bette if the first few bookings were short and sweet, allowing me to iron out any teething problems and get some good reviews under my belt. Thanks again for your help. 
much appreciated. 
Dan. 

[Dan11927]

Helen, thanks for taking the time to try to help me. Great advice. As you suggested, I removed the 20% discount (I hadn’t realised that this was in there). I checked this guy’s profile and there was nothing there. No photo, no I.d., no reviews, nothing. Also, he had made two identical requests from two different email addresses. It was all a bit suspect. Once he saw the 20% discount disappear he cancelled the booking! As I have just started, I think it would be bette if the first few bookings were short and sweet, allowing me to iron out any teething problems and get some good reviews under my belt. Thanks again for your help. 
much appreciated. 
Dan. 

[Yulianna0]

@Dan11927, new hosts with discounted rates can attract not the best type of guests. This one even did not put any info and verifications. For me it is already red flag. You can suggest him to add information. Be sure that he have read and accepted your house rules. And it is better to start with short rentals. You will get more experience quickly and will elaborate your strategy to filter guests. 

[Katrina79]

@Dan11927 It isn’t necessary to decline his request or ask him to retract it. To me that isn’t very welcoming and literally a good host/hostess makes guests feel welcome. If you were to explain to the guest that yes you could accept a week and go from there but not be willing to block your entire month out from other bookings, and he agrees....

You are able to accept the booking and then change the dates for him. I like to always put myself in the guest’s shoes: Brand new guest, never used Airbnb before, has no idea how it all works. That’s where you can step up and help make the process easier and make the first Airbnb experience a good one! Almost all of the new guests I’ve hosted are so happy they give great reviews and are excellent guests! 

To make changes to a future reservation bring up the booking details and click on change reservation, that is where you can alter:

# of guests

price

dates

if you have more than one Airbnb you can also change their location. 
Once you’ve enter the reservation change change the guest gets a notification where they can review the changes and either accept or decline them. 

[Helen3]

I am surprised you suggested this  @Katrina79 

.

Surely you are aware if you don’t accept or decline a request within 24 hours it can lead to you being penalised by Airbnb.

why would a new host want to accept a booking for a month which will block his calendar when he us trying to getting bookings knowing that is not what the guest wants? 

[Katrina79]

@Helen3 I’m assuming the guest would respond before the 24 hour cut off. Therefore, once the guest confirms his agreement to gamble on the weekly bookings not being reserved by another guest, I would go ahead and accept the request and change the dates. 
The first step here for me would be to continue communication to see if the booking will work for both sides. I wouldn’t initially request the booking to be retracted or decline just because of dates-the dates can be changed. 

[Helen3]

@Katrina79 sadly my experience is that guests rarely respond within the 24 hour window.

letting a guest know that you can't accept a one month booking when they actually want to stay for a week is not cutting off all communication, but helping educate the guest about the process.

I wouldn't accept a booking from a new guest, without any photo ID without further conversation.

We all host in ways that work for us. This guest to me has red flags and I certainly wouldn't confirm a booking without further discussion.

[Colleen253]

@Dan11927  It's a delicate balancing act, this hosting business. We definitely want to be welcoming and helpful, as @Katrina79  has suggested, and for sure, the overwhelming majority of your guests will be wonderful, but at the same time, as @Helen3  and others have suggested, using caution at every turn is warranted, so that you don't ever have to be back on this forum asking for advice, AFTER a nightmare hosting experience. Be warm, welcoming, and wise. Spend some time on this forum, reading posts, looking at the CC help section tutorials, and asking questions. There is lots to be learned (most of it is learned in the trenches, rather than by reading Airbnb help pages, btw. You'll soon see why 😉) and the learning curve can be steep. Good luck!