What is the lowest offer you ever received?

[Inna22]

Today somebody offered me $25 less the amount of my cleaning fee “all in”. Meaning taxes and fees which in Chicago comes to about another 40% on top of the booking rate were included in the offer as well stay itself and cleaning. Basically, this would not have even paid for utilities and cleaning supplies. Other than charity request for free stay, what is the lowest offer you have ever received?

[Russell49]

I had a host ask "What is the lowest price you could give a fellow host?"...I said "The listed price, but I will throw in something from my breakfast menu". They didn't book, then months later they asked the same thing and I said "This is the 2nd time you have asked for an unwarranted discount based on being a host. If you are a host, you could appreciate that we all make money this way". He never responded-thank God.

[Anonymous]

"I can't pay you for the room, but you'll get great exposure on my blog!"

That one was my favorite. But if the word "discount" appears in an inquiry I don't actually read the rest of the message. 

[Huma0]

@Anonymous 

It's really common when you host long-term guests to get requests for discounts because people don't read stuff properly and don't even realise they are already getting a long-term discount. I wouldn't automatically turn them away because of that. I just tell them the discount is already there and I can't go lower. Some say fine, and book (many of these have been amazing guests) and others I never hear from again.

What is not okay is the guests expecting extra discounts on top of the ones already in place or short-term guests asking for discounts. I've never had a guest give me a single good reason why they should get the discount.

Reasons given have included:

- Can we have a discount as we're staying so long? (Guests wanting to book for three days).

- Can we have the weekly discount? We're staying five nights so that's almost a week anyway.

- I like your place but can't afford it so can I have a discount? 

- There are two/three of us but can we pay for one? 

- Can I have a discount?/Send me a special offer./What's your best price? (No reason given).

- Considering the 'current circumstances', can I have a discount?

Now that I think about it, I don't think I have ever given a guest a discount (other than the automatic long-term ones already on my listing). I have waived additional fees for existing guests who've looked after my cats while I was away, but that was unprompted.

[Anonymous]

@Huma0  Oh I can add to the list! 

"Can I have a discount because I won't arrive until midnight?"

Incredibly, many people seem to think the first night is free if it's technically the next calendar date when they arrive.

[Huma0]

@Anonymous 

Ah yes. I had something like this. The guest didn't actually ask for a discount, but just automatically assumed that she started paying only from the first full day, i.e. not for the night before even though she was arriving in the afternoon. She wasn't a scammer, but a perfectly nice guest.

Again, where is the logic? You don't check into a hotel at night and only expect to pay from day two...

In fact, its quite the opposite from my perspective. If my guests want to check in after my 3-9pm window, they have to pay a late check in fee which increases by the hour as well as the first night's accommodation.

[Helen350]

Yep! I only charge £20 for one, but had a repeat guest ask for £10 because he was arriving at 8pm and leaving early in the morning, 6 or 7am...... -"NO!"

[Sarah977]

@Anonymous  "Sure. You'll have to sleep on the front stoop, though, until check-in time the next day. "

[Kelly149]

@Huma0  I once had a guest inquire (for the busiest most expensive week of the year) would it be ok with me for them to bring their FIVE children that they had entered as INFANTS (remember the ABB free infants debacle?!?) because having five children is very expensive. 
to which I said, yes, I understand completely that five children are expensive bc I have five children myself and I’m afraid I can’t take care of my children if yours are tagging along for free. (Oh and my listing already says that even infants aren’t free at my place)

[Huma0]

@Kelly149  Urggh. What is this thing with some parents who think that their kids should travel for free?

Last year I went on holiday with family and family friends. It was a mixture of people with kids and single folk like me. Turns out that the decision had been made by the former that the kids didn't count cost wise, either in terms of accommodation or taxis etc. (by the way, these weren't infants but all children aged 10+). So, what that meant was that the other single person and I had to pay DOUBLE for the same accommodation as some of the people with kids. Why?? We also had to get extra taxis to accommodate the kids, but only split the cost between the adults. Why?

To make it clearer, one example: we are staying in an Airbnb with four apartments of exactly equal size and facilities. Single lady and I share one. Lady with 12-year-old son shares another. Single ladies pay double for their apartment than lady with child because child doesn't count.

I didn't say anything because people are so sensitive when it comes to their children and the parents were already arguing with each other about restaurant bills, but I felt a bit ripped off to be honest. Travelling in a group should be cheaper than travelling solo, but that was certainly not the case here.

I am not a parent, but if I was, I am pretty sure I would not expect other people to cover the cost of my children having a holiday. That would be down to me.

[Inna22]

@Huma0 I am a parent and I would expect to pay a fair share. In terms of food my kids can definitely eat as much as adult! I remember my two year old eating several stakes each dinner at an all inclusive hotel during a growth spurt and me thinking how that hotel totally miscalculated when they said under 2 travelled free

[Huma0]

@Inna22 

A two-year-old eating several steaks? Wow, that is impressive! I trust he/she is a very healthy robust specimen now 🙂

I guess the thing that I am talking about is that when parents are so enamoured with their child that they subconsciously think everyone else feels the same way and therefore any costs should be waived.

I absolutely love my niece and have no problem treating her to lunch or whatever when I take her out. However, what I have noticed in a group situation is that, although she is not a big eater, she is picky, so her parents will order five dishes for her and she will have a mouthful of each. It doesn't matter how much goes to waste. Then everyone else has to split the cost.

I remember taking her out for lunch once and she was tiny but wanted to order seven things from the menu. I put my foot down and said no, order two and if you're still hungry, we can order more. Needless to say, she didn't even finish the two, was full and satisfied and that was the end of that.

[Sarah977]

@Huma0 "she is picky, so her parents will order five dishes for her and she will have a mouthful of each"

Thereby insuring that she will be a picky eater for the rest of her life. I'm quite sure that where food is scarce, the concept of a "picky eater" would be unheard of and entirely baffling. No one is born being a picky eater, although it's true that taste buds don't work the same in everyone. But by and large, it's learned behavior. 

What a lot of parents don't realize is that a child may decline to eat something today that they'll eat no problem next week. If you don't make any big deal out of it, and don't play into it, offering something else, it likely won't be an ongoing issue.

And if a child refuses to consume something kids normally like, such as milk, their bodies may be telling them not to, because they're lactose intolerant, so that needs to be checked out.

[Inna22]

@Huma0 yes, he has grown up to be a six foot 15 year old and still growing 🙂 Those steaks were not waisted. I hate when parents get multiple options for their kids. It is so wrong on so many levels. 

[Huma0]

@Sarah977 @Inna22 

I agree with you totally. My parents were the opposite. We had to eat what we were given and not allowed to leave the table until we finished it, no matter how much we protested. I don't know how many times we were told, "Children are starving in Africa."

I think I posted this story before but, when I was quite small and refusing to eat my eggs, my dad threatened to put them on my head if I didn't finish them. Well, I still refused, so he felt like he had to follow through on the threat. My mother came home to find him frantically failing to wash the eggs out of my long hair before she got back, as the hot water had really cooked them in.

The upside of this is that I am not a fussy eater at all and have never had weight issues or eating disorders. The problem was that I think my parents fed us too much. When I think back on it, it was soooo much food!

My brother's reaction to this was to never make his daughter eat if she didn't want to. He and his wife share this attitude and he gets really annoyed if my mother tries to get my niece to eat more. There's no point arguing with him. He has a PhD in child psychology.

Actually, I don't think the excessive restaurant ordering is so much because she is picky, but that she does love certain cuisines, especially Japanese and South  East Asian ones and so her eyes suddenly get larger than her stomach. The issue with this for me is the waste. She's never going to be able to even get close to finishing what's in front of her. Also, I don't think it's good to instill in your children that waste is okay. She's a lovely child and actually really well behaved (tantrums were never permitted), but I don't think she gets the concept that she is very well off compared to most.

[Inna22]

@Huma0 My birth town (St. Petersburg) was under siege in WW2 and many people died from starvation. Wasting food if you are from there is despicable. I think people there would be more understanding of someone commiting a real crime than throwing food leftovers out. I cannot stand it when someone leaves half a plate at the restaurant instead of taking it home for next day. 

Making a child eat everything on the plate is not healthy though. I was a light eater by my grandparents standards and my grandfather would like me in the kitchen for what felt like hours to finish my plate. My brother on the other hand ate it all and now has an eating disorder.