Guests constantly asking to view before booking

Betty-B--M-0
Level 10
Nairobi, Kenya

Guests constantly asking to view before booking

Hi all, 

 

I frequently receive inquiries asking if guests may see my place before booking, to which I say no. 

Reasons include wanting to know the exact location/distance, amenities, and the available space/size.

I've agreed twice in the past and both times it turned out to be a waste of time, with one occassion being a con artist. 

 

Would anyone be so kind as to take a look at my listing and let me know if there is something unclear/can be improved to let guests better understand what they will have once they book?

Here's a link: 

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/12507312?s=xq-bCUhd&sug=50

or

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/12507312?guests=1&s=5Oz2tjs9&sug=51

 

I deliberately keep it short because it seems that's what people comprehend best. 

 

Thanks for any suggestions and happy hosting to all, 

Betty 

 

6 Replies 6
Danny9
Level 10
Palma, Spain

@Betty-B--M-0

 

Establishing direct contact that would also disclose the exact location of your listing as well as your contact details is against the Airbnb rules. They do not want their hosts and guests to get together privately, conclude all sorts of deals and leave out the company to pay for the advertising and maintainance of their organization without any income for them. This alone stops you from showing your place to the potential guests before their booking. 

 

I have a degree of understanding for the guests who wish to book long-term stays, and feel uneasy about taking all the risk upon them. Should this be the case, suggest a short stay first, and the possibly long-term stay later on. 

 

Both the guests and the hosts are naturally tempted to circumvent the Airbnb especially if long and possibly costly stays are involved. It makes a lot of sense to think long and think hard about the possible consequences before taking such a step. 

 

So, nope. Your listing is as good as it gets. If a guest has any specific question, etc., he is free to ask, and I am sure that you will gladly provide accurate replies. That's all there is to it. 

 

Danny

Expert support for your listings in Palma de Mallorca, Spain

 

 

Andrea9
Level 10
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Hi @Betty-B--M-0

 

As @Danny9 says the wish for direct contact is a round-about way of getting you to ultimately accept payment outside of ABB, thus circumventing any company backing. Regarding the standard questions of 'how far blabla' I kept getting a zillion of those kind of questions. At some point I searched for aerial photos online and made screen selection shots. Then I marked my general position with downtown using either Photoshop or the functions on the normal Photoviewer. I also added information as to how many kilometers/miles to downtown walking, by bus or tram.

Now I have a saved message referring them to have a look at those.

 

I noticed that you state visitors need to use a dongle for internet, while saying that the listing is ideal for business travelers.

That is in fact something that could back fire for you. Business travelers are usually amongst the most finicky regarding easy access to internet. I was once out of country in an area where I had to get a dongle, and it was a nightmare.

If it would have been a rented accommodation instead of with family I would have made a terrible stink and asked for a refund, since I was left stranded with no online a lot of times for some reason.

 

If you still believe the business travelers would be interested, I suggest you are completely upfront and include "need dongle!" in the description at the top to cover yourself.

Betty-B--M-0
Level 10
Nairobi, Kenya

 @Danny9, spot on about booking a short stay to test the waters. I understand apprehension about longer stays so besides readily answering all questions, my bottom line is book a night or two then decide. This is better than circumventing AirBnB rules, risking security, and possibly just wasting time. 

 @Andrea9, I do see your point about the dongle and business travellers. I thought it would be clear when I state it's a dongle, limited, guests purchase data. Still, I'll rethink this one if it could be a poweder keg.

 

Thanks to you both, happy hosting. 

By the way, any idea how one is meant to mark a conversation as "resolved?"

@Betty-B--M-0

 

What I mean to say is if you additionally mention the dongle right up at the top of your listing after the business traveler bit, they can't miss it, as is easily the case when 'buried' further down the text. People tend to only see what they want to see, which is why putting both infos together helps.

 

I think there's an option to check off  'resolved' in the little option box on your initial inquiry.

Amanda97
Level 1
Berlin, MA

If you have a policy, you have it for a reason. Do NOT breach it for anyone! NOT EVER! It is a red flag already if they are asking for things you are not comfortable with or are not overly desiring to do.

You are very short which on one hand is great some people don't like to read. The problem with it is you aren't able to set full and comprehensive and clear rules and boundaries related to how your home is maintained and how people are to live in it so that you are comfortable. It leads to miscommunication and you might want to be short but not so short. Remember, a happy guest is a guest that feels they know about the place they are staying.

You might want to add more photos so when people ask you can say "I posted 90 photos, make your decision on that. I am not showing the place." Or, you can say more too in the descriptions of things so people have a fuller understanding of what your place is like and what they are getting if they stay there. Also, that way if they are less than happy you can say, "well I told you all these things up front you chose it anyway. That isn't on me." If they try to not pay you or get a refund or something. It happened to me once.

A man rented a room in my home he wanted all these things we don't typically allow but because it was our first ever booking and because it was only for 1 night I said yes. Fine. BIG mistake. A total cheap skate con. Half an hour after booking he contacts me demanding that I put my dogs outside the house. My response to hima t that point because it would endanger my dogs was of course, no, I have made at least 5 alterations to our policies for you but I will not endanger my family members for your comfort. It was clearly listed in the top paragraph that dogs live here it was listed there when you booked and you booked it anyway. You are welcome to cancel and spend 3 times as much for a hotel if you like. (I was already sick of his crap and he hadn't set a toe in my house yet.) Well he decided like a true cheapskate to stay here even with the dogs, who I slept with in my bed so that they wouldn't be in the hallway where he could run into them at night on his way to the bathroom. They aren't little they take up the whole bed I fell out of bed 2 times because of the dogs... It was not a comfortable night for me. Then he left in the morning and I was quite glad. Though he would never have known I was happy to see him go because I was very polite and friendly with him just to try to keep the peace in my home. Well, the following day I got an email from him. He was demanding his money back. He told me he had already gone to ask for it back from AirBnB and they had told him to go screw. So he was now coming to me to ask me to do the uhhh "right thing." He stayed at my house, I made the bed for him, I washed his sheets when he left, I cleaned up the room up there just for him, they didn't leave in the middle of the night because he was uncomfortable they spent the whole night. Like hell I was giving him back a dime. I politely declined to give him his money back and told him I was sorry he was less than satisfied with his stay and wished him well for the future. ( he was pissed because he had rented a room in an old hoiuse and yes our floors do creek a little. I also mentioned that the house had "old house issues", in my description so again he should have known about that too going in.) For the trouble of hosting him, and declining to return the $40 he paid (and it included breakfast which I made for him waking up at 5 am to cook,) I received another email. This one was full of profanity and nastiness. I just ignored several of such emails from him and then he moved on. It is often beneficial to say more and provide more rather than less.

Andrea9
Level 10
Amsterdam, Netherlands

@Amanda97

The stories of some guests are incredible. Asking for refunding on an already really good deal as if they don't live in the real world where such things are usually much more pricey.

 

The reason I'm reacting - did you know that you can report inappropriate guest messages, blackmailing of refund or bad review f.i., or spam and phishing attempts by flagging tham? The magic little gray flag upper right-hand corner  of the message. Profile as well.

Airbnb looks into it. In some cases the accounts are deleted.