Let's Cut AirBnB Out Of The Deal eh?

[Ana1971]

Some folk are unbelievable. This guest keeps asking if they can get a better rate by not going through AirBnb. "We'll just do a deal on the side, between us and you, right?" The guest seemed a little offended when we advised them that we don't do that kind of thing because it would not be ethical. We tried to nicely explain that it "would be the same as saying, Hey ABnB, thanks for getting us this customer, but now we are going to steal them away and cut you out." Made our blood boil at the sheer slyness of it. Sorry for venting here but was wondering if any other hosts out there were running into these kinds of guests? (PS. 99.5% of our gusts so far have been very decent people).

[Emiel1]

@Ana1971 

It's also about the "contract'. A reservation is a "contract', there are appointments set, terms of service attached, a cancellation policy attached, payment is regulated etc.. Just stay somewhere as a stranger and pay for it is not a business. Besides being a violation of Airbnb terms it is a great risk for the host (and the guest, but those who ask are mostly not clever enough to see this)

[Ana1971]

The guest has been a bit shady from the start so this wasn't a huge surprise to us to hear this kinda thing from them. They had previously asked if they could bring in 3 or more additional people who would "bring their own queen size mattresses" if we could just rearrange two rooms for them, put in new beds and charge them for only one room and one guest. Much to their surprise, we declined that offer. We are fully expecting a bad review from this particular guest but you can't please everyone now can ya.

[Gordon0]

A guest who's happy to screw over Airbnb is just as likely to do the same to you. 

[Ana1971]

Agreed! Who in their right mind thinks "Psst hey buddy, let's you and me screw someone over, but of course you can trust me" is a good idea? lol.  Some people.

[Sarah977 · Accepted solution]

@Ana1971  If I had a really great guest who just wanted to extend their stay by a few days or a week, I might very well do a private deal, just as I let great guests who've stayed with me know that if they ever want to come back, they can just email me directly. Many hosts have their own websites they rent through, as well as using Airbnb and other booking platforms. Just because a guest first came to me through Airbnb doesn't mean Airbnb owns the relationship between me and that guest forever, once their Airbnb booking has come to an end.

But I'd never do such a thing with a guest like you describe, and I've reported every guest who has contacted me through Airbnb and sneakily tried to get me to negotiate with them directly. 

[Ana1971]

We hadn't thought of reporting them to ABnB, I am going to float that past the wife and get her take on it. Bad behavior like this guests sours the pot for good guests too I think because it makes you a little more 'nervous' around them.

[Sheila350]

then again, I just got off the phone with "customer care" (lol) because Airbnb did not collect payment on time (booking, 2 weeks prior to checkin), did not pay me, and is now chasing the guest with some "collections" department.  they will not pay me until "collections goes through their process" which process i am not allowed to know about, i am not allowed to contact them and even though they are required to contact me, it's been 10 days and nobody has done anything.  customer service actually had the nerve to tell me it's because they are busy!  wonder why?

Airbnb is supposed to collect payment at the time of booking to avoid this kind of mess.  They never told me there was an issue with processing payment, never suggested I cancel and open my calendar back up (i am booked every weekend), never responded to my numerous messages, emails or calls, and when i suggested that Airbnb keep their end of our deal and pay me, then they can go through whatever process they want to get their own money back, she said that nobody is allowed to help hosts get their money other than collections, and hosts are not allowed to ask collections for their money.  we are allowed to sit around and wait, period.

this does not excuse a shady guest but don't misplace your loyalty to Airbnb, they have none to you...

[Ana1971]

That's a shame and I am sorry that you are having that experience. We had a guest very early on that ruined some bedding (don't ask how, the story is disgusting) and ABnB wouldn't even answer us when we asked questions about a situation like this. That stung a little.

[Sheila350]

update:  none.  it's now been 25 days since booking and 2 weeks since payout date and nobody from "collections" has contacted me, I still have not been paid and I have been stonewalled 2 more times by "customer support" who should be the ones reaching out to collections to resolve this on my behalf but instead just shrug and say it's not their department.  if I were allowed to collect my own payment from the guests, this never would have happened...

[Ann489]

@Ana1971   we often rent to neighbors and their families outside of Airbnb.  But those are people we have known for years, who didn't "find" our listing on Airbnb.   I would never rent to anyone outside of Airbnb if they sent a request through the Airbnb platform.  Nor would I ever communicate with anyone outside of their messaging system.  As others have mentioned, those often are the type of guests who cause all kinds of problems. 

[Ana1971]

Praching to the choir here. We have had a few guests that got a little snarky because we ALWAYS communicate via the ABnB system. Complete transparency here with us. We believe in being good partners. Like you, we will rent outside ABnB if they didn't come to us from ABnB in the first place.

[Sarah977]

@Ann489  I'll sometimes do things "off platform" even for an active booking, just to simplify things. I just had a guest who was booked in for 5 nights, but she really wasn't prepared for how hot and humid it is here now and was really suffering and decided to re-route her travel plans and go to Mexico City where it's cooler and there are museums she wants to visit, etc. She assured me that it was nothing to do with my listing, that she loved her room and my hosting, and she is in fact a host herself, with tons of great reviews, a really sweet person and was a good, appreciative guest. If it had been the middle of my busy season, I'd not have done this, but since I rarely get a booking anyway this time of year, so don't count on them in any way, and as she wasn't asking for a full refund of her 3 unused nights, I actually offered that, even though I have a moderate cancellation policy. She kept asking me if I was sure I was okay with that, and I assured her it was or I wouldn't offer. Since I'd already gotten my payout, rather than go through her having to cancel the rest of the reservation, or us do an alteration, I just sent her a bank transfer while she was still here, so she'd know I wasn't going to pull a fast one and we didn't have to deal with 20 clicks 🙂 Airbnb still got all their booking fees for the 5 nights, so they didn't get cut out of anything, and she lost that portion, but the whole thing was seamless and super quick. 

[Ana1971]

We gave a good guest a free night i.e. outside of ABnB once because the guest was having some horrible trouble extending their stay with us. The online tool was charging them a fee that they had already paid and the help desk couldn't assist. Can't remember the details exactly but it was all very silly so we said "Just stay another night and we'll call it fair and square."

[Marie82]

@Ana1971  this type of guest, I would report them or flagged them, 1 thing for sure I would have never accepted their booking, as @Gordon0 said it so well if someone wants to screw you/or blackmail that the best way possible.