Not THIS little black duck

[Rowena29]

I'm guessing this is not a new experience for many hosts, but I figured I'd post it anyway. - a bit catarthic for me if nothing else

Recieved this enquiry the other night.

The guest had created his profile just that day.

No government ID, limited verification. ( and obviously no previous reviews)

The message came through at nearly 1 am  in the morning ( and he lives in the same state and time zone as me) and it was for a booking in May outside peak times, so hardly urgent...

I almost admire his nerve, and hey, he WAS polite... 

Hi Rowena, sorry to disturb you at this hour. We’re a group of  9 students visiting Sunshine Coast for the first time on holiday and we’re on a tight budget so I was wondering if there could be a special offer given to us. Having very limited options with houses of very high prices, I was hoping you could reduce the price and we would be really appreciative if you could! However with that being said, I would totally understand if that is beyond your means! Hope to hear from you soon! Happy Weekends!

(Divided by the entire number in the group, they would have been paying about $55 - 60 pp per night for 2 nights in a 4 bedroom home with 7 individual beds, 2.5 bathroooms,  a full kitchen and all linen supplied ( and pretty spectacular views)

There are  quite a lot of other places nearby that will sleep 9 quite a bit cheaper - maybe $30 - $35 pp per night - but fewer bedrooms, fewer bathrooms all queen/double beds, and not as close to the beachfront) 

It was late at night and I was half asleep, but I wanted to keep my response rate up, so I accepted his reservation ( with no discount) with no message.

(I showed considerable self restraint and deleted the message "Have you considered camping?")

The next morning  I sent him a special offer of $5 off.   In hindsight, I would have LOVED to send a special offer that was MORE money  ( can this be done I wonder??) 

 A few months ago I would have spent some time composing a message explaining, but I didnt' waste my energy with this one

Needless to say I never heard from him again.

Wonder how many OTHER  hosts he tried it on with at that hour of the morning.  

would love to hear similar experiences - I bet there's a heap! And any feedback if people think I should have handled it differently......

Cheers

[Cathie19]

Hi @Rowena29.

An interesting style and tactic you used. Is there a booking showing up as confirmed on your calendar? Or just a disappearance act?

I’ve had bolder, but not during sleep time.....unless from Europe due to time zone variations. Mind you, daylight savings can be a problem for Oz timezones!

(I kept my response to this one saved in my “ notes” so I can cut/paste/ alter as needed.

🙌🏼 Request from a local, with no reviews, wanting to stay and come around to check out the place. So in my friendliest of voices, I queried his need for further accommodation as he lived locally and as an aside, I mentioned he would have to accept my house rules (no exceptions) and show ID from all persons staying, at check in, as I would take a copy. Oh, and that there was no need to visit to check out the space, as I had many photos on the listing, that should cover his needs. But if he had further questions to please not hesitate to ask them, for I am here to assist.  😁😁😁😁😁😁 

Never heard a reason or got a request after that! 

Lost in the Internet ether; but more likely running like Forrest Gump, far away from me. LOL.

[Rowena29]

HI @Cathie0,

As it was just an enquiry I accepted the dates but didnt' block them out, KNOWING  that he would not accept with the 24 hour time frame.  I didn't tentively block the dates. The offer has now expired and  I didn't hear  peep from him  - completely as I anticipated.   

He wasn't a local local - about 1 -2 hours drive away - as have beem most of  my guests so far -   wanting a beach holiday

I guess if he HAD accepted I would have hit him with a firm message reiterating  house rules and my substantial security bond etc etc.  I dont' imagine he would have trashed the place, but my  admittedly very limited  hosting experience has taught me the budget seekers are  usually demanding, judgemental and have a highly refined sense of entitlement. 

I dont'  have a problem with newbeis per se - I seem to get a lot of them - they tend to be quite a bit of work and often inconsiderate, but through ignorance not arrogance, and so far very friendly and  willing to adjust once they understand the system, eg it's not NOT ok to say you'll be arriving at 2 and still not be there by 4.  

(Having said that I"m about to change my settings so only guests with at least 1 reivew can IB - at least that way a newbie will have to request and I can ensure they read and understand a few things before I click accept - waited for 3 hours  past the arranged arrival time for a  fist timer guest  yesterday ).....

[Scott-and-Mary-Ellen0]

Hi  @Cathie19, I think you dodged a bullet! Seeing other posts where guests ask for a discount and have other special requests that turn out to be nightmares, I think you're lucky. Also, never accept if someone hasn't been verified yet--for what that's worth (once I could look up confirmed guests on Google I discovered police charges for drugs, etc. on several, so it's not as if Airbnb does this most basic search ). The odd hour is another clue that someone may be just fishing. Especially with a luxury listing, I'd be very careful. That said, we've hosted many first-timers with zero reviews without problems.   

[Cathie19]

I agree @Scott-and-Mary-Ellen0. The gut and the smell of the enquiry was churnable at the time.

However, I’ve picked up good requests at “all hours”.  During Australian summertime, where I live is 1.5hours behind eastern Australian states ( except Qld .5hrs), an hour behind South Australia, then 1.5 hours ahead of Western Australia. So vast is our country, that WA guests can often request at reasonable hours in their own state. That also applies to international guests as well....

But I do check out their time zone or country before I respond infinitum... and do so with follow up queries. Many of my international guests from Europe have been successful by my immediate response, or personal chat to make their check ins work for the international flight times.

Most people are very genuine, but they are more inclined to request, if unable to IB. For me personally, most inquiries don’t develop into bookings, as they are usually fishing for discounts, rules to be bent etc. But having generalised, most new guests to Airbnb sometimes just want clarification and some certainty with the pre booking phase. That’s totally fine, and they do stand out quite distinctly and separately from the pasted query sent off to a few hosts in the area.

Many of my best guests have been newbies!  ⭐️