Guest wants a babysitter

[Laura2592]

This is the first time we have had this request.  New ABB guest coming this summer is bringing 2 kids ages 5 and 7. They have asked us to provide babysitters for them. The message was:

"We are excited to bring our family to your cottage. Please note we will need a babysitter on the night of XX and we appreciate you arranging that."

This is not something we do, and we don't have kids so we wouldn't even know where to begin. There is nothing in our listing to indicate that this is a service we offer. This potential babysitter is also a person accessing the space that we don't know (which I am sure happens,) but these are young kids in our place alone with a stranger. Its definitely got potential for issues.

I have thought about referring them to a service like care.com but I am sure it will be blocked by ABB messaging. I am about to write back and say "Unfortunately we don't offer this service. Sorry for any confusion. Be sure to check out our listing and house rules if you have further questions about what we provide." But part of me just wants to ask for the reservation to be canceled. There are no local hosts who offer babysitting as an amenity-- I did a search for their days-- so I can't recommend someone else. What would you do?

[Colleen253]

😂🤣😂@John5097 

[Mark116]

@Laura2592  It must be the proximity to DC that causes you to have SO many entitled guests.  This person doesn't even ask, instead, thanks you in advance for a service that no reasonable person would expect for a f... secluded self catering cabin in the woods.  Does this person think they're getting turn down service and a chocolate covered strawberry on the bed?  

I wouldn't apologize, but simply say that you don't offer any kind of find a babysitter service and since you don't have children yourselves don't know any babysitters personally.

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  Seems like this guest is quite confused- their message reads like they think booking an Airbnb is like booking a resort with concierge service. 

I would definitely turn this booking down- they are likely to expect daily maid service, a mini bar, etc. and leave a less than good review.

As they appear clueless, I might try to explain to them that they seem to have an erroneous idea of what Airbnb hosts provide and that apart from the fact that you don't know any babysitters, your insurance doesn't allow for anyone other than the booked guests to be in the house, so having a babysitter come over isn't something you can allow.

[Anonymous]

@Laura2592   I just imagine this couple on the date that they need the babysitter for:

"Garçon! We are excited to be in your Japanese sushi restaurant. Please note that we will need twelve tacos, two Margaritas, and a gram of cocaine, and we appreciate you arranging that."

Jokes aside, I have no idea what the childcare options are like in the US these days, and if this is even a thing, but the only option I would feel comfortable recommending in this situation is a licensed childcare facility that allows drop-offs from one-time customers. It's hard enough to find something like this for pets, so I'd be very surprised if it existed in your area. But I wouldn't be shy about explaining why I couldn't allow a babysitter onto the property as an extra guest nor recommend a neighbor for in-home care. I wouldn't touch the liability implications and child safety worries with a ten-foot p(ed)o(phi)le.

If it's still an unconfirmed booking, I'd decline based on the guests' presumptuous tone - never a good sign. But if all else was looking fine aside from the babysitter issue, I'd be open to the possibility that the guests might realize the flaw in their request and rearrange their plans to enlist a trusted babysitter at home and enjoy a weekend away from the kids.

[Kelly149]

@Laura2592 I'll show up and help you out... $5k for the weekend... just lmk when, I'll run right over

[Laura2592]

So just an update....

I messaged this guest and said "There may be some confusion. We don't provide a childcare service and due to liability issues, wouldn't be open to a third party spending time unsupervised in our space. Please let me know if it would be better for you to find a different accommodation. Thanks so much!"

The guest sent me a screenshot of another listing that DID in fact provide child care and said "I see here that you list babysitting as an amenity. Is it no longer an option?" And now, thoroughly and completely flummoxed I said "The screenshot you sent is of a different listing. We don't have any affiliation with that listing. Was that what you meant to book?" Which the guest said she had meant to. Please note that this listing is in a different state and looks nothing at all like ours. So I guess she booked the wrong one? Of course the other one doesn't have her dates available now.

So now I am really curious what restaurant she has reservations for. There is a pretty well-known one about 5 -10 mins from our cottage so I just assumed that was it. Did she book the right restaurant, wrong cottage? This is quite a mystery.

[Anonymous]

@Laura2592   It must be so weird getting requests from people staying so far away from their intended destination! I looked it up and realized that your listing is about equally as far from Washington DC as my home is from the border of Poland. So now I'm dying to get a request from someone who accidentally mixed my place up with a farmhouse in a Polish village along the Oder River, maybe asking if they could milk my cow.

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  This is hilarious. I think you're getting my share of bizarre requests in addition to your own because I don't get any 🙂

So maybe they have a dinner reservation in NYC, an Airbnb booking in Maryland, but really thought they were travelling to North Carolina. 

[Dimitar27]

I'm shocked. Again.

Somehow, you are attracting the most strange people, passing through your area.

[Laura2592]

@Sarah977  you are close. 

Guests had two bookings for two different sets of dates. One has a fancy dinner attached.  One has a visit with relatives who recently moved to Maryland. Guest confused the two. So they booked our place for the dinner dates and the babysitter provided resort cottage for the relative  visit dates.  The guest is trying to work out a new plan.  To be fair,  they are first time ABB users and the dates are similar,  just during different months.

So not a presumptuous guest,  just a very very confused one.  

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  Just cross your fingers they don't drive away from your place on check-out day,  forgetting one of the kids.

[Kelly149]

@Laura2592 that was my guess that they were confused about what they'd booked... the few times I've booked as a guest it's fairly difficult to switch back and forth between properties and keep straight which one has which amenities bc of how ABB hides things behind "read more" tabs... if you search thru enough places they all start to blur together. Hopefully their leg of the trip at your place works out well