Interesting opening lines from first time guests

[Melodie-And-John0]

I don't know about you but I've been getting lots of really short and somewhat meaningless requests to book by lots of first timer guests.   They immediately set off my spider senses when the profile is incomplete and has zero info about the possible guest.  No one liner gets a confirmation at Bearpath Lodging, this is not a party house, hosts live within!!!!!!    

Heres a couple recent ones, "Hey is this available" from a person that had no reviews and no location and really nothing but her first name, I thanked her for checking with us and asked her my normal barrage of  questions including where are you from (we have a statewide qt on guests from 30+ states right now) and expressed expectations and expected I would hear nothing.  The suite booked nicely from a guest with 25 perfect reviews for her dates 20 minutes later.  About 2 hours later she wrote "I’m from new York Syracuse to be exact do u guys except cash",  my last reply to her was "Hi ________the suite has already been booked I’m sorry, and no we don’t ever except cash payment we only work through Airbnb".  

Another prospect guest named "Angel" wrote, "Hey love , is it possible to see pictures of your hot tub ?"  This is the second person BTW that has wanted to see pictures of 1 person walk in spa tub we include in the listing in the bathroom, IDK why they cant just look at the pic's, its in there!   This Angel  had almost no info in their account info and Love isn't a standard intro in upstate NY (London maybe).  I sent my list of questions and pointed to the pics in the listing and never heard back, that's okay with us, we need more than that or no key code for you!

in the last 3 years, I've become a super sleuth hound dog when it comes to smelling a rat in a request or weeding out scammers and party barge guests.  I know you have had some odd opening requests, what are they and how did they turn out?   Safe hosting Folks!  JR

[Debra300]

@Emilia42,

I swear that wasn't me!😀  We cut the cord back in 2008, and I travel with my laptop and Firestick.

[Emilia42]

Haha! when I saw the name @Debra300 I couldn't help but wonder . . . just kidding!

[Mark116]

@Melodie-And-John0   Yes.  Almost every inquiry or request comes from someone with an empty profile and from people who seem incapable of replying to a message in a timely manner.  They all seem to think the request is the same as a booking.  

[Helen3]

Oh dear @Melodie-And-John0 

Using 'hey love' as an introduction isn't normal in London either - we would use that with friends but not normally when contacting a stranger 🙂 

I had a booking inquiry recently from a couple who wanted to bring their baby (I don't accept infants) and bring along their hampster in it's cage (I don't accept animals and wanted a discount because they were arriving at 8 p.m...... you can imagine my reply 🙂

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Helen3 , I was pretty sure that wasnt really a standard semi formal intro in GB also, I did chuckle though and so did my wife!  I hate to assume anything but my sense is this person could possibly have some challenges with social distancing as well!  As for your guest with the hamster and the Baby, I can understand the reluctance for either or both!  Stay well, JR

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Helen3  , Lots think if they send a request for uis to accept them with their perfect and always wonderful dog, we might reconsider, not gonna happen, no pets neva eva!!!!!!

[Robin4]

@Melodie-And-John0  @Helen3 

I have a dog, as John would say .....'A perfect and always wonderful dog'.....but I will not accept pets. I don't care if it's a goldfish in a bowl.......it's not welcome!

One woman booked and asked if she could bring her two well behaved dogs with her! I asked what sort of dogs they were and she assured me they were about the same size as our Betts!

Well, these dogs were Burnese Mountain dogs! Each weighed about 70 Kgs , they were the size of road-working machinery and that is about the amount of damage they did as they rampaged through our garden!

That was it ....from that point on, pets not welcome!

Cheers.........Rob

[Laura2592]

I have recently gotten ---

"How close is the nearest casino?" No intro, no other info. Answer: Not close. 

"Stay with my GF for weekend." Again, no other info, no response when I asked for other info, no reviews, no booking.

"Do you have a pool?" Nope. We sure don't. If we did, it would be pictured and listed.

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Laura2592 , another perfect answer to "do you have a pool" might have been ,

"Yes and now you've spoiled the surprise, we really like offering our place at a much cheaper price than it deserves to command....." 

Or , "Sure we have a pool, a Cesspool, but most guests arent interested in that part of our home.... "

Or, "Yes we have a pool, its under your guest bed and if you don't follow the rules, it will open up and you will meet our pet sharks Squat and Gobble!"

[Laura2592]

I really really wanted to say:

"Why yes but its a secret pool only available to the pure of heart who can uncover the clues to its magical location. " But I did not. 

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  "A pool of what? The last guests left a pool of blood on the bathroom floor, but we cleaned that up."

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Sarah977 @Laura2592 @Melodie-And-John0 

OMG~~~ I love your (would not really send but was what I wish I could say) answers 🤣🤣🤣

[Melodie-And-John0]

I will say @Jessica-and-Henry0 , the older I get, the less limiting effect my internal Governor has on my mouth engine, "did I say that?    hahahahaahha!  Stay well, JR 

[Ann72]

@Melodie-And-John0  These are priceless.  "Love" as a form of salutation is a favorite of scammers, so you dodged a bullet with that one!

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Ann72 , I thought so as well,  there are a few hints that were talking to a considerate caring and conscientious human,  at least give us something to work with for gosh sakes!  That said, i try not to assume all short talkers are trying to poop in my cheerios, some just don't have a very good command of the english language and only need some encouragement to give the information I need to feel comfortable about hosting them.  I have to say, my immediate yet considerate  barrage of appropriate questions when I get a borderline reject have teased out some great guests while culling out most of the chaff before it tries to spend a night in my home.