payment policy for house not suitable

[Stephanie-And-James0]

Hi,

Is anyone else not happy with the payment plan for a luxurious house?  I am not happy renting out my house in France and only getting paid after their holiday!  Cannot contact airbnb to ask them to review this policy.  It is alright for one night stays or so in your own home, but not when they have a beautiful massive hosue to ruin or cancel on at the last moment.  I cannot afford to lose the rental money.  I also go through a rental agency and they pay me 2 months before the rental with no reimbursement if the renters cancel unless it is re-booked.  The simple truth is this kind of property is booked up ages before and is not suitable for a last minute booking. As I cannot contact airbnb except for an emergency, I am thinking of removing this property altogether.  

Would be very interested if anyone else has a similar problem or experience or even find they rent a large holiday home and it works for them. I only put the house on airbnb to test the waters and fill up the empty slots as due to the French situation bookings went down this year for the first time ever.

All input and thoughts most welcome!

Thank you

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

There are probably bits of AirBnBs policy that every host dislikes for one reason or another. Yours is very valid and it probably means it's not the right platform for you until they decide it should be changed. My personal view, having discussed this also with friends who rent holiday properties in France, is that AirBnB is in a different market and not really competing with Owners Abroad, etc

[Stephanie-And-James0]

ok - thank you.  I have got one booking and will see how it goes.  But I am already put out because the couple is French and haggled the price.  Next they insisted that I have the 17 page house manual translated into French.  This would cost me 800 euros or more. My listing is in English and I never offered a manual in French.  Naturally I do not want them to ruin the house because they cannot read how it works.  My son said he would give it a go re translation.  So we wil see.

I would really like to hear from others re their properties.  I looked at owners abroad but at  a superficial glanceit does not suit me.  

Thank you

[Donna15]

@Stephanie-And-James0, I'm not sure I understand when you mention being paid after a guest's holiday. 

AirBnB sends payment within 24 hours of a guest's arrival. (If you're using a venue other than PayPal, it might take 2-4 days.)

Make sure that the House Rules are comprehensive, firm, and clear will definitely help deter potential problem guests. People need to know precisely and in detail what the boundaries are with regard to the type of behaviour you will accept.

Likewise, be sure to have a hefty security deposit in place, along with an appropriate cleaning fee. 

You could also install outside cameras - about which you would of course need to inform guests. The notion of cameras would also deter the type of guests who might try to show up with more people than had been indicated on the booking. 

Perhaps - for a small fee - you could have someone local and trustworthy greet the guests when they arrive, and check the listing immediately afterwards to determine that everything had been left in order on the guests' departure.

As to contacting AirBnB, you can reach them via the Help link at bottom of this page.

Or via Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/airbnb/?fref=ts

Or – if you have a Twitter account - try twitter@airbnbhelp. It’s said there’s a quick response.

More essential reading for hosts.

Contains a link with several international phone numbers (‘How to contact AirBnB’).

https://community.airbnb.com/t5/General-Hosting/Community-Help-Guides/m-p/23100#U23100

Regarding Contact numbers in the above link, I've twice recently had quick and effective responses via the Netherlands phone number. (Though oddly enough, the person to whom I spoke was actually in the US.)

The UK number.

+44 203 318

[Stephanie-And-James0]

Thank you - that is most useful.  I do have local staff in place and all that.  I just am not happy to be paid so late.  It is the cancellation policy as well. This type of place can not be re-booked at short notice. However, as I said, maybe it will work out and maybe i am just used to a different way.