Hold on tight or get off now, this one is an odd twister:
I am unsure what to think of the verbose correspondence I have received from a recent instant book (IBed yesterday).
Luke (name changed) began with a longish accompanying his IB, about how he had read everything, loved the place, project (I don’t think 90% of our guests even get to that part), etc -- and would like to help us any way he can.
After sending a short follow-up, as I was settling into a nice chair overlooking the Ionian Sea, I received the below (guest messages in italics, WHY OH WHY CAN'T WE HAVE A QUOTE FUNCTION HERE?)
Note the “it may be that I cannot stay there, but help in another way.” This seems to me kind of odd. (We do occasionally get people offering to exchange work for housing, which is not in any way really wanted; however, a little Googling shows that this person is claiming to be an engineer with a $108K/year university salary; the misspellings are also concerning …)
The parts about “if other people are there” are a tad concerning as well.
I’ve reviewed our listing and think it clearly says it’s a second floor flat, NO STOVE. Other than a few multi-million dollar properties, I’m not sure there are any single-family structures within nearly a mile of our location at the edge of UChicago. Much less for the price, which is about 1/3 what we’d charge without Covid.
I could be wrong, but none of the 5 guests we’ve had since Covid, appear to have misunderstood anything but “second floor flat.”
I know where I’m tending on this one at this point, especially given some of the tone, but is there anyone who would try to rescue this reservation? Thoughts?
LUKE
Hi, again, Kenneth,
I did not see the part about not stove’. Hmmm. The rest is very ok. Both myself and Betty planned to shop and cook. I am not sure what to say about this - for this $800+, no stove or cooking ability is a big difference, especially because we rarely eat out, and love fresh markets & cooking. Let me think about this a bit - I appreciate your honesty. Wow, such a great place - hope I can think of something...thanks again for this clarification that I missed - ‘you will have entire home’ - I really will read everything carefully again. I will get back in touch. - Luke [name changed]
ME:
Hi again Luke,
Yes, -- we removed the "stove" option from the listing when Covid began, and added the parts about access to NO STOVE only microwave and minifridge We had been letting guests in the upstairs unit go downstairs to use the stove in the downstairs unit prior to Covid, as well as use the stove there.
We've been meaning to add an era-appropriate gas stove upstairs for some time, but it hasn't happened yet. Let me look around and see if there is some kind of solution that we could work, that might work as a "work-around."
Thanks, Ken
UPDATE: keeping things simpler, I'm wondering how much cooking equipment would be needed? Perhaps something like the following would work, if the link goes through?
[link to $350 flat, child-safe countertop cooking burner unit on Amazon]
LUKE:
Hi, Kenneth - thanks for the effort. I re-read everything carefully; I figured that ‘entire home’ during COVID meant 1st & 2nd floor, it is hard to follow the description now as I try to differentiate what is on 1st and what is on 2nd and what we have access to. I figured we would care for everything carefully. Now, I still can’t tell if we are there alone or not.
Yes, I do read carefully, and I figured I’d ask if we were alone - yet, that one line about ‘No Stove’ seemed not important since you said there is a complete kitchenette available - I thought that meant a kitchen. Yes, of course I can hook up gas appliances, very easily. However, I am moving with all of my things, and planning to look around Chicago for a place to live and relax with my friend. I am afraid there is a misunderstanding. Again, I need time to super-review now - I don’t know why I cannot differentiate if other people are there or not, it’s just not clear who is where. Please give me today to re-evaluate - it is not personal, normally Betty and I would 100% support a work in progress and helping out, yet we are trying to understand why we misunderstood this. It might be that we cannot stay there, but can help in another way. I am sorry I am working right now...let me get back to you about your proposal and my thoughts. I am very surprised at this - it’s a long drive time arrive to no cooking possible. In some cases, ok, but not this trip with my friend. I also expected the ‘do the dishes’ advice meant you had dishes, pots, pans, silverware. This might not be a great fit, but I don’t want to lose touch. Thank you for your consideration. The ‘Super-Host’ part was important to me, too - I did not expect these misunderstandings so soon. Yet, let me think. Thank you. With kind regards, Luke
ME:
Hi Luke: quick reply: "entire place to yourself" in Airbnb means a place to yourself, House, Apartment, Yurt, etc.
As you many know, buildings in Chicago are typically divided into units, in our neighborhood, often 2-flats (upstairs and down).
In this case, the building has two separate units, upstairs and downstairs.
As is also typical in Chicago, they share a basement laundry, entry, back stairwell, etc. (There's also some refrigerator space at the bottom of the rear stairwell).
(Note, there is a large amenities section in Airbnb listings, which also outlines what items a listing offers).
LUKE
19:03
I know these things, Kenneth
19:09
I understand your explanations more now. Your writing honestly implies some type of access to 1st floor things, so that is very confusing - and that is why my initial question if otherwise are there. Plus, much of the write-up is about pre-COVID, so it’s definitely hard to put all together. Normally, I ALWAYS contact the host before booking, but when you said the whole place was available, I assumed 1st floor access & kitchenette, thinking you were scaling back. No problem! Except the stove thing is tough. I use my kitchen. So, thanks for redefining everything - it was not necessary to inform me of AirBnB definitions. This is my fault for making assumptions by piecing together your pre-COVID and post-COVID comments with those additional things you didn’t want to write, and reaching wrong conclusions.
Again, I will get back to you later. Thanks again for the effort. It is 10:10 am here in Seattle. I will be in touch. Luke
...if other people are there...
Note the immediately preceding message is not edited except to replace the name with 'Luke'. It literally ends with a one-line, "... if other people are there..."
