Weirdest/Most Insteresting/Ballsiest Guest Request

[Alexandra316]

I had an inquiry this week that really made me scratch my head. The guest sent an inquiry, asking if they could check in late, at 11 pm. I said absoltely no problem: we have self-check-in, and you can check in anytime that suits you after 3 pm. They went ahead and booked, adding a second night to their reservation. Then I got an email from them, saying oh no, we weren't asking if we could check in late, we were asking if we could check in the night before at 11 pm. I was gobsmacked, and responded that it wasn't possible, because we have someone staying the night before they arrive who will be checking out at 11 am, and the earliest they could check in would be 1 pm on the date their reservation starts. I also let them know that if that wouldn't work out for them, they were welcome to cancel the reservation, as the free cancellation window is still open. 

I just can't believe that someone would ask to check in the night before they booked for, and I was wondering what kind of weird, interesting, or cheeky requests you've received from guests, and how you've dealt with them. 

[Alexandra316]

@Robin4 I should have: unfortunately, they didn't come up with this Brain Trust level question until after the booking had already been completed. My fingers are still hovering over the Contact Airbnb button to ask them to cancel the reservation.

[Robin4]

@Alexandra316

Jeez....! was just about to make a witty reply when a little box appeared in the bottom right corner of my screen which said....Quora: Sarah Millard asks, "is it safe to keep chickens in an apartment" !!!

I am heavily involved with the Quora site where I serve as the resident Airbnb advisor....and at this point I am left to thinking, does Sarah actually want to bring some chickens to an Airbnb listing??

Sorry Alexandra, I digressed but, I sat and looked at that box for a while, sort of stunned as to why a fully fledged supposedly competent adult human being would actually get onto a worldwide website, state their name and ask a question like that....F**k we deal with some weido's !

I hadn't realised from your post that you had actually accepted the reservation in question!

Alexandra, I would waste no time in getting CX to cancel that reservation! Any guest who would seriously take time to ask, or make a statement like that is guaranteed to be a poor guest. I can't begin to imagine what may happen in the lovely listing of yours should they set foot in there. They are taking 'cheapskate' to another level so God only knows how they would treat your property!

Bail out Alexandra....red flags a plenty here!

Cheers.....Rob

:.........now to try and work out Sarah's chicken problem....what comes first the chicken or the egg?....or maybe Sarah :-))

And if you think I am kidding.........

[Alexandra316]

@Robin4 Now you have me really worried, as I also accept pets! Maybe I should specify four legs and fur only...

Yeah, unfoturnately the pre-booking question seemed normal enough, in that they just SEEMED to be asking for a late check in. Little did I know...

[Kelly149]

@Alexandra0look up @Alice0 & jeff’s@alicejeff Listing. If I’m remembering right, she outlawed some pretty specific “pets”

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

We ONLY take dogs. If it has litter or poops in its cage, nope. We had someone want to bring their cat but "leave it in the truck" overnight with the A/C running... So you want to leave a truck, with a cat in it, running all night, parked on the street in front of my house... um, no and no and no

[Kelly149]

@Robin4 please tell dear Sarah that yes, absolutely the chickens may live in the apartment, but she will first want to invest in some chicken diapers. And now that I think of it, that may cause some trouble with the egg laying, but these are small details.

My chickens live outside so I can't help with a chicken diaper supply source.

[Susie5]

Hey @Kelly149, Amazon can help you out with chicken diapers. Here's an image of one of the models on sale. Very "country-style"!

Susie

[Kelly149]

@Susie0 

This is just wrong wrong wrong. Next someone will have one of those infant carriers. 

All you pet allowing listings beware. An indoor emotional support chicken could be headed your way!!

[Sandra126]

Yes, Sarah Millard. In the fridge.

[Andrea9]

... in the fridge.... plucked and cling foil wrapped...

[Sarah977]

You know that expression "There's no such thing as a stupid question"?

There are. There are soooo many stupid questions.

A tourist here (not a guest, all of my guests have evidenced a higher IQ level) once asked me how it could possibly be that Sayulita was on Mountain time, when Puerto Vallarta, which is an hour away, was on Central time, because "it's so close".

I'm not sure if she thought there was some giant no man's land between time zones where it's no time at all.

[Tina457]

I agree. That will make my feelings of extreme nervousness. Thank you for sharing.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

Oh yeah.....I almost forgot about this one.

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/The-most-flabbergasting-inquiry-I-got/m-p/420576

[Alexandra316]

@Jessica-and-Henry0 Maybe it's a sign that you should start a nanny service while you're at it!

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Alexandra0

Henry and I prefer people who are old enough to drink 🙂