Long term request

Answered!

Long term request

 

Help needed! We’re new to hosting/ letting (been live for a week) and have had a request for a 2 month stay, Mon- Fri for 3 guys who are down for work in the area.

they want to pay off site to avoid Airbnb fees.

firstly, I would never go off site as we don’t get any protection on collection fees, but I don’t feel comfortable letting for that length of time over fear they will just wreck the place!

it’s a cosy cottage geared up for holiday guests.

any feedback welcome and how to possibly reply with a decline! 
I have a bad gut feeling but wanted to get feedback from other hosts, thank you! 

1 Best Answer
Debra300
Level 10
Gros Islet, Saint Lucia

@Richard2649,

 

No, no, no and more no.  You have good intuition that's telling that you will truly regret it. New hosts are targets for these types of solicitations.  Also, save a link to the Airbnb Help Center.  It's good to get advice for others, but ultimately it's your responsibility to know the formal policies.  The info on the site is easy to find, and written in simple to read grammar.

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9 Replies 9
Debra300
Level 10
Gros Islet, Saint Lucia

@Richard2649,

 

No, no, no and more no.  You have good intuition that's telling that you will truly regret it. New hosts are targets for these types of solicitations.  Also, save a link to the Airbnb Help Center.  It's good to get advice for others, but ultimately it's your responsibility to know the formal policies.  The info on the site is easy to find, and written in simple to read grammar.

Thank you for your reply, I already had a bad feeling about it! And thank you for the advice from the help centre, I will have a look now.

 

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Richard2649 

 

Sounds like trouble to me. I do not accept any guest/s who approach me trying to book off platform. They might just be trying to save a buck (and with a two month booking that's a fair amount of fees), or they could be scamming you. Would be a no from me.

I’ve declined already, stating we are only using bookings through Airbnb and for short holidays.. I had a bad feeling about it when he messaged and the fact we are very new to this they would probably take advantage.

thank you for replying it has confirmed my decision to avoid! 

Mike-And-Jane0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

@Richard2649 at this time of year, if you want to fill your property, you may need to accept workers. Most of those who have come to us are great (worst ones just didn't take out their rubbish) and they have the advantage that they are out all day so heating costs are lower than they might otherwise be. We always insist on booking through Airbnb but do allow people to book future stays direct once we trust them to look after the property.

In your situation, if they stay 4 nights in the week you can still have holidaymakers at the weekend.

@Mike-And-Jane0,

 

You make a good point about future stays, but advise that hosts have the ability to process credit card transactions (Stripe and Square are very popular) for payment and security deposit, and require guests to provide a valid government issued ID, current address and phone number.

@Debra300 we just ask people to pay money direct into our bank account. Slightly harder with people from abroad but it seems to work.

Gwen386
Level 10
Lusby, MD

@Richard2649 These guests are already not following airbnb rules so your house rules will mean absolutely nothing to them.

 

Decline their request and let airbnb know that they wanted to communicate and pay not using the platform so you won’t be dinged for declining their request.

Trude0
Level 10
Stockholm County, Sweden

Good thing you declined, and you should have no trouble with Airbnb for declining, if you can prove they asked to pay off site. Can you? Did all conversation go via the Airbnb app? 

 

(I say should, because who knows what will get us into trouble these days, both with CS, and on this forum…)

 

In case you haven’t already noticed, it is possible to set a max number of nights for stays. If you are nervous about longer stays (I know I am), or just don’t want them for any reason, it might be a good idea to use the max nights function. You can always state in your description that anyone interested in a longer stay can contact you to discuss possibilities. But the guest would not be able to request to book a longer stay, they would only be able to enquire - and enquiries you don’t need to accept/decline, you only need to reply to the guest by message.