Not insulted at all, just exhausted after a long day of working on my farm and came here tonight for polite advice.
Legends reasons for denying are not snooty at all.
As a rule of thumb : youâre almost always asking for trouble once you start entertaining this kind of individual who is essentially implying your services are overvalued.
And I came on here all grumpy and antsy after a long day dealing with intransient local officials. Sorry mate! I took one look at your goats and yeah, any guest that has an issue needs telling. Your place is so great.
Just not so, in my experience. I have lived and learned. Discount seekers make terrible guests. Might be different in Europe, but in the U.S. this is unfortunate but true.
Yes, Iâm sure youâre right. I donât get many discount seeker sso Iâm not in a position to judge on that. My hackles are more raised by those asking loads of questions that are either plain stupid or read more like instructions than queries, eg,. is your bedlinen 100% cotton because I have I allergies and cannot stay otherwise (Yes my linen is good but you wonât like anything else here so BYE!); does your cat live in the house because I have allergies (YES, idiot, he is our pet and part of the family. You, on the other hand, are NOT).
Yes⌠Legends⌠at the end of the day, this is about what the cost of our sanity is. Your house, your rules. Period. You have gone against your gut in the past and paid the terrible price. Never again.
On this platform, little clues can go a long way toward showing you who the guest is⌠discount seeking and then being pushy after being told NO is positively screaming âhorrible guest!!!â
You did the right thing, and if you missed out on some cash, just remember your peace of mind is more important!!!
Iâm one of those who reject inquiries for a discount because they are âon a budgetâ. So their budget is supposed to mean that I should reduce my rate to accommodate that?!! Hell-to-the-No.
If truth be told, I have relented on a few occasions and accepted the guest (not with a discount but when they have come back and said they will pay the advertised rate), and without exception, it was not a good experience or outcome. Stick to your guns (and gut). Itâs no fun to smile on the outside and seethe on the inside.
What it is, is that the guest has taken some of the joy away from our hosting our property that we are proud of. They have devalued it right off the bat by mentioning the âdâ word (discount!). So Iâm with you and some of the other hosts on the forumâŚix-nay to those who dare to request a discount.
If a discount is asked for, no matter what the reason, my answer is alwaysâŚ
Sorry, my place is priced fairly for the area and the season. I donât offer discounts.
That pretty much shuts them up.
Mine is more like Sandyâs⌠and it should be noted that they will be raising our property taxes on July 1. My mortgage is facing a reset and my homeowners policy is about to notify me of their yearly raise. Bottom line is, nothing about my house expenses seems to go down. Why should I finance any portion of a strangerâs vacation because they want to stay longer or stay in a place beyond their means? The hostel down the road is $89. My low rate is $99. Thatâs low enough, so if you canât afford it book the hostel or the local campsite.
I know someone who trains restaurant staff on service. She told me that when people pay more than they believe is reasonable for something they will not enjoy it no matter how good it is. For example, someone who believes that $40.00 is the most that a restaurant meal should cost will never be satisfied with a meal that costs $100.00 no matter how high the quality and luxurious the ingredients. I decline bargain seekers and tell them that if the believe my price to be too high they wonât be satisfied. If they believe my price to be fair and asked for a bargain anyway itâs their loss.
Bargain seeking is a good reason to decline bookings.
Not comparing rentals. No need to offer or accept a discount, no need to be offended by someone who asks for one. It doesnât matter what is offered or how much money I have compared to you. My dollar is worth the same as yours.
I feel like Iâm not explaining this well but itâs clear in my mind.
Thatâs okay. Iâm not exactly the sharpest crayon in the box. Iâm undoubtedly missing your point but donât mind me.
You said not to take it personally if someone asks for a discount and that itâs just them caring about themselves. Granted, but why then arenât I allowed to take it personally when they ask for a discount for I am also just caring about myself.
Had someone try to book my 5 bedroom Victorian house as a single person. When I queried the number of guests as for a single person it is expensive. They intended to have 10 people or 3 family groups stay for a week. Got mightily upset when I sent thru an alteration to the booking to the correct amount, told me they didnât think I would mind because they were trying to stick to a budget. Cancelled the booking when they didnât agree to the change.
Itâs mind-boggling. They told you they didnât think you would mind because they were âtrying to stick to a budget.â Totally off the wall.
There are those who compare us to, or at least think that we are like hotels. What hotel would promote or cater to such a screwball justification that a guest can add a bunch of people to also stay in the accommodation because it was a matter of budget. Ludicrous.
Glad you cancelled them out. (They should have also received a free slap alongside the head.)
Your budget woes should not equal my financial sacrifice.
That said, I hardly get the bargain hunters anymore. Thank goodness.
Their justification was that the listed price was $200 per nightâŚthey felt that was more than enough to pay for the whole house - the $200 is for the first 2, after that it is per head per nightâŚtold me i was greedy!
What I am trying to say is that they have a budget but so do you. Your dollar is just as important as theirs, so no, donât discount. When someone says âWell this is my budgetâ we could easily say âAnd this is mine.â Whatâs in their budget is no concern of ours. It makes one want to reply, âthere is a slider under options, please use it too choose a place in your budget. Why are you contacting me?â
I am apparently unable to adequately communicate the part about not being offended/not taking it personally and thatâs okay too.
Ugh I do dislike discount seekers because itâs entirely disrespectful. I had someone contact me asking for a discount but said she was looking for a long term booking. When I asked what her budget was it was only a few ÂŁs off my listed price and I can see how she may have thought her request totally reasonable.
For me, a few ÂŁs off is actually a decent discount⌠I.e ÂŁ3 is actually a 10% discount and ÂŁ5 is 18% off. At ÂŁ5 off per night I am pretty much paying their service fee for them! No⌠for me my price is my price. If your budget wonât allow it then please look for a listing in your budget.
Iâd reject them.
I had some guests in the past that requested a discount, and all of them have been âbadâ guests.
(with bad I mean dirty, messy, loads of extra work.)
Nowadays, people asking for a discount are an instant reject. Because they end up causing more than they pay.