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@Dutchboy, you are so right. Average ‘western man’ is 28 inches wide, why standard should be 32. This hustler guest of yours didn’t perceive himself as an exception, all the way around (no punt intended).
@Garden1Gnome The minute I hear: “It is a surprised for my wife”, I get very nervous.
What Xena said. Why waste your time on a back and forth?
Lol, I felt that’s what happened. She looked like death warmed over when she was walking in. They weren’t young but they were only married a year. He was frugal she was high maintenance, and those two dot go together… 
Just had the best response for a discount request… I pre-approved their request at full price, and they came back asking for 10%. I said sorry, no it’s High Season, but I’m happy to have you at full price. Literally within 5 mins I got an IB for the same dates, and I messaged the discount seeker, that I was sorry her dates were no longer available!
Woo Hoo! Love when that happens!
To be fair, Ms Discount Seeker was very nice, and said she was in the process of booking, blah blah, when the other booking came through.
Snooze-lose. Too bad so sad.
I work like a dog to make my rental beautiful and clean and welcoming, and I NEVER give discounts. I did only once – to a "starving student – from Texas who claimed he was starting Princeton when he left my rental in Yosemite. He wanted me to take $50 off, writing “for example, you could waive the cleaning deposit” and offered a figure that he could afford. It turned out to be $100 MORE than I was asking, so I said sure, I’ll take that. He turned out to be a complete punk, though his girlfriend was very sweet. The hot tub rules said DO NOT TOUCH THE CONTROLS, but he did it anyway and turned it down 10 degrees and left it that way for me to find in the morning. It costs money to heat 300 gallons 10 degrees and I was absolutely furious. But he was just my third guest party and I needed good feedback. When he left he stole at least $150 of food that I had stocked for guests, plus two $150 LL Bean new cotton terry bathrobes for the spa, and left the place a mess. I called him on his cell phone and told him to bring everything back. He sneered at me: “What are you going to do if I don’t?” I told him I would call the CHP because there was only one way in and one way out for the next 75 miles, and he would miss his plane to “Princeton.” He turned around and drove back and the coward sat in the car while his mortified girlfriend returned the items and apologized. She said “He told me it was complimentary.”
I told her to be sure to tell him that the price he suggested and that I accepted was $100 more than I charged for the room. She laughed and said he was a jerk and it served him right. He left me a so-so review because he didn’t want me to write that he stole from me. I damned him with faint praise. A couple of days later I called the Princeton admissions office and – big surprise – they had no record of him whatsoever. I will NEVER give anyone a discount again.
I raised my prices and got a much better class of guest and no one ever asked for a discount again. but if they do, I’m going to decline it instantly and click the “I do not feel comfortable with this person” button as the reason, because that’s the truth.
Honestly that is the perfect reply. When I first started hosting, I was open to these requests. I have found that the more “requests” guests make (discounts, extra people, extra linens, excessively early or late checkout, etc) the worse they are to deal with.
I no longer honor any requests for discounts and I reply with a polite but short “no thanks” similar to yours. I do not justify WHY I do not offer discounts or engage in any further discussion with the guest. Angry responses? Sure, every once in a while I get one of those. I ignore it and move on.
hosing = hosting* (fixed it for yas Mike before anyone gets the wrong impression)
…which further justify our decision to decline.
thanks for keeping me honest Mearns.
At this point I send a “decline” message unless I’m desperate for money.
Do you mean the moment they ask for a discount, or after repeated requests?
Your response does have an edge to it though. It presumes that the person inquiring has a specific motivation or frame of mind. It could very well be the case that the person just legitimately believes it wouldn’t hurt to ask.
If so, they could either agree that your listing is worth it and reserve it or else they’d move along. Either way, you could suss that out by seeing if they accept your counteroffer before you decline them.
Then again, maybe I need to get hit with more requests for discounts and you’ll see me get jaded quickly. LOL
Sorry, the smiley face just irritates me! You are not a fish market, though Tokyo has some great auctions for fish. You are accommodations and yours are quite wonderful.
@ajl I completely see your point, but I am sooooo jaded. I have never had a good experience booking with someone who asked for a discount so I now automatically deny any such requests (and, quite frankly, I am not hard-up for either the money or bookings – I am 3/4 full for October). The last experience was with the former (illegal) NYC host who asked for a discount AFTER she booked (she booked at $275/night and asked for a $75/night discount). I offered to let her cancel with a full refund but she chose to keep the booking. She left the place quite messy and gave me fewer than five stars for everything but cleanliness, accuracy, and communication, and a minimal review: “Accurate description, clean and newly renovated space. Great 2 bedroom, fully furnished kitchen condo”. By replying the way I do, hopefully the guest will not ask for a discount on the next place they try to book. I am calling them out with my response on purpose.
After several requestsmall. No means no. One request is innocent. Multiple is disrespect.
