The joys of IB....NOT

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Hello all,

I really believe this booking from yesterday needs to be cancelled right away. Looking for thoughts/suggestions.
Had an instant booking for single female traveler for 7 days, which is our max., and this is a sum of her message
She is a college student taking online classes and wanting to get away and not be distracted by people. Just relax and focus on school
This morning she sends message wanting to know if there is a kitchen to cook her food.
(The listing clearly states, Mother In Law Suite, en-suite bath and private entrance. There is a microwave, mini fridge and coffee maker in the suite.) I answered with a list of those above amenities. So she then asks if she can bring her own cook top since she does not eat out and is on a special diet. UGH! While typing a polite no to this request, another comes thru from her “I also would like to mention that my dog is a little over the limit (our limit is 25 lbs) that I just now saw in your listings. She is a 50 lb boxer” A LITTLE over???
My response "Hi ***** the weight of your pet must not be over 25 lbs. Also we do not allow stove top cooking in the space. It doesn’t seem like this space would not be a good fit for you so would be best if you cancel. There may be other places in the area that would be able to accommodate your needs. Thanks"
Her response "Ok, well I will look for other places. I am going to keep this reservation until I find a place.

So…really? I feel the thing for me to do is cancel the reservation myself so those dates will be free for other bookings. Even if she took the place minus dog and cook top, I just don’t think she will be happy here and that would make for 7 very long days for us along with a crappy review. I have only been hosting since October but have hosted over 40 different groups and so far no problems. Thanks to this forum and all the great advice, I feel strongly this one will be a big problem. Guess I just need some reassurance from my on line mentors.

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I am not really experienced in these cancelation things, but if you have in writing that her dog weighs too much to comply with your rules, I guess that it’s only a phone call to AirBnB to get her reservation canceled.

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Just cancel.

Use the “I do not feel comfortable” option, and in the explanation put that the guest is planning to break the houserules.

  1. cooking
  2. large dog.
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4

Trust your gut… Cancel!
Your listing is unavailable to others if you wait for the guest to do it, so you could miss out on another guest.
And Note: I’m pretty sure airbnb won’t penalize you in any way for canceling, since the instant booker is in violation of your house rules. (In fact, there may even be an option to choose something like that as your reason.)

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Yep I third cancelling. Best to clear your calendar now… asking to bring a cooktop is bizarre and the dog is 100% over your weight limit!

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Thanks all…will cancel this booking today.

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Well she cancelled before I did…yay! But got a dig in…Reason for cancelling per her “No kitchen and can’t bring my dog even though it is listed as having those things” No,a kitchen is not listed and the pet must 25 lbs or less. So glad she cancelled and feel I dodged a bullet.

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You did :slight_smile:

Glad this ended well.

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9

We had a lady who tried to book telling us ‘I see you don’t allow kitchen access, so we will cook on our camping stove on your street’. Ummmm…NO!! Imagine what the neighbours would think! Luckily we weren’t on instant book.
(Sorry, just realised that might seem a little off-topic. Your guest asking to bring a cooktop reminded me of that)

I agree with others, cancel!!

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I would have called Airbnb as soon as she messaged this, if only to make sure that the dates were cleared off.

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Where is she going to put her dog, i wonder… You are not going to let her in with the dog anyway , why would she keep a reservation? Also if she absolutely can’t eat out why would she want acomodation where she must eat out unless she microwaves everything or eats yogurts, cereal and sandwiches, which i personally don’t see anything wrong with.

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Exactly @Yana. I’ve had guests complain that no kitchen access means they have to eat out three times a day which I find an odd complaint because I allow my guests to eat cold food in their room. That means you can buy fruit and a cereal bar for breakfast, eat a packet of crisps or nuts as a snack and bring home a salad or sandwich for dinner if you’re worried about your budget. Plenty of choice !

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We had many discussions here about kitchen use, and that was actually the reason why i came to this forum in my early hosting days . And after my chillians cooks i made use of kitchen very limited. I do allow though to store, warm up and very simple meal preparation, but i stress it enough in my rules and initial talk that 'please, stay away from my kitchen as much as possible …or else::joy:) From now and then, very rarely i still get people who attempt to make gourmet dishes 3 times a day, but i stopp them immediately.

Then of course they don’t like me anymore, but they might as well don’t like themselves for not wanting to spend more money and book a separate place where they can cook it away.

I have 2 guests here now, one stays 5 months, another 1 month, but looks like he is a pretty permanent guest. He is only 18 years old, i really enjoy having him around.Works 2 jobs and and pays on time and never home:):slight_smile:
The first one makes good money and eats out all the time.
The young one cant afford to eat out at all. Once a week he goes to a supermarket and market and buys grosseries. Its the same things all the time:
Spagetti, spagetti sauce, rice, couple potatoes, yougurts, cereal, milk, instant oatmeal, canned tuna, eggs, bread, jam, peanut butter, canned beans, cold cuts and fruits. Every morning he eats cereal, toast with butter and jam, makes coffee. Sometimes its yougurt and fruit, sometimes its couple of eggs or oatmeal. Then he makes a sandwich to take to work. And at night he either boils spagetti, rice or puts potato in microwave. ANd its not every night, because he does not make just one portion of rice or spagetti, he makes enough for 2-3 days and then just warms it up. Then he buys cooked chicken form Publix couple times a week.

I am watching him for a month now and think:why an 18 year old figured out how to eat like this and have nice meals everyday without much cooking and follow my rules and why all the grown ups i hosted here who were trying to break my kitchen rules tried to convince me how impossible it is to not use kitchen 3 times a day.

I like how some trying to make me feel bad saying something like this: But i have to eat, or… do you actually get people stay here with your rules or…but you cook yourself right?.. Its my house, my rules, why dont you spend a bit more money and rent yourself a separate space or a different listing where you are allowed to cook. You are renting the cheapest accomodation version possible and on top of that want to save even more by not going out and spend a bit more on food, how is it my fault.
Well… of course i dont say it exactly like that::joy:

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Hahaha true! If kitchen use is important (and fair enough if it is) spend the extra money to get kitchen use.

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Ok I laughed out loud at that. My neighbors would all call me within 1.2 seconds of an attempt to start a campfire in the front yard.