I collect tax in cash but it is disclosed in a million different ways before they get here. In fact, before I accept their booking, I ask again… The tax due in cash upon arrival is xxxx. If this is ok with you I will accept your reservation. Tax and a security deposit are two different things. If a host surprised me with a giant deposit upon arrival the first thing I would do is call Airbnb and complain, and loudly. The guest was right,-- he had to fork over his food money for a deposit! How distressing!
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Are you serious?Do you think if a guest broke sth he will admit? And if he didn’t admit or sign something, how can you report to airbnb, you have no evidence to say that the guest damages it can get your money back. And my friend called airbnb before and airbnb said they didn’t charge deposit since long time(2014). Airbnb is against the local law and it can not protect either guests nor host… it is just an agent .If you people in the forum act like crazy monkeys that is no problem. My propose is just to share information but not to watch monkey show like in a zoo.
My guests broke a stove and I got paid from them through Airbnb.You are breaking rules taking deposit in cash!
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Who knew trolls like to watch monkey shows! “The Troll and The Monkey it Loved”
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Chen - it seems like you do not understand the terms and condition, and the “spirit” of Airbnb…By asking for cash deposits OUTSIDE of Airbnb, you are clearly violating the rules, and sending a very negative message to your guests. Why do you think your furniture is somehow better than ours? Really? I would appreciate an answer. It all comes down to attitude.
We are not monkeys. We are all trying to be generous in spirit, and embrace the culture that we think Airbnb espouses - plus make some money and some new friends. Are you?
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All we have to do is ‘flag’ her posts, so they get deleted, and she will eventually go away.
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She has Luxury Furniture. It’s very special.
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What is luxury furniture?
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We can only speculate since he or she refuses to share their listing. But if it reflects it’s owners taste it’s probably hideous. We’ve all seen it, expensive furniture that looks like a medieval torture device. That’s probably what they have.
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One of the good aspects of this type of hosting I always thought is that everything is paid up front and upon guest arrival, no need to discuss money.
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I have to imagine given the remoteness of your listing that you have some services that are paid in cash? Guests running our of XYZ and you having to make a trip to the island, etc?
Oh yes, well after they check in however, usually after 3-4 days; I either take them to town or bring them out groceries or things they ran out of, upon ~their~ request of course. If I take items out to them, I don’t charge for the gas (a lousy $5US), nor for my time (30 minute), in fact I usually take the opportunity to take them to see the whole atoll or even other islands, like an orientation tour; they always love that.
Actually the one thing it struck me about Chen’s approach is that in my book it breaks the #1 rule of hosting: ‘Never, ever nickel and dime’ your guests. Especially westerners, they above anyone else, in my experience, hate that the most; because 99% of them abhor haggling, especially when on vacation!
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She gives us all bad name!!!
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Couldn’t agree more! Please do not nickel and dime me!
Here in Barcelona, we have a few stricter rules bc of the propensity for larger groups to make noise, lock themselves out, etc. If the property manager has to come by for a non ER call we charge 100Euro (ie what he bills us), we also have a blurb about later check in (after 12am), but I can not even recall the last time we actually charged someone for late check in. We don’t charge for travel fiascos etc 
I was just thinking of some idiots running out of water/gas(?)/ etc and abusing your kindness, ie calling every day for something. Clearly, I have been hosting too long.
The people that left this morning were from London, lovely gentle people, BUT sure enough they never even thought of bringing ~Sunscreen~, heck they never seen such bright sun (see island cabinet full of every type of sunscreen); the ones this afternoon from Missouri,USA (4 days, super fit types), they showed up with two small bags of chips! LoL. “Ok folks, follow me to the store”, they left well provisioned. I rarely see or hear from my guests during their entire stay; perfect.
P.S. The island is well stocked with propane, water, power, etc; has to be.
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I want your guests!!!
Im on a string of high maintenance guests. Wish I could vote them off the Island!lol
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I hear you az. Honestly, I will not amuse high-maintenance guests, at all. My opening salvo in the information I send all inquiries right off the bat includes this line: “The island is best suited for the self-sufficient at heart and resourceful in nature…” Meaning if you expect to be catered to, you are looking at the wrong place; its an island not a resort.
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Lol… You mean they can’t live off of coconut meat and coconut water, along with mangoes or papaya? You mean you don’t have a fishing pole for guest use so they can catch their own dinner? 
Hahaha. To expand further, the guy says to me, “We expect to live off what we catch”, and she follows proudly with 'Brett is a wonderful fisherman, but hasn’t fish in ‘some’ time". Despite the fact the island has a whole rack of fishing setups, I follow with; “Ok just in case, follow me to the store.”. Actually I dragged them also to my deli, and I gave them a few whole rotisserie chickens, because both said they also don’t cook! LoL
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I would love to stay at your island. Unfortunately I know my wife would hate it there and she will win out.
Any info you can give me about how you set up your guests on the fishing equipment would be really helpful. I also have a ton of fishing equipment and where my guest house is is known for fishing. I was thinking of marketing along that avenue and check it out. I can even set up other places ready made for Fisherman to come.