This is a couple years old, but I just ran across it. Pretty hilarious. Not specific to Airbnbs, but I know hosts get these sorts of propositions sometimes.
Paul Stenson, the guy who owns the White Moose is completely nuts, in a good way!
A woman gave him a 1* on Tripadviser so he posted, online, CCTV footage of her scoffing away merrily, contrary to what she had said in the review. Ouch!
If you google âwhite moose cafe dublinâ with the quotes, you can check out some of his stunts.
JF
@muddy Thank you for sharing. I literally died laughing. ⌠maybe not literally.
the use of literally has to be one of my top 10 annoyances.
She goes on and on and onâŚsaying NOTHING. She has to be a few marbles short. WHO watches these kind of social idiotâs? Men in their 90âs who are pervs??? Lol!
There are some great comments on YouTube about this video.
Until recently, asking for free stuff was called begging and considered a shameful thing to do. It still is to meâŚ
@jaquo Oh, but these bloggers and influencers are âspecialâ. We should feel honored that they would want to grace us with their presence
I canât imagine that Iâd want any of the people who would âfollowâ these narcissistic nobodies and be âinfluencedâ by their recommendations to book my place.
Exactly. And to host people who were âinfluencedâ by a blog, vlog or tweet would be a nightmare.
Just look at her⌠picky princess and the potential to be the demanding guest from hell!
This made me have a flashback to this topic that didnât work out all that well.
Thanks! Iâm now following him on Twitter. The video is a hoot.
Fortunately Iâve only had one guest like that, a managing co-host for about 30 âchicâ small houses in Oregon, who got off her high horse once she realized that my house is, as another guest said, âlike the house that I shared in university, except that here everyone does their dishesâ.
Iâm the go-to tour operator when our local visitorsâ bureau needs a guide for travel writers and visiting VIPs (having a luxury vehicle helps). Fortunately they vet all the âtravel writersâ to ensure that we get publication that reaches our target demographics, and that everythingâs legitimate. I have comped tours after hours for Brazilian TV but it only got me 2 tour bookings from a network TV show with Brazilâs most popular travel host. Now if I could only translate the video they sent to meâŚ
Oh that was a great video; thanks for sharing! I would never think to ask for a free stay in advance of anything like that⌠Yikes!
If I ever found myself with the presence and influence to write a review that would potentially help a business like that, Iâd pay my way and do the review anyway for content.
Then if I saw that it had garnered attention - and I planned on staying there again - I would consider reaching out to the place and saying something like:
âI stayed at your place and loved it so much that I was inspired to make a video review and share it on my page. It seems to have gotten some attention (insert link here), and it appears to have inspired some other folks to stay with you, as well - thatâs exciting! Iâm glad that my experience could inspire others to seek you out - I hope itâs been beneficial for you; you deserve it! Iâll be passing back through and staying with you on (date) and if youâd consider granting me an upgrade, Iâd really appreciate it. If not, I completely understand, but you never know unless you ask, right? Thanks for your consideration and have a fantastic day!â
But the way she handled the rejection email? Give me a break! Sometimes the answer is no; deal with it!
at 3:47:
â⌠I do this, I do that, I leave conjunctivitis-infected, mascara-stained washcloths and pillowcases behindâŚâ
@muddy I realize this little gem is an old post but oh, itâs just as satisfying and hilarious over a year later. Amazing. Love, love, love!
I just had another host ask me for basically a 10% bereavement discount. I gave the discount because business is suddenly slow & itâs a host (just barely). Then, after giving the discount they had the nerve to come back around and say âthe other place I messaged is willing to do blah, blah, blahâ. So I said:
â I understand. You need to feel good about your choice & I never want anything less than a 5 for my âvalueâ rating. This is my best offer for what I provide, and it wonât hurt my feelings if you choose the other location. There are a lot of great places here to choose from depending upon your destination so I totally get it.â
Response was âoh, no, you have better reviews and we need to book a place now we are comfortable with; never hurts to ask.â
HmmmmâŚget it butâŚdonât like that, especially from a fellow host. So hurts my respect for you. What turnip truck do you think I just fell off of? After all that they wanted to remove a day off the reservation because not sure on flight arrivals (???). I said sure. Did itâŚwith a note that I would allow early checkin for up to 3 hours at $XX/hr - non-negotiable. I will be totally miffed if this bites me in the butt.
I could be somewhat forgiving of a young person, a student, asking politely if there was a possibility of a discount, and in some cultures where bartering is common, itâs considered foolish not to try to get a"better deal".
But a fellow host asking for this, when itâs obvious that itâs not a matter of her not being able to afford it, but just âit never hurts to askâ, I find pretty offensive.
She knows that hosts base their pricing on what the market will bear for the area, what their expenses are, etc, so asking for a discount is basically saying you donât deserve to get your asking price. And how would a guest know if a place is good value if theyâd never stayed there before?
Well, the way I try to look at it is that I promise to deliver X with excellence, within my control. You agree to pay Y for X. And, youâve seen how I compare (online anyway) w/ the market. You already decided itâs a good value when you decided to book (in my little mind at least; I hope my guest isnât booking begrudgingly). If I deliver or exceed I think that wins in the value category. Who knows how each person interrupts it, but this is my approach (did this thing I agreed to pay X for meet my expectations based on what was promised/pictured).