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Do the guest bother to read the listing at all?

#1

So my listing states max two people, no children under 10 and that you have to have a verified id if no reviews in order to book.

I got this message this morning:

Good Morning!!

I am interested in your apartment to go with my family between 12 and 27 December.
2 adults We are very responsible and clean and have 2 small children, one of 2.5 years and a baby of 11 months. We have Airbnb used in other countries and the owners have always been delighted with us.

Although we are going to visit relatives who live there need accommodation around the area and have several questions:

  • It would be possible to have a cot in the apartment for the baby?
  • It would be possible to have baby seat to eat? It is not essential but would be more comfortable for us.
  • could you provide a baby seat for the car?

Thank you very much for your help and I look forward to hearing.

I have declined them for obvious reasons but how many declines from clearly not a right fit will it take before I get dings from Airbnb.

btw listed my place last night and all the bookings except one are new to Airbnb.

#2

I get this at least once a month. Its so annoying.

#3

Wow at least once a month?! I won’t host children under 10 because of a pool and the space is not child proof. Just wondering if the ask about kids how many will try to sneak kids in.

#4

Yeah it gets a little annoying. Its a number of requests - kids, dogs, a third person. I can only accept two people. One weekend a Spanish mother, teenage son, and grandma turned up and I thought only the mother and a friend were coming - awkward situation. They were my first guests!

#5

I get similar things and it’s usually because they’ve written the request and then just cut and paste it and send it to every listing that looks of interest. No they don’t read it, they’ll read it when they get some positive responses to choose from. Really annoying isn’t it? And a waste of our time.

#6

Unfortunately, few guests look at the listing carefully. I rent at least 6 vacation rentals a year and rarely read the listing CAREFULLY. I look at the photos (obsessively and carefully), find out how many people fit and that’s about it. I think people have busy schedules. What I love to find is a nice looking manual in an easy to find location, like in the entrance or kitchen, that explains how everything works. Sorry to sound so lame but I think I’m pretty typical.

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#8

I understand first thing is looking at photos but I guess those new to airbnb won’t read the entire listing but at least expect them to read house rules! btw I have a nice German couple that booked in Feb and they told me that they loved the details of my listing and therefore wanted to book with me. Go figure some read some do not, personally I am a research nut and I would read all the details of a listing before booking.

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#9

Hahahahahahahahahahah!!!

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#10

Carmen,

I value money and always read the fine details so I don’t lose it. What’s with idiots these days?

#11

I know, right? That’s gotta be one of the best ever. You think you’ we seen it all…

#12

I just had this happen. Girl stayed with me. I clearly state in my listing that I have two dogs.
I have a key lad lock so she had her code to get in while I was at work. I get a message from her saying she is leaving her things on the stairs because she can hear a dog and is scared.
All this AFTER I messaged her with the house details and again mentioned the dogs and that they may growl bark when you first arrive as they are protecting their house.
Had to keep them locked up for her entire stay because she wouldn’t come in the house if they were out.
It was complete BS.

1 Like
#13

Don’t know the answer, but it is frustrating that you can’t just ask a host a simple question without sending a formal ‘Booking Enquiry’, which means the host has to officially decline or accept it. I wanted to get in touch with a local competitor (just a friendly question), but had to formulate it as a formal booking enquiry. Ridiculous. I’ve had a couple of queries from local people who were checking out listings on behalf of friends that would be visiting. It was irritating that I had to formally decline their requests when it quickly became clear that they weren’t a good fit. It made me seem like kind of an officious prick - not a good way to remain friendly, and open to possible future requests.

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#14

I’m a little confused. When did I ever tell you to go and buy a toaster oven dedicated to gluten free baking and notes on an apartment and things to do? Are you confusing me with someone else?

#15

I don’t believe you need to send a booking inquiry to ask questions. At the bottom of the listing where it shows the host, there is a button labeled “Contact Host” and you can send just messages through there.

1 Like
#16

I have pictures of my dog both on my profile pic and in the listing pics as well as in the description. I still got 1 or 2 people surprised I have a dog. (=

In regards to guests reading listings, I’m not sure if this is true, but it seems to me that on the app, it is not a complete listing that shows up. For example, on my desktop when I look at my listing, I can see my house rules. I cannot seem to find them anywhere on the app. This may be part of why it seems guests are not reading the listing if they are relying on the app only, I think some important sections are missing. Can anyone verify?

#17

I fully believe guests don’t read, maybe they read the brief description and possibly look at the first few photos. We frequently get how many bedrooms and how many bathroom questions, are there towels, etc. All of which are very obvious if someone would have read our listing.

As a fun little experiment I put a sentence in the description that says ‘When making a request, please confirm you have read and will abide by all house rules’. I would say 2 out of 10 requests include the above pre-req, which has been on our listing for 3 years :rage:

#18

100% of my guests never read the listing. I think it is covered by airbnb, the guest can not see that. I have tried many times.

#19

yes, and I said "$5 off if you say “I read it!”. Only 1 taker in the last 6 months…

1 Like
#20

OMG. That is brilliant! I may have to add that

1 Like
#21

Just had an email conversation with my guests who are to arrive on Friday, the day after tomorrow. She asked if there was a TV in the room. I say it THREE times in my listing “the only TV is in the living room, there is no cable and no access to local channels, but there is a ROKU 3 for streaming”. I even have it noted on the photo of the living room, “this is the only TV in the house”, and on the photo of the bedroom, I have listed, “No TV in this room”. So this guest did not read anything. I sure hope she at least read the 3rd sentence of my description which states “fast wifi, sketchy cell service” (and yes, I have that blasted throughout my listing also).

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