Enquiry I don't understand

Greetings folks. Just had the following enquiry and I’m probably being dim but I don’t understand what these people are after? Can anyone make head or tail of it? Advice/wisdom or chocolate appreciated.

“I’d like to book your room for 20th January but we may want it 21st too. If we pay for 20th and then decided to stay and the room wasn’t booked out, could we pay you the difference?”

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Sounds clear to me - they might want two nights. Asking if second night is available when they are staying and they want it can they extend their stay .

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Two things jump out to me.

  1. If you accept, you’ll need to do a reservation adjustment or if it’s tool late to change, then a payment resolution but if you book it as a separate reservation, they would have to pay your cleaning fee twice. (Unless you don’t have one.)

  2. They may try to offer you cash in person to save fees. While many host do this, I keep everything on the platform. I am not. naive to thing that Airbnb will always be there to back me up as a host but the extra protection (besides my own insurance) gives me a bit of peace of mind.

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As others have noted, their request seems clear, but the method for adjusting the reservation if they want to stay would be done differently by different hosts. If you decide to do the cash route, do not mention it in your Airbnb thread. Just say yes, get the 20th reserved and then you can call or text with the person directly to mention the cash option. Airbnb picks up on conversations about direct booking.

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As others have said, it’s not clear whether they are simply asking if they can add a night to their reservation or if they can add a night and pay you directly.

I’d simply reply "Yes, you may alter your reservation to add the 21st if it is still available. "

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I think I might add that the check-out time on the 20th is [fill in blanks].

I don’t know if the OP has housecleaners scheduled to arrive at a certain time. If so, I’d add a statement like “You need to tell me by [fill in date and time] whether you want to extend your stay if available since I have cleaners scheduled to arrive at or soon after [check-out time].”

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Could be straightforward, but could be “We’ll pay for the second night in cash”, but they stay and then don’t pay. IOW, they are hoping a host is naive enough to let them stay on a “We’ll go to the ATM in the morning” promise.

Don’t know if you are an experienced or newish host- if the latter, be aware that scammers target new listings, assuming the host is naive.

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If I were going to do this, and I wouldn’t with an unknown guest, they would pay via a payment app like CashApp or Venmo immediately upon requesting the extra night if they didn’t have dirty cash to put right into my hand.

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Thanks @Muddy and @KKC . I knew something was off about this. So far, they have booked for one night but are now trying to negotiate on price, including trying to tug at my heart strings (I don’t have any) about how they have been doing night duty at a children’s home…I have replied with yes, you can extend your stay via the app if you would like to when you know what your plans are.

I’m already uncomfortable about this but thanks everyone for your thoughts.

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People like that make me want to say things like “oh, that’s so wonderful, the work of an angel. My child died when they were 3 and I’m still paying off the bills from her lifelong illness. So I can’t afford to give discounts.” :japanese_ogre:

At this point I’d block the day after their stay and tell them the room is no longer available so you don’t have to futz with it any longer.

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“You may be able to extend your booking if the accommodation has not been booked by another party, but there are no guarantees.”
I might just handle it through the resolution center as a “additional services” for simplicity.

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Love it! I often get accused of not having a heart when instead I’m being a businesswoman.

I snorted water on this one.

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no need to go to an ATM, guests can pay via Direct Debit and in Australia at least, that is instant. I have guests extend their stay frequently and I always give them a discount for the extra night if they pay me directly, and so far never had anyone skip out on me.

edit: of course, the bit about working in a children’s home is the red flag, these guests sound dodgy.

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Yes, I know there’s plenty of ways they could pay- I was just making the point that if they claim they’ll pay you later with some excuse, don’t fall for it. No pay no stay.
And yeah, as soon as someone starts trying to tug at a host’s heart strings, they are likely not to be trusted.

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yes any guest who claims they need to go to an ATM (esp out here) is a red flag

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I have had this request several times. I would tell them yes, happy to host them on 20th, if they decide they want to add the day, as a previous post mentioned, just let them know they need to give you a heads up so you have time to advise your cleaner. If they decide to stay, you have two options. You can adjust the dates on the platform, or if you decide to go direct, you’ll handle it on the day. Everyone has some form of app to send payment on their phone, (I’m not sure where the ATM figures into any of this!!). We have guests that are sometimes en route to another place and don’t know if they want to break the trip one night or two. I don’t find anything suspect about the request.

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No, everyone does not have “some form of app to send money payment on their phone”. There’s a whole big world out there and believe it or not, everyone does not live their lives the same way, nor utilize the same technology. And while you may live without ever using cash, a large part of the world runs on cash exchange. That’s what the ATM referenced.

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yes, have to agree with Muddy, there’s a whole lot of reasons people might not use apps for finance. I often get paid in cash for direct bookings. Each to their own, so long as they pay me on time.

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I have to say, I read this much more cynically than the other hosts. To me, paying ‘the difference’ could also mean covering your costs, and not paying the full amount, since they’re ‘doing you a favor’ as you didn’t have a booking anyway. And once you said they we’re negotiating later & tugging st your heart strings that seemed even more likely. Bad vibes either way. Let us know how it turned out.

And - let me be the first today to say happy holidays to you!

They just want the room, and of if they like they might extend a day.

No problem, I do this al the time.
Have them pay cash upfront.