He had one previous review and was new to airbnb.
But, he told us he had been moving around during his few week stay here, so he should’ve had more than one review by now.
We’ll go with guests who aren’t so new or only have one review. I gave him the benefit of the doubt since we’re new to airbnb. Not again. I’ll have to try to find a way to reassure tenant’s we’ve had plenty of happy tenants elsewhere outside of airbnb. I’ll also bump the pricing and describe the listing. Perhaps I should set the nightly rate much more- and give a substantial long-term discount to make long-term stays equivalent to normal lease/rent rates around here for a room outside of airbnb.
He didn’t fix the credit card problem the first booking in over 24 hours so the booking expired and airbnb cancelled the booking. During this time he asked for our address knowing his credit card payment failed-- before his payment went through. We didn’t give the address, as airbnb gives the address upon confirmed paid booking. He hadn’t successfully paid through airbnb so they cancelled the first reservation, and he had to put in another reservation. He then put in another booking request a few days later, and that went through-- that successfully paid reservation gave him the address through airbnb.
He apparently has one credit card with a limit too low to book a cheap room. Who goes to a foreign country with ONE credit card, let alone ONE credit card with too low a limit to book a month at an affordable place to live? I looked at prepaid visa/mastercard cards at a gas station… they’re a few dollars and you can add $1000 in cash, no ID or questions asked and instantly use that mastercard/visa anywhere- online, in stores, whatever. I didn’t realize how easy it is to get a prepaid card with cash and instantly use it. His “I only have cash” and one low-limit credit card issue is something he could easily fix in a few minutes at a gas station if he really has the cash. I’m wondering if he simply doesn’t have much cash and that’s why he has too low a credit card limit that he somehow can’t pay off/raise the limit of or get a visa/mastercard prepaid gift card for a few dollars. Either way, it’s really not my problem as a host- it’s his. I’ll have to keep that in mind for future rentals, and not approve users who have failed payments on their first reservation request (unless they have many airbnb reviews and it’s just a foreign credit card verification problem, perhaps).
When I travel abroad, I expect some fees- like currency exchange fees-- as part of the trip. I looked at his airbnb fees he’s paying for our room, and it’s not like they’re hundreds of dollars in airbnb fees for a month-- it’s a negligible amount, less than a decent dinner in a restaurant with a cheap beer or two. A prepaid visa/mastercard gift card at a gas station has fees of about $5-10-- no ID or anything needed, and you can load it with cash instantly and use on airbnb. That’s not hundreds of dollars in fees, so his “I want to save money with cash” isn’t as good of a reason as it sounded to me at first.
I think he was sucking up for sure. If he has cash, he could’ve easily gotten a visa/mastercard gift card no ID needed at a gas station and fixed his initial failed booking reservation through airbnb in less than 24 hours. I figured at that point it was that his credit card was denied because it was out of country— but he says it’s a bank card limit issue.
It could be he wants cash because his credit card has too low a limit, or wants to avoid airbnb fees, instead of a long-term con where he wants to just go outside of airbnb to become a squatter more easily and long-term get state’s tenants rights. Why would someone go to another country with ONE credit card he knows has too low a credit limit, and then having had problems with it not try to find a solution before they have nowhere (paid) to stay? He’s also had well over a week to figure this out (really weeks, as he previously stayed elsewhere in our city) and get his credit card or prepaid gift card situation resolved. He could have gotten a prepaid visa gift card no ID needed at the gas station to use, or up his credit limit or pay off his credit card in a week, or found some solution. Or alternative housing that happily takes cash. There are prepaid visa gift cards at any gas station or store, he could buy one of those with cash then book with airbnb that way. If he knows his credit cards don’t have a high limit and he isn’t willing to buy prepaid visa gift cards to use an online site, he really shouldn’t be using airbnb, and should do hotels or craigslist that allows cash option. There really were red flags here, I just ignored most of them trying to give him the benefit of the doubt.
We really should bump our pricing up. That easily could be why our first guest is “riff raff” here. Good point.
It’s cheap because we cater to long term, not 1-2 night stays. Most of our tenants have always been long-term written leases, not airbnb or similar short-term rental sites. We don’t want it to become crazy costly for someone to stay a few weeks since that’s what we usually go for. There’s a few similar rentals in the immediate area, like the one he stayed at, that are about 25% more. Many properties cater to 1-3 night stays, and are twice (or more) our rates. Those are newer properties and cater to 1-3 day guests, another reason we chose affordable. I also don’t want someone paying premium rates and expecting premium service with full maid service, shampoo samples, granite countertops everywhere in bathrooms, designer furniture, and over the top everything. I don’t want overly “premium” expectations, and cater to middle class young tenants new to the area or visiting a few weeks. We’ve always had quality tenants that way, never had complaints and they always appreciated the value and short-term and long-term lease options.
