Inquiry from guest who wanted to "price negotiate"?

I got request from one lady and she wanted to stay with her husband and friend over the weekend. She was asking 100 a night and no cleaning fee ( vs my price 259/n + cleaning ) because her husband is in the military. Well …! She is also host herself and rents out her property for 359/n . Sometimes people are so funny . If I get this kind of ridiculous offer I decline without even saying anything. I might negotiate the price little bit but only with guests who are staying 4-5 days and up. I know people like the lady above come to your place with " woo huuu we got the deal " and leave air conditioner on 24 h and have no respect

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Also type of people I hate : " O, I have only x much money vs your price , can I book it ?"
Well , no ! Airbnb is already kind of outlet of vacational rentals what else people want . Some times I rent out my 2/2 place 260 /n with all the fees and taxes included and people still dare to say : “can I have better deal ?” . If 4 people can not split cost of 260$ I guess they should set up tent in the park or stay at home

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We just got a pretty good one…Our weekly price is $2750 (high season here) and the woman wants to pay $1000 bc that’s all her husband’s company gave him for a stipend. She sent a lovely email and was very nice, but I still can’t believe she would ask for a 64% discount and think it’s ‘ok’.

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After 3 months of hosting, I have to say that I will not negotiate any more.

I had given lower rates for 2 people, and the only ones I had problems with were these 2:

First one stayed 17 days. Was very friendly, but he obviously got drunk with many people in the apartment (building security told me later) and damaged the flooring (water damage) and a sideboard. He initially denied, and I was on the way to the police station to file a report (insurance requested that) when he finally accepted payment.

Second one did not return the key cards for building and parking access. The cleaning service did not find the cards where they were supposed to be, and after I contacted him, he tried to play games and threaten me (this is what he wrote (in chronological order):“I left them on the carpet”, “My wife was the last one in the apartment, do you think she is lying?”, “My child has hidden them somewhere, but they are in the apartment, I am 100% sure”, “oh, I just recognized I took them with me, I will bring them next week”, “why do you want them back? we stayed 4 nights, and you made so much money with us, be gentle!”, “The price for the cards is too high, you are probably making money with the replacement”, “I will leave a negative review”, “I never mentioned before but my child is injured because of your poor furniture, you owe me injury award, I took the key cards as a pawn”…). This was solved by the resolution center, I got the money for replacement.

All other guests: only 5* reviews, very nice people

My conclusion:
Negotiators = problems

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OMG. WOW. Just WOW.

That sounds miserable.

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Btw, any attempt to blackmail with a review will be removed by Air.

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Good to know K!! Dare I ask how you know this?

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Thanks, I also did not know that.

Let’s see if he will write a review.

Luckily, he texted me all these things (also the blackmail).

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No mysteries. :slight_smile: It’s in their rules. If you blackmail or refer to an open case, your review will be removed. There are some other guidelines as well that escape me. :slight_smile:

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@azreala
Just tell them they can stay for 2 - 1/4 nights! There you discounted their stay! :smile:

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I had a similar thing when I was a brand new host. First booking was from a couple who also hosted. They negotiated me way down and got me to remove the cleaning fee because they had a “budget” and had to stay within in. I was wanting to get some bookings and reviews so I agreed. Later when I looked at their listing, I realized they charged more for their one room suite than I did for my entire 3 bed/2 bathroom house with a yard, porch, and deck. Luckily they left me a great review, but I did have quite a cleaning job from their 4 night stay, which included children & grandchildren.

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OH Lordy!!! I have to laugh!! Only burned once, eh?

@FtWorthGal Yeesh, that sounds awful!

BIG RED FLAG! I had a guest do this to me once and I fell for it. It was the worse guest I have ever had. Left the apartment completely destroyed. I’m pretty sure he threw a party in my apartment. Which is against my rules.

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I just had one from a woman who was a corpoate executive and wanted to pay 1100 for a 1765 2 week rental…already low season and weekly discounted…because that was all the company paid.

No no no! Wanted to tell her she should work for a better company.
And in her profile, she graduated from a local private schoo which costs about 25k/year so she is not a budget traveler.

My answer to “I have a budget” is “So do I” . For people who are genuinely fund free, I direct them to some nearby college dorm rentals…clean, safe and cheap.

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Most hosts apparently do not have any discount policy. I have discounts for stays of one week and for one month and they are posted. So I do not get any hagglers. Or just state clearly: price is not negotiable.

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Most hosts have experienced that stating something clearly in their listing is no guarantee that guests will read it and if they do read it they often believe themselves to be the exception. I state no pets allowed. This is because one of my dogs is sometimes dog aggressive. I still have people asking if they can bring pets, shockingly even cats. I state that guests can park in our driveway. I can’t tell you how many guests ask about parking. I state that the bathroom is shared. Many guests ask if they will have their own bathroom.

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I state clearly when & where do we meet (only dock in a small village, 1pm) and even include a map: 99% always ask "When and where do we meet?’.

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I wonder how do you guys reply to those already answered in the listing or guide book questions