Recommend companies like Mail Boxes Etc (MBE) or UPS Store to the guest. They can rent a PO box there (even online) with which they can receive letters and parcels.
I used to tell guests they could receive mail through general delivery at the nearest PO, but apparently this needs the permission of the postmaster and other rigamarole. Really, there are commercial places that specialize in these sorts of services. No reason to allow guest mail or parcels to be sent to your home.
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Wow, Im a guest and not a host, I have never heard such paranoia, and dark consequences. Drugs, packages unwanted coming for years??
I am renting a place for January, and just wanted to pay my bills, so I didnāt have late fees. And If I couldāve gotten the rental for 3 months I wouldāve taken it to get away from the Snow.
but when I asked today what the address was, I was told very curtly that they wouldnāt give it to me until the day I arrived?..I thought that was weird. And then when I asked about forwarding mail, they stated āthis is a vacation stay onlyāā¦I have no idea what that means. Im a rookie at this but looking for a place to spend winters. When I responded that I need to pay my bills, I didnāt even get a response???
Not a good start to the host by my standards, When I read the reviews of the places. I got very favorable responses on very kind and helping hosts. This host gave none of the options mentioned in this forum, just not response.
Your options are tougher than you think as some of the messages stated. Just very disappointed with the hosts responses. The people who recommended Airbnb told me they have the address and got mail forwarded to them in every instance.
I should have said when I got the reviews on OTHER places they were positive on hosts.
People still use mail to pay their bills? Iām 60 and havenāt used mail to pay my bills since the early 21st century. But even before the internet Iād go off all summer traveling and I managed to pay in advance and not have late fees. But letās just say that for whatever reasons, you need to use the US postal service for mail while staying somewhere. Any host who doesnāt want mail delivered to the their home for all the reasons listed here in this thread is just not for you. There are also very legitimate reasons for not wanting to give our addresses well in advance.
Keep looking as there are plenty of hosts who will have no problem with it. Sorry you are disappointed, many of us are disappointed in the guests we get as well. Airbnb works best when the hostās needs and the guestās needs mesh. We hosts are not all the same like a hotel chain.
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I know, thatās how it sounds, isnāt it? But you have to realise that several of the people who posted in this (old) thread arenāt talking here about what could happen but what has actually happened to them.
Weāre talking here about hosts with many years experience and the issues that we have dealt with over the years.
If a guest is staying with a host for three months or so, and is a tenant with an appropriate lease, then of course that guest can use the address for mailing purposes. But Iām afraid that it is a general rules in the STR industry that short term guests should use the services provided by the post office.
I know it might seem harsh (or paranoid) but we have actually experienced several unpleasant consequences of allowing guests to receive mail - this isnāt just hypothetical, a lot of us are speaking from experience,
Sad that other guests are tarred by the same brush but thatās life. Iām sure that a reasonable host will help you as much as possible to resolve this. But you should have received the address when you were emailed your itinerary just after you booked?
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It depends on the guest. I have had overseas guests staying 3 nights who made my address their base address in Canada for banks, etc. without a discussion with me. Thatās fraud.
I have also had long term guests receiving birthday cards from home or Amazon. They were straight up people who asked in advance. No prob.
If I had someone who I suspected might be receiving something illegal, then my problem extends to basic safety and comfort. Out.
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What does this mean? What are the other places? Airbnb is not places or hosts. Airbnb is a booking and payment platform. The places and hosts who list there are all independent of Airbnb. So one host might say one thing about their listing and a host in the same town with a similar listing might have something different.
You seriously donāt know what I mean by other places?
How many hosts in Scottsdale list there PLACES on Airbnbā¦ each has reviews!!
And those other places had reviews about there hosts, and thatās what My message was about!!!
Iām well aware what Airbnb does. Are you still confused?
No Iām not. Good luck with your trip.
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It sounds like Airbnb may not be your speed.
Who pays bills by mail anymore? Is it 1987? Can you not sort it out ahead of time online?
The ideal Airbnb guest is one that is adaptive to the climate, tolerant and easy going.
Unfortunately, the system can work for you or against you.
If you get this agitated over the idea of not being given an address for which to forward your bills a month ahead of your vacation destination, I suggest a hotel chain may be more suitable.
Something predictable, something consistent.
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I am one of those hosts who has had a few guests receive mail without problem or injury.
I may actually demand it from here on out having just now realized all of the mail drugs I am potentially missing out on.
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Iām afraid itās not paranoia - the rules for holiday accommodation are very different from a residency (Short term rental in the UK). If someone manages to establish a residency, by registering to pay bills from a property, then they can claim certain tenancy rights.
Iām from Ireland originally, but now live in the UK. Some years ago (before airbnb) i had an irish solicitor book the holiday cottage in my garden for 3 months from january. It seemed like an ideal booking for a quiet time of year - he said he wanted a UK base while working here temporarily.
Some mail appeared before he even arrived, but since there isnt a letter box in the cottage (deliberately), all his post had to come to the house, and be physically handed to him.
I suspect he didnt like that, because he only actually stayed, with his wife, for 1 weekend, then turned up a month later, asking to cancel the rest of the booking, because he had
found a long term rental. Fair enough- still seemed like a good deal.
It was only after he moved on that i realised that he had used the address to
establish residency - his wife applied for a national insurance number from here - they both applied for UK bank accounts. There was also a closing statement from a French bank account confirming that he had repaid a 350000 euro mortgage.Shortly after that, both of them were declared bankrupt in a local court - and google tells me that my address was listed as one of their previous addresses in the bankruptcy declaration ( and was still associated with both names for years later until long after the bankruptcies were discharged)
I stil dont know exactly what they were up to - but it was a lesson learnt.
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Good luck with your review of you by hosts. I hope you have appreciated the good infomation which has been explained to you here. Btw is there any good reason you canāt pay your bills online, or use a mailbox?
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I would prefer not to host you if you insist on getting mail. The main reason is if you decided to overstay and not pay rent then you could show the police your mail addressed to my property. There is a big difference between a guest and a tenant. I rent short term specifically because I do not want a tenant. Google Palm Springs Airbnb squatter and you will see why most smart hosts would never allow mail. I will not even allow more than a two week stay.
Get a PO box, have your bills delivered online. Leave the host out of it.
RR
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I just jumped on this forum for options. Not to be insulted. All my bills with few exceptions are automatically paid online. It was the attitude of the host which was my point. (Try reading the entire thread, my host didnāt even respond to my questions)ā¦For those that attempted insults. I guess I learned a lot about the difference of hostsā¦ ie some nasty attitudes,to a first timer, just trying to understand my hosts attitude, and unprofessional communication skillsā¦
to those that gave me reasons why they didnāt want to give me an address ( I understand from some of you they shouldāve when I paid), and then the no mail ā¦ thanks for explaining the reasons, and giving me options
For those with the demeaning messages, get a life. And happy holidays
I read the entire thread and you said you asked three questions and they seem to be variations of the same question. It sounds like you asked three times about getting mail and by the third time, the host was done with you. We havenāt seen the actual message threads and we didnāt get the hostās version of the story. For all we know the listing even indicates they donāt want long stays and people using their address. So maybe there is a very good reason why the host was impatient with you from the beginning. This is a forum for hosts so you shouldnāt be surprised that we are defending the host viewpoint. Stating that you donāt seem to be the ideal guest shouldnāt be insulting to you, think of it as a learning experience.
Guest comes on host forum to insult hosts then complains that he gets insulted in return. Then retorts, āget a life.ā Isnāt it ironic?
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Not wanting to forward mail is one of the many reasons I dont allow guests to use my address. It would very quickly start to look to the postman like several Baader Meinhof gangs were living at MY home. No thanks.
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Actually in the Sharing Economy the responsibilty for communication and consideration is two way. You are not paying enough to have an entitled attitude towards your host like an hotel. We have gently suggested you back off with your bad attitudes. The fact you then come back and insult us suggests you are unsuitable for Airbnb. This is a forum for hosts only, and as a guest on here you should be more gracious.
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I paid for this in September and had not had any communication with the host since then. And the reservation starts in 10 daysā¦Iām not savvy to the protocol. So I simply checked in and asked for an address. When I was told I couldnāt get the address until I arrived in Scottsdale, It just popped in my head to ask, what if I wanted mail sent?.. and got a response of ā this is a vacation not a rental. I didnāt understand the correlation. And asked āhow would I pay a bill thatās not onlineā¦ and havenāt received a response!
PLEASE EXPLAIN how asking for an address is a bad attitude and entitled ?