Making a correction to a factual error in review?

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Temper Tantrums 5/5; Lung Capacity 5/5

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I just stole this for my own listing, shortened slightly. Great way to conceal my true can’t-be-arsed-with-the-extra-hassle
reason. Thanks Faheem!

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That’s my real reason too. Shh. Don’t tell anyone.

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I put in my house rules that guests will be charged $10 if they want to store bags and return later for pickup. I often have to do the ugly “IT’S IN MY HOUSE RULES” when they realize they didn’t read my house rules. If I find them charming or likeable I will waive the fee.

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Hi @cs2015,

This doesn’t have much to do with anything, but I just wanted to say that despite your somewhat terrifying listing, you seem to get lots of business. Clearly, you have superpowers. You should write a book and reveal your secrets. Or maybe an article.

Do many guests take you up on your offer? And isn’t it inconvenient to wait around for people to show up? Aside from the other disadvantages?

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To be quite honest Faheem, whenever I direct interested guests to actually READ everything …they USUALLY end up not booking. The ones who actually still do USUALLY turn out to be pretty great guests. This is not 100%. Sometimes I’m just too tired and I just accept the booking request, ignore the fact that they are ignoring everything, run around pulling hair out of the drain and locking the door after them and quizzing them about their comings and goings…figuring out how they can get around…answering questions…bla bla bla. And since my listing has become so terrifying and the hot weather in Seattle is fading away…it has trickled to zero bookings. I’m loving it! I will probably have to remove it all later if I seriously want any business again.

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People don’t “take me up on my offer”. I inform them after a booking is confirmed and point and wave at house rules as they change arrival time later and later. They end up paying. It IS inconvenient waiting around but now I cheer their lateness as it means an extra 10 bucks for me!

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Hi @cs2015,

Oh. Is all that verbiage a recent addition, then? I had the impression it had been there for awhile.

Well, now. That’s an interesting approach to business. You sound like the Nero Wolfe of Airbnb. (I don’t know if anyone gets that reference. My father used to read this novels, so I read some of them too.)

Oh, and to be clear, my original question is whether people take you up on the $10 and you can park you luggage after checkout thing. And if so, isn’t it a pain waiting for them to pick up their luggage? I think I would find it so.

ADDENDUM: Sorry, clearly we were typing at the same time. But I’m confused by

“change arrival time later and later”? We’re talking about leaving luggage after checkout, right? And $10 isn’t really much money if you have to sit around for hours waiting for someone to arrive.

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For $10 I will loyally guard their luggage!

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I was busy looking up "Nero Wolfe’ on wikipedia…thanks! I am flattered.

Oh…regarding luggage pick up…it’s not a big deal to me because I am home all the time.

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You’re welcome. :slight_smile:

Me too. I don’t want to feel stuck there, though. Plus, having to arrange my life around strangers quickly gets old. Can I get a Hallelujah?

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I will give you a Hallelujah!

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Hi faheem,
At the risk of beating a subject to death, regarding holding luggage for guests I can see where you would not want to deal with it because of liability, legalities or potential false allegations.
I do have one suggestion. It seems that your location is very convenient to travelers, close to airport, etc.
Could you research the luggage hold services of nearby transportation hubs and check to see if your hosts can use them rather than your location? Or perhaps you could negotiate with one of them to allow your guests to leave luggage with them? That way you could avoid the issue for yourself, and at the same time you could tell your guests where they can leave their luggage short-term. Thus extends hospitality to your guests without your having to be liable for their belongings.
Good luck. It seems you are very reasonable in your terms. This extra service could put you over the top in services offered.

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Hi @CarolinaFran,

Thank you for the thoughts. Your suggestions are very reasonable. The nearby railway station (now called CST, formerly called VT) has a luggage hold service, called a “cloak room”. It doesn’t look like a great option, but I’ve mentioned it in the guest guide. I’m not aware of other options nearby. Doing a search does not show much. The options seem to be mostly railway stations and airports.

I’ve given some further thought to this, and a possible solution would be to set up a luggage locker or similar on the ground floor, where the watchmen sit. Something with a smart lock or a combination lock - basically, something where guests can set a code which only they know. A smart lock would be more flexible, but possibly more fragile. That way the guests could leave their luggage in there, and retrieve it later without having to interact with us. This still involves some risk on my part, but I plan to have guests sign a waiver form. Thoughts?

This wouldn’t be trivial to set up. Nothing in India is easy. But hopefully not too difficult.