Makes sense, the only problem may be the amount of money allowed to leave India in which case breaking up the booking makes sense for a few payments rather than one large amount. I have pre approved the guest now so we’ll wait and see what happens. Thank you for reaching out to your guest to help with my questions.
No, if you are talking about foreign exchange limits, those are yearly. Breaking up the transaction into pieces wouldn’t make any difference with that. There might be per transaction limits, but I’d expect those to hit at higher levels than we are talking about. How much money is this again?
Good information for the future. Thanks Faheem. The guest ended up not booking. I suspect it was a scam in an attempt to possibly book privately.
If it is not done through airbnb then you are also not covered by their insurance should the people damage your place. So stick with whatever method airbnb suggests or skip the booking.
We had a similar issue with guests last year from Cuba traveling to SF. There was no way for them to pay, so they had a coworker here in SF book/pay for their stay. They were very upfront about this, and the coworker gave me detailed info on the guests, including Linked IN profiles, etc.
I would always defer to @faheem on India-specific issues.
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That guest did not end up booking. But for very similar dates ( one day off) another guest from India and same number accompanying just inquired and wanted to book. I haven’t had any other inquiries from India so this was interesting. It would have been nice to get phone numbers and have a conversation before booking. I tried various "code ways of trying to relay my number which have worked in the past but this guy couldn’t decipher.
Through some lengthy conversation through the airbnb message system it turned out the gentleman I was communicating with was actually booking on behalf of his client. He was with a company called via.com. I told the agent that first his client needs to read my house rules and be registered as the guest. This may result in the loss of the booking but we’ll see what happens. This morning the guy was eager to book but I said I’d rather wait and have him get his client on the booking.
Do I just trust that airbnb will verify properly with ID and payment method matches? If there is any kind of fraud and the guest completes his trip does Airbnb cover me or am I out a payment?
If the name on the booking doesn’t match ID can I cancel without penalty? I’ve never checked ID before but when guests don’t have past reviews I am thinking I need to be more careful.
Anyone had an agent book their place through via.com for a client? It still gets booked through airbnb on my end so the only down side is I don’t get to speak with the guest before they book. But at that point their number becomes visible so I should be able to call them directly.
If, after I call, I get a bad vibe I can then cancel right? For example, I do want the guest to understand I access the property to clean the pool etc. If they have a problem with this then I don’t want them booking.
My understanding is the person who books must stay at the property. If they’re booking on behalf of someone else, this is a violation of the AirBNB policy.
I suggest you discuss this with an AirBNB to see if via.com is a legitimate partner.
I wouldn’t accept the booking.
Be very happy about it!
$6000 seems a lot, but after 2 weeks you will be spending a lot of that money on cleaning and repairing your place.
Indian people that can afford spending that amount of money, tend to be very unrespectful to your property. The richer they are, the worse they get.
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Hi Chris
It took a while but they were actually able to book in two separate instalments. Since that means two cleaning fees, I am going to have my cleaning lady go in once in between their stay. I also plan on giving everyone of the guests a “talk” about enjoying the property but also on letting them know they get reviewed and my expectations about house rules when showing them around and the place gets left how they found it. I will kill them with kindness, and since there is a pool and hot tub that needs maintenance every few days I will be nearby. So… I am going to stay optimistic although I have to say My worries are in line with your belief.
After all there is no servant in the home to wash dishes etc. plus a little lesson on using coasters on wood surfaces, and similar type add ons will be included in the tour.
Hopefully this booking will go well and it will partly pay towards getting the exterior painted:)
One of the guests was finally able to book directly in two separate instalments. Boy, it sure is reassuring to be able to exchange a few messages with the guest directly.
Hi Faheem,
The guest was finally able to book in two separate instalments. They tried with a few names but all the names seem to be family members which I was able to check by snooping on the Facebook profile pic. Their booking finally went through. I am feeling excited to welcome my first guests from overseas! I just wish they had a previous review. They stayed in Sweden last year on airbnb but didn’t have a review:(
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