I can’t help it …
Me: “Hi, my name is Caelleai. I run an ABB.”
Support Group: “Hi Caelleai - here’s a hug”
Forum: “Hi Caelleai - what the $&@# are you thinking?!?!”
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If you read the whole thread, Jaquo, you read that I’m investigating other options. My property is so beautiful that I get messages from lots of Greek companies, for example, hoping I’ll dump Airbnb. Just weighing up options, basically. I think Booking.com MIGHT also be better - but they insist upon instant booking, and I believe that it’s the owner’s right to choose who is allowed to live in their second home. I’m sure that half the complaints about renters being messy, breaking things and disrespecting Airbnb properties on forums like this one would be solved if Airbnb owners were proactive about finding out more about clients. Money isn’t everything!
It’s not just that giving me trepidation, it’s you must instant book and there is no way out of it. You don’t get the “guest makes me feel uncomfortable” card there. And if you don’t host the guest who has paid, you have to help rehome them and pay the difference if it’s more expensive. I’ve signed up for it tonight and now it’s morning and I’m still educating myself with a listing that is created but not “live” yet. I’m too chicken.
BDC isn’t for everyone. There have been a few topics about their T&C’s which, if you are more used to the Airbnb environment, can appear pretty stringent.
As far as we’re concerned, they have provided us with a lot more business than Airbnb and their support is extremely professional. Issues are dealt with promptly and effectively.
If you manage your calendar properly, then other than a major issue at the property, you shouldn’t have to worry about rehoming guest due to overbooking. If you do overbook, then I don’t see what the issue is about finding the guests alternative accommodation. As a guest, it’s far better than a hosts bumping them two weeks before arrival, as has happened to some forum members!
Contrary to the belief of a few on here, you don’t have to put them up in a 5* hotel, simply find similar (or better) than what you were offering.
JF
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overbooking wouldn’t be my concern. being in a rural area where it takes three to ten times as long to get repairs done is.
i have been working my way through the hundreds of posts in bdc topics here, which is why i have gotten as far toward listing there as i have. i will pull the trigger eventually, but i have to warm my feet up a bit.
no, there’s just as much friction (inbetween the massively kind posts) as there is on every forum. Strange you don’t see it…even as you start the attack on the OP!
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I suppose there’s always someone in the pub who lacks empathy, and thinks that they are appreciated for telling it like it is - and sometimes those people are allowed on the internet. They’re the kind of person who boasts that people either love them or hate them - which means everyone hates them.
And here I am!
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Please don’t worry, I read the entire thread. I was asking you, civilly and for the sake of members and readers here, why you continue to use Airbnb when you dislike the service so much that you feel the need to shout, IN CAPS. Here is my question again:
I believe that your considered answer might be of use to other people, especially the many lurkers who are thinking about using Airbnb, but if you prefer not to contribute to our knowledge base here, that’s fine.
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I know what you mean & I have experienced it on here myself. We come here for HELPFUL advice NOT criticism & to vent occasionally…not be attacked for voicing our own opinions or be criticized for the way we run our AIRBNBS.
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Not sure you can have one without the other.
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it’s all in the delivery
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True. And whether or not you are there to sign for it or would prefer it be set politely on the back steps.
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Like stating absolutes in ALL CAPS?
One of the things I love about “the Colonel” (but he reminds me of Cap’n Crunch for some reason) is that he never responds, he never gets rattled. He just does his thing. People who don’t like it don’t have to log on. Sometimes you’d think people had to pay a membership fee to read and post.
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Hi Flettie, small world, we used to near Buxton (just outside Whaley) now Airbnb ing in Spain. Completely agree sympathise and with your post!!
Someone asked why I do this. Here’s my explanation.
I do it because I want to get paid for it having to rush. Lots of people block days on each side of a booking. I don’t. Thatnot only hurts your placing but costs you money. I CAN turn over same day every day but I am definitely going to get paid a little more for it too.
I do the same thing for day of, day before and day before that as well except upped the day of to $15 more now. In the end it’s like $30 more because it adds up. Now if I get a last minute booking back to back I could end up getting $55 more. And that for the base rates I stated which basically means doubling my money if I’m going to have to jump through hoops at the last minute.
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@Militaryhorsegal This makes sense to me and I sometimes do it as well. I’m in the fortunate position to be very busy and sometimes hope the higher prices will deter a booking too so I can get a break - though it definitely backfires sometimes and leaves me wishing I had just made the day unavailable. It does help knowing I’m making a little extra money for the back to back rush.
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excellent! The old “if you don’t like it, you don’t have to read it” trope
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While I don’t go to pubs I often said my subordinates we’re either in the love me or hate me camp and it was the immature ones who I disciplined that hated and the mature ones that loved. This became much more clear to me one day when I looked back at one in particular that had been in the hated me camp for quite a while but actually switched (and told me so) when he matured a little (mind you he was a decade older than me) and realized that the discipline helped him with that.
Maybe it translates to my guests quite well too…those that are mature enough to follow the rules (especially when there are plenty of reviews complaining about them and how I enforced them) do tend to leave the best reviews. Those that don’t, well, they tend to leave the worst reviews, or at least cause the most time and effort trying to collect on the stated fines for not following them…
I tell it like it is…it’s great if you like me anyways, but if you don’t, oh well. I am focusing my efforts elsewhere anyways, hopefully.
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Perhaps my delivery isn’t the best but I do mean the best. Apologies up front if anyone feels offended with anything I post. As I often told people I worked with, I will TELL you DIRECTLY if I am meaning to offend you, otherwise, I am not trying to offend you. Please, let me know if I offend unintentionally.
Always a good one. I suppose we should have applied that to all your old flagged and deleted posts instead of deleting them.
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