Tips For Guests
1. Guard Your Anonymity
While bushfirehousing.org requires you to provide some basic contact details to a Host in order to facilitate an interaction, please take care to keep as many personal details about yourself private as you can. Take all the time you need to become comfortable with someone before revealing any more personal contact information. Ask questions and make sure you are satisfied with the answers. Trust your instincts, move cautiously and be selective.
2. Keep your personal details private
Please do not give out your surname, phone numbers or address details to anyone over the Internet until you feel safe to do so. If you choose to share your personal email address with a potential Host it is strongly recommended you create a new email address with Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail or another free email service provider just for this purpose and ensure you do not include your full name in the sender's name. Also, avoid using work emails as it's often easy to work out who sally.smith@abccompany.com.au is. If sharing a contact number, mobile numbers are best. Please be aware that upon registering your interest in a property the Host will receive your email address and contact telephone number in order to help start the conversation re: temporary housing.
3. Meet When YOU Are Ready
The beauty of meeting and communicating online is that you can gradually collect information and then make a choice about agreeing to accept an offer of accommodation from a Host. You are never obligated to meet with anyone - regardless of your level of online contact. Even if you do decide to arrange a meeting you always have the right to change your mind (and if you do please notify the Host as soon as possible as it is only polite). It is possible that your decision to keep the enquiry at the anonymous level is based on a hunch that you can't logically explain. Trust yourself.
4. Talk on the Phone
There's no need to jump straight from online chats to a face-to-face meeting. Use the phone as an additional checkpoint. You can tell a lot about people by their mannerisms on the phone. Use a mobile phone number for added security.
5. Choose a Safe Place
If you decide to meet face-to-face, be sure to pick a safe location, full of people and familiar to you. Always arrange to meet in a busy public place - and arrive and leave on your own, using your own transport.
6. Take a friend or family member along
When looking to meet your Host in the beginning, ask a friend or family member to join you. It may be a good idea to give any person who could be cohabitating with a Host or occupying temporary accommodation procided by a Host the chance to meet them in person. You are often able to validate you own feelings about a person if you are able to discuss them with someone you trust who had had the opportunity to form an opinion on the matter themselves. If you're not able to find a friend of family member to accompany you, tell someone where you are going, who with (include the person's name, phone number) and when you'll be back. Most importantly, stick to your planned return time, even if you have to arrange a subsequent meet-up to conclude your discussions.
7. Don't accept lifts
Initially, do not accept the offer of a lift from a Host, invite them back to your current accommodation or to the home or a friend or relation or provide transport to a Host.
8. Trust your instincts
There may be a good reason if you feel uneasy about someone. Don't tell yourself you're being silly. Diffuse the situation and remove yourself from it. There is no obligation to accept accommodation from anyone you do not feel good about. It is always better to be safe than sorry. Never worry or feel embarrassed about your behaviour. Your safety and that of your family is much more important than one person's opinion of you.
9. Don't get financially involved
Play it safe when it comes to your money. Never send anyone money or commit to financial arrangements with someone you have just started contact with. If the Host mentions financial difficulties or demands financial payments immediately upon contact proceed with all caution. The offer of accommodation should be made without financial obligation if possible and the acceptance of such an offer should also be free from a financial component.
Guests are however urged to consider any reasonable financial arrangements that may form part of an agreement for temporary accommodation as long as these arrangements are clear and both Host and Guest agree to them in writing. Please do not commit yourself to financial arrangements that you are unable to meet just to secure temporary housing.
10. Identify a scam
It is important that you are able to identify the motives of the person you are in contact with to avoid being caught up in any kind of scam.
Look out for:
- Mentions of being in some form of financial difficulty or needing financial assistance from you, which is unreasonable in scope and nature. Relief and aid agencies will be assisting you as a Guest as this could make you a target of unscrupulous people. In the short term and you should make clear agreements regarding financial matters in writing with the Host so that they do not have an unreasonable expectation of reward or their ability to financially gain from the arrangement. While you may not be able to expect all assistance will be free from financial obligation, in your reduced circumstances you should only be expected to provide those monies that you can comfortably afford. Please do not enter into financial agreements you cannot support just to secure temporary housing. Asking directly and specifically for financial assistance should be viewed with caution and you should consider carefully whether you can and should assist with these requests until you form a better understanding of the character of the Host.
- Persistent and unwanted contact from a Host. You are under no obligation to accept an offer of accommodation from a Host and if you feel you are being placed under pressure you should politely decline to continue communication and screen or block all calls/emails from the Host.
- An unnatural unwillingness on the behalf of the Host to answer reasonable questions or an avoidance of reasonable questions, which when asked come back unanswered or answered in an unclear, confused or contradictory manner.
How to prevent being scammed:
- Never provide direct financial assistance prior to meeting a Host or prior to agreeing terms for your acceptance of accommodation on a temporary basis.
- Document all agreements with the Host in writing and make sure both parties sign the agreement. Even non-binding agreements can be of assistance in resolving disputes should they occur.
- When communicating never mention your financial status, now or in the future. Keep the topics to things like what you can reasonably offer and your preferred terms accepting the provision of temporary accommodation.
- If you wish to meet the Host in person then you be the one to visit them or meet with them in a neutral, public place.
- When agreeing to accept temporary accommodation, ask for details such as where they live, their mailing address and contact numbers. Politely request details like character references or other identifying information like the contact details of their extended family. Make sure you speak to at least one other person unrelated to the Host to confirm their status as suitable to provide temporary accommodation.
- If you come across Hosts that you are just not sure about and you feel may be out there with the intention to scam then err on the side of caution and please do not enter into any arrangements with them. If you like you may leave feedback via the bushfirehousing,org site regarding your concerns although we cannot guarantee that we will be able to act upon them.
Social Networking