Cancelling Problem

[Tim2532]

I need advice on a cancellation I just made.

Wife books for husband.

Husband is to occupy...but I discover I must message the wife not the husband--occupant.  She does not respond to me messages.

I tell them that I will cancel and the husband can re-reserve same dates.

I cancel....The husband does not re-book.

How can I mitigate the situation with AirBnB?

I'm stuck with this on my record plus fines.

[Emiel1]

@Tim2532 

If you cancel, dates are permanently blocked.

You should have contated Airbnb and ask to cancel the 3rd party reservation without penalties.

[Tim2532]

I'm learning.  thanks

[Tim2532]

Thankfully, ABnB unblocked the dates knowing full well I was being reasonable with the 3rd party wife. It was a newbies error on my part, never to be made again. Beware 3rd parties..  I've no idea why the wife was insisting on doing the booking for the husband..

[Sarah977]

@Tim2532  It's possible that the husband behaved badly at other Airbnb stays and was banned from the platform.

Some guests simply don't realize that 3rd party bookings are against the TOS, but if they they try to insist on doing it rather than saying Oh, I didn't know, and having the actual guest make the booking, that would be a huge red flag to me.

Occasionally it might be an adult child trying to book for their elderly parents, who just aren't computer savvy, but in that case, the one trying to make the booking would explain that when questioned.

[Tim2532]

You're right. Hugh red flag.  Good learning experience for me.  

[James2566]

I was gonna say, I usually get kids booking for senior parents, in that case, I still insist they show parents how to create a profile, download the application and use the platform to communicate with me. If they’re unwilling, then they’re better suited to hotels with a front desk, and that’s the truth. Not to discriminate but first time AirBnb users are transitioning from the daily support of hotel housekeepers and front desk support, which requires an adjustment of expectations. Sometimes the ederly parents or the third party being done a favour wants the price, but NOT the self-catering aspects of the Airbnb experience! 

[Sarah977]

@James2566 Yes, I know some hosts will accept these senior parent third party bookings, but they can be problematic if the guests themselves haven't read through the listing info and don't understand the concept of Airbnb, expecting daily cleaning or other hotel-style service.

A child of adult parents who isn't willing to take the time to help their folks set up an account and walk them through it probably isn't going to lead to an issue-free booking anyway. 

[James2566]

I only allowed this once by accident and they had their son remove two stars for location and check-in cause parents couldn’t find it, at 2am, after they closed the beach bars. Their son never sent the directions, just the street name and number, so they had to get him to read the directions, at 2am, they were highly inconvenienced by that process. Never again, and never again lost a stat for location or check-in. Third party bookings are trouble. 

[James2566]

That sounds like a third party booking (booking for someone else, and the person booking isn’t going to be present). We don’t allow this and contact AirBnb before cancelling so they can cancel it, or urge the guest to cancel ans rebook. If the guest doesn’t, I ask AirBnb to step in, say it’s a third party booking and it’s my right to refuse it. I never press a cancellation button if I can avoid it and rarely have issues getting the support team to assist me in those cases. 

[Tim2532]

Live and learn.  It's probably rare, but now I know.

[James2566]

I just dodged another third party booking. Guest just joined, no profile or reviews, requesting for four guests.

Hello , I am requesting information about any Covid restrictions for this AirBNB. Are there any restrictions for using the pool? 

I asked questions, as I found several red flags in the message and profile, the person said the guests staying would be local but they (the person booking) lives in another country and is only booking on their behalf (wouldn’t be present). 

No thank you! I didn’t bother asking more questions as that is just too fishy for me (that none of the four guests had enough wits to create a profile or use their credit card). 

[Colleen253]

@James2566 So much wrong with that request, hard to know where to even start 🙄 Well dodged.