Found out a party is planned-Can I cancel?

[Katie-and-Becky0]

A guest  has rented our home starting tomorrow afternoon for a “game night with friends & swimming.”  But this evening, a different Airbnb user messaged us to warn us that a birthday party is planned and it’s posted on Instagram.  Sure enough....I found the Instagram post and it’s true.  

Question:  although it’s poor form to do so, are we able to cancel guests at the last minute if they’ve misrepresented their intentions?  Or do we have to wait for a problem and ask them to leave?  

We’ve messaged the guest reminding them of our policy of max of 12 people on property & that that number will be enforced due to COVID-19 concerns.  We’ve also told them owners live on property.  Any other suggestions?

[Sarah977 · Accepted solution]

@Katie-and-Becky0  Absolutely I'd cancel this booking. Unfortunately it might be really hard to contact Airbnb CS, as they just laid off a bunch of staff, and are short-handed for answering the phone, but maybe try to contact them on Twitter. If you just cancel on your own, you'll get penalized- what you want is for Airbnb to do a neutral cancellation, with no penalties to you. Tell them the guests lied to you about their intentions, that you were alerted by another Airbnb user that they were intending to throw a party and that you found their intended party advertised on Instagram. Screen shot it and have it handy to show Airbnb if needed. If the guests IBed and you haven't used up your 3 free cancellations, you could use one of those, stating you're uncomfortable with this reservation.

It isn't poor form to cancel a booking when the guest lied to you. And a lot smarter thing to do than waiting for  a bunch of partygoers to invade your home and then trying to get them to leave, which could even be a threat to your safety if they get belligerant.

[Gordon0]

Like @Sarah977 says, @Katie-and-Becky0, it absolutely isn't poor form. Get the screen shot, call Airbnb (be prepared to hang on for a while) and get their booking cancelled. The Instagram screen shot is your get out of jail card here. Good luck, and do let us know how you get on.   

[丽萍0]

Just before Covid in 2019, a group of “financial coach” had a 15 people coaching conference at our place. Oh mine! Luckily it was not some kind of crazy drug party.