Principal Guest refuses to let us know the names of the additional guests

[Don-And-Emily0]

Hi All,

Even though it is written in our Additional House Rules that the names of ALL guests must be turned in prior to approval, when asked to do so, some people get hostile.

I don’t understand why @Airbnb doesn’t make this a standard practice?

Not unlike hotels, we are running housing accommodations for tourists from all over the world. Some of these homes are places we bring our families and children to, and we need to know the names of the people who sleep in our kids beds and get to know intimate details about our homes. It is a matter of safety as much as accountability.

We trust them to make fires in our fireplaces, cook on our gas stoves, use our BBQ etc… We trust them to have the keys to our homes but we somehow are not expected or allowed to know all the guests’ names? 

I just has a young lady from Turkey call me unprofessional because I declined her reservation after she refused to tell me the names of the  other 5 guests in her party. I did not ask for passports or drivers license,  just names.

Please do better @Airbnb. We need you to review this practice. 

I’d love to hear from other hosts on this. Do you ask for Names or IDs or address or we in the minority here?

Thank you for reading

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Don-And-Emily0 

We definitely want the names of everyone who will be staying with us. When we meet them, and throughout their stay we'd like to welcome and address them by name. If it is an unfamiliar name, seeing it in writing really helps us. In addition, should there ever be a need, such as an emergency, it would be a whole lot less awkward if we know who we are caring for or talking about. 

[Pat271]

I don’t ask for the names of the other guests.  I ask more about the relationships between the guests, and try to get a gut feel for whether I feel comfortable and whether my place is a good fit for the group. However, I certainly understand the need other hosts might have, and don’t consider it out of line to ask at all.

I think a lot of people are familiar with hotels, and hotels (in the US at least) only ask for primary guest ID and number of people in the group. I know there are hotels in other countries, though, where the government requires collection of IDs from all guests. The guest calling you unprofessional is being unreasonable, and what she is saying about your professionalism is simply untrue. Her vehement response makes me wonder if she’s hiding something.

It’s been a difficult and lengthy process to educate guests that there are a lot more concerns with someone’s home than there are with a hotel room, as you have described. If I were you, I would be relieved not to host someone as inflexible as this guest. People should understand the difference between a hotel and someone’s home by now.

Having said that, I don’t think Airbnb should require IDs from all of the guests in the group. There are many countries, hosting styles, traditions and customs in our community, and for the most part, the onus is on the host to do their own requirement-setting and vetting.

[Don-And-Emily0]

Thanks for your note. We learned the hard way that we need to collect the names of all guests unfortunately.
 

A while ago, we had a group from Harvard book our home for a long weekend.The principal guest was lovely and pleasant. He booked the house along with 5 others but he unfortunately had to leave early. In his absence, the other guests made a mess - stained our indoor furniture, used the good towels to clean the grill, burned oil in our oven…etc…

In this process we’ve learned that if there is no accountability, people will behave badly. 

And yes I agree with you. I think she was hiding something. 

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Don-And-Emily0 

Aw! So sad to hear the other guests did all that as soon as the principal guest left. It leaves you with not just a mess, but questions around accountability. It erodes our trust. 

[Don-And-Emily0]

Yes. They were not on the reservation and we did not know who they were. There is zero accountability when they have nothing to lose.

[Deb216]

@Don-And-Emily0 ,

I believe it is a violation of Airbnb's TOS Agreement (terms of service) for a Primary Guest to leave/vacate during the booked reservation. He/She must remain an occupant throughout the duration of the reservation and therefore is responsible for any damage.  

[Don-And-Emily0]

I know that rule but he said he had an emergency and had to leave. What would you do? Not sure what the options are. Should I have kicked everybody else out and refunded them?

He was so nice and polite we thought his friends would be the same but unfortunately they were not.

[Deb216]

@Don-And-Emily0 

I fully understand, we all have a heart and have to think fast on our feet and risk making decisions that we could regret later.  Thank goodness that reservation is behind you.

I believe that both, Airbnb and quite possibly your own insurance company, would NOT have covered YOU at all if anyone got injured on your property after you agreed to allow the Primary Guest to violate the TOS.  Please don't take my word for it, ask Airbnb and your insurance company.

I suspect Airbnb would have asked you to allow the reservation to go forward but they probably would not have mentioned your liability.  I could be wrong.  I'm not an expert, just a Host who reads the CC often.  I've learned that we (Hosts) have to be one-step-ahead of Guests ...and Airbnb ... all the time.  Wishing you continued success!

[Sammy-L-0]

To me, the principal guest is responsible and should be held accountable. I don't care how nice the guest is. If he leaves unregistered people in the BnB, he is responsible for any damage they do. He can make them accountable to him, but he is accountable to me.

[Helen744]

@Don -and -Emily . Yes definitely. I expect photo id vax certs and good manners.I do not always get good manners but at least I know who is being rude to me.sometimes people prefer the aynonimity of a hotel. Let them go there.If they think the guy downstairs does not know who they are they are mistaken.Airbnb is a personal arrangement between the guest and the owner,not the guest and a data base even though some people think this is the case. I am horrified at how rude some of these people must be to hotel staff. If you book into a hotel and you cannot find the staff then maybe there is a reason Keep doing what you do because this is your home not Airbnbs or the guests .Quietly remind them that they agreed to the rules long before arrival H

[Cherie54]

Helen, do you get the photo id and vax certs yourself through the airbnb message portal?

[Helen744]

@Cherie54 I can if the guest prefers because I IB it is a request that the guest receives in that first contact  I also send my mobile number with a similar request and the guest can use either. I also say that  never have acess to their credit card details. I have other communications with the guest as well of course. After booking. these are always on both mobile. If a disagreement about some things breaks out I may only communicate via Airbnb such as a cancellation. I do not avouid communicating via airbnb but some things are just trivia. H

[Helen744]

I also imagine it is not a feature because the only id they need is from the one with  person with the credit card, because they remain responsible. If this guest should leave or not turn up and I find out after the booking is under way then in the past I would remind them that they remain responsible for the booking and the other guests and asked them to give another name of  a contact person still in the house and to make sure this person has read the rules. This is usually for work groups where the boss would pretend that he was staying or say that the number of guests would change at various times. These days Airbnb for work is good and I now want all names. H

[Cherie54]

I 100% agree and just made the same comment to another host who is likely getting scammed by someone inquiring right now from out of the country.  I just had another guest send a guest to stay instead of themselves which IS a violation of airbnb rules.  I have a shared housing situation in my house, and I have an apartment in my fourplex that has long-term tenants who went through full background checks and I have a copy of all of their driver licenses and their SSN.  Why would I let anyone in who hasn't passed the background checks of airbnb?  All guests who are staying should have to provide their ID to airbnb, it's just common sense.  By the way, my listings all say no one but the registered guests are allowed in.  I currently have a guest who keeps bringing various family members over who are not registered and because they get rattled with trying to use the digital lock, they are going to likely leave me a bad review.  This really bothers me because I try so hard to please my guests.