Safety concern- someone else shows up than the person who booked the reservation

[Yiwei3]

Hi hosts,

I've had a few times when the person showing up is totally different from who booked the reservation.  How do you find out about those and how do you handle that once you figured it out?  I ended up changing the code to get in.  It doesn't seem like there's a place to report it on Airbnb.

[Anonymous]

@Yiwei3  Unfortunately, there isn't a designated dock for reporting discrepancies like this. If you're personally handling the check-ins, you can request that the guest show ID or otherwise match their profile credentials in order to get access to the property. But if you're using a keycode/self-check-in, this can easily get a lot more complicated. It doesn't appear that Airbnb has a ready solution for the occasion when a guest who's entered  your property via keycode doesn't seem to be a match for the profile in the booking. 

Since Airbnb is not actively providing screening tools, it's crucial that you have a system in place to keep control of your own property and know who's coming into it Whether that means doing in-person check-ins, having a co-host monitor the space on your behalf, or a more high-tech solution like external surveillance connected to your smartlocks, you should set up whatever security protocol best serves your needs and disclose it fully in the listing. If someone who you didn't authorize to access your property is able to get in, there's not much Airbnb can do for you - you've gotta have a system in place to make sure that doesn't happen.

But if you are handling check-ins directly and the account holder does not arrive, and you don't feel comfortable accommodating the person there in their place, you can ask Airbnb to nullify the booking without penalty. Generally this means you will lose the entire payout for the booking, but sometimes it's just more important to be cautious about who gets the keys to your home.

[Yiwei3]

@Anonymous can they force me to let them stay if I tell them no?  Or do I need to call Airbnb to cancel

[Anonymous]

@Yiwei3  I fully agree with @Jessica-and-Henry0 's advice below.

Under no circumstances can AIrbnb force you to let someone stay. But for your own protection, it's best to disclose in your listing what your requirements for entry are (for example, presenting a photo ID).

[Yiwei3]

@Anonymous do you also know why some users get message like "you should stay at a hotel" when booking with Airbnb?

[Anonymous]

@Yiwei3  Airbnb has justified it as a safeguard against "party house" rentals, though this explanation is dubious at best. When a booking attempt has a certain combination of factors in play (such as the guest's age, length of rental, lack of prior reviews, and/or distance from destination) it sometimes gets automatically flagged as a potential problem booking and blocked.

Some of the cases reported here have not seemed to fit any red-flag criteria, and only left both parties frustrated. Also, the problem of guests throwing parties and trashing properties is only getting more and more common, but Airbnb is of very little help to hosts when it actually happens.

[Yiwei3]

@Anonymous so this is not because of me?  This is on the guests' end?

[Anonymous]

@Yiwei3  No I don't think it's because of you or any actions you've taken as a host. It seems to only affect Entire Home listings, but there doesn't seem to be a workaround.. Maybe if Airbnb extricates itself from its disastrous attempt to enter the hotel market, these messages will be phased out. Suffice it to say, they are very unpopular.

[Yiwei3]

@Anonymous okay good to know!  Do you also know where in the Terms of Service it says about not allowing third party bookings?  This guest tried to say that she was coming "later" but during the entire conversation she acted as if she were the guy who showed up.  She said she checked in at 4.30pm, my camera shows a guy coming in.  She said she came and took a shower, and a guy came in and took a shower.  I just want to read to see what Airbnb is classifying as third party.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Yiwei3 

Henry and I have in our listing description and house rules that if the person who showed up is not the person we were expecting then we will ask to see ID and will limit access to our home until things are sorted out, and that only the single booking guest is allowed access to our home for safety and insurance reasons. 

The guest or Airbnb cannot force you to let a random stranger stay, although they will try to bully and scare you into accepting it. This is exactly why I don't allow self-check in or IB and why I insist on communicating with guests in advance to know their plans and intentions - so that when I am faced with a different set of facts, I have proof that the guest was lying to me intentionally.

You should contact Airbnb immediately to get the admin stuff sorted out, but don't forget it's your home and your safety. 

Airbnb has nothing to loose from letting a random stranger stay in your home. 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/427/can-i-book-on-behalf-of-a-friend-or-family-member

[Helen427]

Hello @Yiwei3 

 I've had a couple of incidents involving something similar.

ABB were very good at helping me sort it out.

Send them a msg via your Dashboard so you have a written record of it.

They can & will put a note on the person's records & can warn them about their behaviours.

 It's also important to write a review in brief what that the guest who turned up wasn't the person who made the booking.

Be mindful some family members share accounts & others use a business account for more than one named person - the later because it's easier for company approval & claiming expenses.

All the best

[Helen427]

@Yiwei3 

Re sending messages to ABB that's to Customer Services who are there to help.

Be aware they have cut staff numbers so expect a couple of days between your msg & an answer.

[Yiwei3]

@Helen427 @Jessica-and-Henry0  yes, I will definitely be writing a review.  I would like to report this person too.  I think they are lying about why they are staying.  This person has a girl profile picture and description and said that her house is getting worked on.  She works until 5pm everyday and just needs a place to stay.  Thank goodness I have a camera at the entrance since we were out when this person got here.  It ended up being a guy coming in and out twice.  I asked if it's just her, and she said no it's her and her bf.  I never saw a girl check in.  After the guy left in the evening, I changed the girl.  I asked the girl if she plans on checking in, and she said she already checked in.  She tried to argue with me that it's her and her bf and I told her it was okay.  She said she'll show her ID and she can't get a refund so she wants her money back.  I told her we have cameras that show who comes in and out, and you can't force me to host you if the person showing up is not the person on the profile.  

This is crazy!!  What are they doing??  I can't even trust her reasonings anymore.  I think I had the same reasoning for booking another time too and it was a girl who answered the phone.  It's like she's their handler or something.

[Yiwei3]

*I changed the code (not the girl 😂)

[Maia29]

@Yiwei3  What's even worse is that Airbnb supposedly won't cover hosts with 3rd party bookings (which this is what it sounds like it is). Therefore, if the guest that shows up isn't the person in the profile and trashes the place, you could potentially not be covered (it's in the fine print in Airbnb rules).