Third party reservation rules

[Inna22]

I have a booking for today. The guest sent me a message on the 29th with lots of changes to her plans- this one is coming, this one is not, lots and lots of names I did not have in the first place. It did not seem important at the time, I figured I will sort it all at the ID check, did not really read it in detail (I guess I do not read just like my guests) so I said "Thank you for letting me know' and moved on. Now it turns out the main guest is not coming. I told her if Airbnb ok this, I do not have a problem but airbnb needs to get involved. Airbnb just called me to tell me that since I acknowledged their message at that time, I was the one who broke the third party rules, they are cancelling and giving the guest a full refund. I can get a call back from a supervisor but it wont be for several days and the agent must take action now on behalf of these good folk now. I do not see that rule anywhere but it is clearly pointless to argue with whoever is on the phone. Now I have these people at my door in the 20 degree weather and what do I do? Airbnb has not cancelled and guests have the door codes. They gave me IDs for everyone at the door.

[Huma0]

@Inna22 

What a mess! 

What I have been told (repeatedly) by Airbnb CS is that, while they strongly discourage third party bookings and the host (and guest) will not be covered by Airbnb or helped by Airbnb should anything go wrong, they leave it to the host to decide if they will accept a third party booking or not.

Seems like they deliberately keep the policy wishy-washy, so I'm surprised that they would have cancelled the reservation without your consent or the guests.

I always want to know EXACTLY who is coming. It's super important to clarify this before a booking is made (or as soon as possible afterwards if it's an instant booking).

If Airbnb has not actually cancelled the booking and the guests still want to stay, I guess it is your call. Personally, I would not risk it, but then again, they could still leave you a bad review if you refuse them and, if they seem like good people and you are comfortable with them, perhaps you do not want to leave them stranded in the cold. Just remember, you are not covered in any way should anything go wrong. I also do not like the idea of someone who didn't even stay being able to leave a review (high chances of the review being inaccurate and maybe unfair).

[Mark116]

@Inna22  I guess that is reason enough to never take a third party booking, because Airbnb will blame the host no matter what.  I've called them at least 3 times over third party bookings, and they always say the same thing, some version of 'seems okay to me, you can do it'...then I ask for it in writing that Airbnb guarantees are in effect if I accept a third party booking from a private individual and then they say, 'oh, you're right, it's not allowed'.

As to what you should do, that is tough, Airbnb may cancel it tomorrow and fully refund the guest, even if you let them stay, for one night or the whole reservation.  Are they really already at the  house?

[Inna22]

The guests are here, I am with them. Airbnb has just called them and told them I was not comfortable hosting them (I am standing right there!), gave them full refund and told them airbnb will pay for any new accommodation of their choice!! I am yet to hear back. I am sure I am paying for all the above, just don’t know it yet. I will have to pay the cleaners again too because they used the bathroom and floors are a mess from the slush

[Mark116]

@Inna22  It seems like Airbnb has gotten much more generous with paying for guests alternative accommodations.  One person posted here recently that they even paid for all his taxis, which they never ever used to do.  But, never any generosity toward hosts.   

Your guest is then getting majorly rewarded for breaking Airbnb rules by doing a third party booking.  And you, the good citizen who brought this forward, are getting screwed out of your booking money.

Airbnb is like that Seinfeld where George did everything the opposite of what he normally did, Airbnb does everything the opposite of common sense and fairness.

[Inna22]

The rep told me to stay on hold for 1-2 minutes. 

[Inna22]

Here is a way of looking at this: a guest booked but couldn’t use the reservation. Instead of cancelling and getting no refund, they found someone to stay in their place. Effectively, they were a no show. As a no show they get no refund. What is so complicated about that and how is it my fault?

[Mark116]

@Inna22  It's not your fault, they should be giving you a bonus for preventing a third party booking that would put both host and guest at risk since all protections are voided.  I cannot imagine why even the worst CS rep would be giving your guest a FREE STAY as a result of her breaking their own rules.

[Flavia202]

@Inna22 , totally agree with. @Mark116! Also, so insensitive of the airbnb CS to put you in possible danger by carelessly telling the guests that you were not comfortable hosting them (with you standing right there in their presence).  I modified the text in my listing re no third party bookings will be accepted to:- "No third party guests will be accepted/allowed access to the space. The person booking must also be staying in the apartment and present in person on check-in."  

Will airbnb CS override it if it happens? Maybe, but it's worth a try.

[Inna22]

@Flavia202 yes, I was shocked that they said it to the guests KNOWING I was there

[Sarah977]

@Inna22  I'm not shocked at that at all. You think the CS rep gives a hoot about making a host look bad in front of guests? 

[Inna22]

@Sarah977 she genuinely could care less about me and was combative when I tried speaking to her. However this might actually turn dangerous depending on the temper of the guest who is being told this

[Sarah977]

@Inna22  Chesky had the gall to put out a public tweet yesterday asking "If Airbnb could launch anything in 2022, what would it be?"

Talk about lipstick on a pig. The guy is as clueless as his CS reps.

[Inna22]

@Sarah977 I know they are making efforts to attract more hosts but do you think overall they have enough and could care less about my one experience? Or think the effort and the cost of fixing CS experience would not give them the reward? 

[Gillian166]

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@Sarah977 wrote:

@Inna22  I'm not shocked at that at all. You think the CS rep gives a hoot about making a host look bad in front of guests? 

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this is a devastating comment, sadly true. I continue to be appalled at how AirBnB think the guests are the precious commodity. Without hosts they have no platform, guests are easy to come by. Guests risk very little, we hosts are the ones with the multi-million $ property. If there was more competition in this space, someone who cared for the hosts more, things might be different. Oh well, it is what it is.