Underage guests without chaperones

[Kay1366]

I had a last minute booking for this weekend (came in last night.)  It was for one adult woman who had a couple of very positive reviews from 2 other hosts.  I accepted the booking.  This morning, she said that she meant to say that it was for 6 guests and not one.  No problem - we have a 4 bedroom house and we don't charge for extra guests.  Then this afternoon she sends me a message saying that her 18 yr old daughter and her 20 yr old boyfriend will be checking in on Friday sometime for a wedding on Friday  night.  Then I get a second message this afternoon saying that the six guests will be "up to age 21" and the woman who booked the trip might not make it because she might have to work.    

So I have gone from one adult woman to 6 guests who are "up to age 21" with the original guest not sure if she'll make it.  Suddenly I fear that I'm hosting an underage party even though our rules state very clearly that we have rescued animals so no parties, no late nights, no loud music, etc...  I should add that our Airbnb is a separate house on our farm in the middle of the country.    

Maybe  this is all legitimate but I'm feeling kind of set up.  What would you do?

[Quincy]

Hi there @Kay1366, I hope you're well. How has everything gone so far? 

[Kay1366]

They aren't scheduled to arrive until tomorrow but I did contact the original guest and ask for more of an explanation, voiced my concerns about having unsupervised  teenagers and the possibility of underage drinking and the fact that the original guest was now saying that she might not even come.  She did reply and explain the relationships and the situation and it made sense to me.  Then she followed it up with a message saying that after this "discussion" she was offended that I had accused her family of things they'd never do.  Keep in mind, that she never said the "6 guests up to 21" were her family other than saying that two of them were her 18 yr old daughter and her daughter's 20 yr old boyfriend.  She demanded a full refund so they could go elsewhere and I told her that was fine but pointed out that she hadn't offered any explanation of the guests - only that there would be 6 up to age 21.   As of now, she's scheduled to arrive tomorrow and hasn't cancelled but also didn't respond to my last message so I'm assuming they'll show up but also prepared for a last minute cancellation.

[Lorna170]

@Kay1366   You have the right to know who is on the property, so request that the names of all guests are provided on the app.  Remind the adult that no rental will occur unless the adult is checked in with you and in residence during the entire booking.  Request the tag numbers of all vehicles that will be on your property.  If this is on the up and up, the adult may comply.  If not, they may cancel.

[Kay1366]

Thank you.  When I questioned her about the change, she explained satisfactorily but then sent a second email saying that she was  offended that I was "accusing her family of  doing something wrong" and demanded a full refund.  I told her she was welcome to a refund but that she had given me no explanation about the proposed change in reservation and, for all I knew, it was a bunch of unsupervised teenagers.  So she didn't respond but didn't cancel.  They're supposed to get here tomorrow so we'll see if we get a last minute cancellation or they show up.  

[Jennie198]

@Kay1366 did your guest end up coming? How did things turn out? Curious to know how you handled this, thanks!

[Kay1366]

She cancelled which was fine with me.  I didn't know about the third party booking rule until after she cancelled.  I contacted Airbnb to ask them what their official policy was about this sort of thing and they explained it to me.  Had I known about the third party booking rule I would have cancelled her before she cancelled herself.    She was offended that I questioned that she wanted me just to accept whoever showed up based on her reservation.  We would NEVER have an Airbnb guest here without complying with Airbnb's policies because the insurance and  support are important to us.  

Now that I'm aware that there is an official policy prohibiting third party booking, I'll invoke that rule if anyone ever tries this again.  Honestly, this woman was "difficult" so I was perfectly happy that she didn't end up coming.  🙂 

[Huma0]

@Kay1366 

I'm also curious to know what happened. Personally, I would have explained to the guest that if she was not going to stay, that would make this a third party booking, which is against Airbnb policy (include the link to the policy page so she can see you're not making it up) and that neither the host nor guests would be covered by Airbnb should anything go wrong.

Your situation was complicated by the booking guest saying she might or might not be there. I would have clearly explained to her that the booking could not go ahead if she wasn't staying for the duration as it's against Airbnb policy. Therefore, she needs to let you know X amount of time in advance whether she is coming or not. If not, then the booking needs to be cancelled.

You are offering her a refund so I think that it is perfectly reasonable to tell her to cancel because this stay would be breaking Airbnb's rules. Apart from your very valid reasons for not wanting parties, that is also against Airbnb policies and your listing could be suspended if they discover a party, particular with underage drinkers, took place there. There are more likely to be damages from a party and you would not be covered if the mum was not present. 

With third party bookings, if the guest doesn't agree to cancel themselves, I have always found that Airbnb CS backs me up and will cancel the booking penalty free and do it quickly and they will tell the guest it is not allowed. There was only one occasion where I got a rep who wouldn't, so I just ended the conversation and redialled. The next rep sorted it out immediately.

[Kay1366]

She cancelled which was fine with me.  I didn't know about the third party booking rule until after she cancelled.  I contacted Airbnb to ask them what their official policy was about this sort of thing and they explained it to me.  Had I known about the third party booking rule I would have cancelled her before she cancelled herself.    She was offended that I questioned that she wanted me just to accept whoever showed up based on her reservation.  We would NEVER have an Airbnb guest here without complying with Airbnb's policies because the insurance and  support are important to us.  

Now that I'm aware that there is an official policy prohibiting third party booking, I'll invoke that rule if anyone ever tries this again.  Honestly, this woman was "difficult" so I was perfectly happy that she didn't end up coming.  🙂 

[Huma0]

@Kay1366 

It sounds like you might have dodged a bullet with that one.

Any guest who thinks they can do whatever they want in someone else's property and not have to explain basic stuff to them, like who is coming, is likely to be problematic in other ways. I am guessing that even if the booking had gone ahead with no further problems, this woman would have marked you down in the review for having dared to ask her any questions. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Kay1366 I don't think there is a strict prohibition on 3rd party bookings but they are certainly discouraged.

In your situation I would have cancelled but we often allow 3rd party bookings for partners or elderly relatives with no problems so far.

Interestingly for remote hosts with lockboxes there is really no way of knowing who actually turns up.

[Huma0]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

What I have been told by several Airbnb reps is that third party bookings are discouraged on Airbnb but that it's up to the host to accept them or not. However, when you remind them that the booking will no longer be covered by Airbnb should anything go wrong, they confirm that, that is correct.

So, it's no skin off Airbnb's nose. They still get the booking fees and they don't have to dish out anything for damages nor get involved if guests break rules etc. I am not saying that they are necessarily always going to help if it's a regular booking, but  I'd be willing to bet you won't get any help at all if it's a third party booking you've accepted. If you're willing to take the risk, then that's fine. I know not all third party bookings are problematic/dodgy.

My issue with it is that your agreement is with the booking guest. I've never hosted a third party booking to my knowledge as I always tell them the person staying must book. However, I have hosted people (parents, spouses etc.) who had someone else handle the booking for them using their own account, so I didn't realise I was communicating with that person's husband or son or whatever.

EVERY time, that has turned out to be a problem in some way because the guests who arrive often haven't read the listing, they certainly haven't read the house rules, let alone agreed to them, they often have unrealistic expectations and therefore can leave dissatisfied and they frequently break house rules. No, actually, they always break house rules, big or small, because they haven't read them!

I had one guest who let her husband book all her stays via her account. He pretended to be her, agreed to the house rules etc., but it turns out just showed her the pretty pictures and she said, "fine". She had not read anything, immediately started breaking rules, stated bluntly that she was not even going to try to follow others because that's not how she did things at home and complained the heating wasn't on even though it was summer.

Another guest booked for his mother, using her account again pretending to be her and, even though the booking was just for his mum, made full use of my kitchen, garden, bathrooms etc. during her stay. He seemed to think that because he was the one who had booked for her, he was also entitled to use the listing. It was a short stay and he didn't sleep here overnight, so I let it go. Most of these circumstances were where the people staying couldn't speak English. That also means they didn't bother to review.

Another problem with third party bookings  is that you are looking at the reviews and verifications of the booking guest, so you really have no way to judge what the actual guests staying are going to be like. The person who leaves the review hasn't even stayed, so chances are that they aren't going to bother to leave one if all went well or write some sort of inaccurate nonsense if it didn't.

[Huma0]

@Kay1366 

I'm also curious to know what happened.

By the way, if the guest who books doesn't stay, that's a third party booking, which is against Airbnb policy. Neither you, nor the guests will be covered if something goes wrong/there are damages and things are much more likely to go wrong if there's a party, especially with underage drinkers. On top of that, Airbnb has a 'no party' policy. Hosts can actually have their listings suspended if Airbnb find out a party occurred, and they are particularly wary of underage parties.

Perhaps the stay went really well, I don't know, but there would have been too many red flags there for me (including the guest getting offended that you asked her to clarify). I would have just politely explained to her that third party bookings are against Airbnb policy (including the link to the policy so she could see I wasn't just making it up) and that, unless she was 100% going to be there for the duration, she needs to cancel. You were offering a full refund so I think that's perfectly reasonable.

If the guest refuses to cancel, I have found it really easy to get Airbnb CS to cancel it penalty free and inform the guest why. It's the one area where I find that they always back me up and act swiftly.

 **[Private conversation removed in line with the Community Center Guidelines]

[Huma0]

Apologies for the repetition. I got an error message for my first reply, so didn't realise it had posted, but as you can see from the screenshot above, Airbnb can be helpful in these situations. This message was sent within minutes of me contacting CS.