What to do about an Instant booking for daughter under her mothers airbnb account?

[Naz275]

Dear Community, 

I'm unsure what to do about this, I would appreciate some advice please. 

I have received a booking which has been confirmed and coming up on 17th Jan (booked 2 weeks ago) . The guest account belongs to a lady and the actual guest wishing to stay at my place is her daughter. I relied on the two 2014 reviews on this guest account to make my decision to accept the booking but having messaged the future guest I get a reply saying it is not the account holder coming to stay. I feel this is unfair. I have no idea what to expect now.  

I read the initial message again and noticed the message which was in French did said "Hello my name is XXX " this name did not match the account name but I didn't notice it at the time of accepting the booking. 

Should I cancel the reservation? Do Airbnb allow people that are not the account holders to book and stay? 

The daughter says it's a present from her mother who allowed her to use the account. 

Thank you

Naz

[Linda108]

Contact Air BNB to cancel the booking as Air BNB does not support 3rd party booking.  Most hosts know that but I am not sure how a guest would know that.  Air BNB may be able to assist the actual guest in setting up her own profile.  Meanwhile you should open up your calendar.

[Naz275]

Thank you @Linda108 .  

I've sent a polite message to the guest and told her it's going to be cancelled and she can book my place with her own new account.  I have instant book enabled so luckily I still have my no penalty three cancellations. 

[Sarah977]

@Naz275 I wouldn't use up one of the 3 free cancellations on this, as it should be cancelled without penalty anyway- 3rd party bookings are against Airbnb TOS. However, reports here are that Airbnb has taken to telling hosts that it's "up to them" whether to accept a 3rd party booking, although they don't seem to them guarantee to the host that the host will have their backing should anything go wrong. So if they tell you you can go ahead and accept it, just point out that it clearly says in the TOS that 3rd party bookings re against policy.

[Naz275]

@Sarah977  I contacted customer support and you are right they did say it is up to me. I would rather not take the risk. 

I feel bad for the young girl that was given this stay as a present from her mother. I really hope when she creates a new account and does book my property she doesn't leave me a bad review in return for the cancellation.  

[Emily487]

@Naz275 

I agree with @Linda108 - call CS, tell them it's a 3rd party booking and you want it canceled with no penalty to you. Message the guest and just let them know that you are happy to host her once she sets up her own account.