Booking inquiry from third party ?? (exec assistant?)

[Emily140]

Fellow hosts --Like many of you, I put respect of guests and service first and hesitate to offend anyone, but you get that uneasy feeling when people are mysterious and have no profile information...

Please help me evaluate if I'm over-reacting?

I have a gorgeous flat in San Francisco that I offer for 30-day+ stays.

I got a request 5/25 from a user with photo only (no profile description other than New York, NY).  She requested 91 days for "my boss and his family while they are in SF."  3 guests.  The request begins 6/1, the day after my current guests leave.  This is ~$22k reservation.

My response was Hi there, thank you for your inquiry.  I was planning to use the flat myself part of June, but that's tempting for three months stay.  May I ask a few questions?  1.  Is the start date flexible by a day or two so I can properly prepare the flat, and 2. Can you give me more information about the family, what is the age of the child and is the other parent/partner at home with the child?  I'm accustomed to communicating directly with the guest so any other information you could give me about them would be helpful.  Thank you.

NOTE: My profile is clear that the flat is not suitable for children --hardwood floors, white walls, cotton furniture, unprotected stairs, plus upstairs and downstairs neighbors.  That said, of course I would accommodate kids if I felt comfortable with the adults.  (I have a lovely family in there now with 2 little dogs and I'm not even remotely concerned; communicating with them gave me a clear sense of who they are, their appreciation of the space, why they are here...)

I got back, "Hey!! 1.  The start date has to be 6/1, and 2. The child is 2.5yo, yes, the mom is with the child!! Let me know."

The more I think about it, the more weirded out I feel.  My family says, it's $22k!!, what do you care who is in there?  I tell you why I care.  This is a 1910 Edwardian flat in pristine condition, floors I don't want to resurface, walls I don't want to repaint, etc.  Rules I want respected.  Not to mention I want to know who's staying there out of respect for my HOA/neighbors in our small building.

I get it that very wealthy people have executive assistants to book hotels for them.  I get it some people want privacy --are these celebrities?  or Muslims or other cultural group worried about discrimination?  My mind races to understand the lack of openness... I feel badly about feeling apprehensive.  But this is my home of 20 years, my pride and joy, and yes I have another place to stay but I'd be devastated if my flat was trashed.  So am I out of line to want the "executive assistant" to tell me SOMETHING about these people?  What kind of company is this, where do they normally live, maybe their profession or age or reason for visiting San Francisco and choosing my place/neighborhood?  I was very open ended about my question, because honestly, it's when people are simply forthcoming about themselves that their personalities come through--and you are then delighted to host them.  (For example, my current guest with a young child and 2 dogs are relocating from Dallas, bought a house in the Bay Area and had to give the sellers free rent post-closing for 60 days while they relocate from out of state, move twice, ugh!  I have massive empathy for them doing this with a baby and two dogs and I'm a dog-lover so was happy to help and give directions to our awesome local dog park.)

But mystery does not give me comfort.

So my question is should I just "accept" anyway?  Am I assured of the $22k payment for the 90 days even if all hell breaks loose and I have to kick people out?  How hard is it to kick people out?  I admit I can't even imagine what sort of scam makes it worthwhile to pay $7500/mo to invest in the place, but maybe someone is planning to churn the unit short-term at higher nightly rates?  (My neighbors would go nuts and I don't have a S/T rental permit, hence I offer only 30-day minimum stays.)

It does seem unlikely anyone would reveal there's a 2.5yo in the group if they were scamming me, right?  So I am conflicted.  Maybe this is just a newer user who doesn't realize AirBnb offerings are people's beloved homes not just a commercial hotel room, and they expect to book without giving information as they are paying top dollar...  Whereas, by contrast, the ENTIRE reason I am comfortable with AirBnb is the sense of community, that people are open and forthcoming about themselves, subject to review on both sides......

Thank you for any insights!!

Emily

[Clare0]

@Emily140 Unless the booking is made by a Business Travel Manager, third party reservations (a reservation made on behalf of someone else where the person making the reservation will not be staying) are prohibited by Airbnb and you should decline this request. 

Airbnb  does have a Airbnb for Business program where a Travel Manager can book on behalf of employees but this is readily visible in the reservation request / inquiry.  

Despite the $'s, long term stays have their own challenges and if you are not knowledgeable about tenancy rights, I would advise that you stay away from them.  

Here are some links you should read and think about: 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/805/what-are-some-things-i-should-consider-before-hosting-long-t...

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

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/927/what-is-airbnb-for-business

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1184/how-do-i-identify-a-reservation-as-a-business-trip

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/285/how-are-long-term-reservation-payouts-processed

https://www.airbnb.com/home/cancellation_policies#long-term

I know this is a lot to read, but if you are going to accept a long term stay, you should know how it works on Airbnb. 

You might also consult with a property manager to see if you need to have the guest sign a contract. 

Good luck!

[Emily140]

@Clare0 thank you so much.  Not too much to read at all.  I wasn't sure if the Business Travel Manager concept was visible, so now that I know it is easily identified, I feel like I should report this request/member.  It is stressful to be put in this position!  While I'm ok with some discretion, I think if it is not acknowledged then it's too much to ask of a host.  After all, if someone were to try to rent a furnished flat in my area, or anywhere for that matter, they would need to prepare an application, submit to a credit request, sign a rental agreement.  We don't do all that in AirBnb beause the platform is clearly about shor

[Emily140]

@Clare0 (2/2) On my iPad if I stop typing I don't seem to be able to get back and edit a longer comment! 😉

i feel like the oppenness of this community is what allows guests access to our homes; without that, we'd be taking way too much risk.  Really appreciate you confirming my concerns and including the links.  I might need to go ahead and get the s/t permit (if I can) then limit the lengths of stay so I have no risks of creating tenancy rights.  I'm a CPA and I do understand what you're telling me there.

[Emily140]

I'm going to decline this request.  I have been told that declining requests hurts a host's standing, so I have avoided it if possible; hopefully, there is a pull-down menu of options that includes "user is booking for undisclosed third-party."

[Clare0]

@Emily140 Don't worry about decling a request, especially this one where it is a 3rd party booking.  Likely it is an innocent request (executive assistants do this all the time) however the nature of booking on Airbnb, as opposed to a hotel, is such that interaction between host and guest is very important.  Booking on behalf of another cuts off the flow of information / contact / verification details and these are the  main reasons Airbnb does not allow it. 

Airbnb doesn't mind if a host declines a reservation request from time to time.  It is only when a host consistently declines otherwise acceptable guests that Airbnb gets concerned.  I just, moments ago, declined an inquiry because the guest had a young child which I indicate on my listing is not suitable. I'm not worried about losing Super Host status because I have other reservations I've accepted and have good reviews. More important is to respond quickly to Inquiries and Reservation Requests.

I think you did the right thing in declining this reservation.  Third party and long term stay = potential problems.  If you are interested in long term stays, get a professional to write up a contract for you that might provide some protection against tenancy rights.  You can require a guest to sign a contract so long as you disclose the essential terms in your listing and / or disclose the terms in pre-booking messages to be sure the guest is aware and accepts before booking.  Here's another link (oh God!): 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/465/can-hosts-ask-guests-to-sign-a-contract

Also be sure that the contract doesn't violate any of Airbnb's Terms of Service such as asking for cash payment for a Security Deposit. 

Glad the Community was able to help you out here!

Clare

[Emily140]

Final note on this for lurkers reading.... newbies like me.... When you DECLINE a reservation the reason that you write, which I THOUGHT went to AirBnb goes to the User 🙂  Don't ask me why I thought that, just seemed such a no-no from what I've read here, that I was supposed to explain myself to AirBnb for declining.  Oops.  So I wrote, "Please advise this user she needs to set up a Business Travel Manager profile because otherwise 3rd party booking is not permitted by AirBnb, and this will allow the host to gain confidence the stay will be a win-win." (paraphrased)  Kinda awkward that it went to her, and not to AirBnb, but since she didn't respond, I'm even happier I did it.  It seems to me there should be a simple flag for "third-party booking attempt" that triggers an AirBnb standard communication to invite the user to set up the Business Travel Manager profile or cease 3rd party activity....

[Emily140]

@Clare0   I believe "3rd Party Request not Permitted" should be included in reason choices to DECLINE a reservation and/or CANCEL a reservation.  Additionally a reason to FLAG a user profile. 

Accordingly, I added a request in Host Voice to add this, please "like" or "comment" on that request if you agree.

My understanding of the Host Voice section here is that comments with 20 likes will be reviewed by AirBnb staff.  Not sure how many hosts actually review the suggestions there, so pardon my nudge.

[Clare0]

@Emily140 I agree it should be listed as a reason when IB hosts need to cancel.  Not sure I would agree to flag as most of the time it is an innocently made reservation request or booking (booking for parents, family members or for a boss).  Flagging a listing or a user involves Trust and Safety and while one could argue that making a 3rd party booking is a trust and safety issue, getting the Trust and Safety team involved is serious  so I would only use that option if I felt that there was a deliberate intention to defraud or otherwise circumvent Airbnb's policies. 

I'll go to Host Voice now to check out your post!

[Emily140]

@Clare0  Thanks and I agree 100% that FLAGGING should only be used when you have a Trust and Safety issue.  That would be a good amendment to post in comments to my post.  The Host Voice post will be better as others comment--like an open-source suggestion, thank you 🙂

I believe I did have a situation of intentional up-to-no-good situation.  And I flagged her!  But she's still live, likely because AirBnb had no way to know WHY I flagged her, and no way to invite her to represent third parties properly through their Business Travel Manager process.  When you are gracious and hospitable (my default position!) and you ask several open-ended questions before you ACCEPT or DECLINE (as you are assuming innocence and want to be helpful, and I frankly didn't know better about 3rd party hosting initially), and you get nothing back... you start to analyze more carefully the wording and broken English style and lack of transparency and information about the company, the location, the guests, etc.  With another host's help, we concluded my 91-day request was very possibly an international "sub-letting" situation done for citizenship rights of a child borne during the stay.  Popular among Chinese and perhaps other countries.  91 days in my place would be $22k, not bad for American citizenship, and perhaps marked up even further if the AirBnb user was an agent passing this to the foreign national for a higher fee.  Ack!!!! 

The other concern I had was the initial request came with language that read "is your furnished rental available?"  As you also cautioned me, I know that use of the term "rental" has specific legal connotations in California (and perhaps other states).  I don't want to ACCEPT a guest using that language unless the rest of the communication shows it to be generic and innocent.

[Clare0]

@Emily140 , Your comments are very well taken.  Only you can be the judge of your recent experience with this 3rd party reservation. 

Exactly if or when Trust and Safety will act on your flagging the user I cannot tell say.  It could be days or weeks (if they in fact can tell what the issue was).  

I don't think that the term "rental" really makes a difference in California.  The key is the length of the stay.  After 30 nights, the guest develops tenancy rights which in California are pretty powerful if the guest fails to pay.  

Just so you know, Airbnb does have a promotion for business travelers where if they indicate that they are traveling for business and enter their company email address, they get a $50 travel credit towards their next stay.  Airbnb will then encourage the employee to get their company to sign up for the Airbnb for Business program. 

Enjoy living in St Helena! Been there many times...and Calistoga for the mud baths!!