Declining a booking for a third party

[Donald80]

Greetings all.  We're newbies at this and we have a situation I would like some advice on.  We have been contacted by an individual(s) who yesterday had blocked out over a week on our calendar, and then didn't go through the verification process.  Our calendar finally cleard today, but now they come back with another story.  Now apparently they have been verified either late last night or this morning.  Yesterday the person said that her and her husband would be staying here.  Now it seems that the husband is saying that "someone else will be staying here", he's just booking for them ...... whoever "someone else" is.  What is even stranger, they live about 15 - 20 miles from our location.  Will I get penalized for declining them?

[Emiel1]

@Donald80 Third party booking are not allowed, so they violate the Airbnb terms. Too much declining can affect your rating, but it does not lead to direct penalties. BTW you can also inform them about your concerns   and ask them to retract their request. (Yes, a guest can do this).

[Donald80]

Thanks!

[Letti0]

@Donald80 Call AirBnB 3rd party bookings are against the rules. Let AirBnB do the decline.

AirBnB number:

United States and Canada

+1-415-800-5959 +1-855-424-7262 (toll-free)

[Donald80]

Thanks.  Appreciate the advice.

[Lisa723]

You can explain that 3rd-party bookings aren't allowed, and ask them to cancel and have the actual guest register themselves. I did this yesterday, as a matter of fact.

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