£100 penalty

[Marco704]

I needed that booking and I wasn't able at that time to check the message, it was only 6 hours before I was going to lose the reservation so I had intention to look at the message later. When I read it I firstly I said to them that I would be able to accept their daughter and boyfriend because I did not want to make them upset and cancel straight away (as I needed the booking), but then asked them to check with Airbnb if they could and they didn't bother to do it so I did it and it turned out I need to pay £ 100??????????? this is a modern times scam

[Sarah977]

@Marco704  A scam? The penalties for a host cancelling a reservation are clearly stated in the Airbnb policies, which you need to inform yourself of. 

Your post is a bit hard to understand, but if you can't get around to answering a guest message for 6 hrs, when you have 24 hrs to either accept or decline a request, you are going to have more problems in the future.

And why did the guests have to phone Airbnb? To ask them what? That isn't clear.

[Marco704]

Yes my message is unclear as I was writing really quickly...sorry... They guests basically booked out of Airbnb policy as they booked for someone else. I did not see the message of the guests, I just saw their numerous positive reviews and accepted quickly, then read the message and understood that they're not coming but someone else, I said I was happy to but to check with airbnb. They didn't, so I did check with Airbnb. airbnb mentioned that I wasn't covered by airbnb policy. Basically strangers in my house with no cover....Airbnb said if I want to cancel it's £ 100 thank you very much...

[Sarah977]

@Marco704  I hope you can get this penalty overturned- as others have said, you have to be persistent. 

But you should also realize that "I didn't see their message and accepted quickly" is not a valid excuse for accepting and then cancelling.

The whole point of hosts requiring guests to send requests is to have the opportunity to check out their reviews and communicate with them before deciding whether to accept or not. Both of those things. You have 24 hours in which to do that, there is no need to accept "quickly". I would never accept a booking if I haven't exchanged a message or two with the guest. 

And you had another option aside from cancelling on your end, so keep this in mind for the future should you ever have a similar circumstance.

Assuming the guests were still within the 48 hr. free cancellation window, you could have messaged them to say you just realized that it is a third party booking, which is against Airbnb policy and which you can't accept, and to please cancel immediately, and get the actual guest to set up an account and rebook under their own name.

[Mark116]

@Marco704  your message is a little unclear, if you needed the booking, why did you cancel it?  if you aren't able to check the messages and respond within the 24 hour period, you should consider getting a co-host whose duty would be to ensure timely responses to messages.

[Marco704]

Yes my message is unclear as I was writing really quickly...sorry... They guests basically booked out of Airbnb policy as they booked for someone else. I did not see the message of the guests, I just saw their numerous positive reviews and accepted quickly, then read the message and understood that they're not coming but someone else, I said I was happy to but to check with airbnb. They didn't, so I did check with Airbnb. airbnb mentioned that I wasn't covered by airbnb policy. Basically strangers in my house with no cover....Airbnb said if I want to cancel it's £ 100 thank you very much...

[Mark116]

@Marco704   That is wrong information.  Airbnb should give a neutral cancellation if it was a third party booking.  It may take hours of your time, but if you have evidence it was a third party booking, I believe Airbnb will eventually remove the 'host cancellation' and not charge you the penalty fee.

[Marco704]

I have evidence in the guest message that they did intend to do a booking for someone else, they know the guest made a third party booking and they still are asking me to pay plus the frustration and the waste of time Airbnb is causing me. If third party bookings for family and friends is not possible I should not be able to accept a booking without reading the message as the message, like this case, contained a clear confirmation that the booking was for someone else

[Dora486]

I had a similar 3rd party booking request last weekend.  I’d accepted based on all 5 star reviews then realised the reviews all had different names on them.  Airbnb, after a bit of pushing, did cancel for me penalty free. I’d say persist.

[Marco704]

Thank you Dora, however I feel we shouldn't push, this is a legal scam

[Mark116]

@Marco704  If you don't push you will not get the host cancellation and penalty removed. 

Airbnb CS are poorly trained, and there seems to be a 'don't ask/don't tell' kind of mentality at work over third party bookings.  I have contacted Airbnb by phone when I have gotten these requests, the reps always say 'oh that's fine' until I then ask them to put it in writing that the Airbnb guarantees are operational for such a booking, then they admit it is not allowed. 

[Marco704]

This is really ridiculous and this community keeps complaints in this kind of "closed" hub while these things should be made public for everyone to read...