Guest booking for someone else.

[Sally379]

The past two bookings have been made by a third party trying to book for someone else. The most recent, today, has resulted in me losing my Superhost status and the dates being blocked (at Easter weekend). How can AirBnB stop people doing this?

The person who made the booking today works in a hotel and was booking for guests (whom they presumably could not accommodate) who are not on the internet and not on AirBnB. This information was not revealed to me until I had accepted the booking. So I have cancelled, which I am entitled to do. But the penalties do not take the circumstances into consideration. 

The previous booking was also by a third party. I declined to accept, but blocked off the dates so that the person they were trying to book for (a sister, it was a nice birthday present) could book direct with me. 

How can AirBnB make it clear that hosts are not hoteliers? We are welcoming guests into our homes and are entitled to be able to see who is coming to stay? Have other had this experience and how did you deal with it?

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Sally379you should not cancel by yoursef , you have to contact Airbnb, explain the situation and let Airbnb cancel without penalties for you.

Cancelation penatlties are:

50-100$ fine

superhost status lost for a year

blocked dates

instant booking option turned off

bad placement in search results

[Sally379]

Thanks Branca and Silvia, I have not had a penalty to pay but yes the other things! I will try to call them, but it's not a perfect solution. There needs to be a foolproof system where the booker must declare the reservation is for them and anyone else before the request comes through, I think. 

[Emilia42 · Accepted solution]

@Sally379, If you had called Airbnb to cancel the booking for you, they would have gladly done it since they do not agree to third party bookings either. It may be worth a shot to try this now. Explain the situation and say that you didn't know you could call them to cancel. Try to get the cancellation removed.

[Sally379]

Thanks Emilia, I will try to call them when I can. I'm pretty annoyed about it to be honest and feel as though I might stop hosting for a bit. Your advice is really helpful. 

[Lynn34]

This has happened to me on two occasions now. I think its becoming more common. I'm on instant book so went along with it as I wasn't sure how to proceed and didn't want to be penalised for cancelling myself, but I wasn't happy or comfortable with the situation. If it happens again I will phone Airbnb and see if they will cancel for me. I think I will also add a sentence in the description of my place saying I wont accept third part bookings and will cancel if one comes through. Thanks

[Dan11470]

Hello Sally,

I have also lost my super host status for canceling on a guest that was not the person staying. I see you have regained your super host status but I agree it is not fair. 

[Charles224]

@Sally379 @Lynn34 Sometimes you have no idea that the person booking won't be the actual guest.

It has happened to me when someone has travelling staff and uses his account (probably for tax).

When I discover this,  I make sure to press the "NO" option at the end of the review.

This means that person can't Instant Book in the future.

[Sally379]

Charles, 

Thank you for your advice and insight. Very useful.

Because guests are sharing my home I really want to be able to see who they are beforehand, so I shall not use Instant Book unless AirBnB adjusts settings to prevent this happening. I was away when the booking occurred, with no phone signal, and it was really stressful as the booking was for Easter and I didn't want to let people (I suspected to be elderly, as no internet usage) down too close to the date but at the same time, because the booking had been made by a hotel staff member in my town on their behalf, I had no idea if they could even manage my very steep, cottage stairs! Best wishes, Sally