Guest suddenly told me they were actually booking for someone else

[Simon364]

Hi all

I had a recent booking from a guest , they messaged "I will be there about midday" on day of arrival.

Today they messaged "please notice the reservation is for my son". And the booking is for tomorrow.

I don't accept reservations on behalf of other  people  - and AirBnB don't allow it either. Futhermore I don't allow under 18 to stay in my house without a guardian.

I have messaged them twice today to explain this but have had no reply. I am a superhost and always try to sort out guest problems , but in this case there isn't a possible resolution that I can do - they need to cancel at their end. (I am on strict cancellation)

Aside from the request being against T&Cs of AirBnB, I also feel misled because the first message stated that they themselves were coming and then suddenly changed it.

What do i need to do if they don't reply? I can't have this boy turning up at my house tomorrow, who I will have to turn away!!

Many thanks for help on here

[Anonymous]

@Simon364   It's happened to me before too, and I think you're absolutely right to refuse to let this person check in. 

As long as this communication is in within Airbnb messenger, what you can do is call Airbnb and ask for a neutral cancellation with no penalty to either party. The reservation is not valid because the account holder will not be present, and the fact that they willfully deceived you obviously signals trouble ahead.

Unfortunately, a neutral cancellation also means that you don't get the payout. It's not fair, because the guest occupied those calendar dates under dishonest pretenses. But consider it the cost of a bullet dodged.

[Simon364]

Thanks for your helpful reply. So I have been communicating with the guest.

The update is now that they have changed the name on the account so it is their son's name! So the photo and the previous reviews are for the woman, but the name is just changed to the the son!

I'm not sure what to do know as I am sure that it's not appropriate to change name on accounts! (In the attachment the name has been changed to Jose Fernando)

Many thanks

**[Private conversation removed in line with the Community Center Guidelines]

[Kirsten266]

I woild advise you tocall airbnb SC and ask for a penalty free cancellation.  

If you let the boy in your airbnb after this conversation I think you'll get a bad review.

I'd got a booking for a daughter once but that wasn't a problem for me. 

[Gwen386]

@Kirsten266 I don’t like that this guest acts like he’s in control. No, it’s not okay if Jose is not registered on AirBnB;  and no, you don’t care whether he did this before or not without any problems. Your house, your rules. I would ask airbnb to cancel with no ramifications. I already smell a problem—a big one!

[Kirsten266]

Yes @Gwen386 

That's what I mean. 

I can imagine Simon doesn't want the boy as a guest so with the conversation I hope he can get a free cancellation.  

The reason why I said I've accepted a booking once is because the story of the person who booked was honest and good 😊

[Anonymous]

@Simon364   No, this is not OK: it's fraud. You accepted a booking from one specific user profile; it can't be transferred to someone else without your consent just by changing the account name. 

If your settings don't require Verified ID, you should change that right away. It makes it a little harder (though not impossible) to pull these shenanigans. In the meantime, you should make it very clear that you will not be granting access to the home due to the guest's violation of the Terms of Service, and ask that the son make no attempt to check in.

[Helen744]

@Simon364 I would consider relaxing your cancellation policy and refunding fully and ringing the person who booked directly and simply saying that there seems to be a 'misunderstanding 'as to the type of host that you are and alert them to the fact that you do not host anyone under 25 and that third party bookings are not taken by Airbnb hosts especially in home stays . H

[Helen744]

Also Simon you seem to be able to tell us very clearly about the issue but not the mother of the guest ?You in the long run are the host and must have clear parameters. H

[Simon364]

Thanks Helen

Yes I did explain clearly to the mother of the guest in my message chain about third party bookings not allowed

But I didnt discuss with her after she changed the name on the account to another name, as at that point I just needed to contact AirBnB

[Amanda660]

@Simon364  this lady knew exactly what she was doing .  Call Superhost Support and get it cancelled.   +44 20 3318 1111

How many nights was she/he booked for?

[Simon364]

Thanks Amanda.

Booked for three nights

Thanks for the Superhost number, I didnt know there was one.! I use the twitter messaging which seems to work but the number should be quicker in future

[Simon364]

Thank you very much for all your advice . So  I messaged AirBnB with the situation.

They agreed:

1) that booking for for third parties was violation of ToS

2) changing the name on the account to a different name to book for a different person is not allowed.

So AirBnB cancelled , they phoned me up and asked me about the refund since i am on Strict Cancellation.

The only problem is now that AirBnB are phoning me up again to ask me to host the son,  who now has his own account.

I really feel (like some of the messages suggest above) that I totally want to avoid this now. Its now late in UK and this has been taking all day

[Kirsten266]

@Simon364 

I can only imagine that you won't get a 5 star review when you do let the boy stay at your place. 

I wouldn't take him in as a guest. 

All the best and have a good night of sleep

[Gwen386]

@Simon364 Stick to your guns. That whole family is a mess in the making. Avoid at all cost!