AirBnB guest booking for a non-AirBnB guest

[Ruth1]

I approved a 3 night reservation for a guest. Then later, the guest notified me it won't be her staying in the house, but a colleague of her's. She offered to send his info and said he would communicate with me directly.

I couldn't find any language about this in the AirBnB help wizard. I would like advice on whether or not to go along with it. If I am not comfortable with it, what are my options for getting out without any fees?

If I want to work with the both of them to try to accommodate the actual guest, what are my options?

Part of me wants to walk away from it. But part of me doesn't want to lose the revenue.

Thoughts?

[Queenie0]

Third party bookings such as what was perpetrated by the AIrbnb profile owner is prohibited by Airbnb. If you are not comfortable with having this stranger stay with you, then you should contact Airbnb and make them aware that the person booking the reservation will not be a guest. Hopefully all of your communications have been on the Airbnb message system so they can see them directly, but you can always copy/paste the conversations for Airbnb's review. 

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

You should always put your safety before revenue. You will be hosting a person on whom Airbnb has no information. Think of all the possibilities.

[Ruth1]

Thanks, thats very helpful advice and the article was just what I was looking for. I have reponded to the guest, asking them to please refer the other guest and have them create a profile. I mentioned that I would need to review and approve of their profile first, and then we would figure out how to accommodate them.

Any ideas on the best way to back out of the deal? Obviously I don't want to incur fees, but I don't want them to incur any fees either, if possible.

Thanks!

Ruth

[Cathy4]

Hi - don't cancel the booking from your end or you will be penalised. Contact airbnb, explain the issue as you have done here, and ask that they cancel based on it being outside the rules of airbnb - they've done this for me in a similar situation. They can check your conversation and do long as you've kept comms on the airbnb site, they'll be able to see how the person booking has world outside the rules.  You're wise not to proceed 🙂 

[Cathy4]

Oh - and you can initiate a refund of your fees if you feel so inclined and if your cancellation policy means they lose their payment. The admin fees are not refunded of course, but that's not your problem as it wasn't you that created the issue.