Fraudulent Reservation but No Monetary Penalty?

[Emily355]

I had a guest Instant Book my place for the next night. (I’m changing the guest’s true names) The reservation was for a profile named “Anne” who had several positive reviews, verified ID, phone number, etc. Basically, an ideal guest judging from her profile. In her message, she identified herself as “Joe” her “husband.” This is the 3rd time in less than a month that someone else has flat out told me they were using someone else’s profile to make a reservation. I call AirBnb support for advice; they say they’ll reach out to Anne and Joe to help Joe make a verified profile and put him on the reservation. That’s awesome! I can have his picture, his phone number, and email if I need to reach him. I reach out to Anne, tell her exactly what AirBnb told me. I also add that if Joe doesn’t make a profile, I will have to cancel the reservation since it’s makes me uncomfortable. She says “No problem! Joe already has an account but no reviews or ratings.” Fast forward 15 hours and nothing has happened. No Joe profile, no message, no nothing. Do I know if Joe is really her husband? No. Do I have any way of directly reaching Joe? No. Do I know if Joe even knows Jessica? No, he could have skimmed her username/password from any public wifi hotspot. So, I message AirBnb support for help.

An hour and a half later, still no response. I call AirBnb support and am told that I need to go through the system to cancel it. I am not going to be penalized for someone else blatantly using someone else’s profile (and ratings) to Instant Book a place. I understand I can cancel Instant Book guests if I’m uncomfortable but I am penalized if it happens 3 times in six months. I was not about to burn a chance when I have done nothing wrong. So, I’m still on the phone with AirBnb Support and ask them to do it for me. They say they will and will also issue the guest a FULL REFUND! Um... EXCUSE ME? Why can a guest who has clearly violated AirBnb policy, wasted my time and energy, blocked my room from being booked by a legitimate guest, be issued a full refund?! According to AirBnb Support, it’s because it’s a “host initiated cancellation”. I did nothing wrong. I gave the guest a chance to rectify the situation and they chose not to. Now my income is being affected? It’s completely ridiculous. 

Has anyone else encountered this? Has anyone fought it and won? Why are hosts being punished when a guest is 100% in the wrong?

[Marzena4]

In cases like that, @Emily355, always insist on Airbnb cancelling the reservation BEFORE you touch the button. Most hosts already know about it. That's the trick. 

And if it's a third party booking, even if the guest arrives, you can refuse to host them if they are not the person who made (=whose account was used to make) the reservation.

[Emily355]

@Marzena4 - I didn’t cancel the reservation myself. I made the AirBnb Support person on the phone do it but, that’s not the issue. The issue is that AirBnb deemed this person to be entitled to a FULL REFUND even though they weren’t who they said they were and blocked any legitimate guest from booking.

I am wondering if anyone else has encountered this before... 

[Marzena4]

So you say that the dates were blocked, @Emily355? Did you click any button like that you accept the cancellation?