Third party bookings

Denis130
Level 5
Lincoln City, OR

Third party bookings

Looking for recommendations on how to better deal with third parties who make reservation on behalf of actual guests.  Two examples.

 

1. I use "August" smart lock APP for front door access.  Guest was booked by his spouse, so she had all the Airbnb sign in data.  He arrived and could not access front door so we spent 30 minutes with August on the phone who said he (actual) guest  never completely signed into their APP so could not direct anything to happen.  He wrote this up as a check-in problem in his review.  

When his stay ended early and he wanted a refund for unused days another 30+ minutes spent on phone with Airbnb, complicated by his spouse doing the booking and not sharing sign in data with him.  He had to call her while talking with Airbnb, to obtain sign in info.

At a later point I called Airbnb asking if there was a mechanism to alert me (text or email) in advance if a guest had not successfully downloaded the August and/or APP, and she said she had never received training involving Airbnb & August link even though I had seen references to such an alliance on the Airbnb site.  Later I was able to find the link and the very next guest  used it as an Airbnb, and August link, and I got notification ahead of time that they were all set.

2. I now have another guest coming but reservation was made by his sister, who is not going to be a guest at all, but is who Airbnb will be the contact.  Tried unsuccessfully to get her to forward the August APP installation email to her brother,  but since she does not see the urgency has not.  

3. There's also another question wtih regard to 2 above.  If a third party is doing the booking, where is the security screen for actual guest?

 

43 Replies 43
Marzena4
Level 10
Kraków, Poland

Thirs party bookings are against Airbnb rules, @Denis130, so I guess it's best let them solve the problems. Put it clearly in the rules that you don't accept such bookings. You may explain why.

 

// "The only person you can trust is yourself"

 I contacted airbnb regarding a third party booking done over instant book and was told I am covered for host protection insurance and that I would be penalised if I did not accept the booking. I was at a loss as to why and posted to the customer service fellow a copy of what I found online regarding it not complying with airbnb terms and conditions. He kept saying airbnb are fixing it and not to worry I will be covered. I finally attained a copy of the driver's licence of the guest staying but am concerned that he is not a registered guest. The week prior I had been instantly booked on days that I was blocked, so am having some major issues and feeling that customer service is not capable of dealing with the issues in a direct manner. Is there somewhere I can lodge a written complaint?

if your guest lost the top of his finger or an eye for that matter I can say with complete confidence it would not matter a danm what the CSR said it’s what was in the terms & conditions, and Airbnb would simple wash their hands of such a scenario, you'd be facing a very expensive legal action on your own as your insurance company would not indemnify you either.

 

Am I the only host, sick and tired of this Airbnb BS?

Eric1046
Level 1
New South Wales, Australia

I agree but the Host Gurantee insurance covers Responsible Guests and Invitees so I guess this means that all parties are covered provided the AirBNB account holder is the Responsible Guest? What is he/she doesnt turn up?  How does anyone know whether the Guest is the actual account holder unless you confirm ID when he/she checks in? There is a major hole in AirBNB's security: there is virtually no way to know if the actual Guest is the account holder, unless you ID them on the spot, which may result in a tense situation if the Guest cannot confirm his/her ID. Unfortunately, if you suspect that the account has been hacked, and someone other than the account holder is the actual Guest, AirBNB will do virtually nothing to try to verify that the person you are communicating with is the actual account holder, citing privacy concerns. I am not sure why AirBNB feels the need to protect the ID of someone who has registered to stay in my home...What is the risk? If someone cant obtain an AirBNB account (e.g. hiding his identity, criminal record, bad reviews etc) they may hack into or 'borrow' someone's else's account. This 'imposter' may try to rob you, hack into your home computer system or may not be covered by the Host Guarantee program (which BTW does not cover ID theft anyway). The Host community should presssure AirBNB to do more to 'query' suspicisious accounts by asking for ID verification, noting suspicious behaviour (e.g. recent changes in address, phone numbers, credit card details).

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Eric1046 


@Eric1046 wrote:

but the Host Gurantee insurance covers Responsible Guests and Invitees so I guess this means that all parties are covered provided the AirBNB account holder is the Responsible Guest? 


The wording is confusing. The responsible guest is the one who books and they can book for a group, but they MUST also stay in the listing.

 

This is another reason I don't do self check in. I want to be sure of who is staying. As for ID, in some countries, hosts are required by law to collect copies of this from their guests, so it should not be awkward in those circumstances. You just explain that it's required by law.

 

I don't actually ever ask to see ID, but have mentioned on my listing that I might, which I think acts as a deterrent. Some guests actually bring it up or send me scans of their ID without being asked.

 

I  have only once had a guest show up who was clearly not the person in the profile photos. Turns out that the photos were of his wife, but the account was in his name. I have no idea why but perhaps they both used the account. As soon as I mentioned it to him, he changed the photo to one of himself. He was a perfectly good guest and there was nothing dodgy going on as far as I could tell.

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

The rep you spoke to has no idea what he is talking about.

 

I refuse to accept third party bookings and will call Airbnb to get a neutral or penalty free cancellation if the booking guest will not/can not retract/cancel from their side, e.g. when it is too late for them to get a full refund.

 

Almost every time, the rep I have spoken to knows that 3rd party bookings are not covered by Airbnb should anything go wrong. There was only one time the rep refused to cancel for me, or rather she first tried to convince me to keep the booking (guest was refusing to cancel) and then, that she would have to pass it on to another department and they would get back to me in 48 hours. I politely told her that she had no idea what she was talking about and that I was going to hang up and call to speak to someone else, which is exactly what I did. The rep who answered that time cancelled it for me straight away with no problem.

 

So, if anyone tells you third party bookings are covered, or some similar nonsense, I would suggest calling again in the hope of getting someone better trained on the line. 

 

Here is part of the message that the rep I most recently spoke to about this sent to the guest:

 

"Your request for transferring the reservation from one account to another cannot be done sir. We always encourage the guest who makes the reservation to be the one that will actually go to the reservation."

 

What you will also find common is that reps will tell you that it's up to the host if they want to accept third party bookings or not, as many do choose to, but again, you/the guests staying are not covered. So, it's not like they strictly forbid it, but they should be on your side if you want to cancel a third party booking.

@Denis130 we also have the "August" smart lock.

 

To help avoid the problem you describe, we added the optional keypad. That way even if the guest has a problem with the app (or didn't bother to install it), they still can get in to the property.

 

We set the keypad code to be the last 4 digits of their phone number and everyone is happy.

(Note: you do have to add the keypad code manually. As you know, the August software takes care of the rest.)

 

Thanks Matthew

And just to follow up on Matthew's note, August has now enabled an automated keypad code feature so the auto-generated code is sent to guests (and hosts) via email immediately after the reservation is confirmed. The code is valid from check-in to check-out.

 

Next week, August will also release an enhancement to its Smart Alerts so you can be alerted whenever an Airbnb guest locks or unlocks the door.

Rebecca181
Level 10
Florence, OR

@Denis130 - You will not be covered by Airbnb's Host Protection Program if you rent to 3rd parties. Anyone staying with you needs to be a registered guest. Perhaps you have your own commercial insurance so this is not an issue for you. But it is something to keep in mind. Also, it is against Airbnb's policy to rent to 3rd parties. It will also make you more vulnerable to scams and misuse of your property (in a worst case scenario). 

Thanks so much for this information Rebecca.

I had a situation about a guest making the reservation and mentioning he would not be able to come on the same day as his guests would arrive. I called Airbnb and they said I could cancel the reservation if I didn't feel comfortable, but I would be penalized. I had to tell the guest that I would not accept his guests without him being present. He finally came to the house same day. But Airbnb did not take my side, I had to force a situation. I finally added this "rule" to my house, where the person booking the reservation must be present during the entire stay.

Dan459
Level 1
Washington, DC

I recently had woman rent my ski chalet. The group caused damage. I complained about the damage after the group checked out. At that point, the renter informed me for the first time that she didn't  stay in the chalet herself; she booked it for her husband and a group of guys. 

Airbnb says I erred in accepting her "third party" reservation and therefore I could not seek damages. Airbnb also deleted the negative review I posted of the guest. Airbnb said the person booking the reservation couldn't be held responsible for the damage because she didn't stay in the chalet. 

This is wrong on so many levels I don't know where to begin. 

1) It's reasonable for the host to assume that the person booking the reservation will be staying there, unless explicity told otherwise. I shouldn't have to ask each and every guest, " will you be staying in the home, or are you booking on behalf of some one else?" That would set a negative tone immediately. 

2) The renter was rewarded for her decepting when Airbnb removed my review of her. It's 100% legitimate for a renter to be held responsible in a review for damage caused by the people she handed my chalet to (without telling me). 

 3) Even if I do ask guests if they will be staying in my chalet themselves, people can lie, or change their minds without telling me.

If I rent a car from Hertz, and I let a friend drive it without telling Hertz,  I'm responsible if my friend crashes the car. That's the way it should work with any rental, including Airbnb.  

Airbnb should make its policies clear to renters that third-party bookings are not allowed, and if the renter proceeds regardless, the renter will be held responsible for any damage caused to the property. 

Dan Parks

 

@Dan459  The guest who booked may have actually stayed and lied knowing she woukd not be charged for a thrid party booking and no review would stay about her. I would request that AirBnB look at her booking history to see if she has pulled this before. I just read about a person doing this and the host demanded AirBnB look into her previous booking history and sure enough 4 cases of it.