How to deal with inaccurate head count on reservation request

[Wendy1987]

I received a reservation request from a guest who messaged that she'd be traveling with "family," however, she only indicated one person on her reservation. When I politely pointed this out, she stated she'd be with her spouse, two kids, and perhaps her mother. I sent her Airbnb's instructions (copied from the website) about how to cancel her request and resubmit with the correct information. She has not responded, so her request is now in a state of limbo land of neither being approved or declined.

What do I do? I don't want to approve her as I'm not sure if Aircover would cover a situation that could occur involving someone not on the reservation, nor does it give cleaners the information they need to properly prepare for them. I do not charge extra for extra people, and I don't think the guest was trying to be deceptive. Rather, she probably made a mistake. I do not want to let the request expire (I know that's a ding), but I also don't want to decline it either, so long as she modifies her request.

[Helen3]

@Wendy1987 The guest doesn't need to cancel you can go into the booking and send an amendment request adding an additional three people to the booking based on her confirmation of the additional people staying .

then if she doesn't respond to accept you can ask Airbnb to cancel .

[Shelley159]

Ok there @Helen3 has just confirmed that it is possible for the host to change before it's booked 😖

[Wendy1987]

Actually, it is not possible.

[Wendy1987]

It's not possible to send an amendment request without first accepting the booking, as far as I can tell. If she doesn't sign off on the amendment, then I'm stuck with an inaccurate booking at best. At worst, I don't know if Aircover will cover any incidents related to an unauthorized guest. That seems risky to me.

[Helen3]

Sorry I misread your post I thought it was a booking @Wendy1987 

[Shelley159]

Hi @Wendy1987 

I agree it's often a mistake - guests search the area and request when they see something they like, sometimes before setting the correct guest count.

On a confirmed booking you can go to Change Reservation and change it on behalf of the guest (they can just confirm the change).

I use Instant Book so I'm a bit rusty on whether there's the same option on a request to book (do scroll down on the request and check).

If not, you can perhaps accept and then submit a change request afterwards.

[Wendy1987]

It seems risky to me to accept a booking I know is inaccurate, and rely upon the guest to accept an amendment request. I might be overthinking it, but I think it's likely that Aircover doesn't cover unauthorized guests (two of which are children, one of which is older). It also doesn't allow for my Turno cleaner to prepare the place properly without my intervention and I'm trying to automate as much as possible

[Shelley159]

I understand your concern @Wendy1987 

Some hosts here will say you can't rely on Aicover anyway, and need your own insurance for short-term rental.

I can't comment on Aircover as I've never claimed, but it seems it may not be the catch-all solution that many hosts hope.

[Joan2709]

@Wendy1987 

I would send one last message to the guest asking them to withdraw the booking request and resubmit with the correct number of guests ASAP in order to save her dates and confirm her booking.  If she doesn't respond, you can text her and then if no response, decline the reservation:

Withdraw a Request to Book

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/90

[Wendy1987]

Thanks, I think that's what I've decided to do. I will reach out one more time (before the 24 hour time frame ends). If no response, I think the best option is to decline (which I hate to have to do, but oh well). I'm not willing to take on any personal risks because she didn't do what she needs to do on her end. I've coached her through it already.