What to do when a different person shows up, not the one who made the reservation.

[Janie109]

I am a relatively new Airbnb host.  A female named Valerie had made a reservation for 12 nights.  Instead of Valerie, two men showed up.  One was supposedly the husband, the other was the brother-in-law.  The brother-in-law is the one who wanted to stay. The husband got Valerie on the phone, but I didn't actually speak with her.  According to him she had given birth to a new baby the previous night.  He showed me a picture of her in the hospital with a newborn child.  They are in the area working, the guest would be working 12 hour days and not be around very much.   I was so totally taken by surprise, I reluctantly let him in.  

The guy staying here is doing his best to be a good guest.  He is quiet, is gone by the time I wake up in the morning and does work 12 hour days. However, the bait and switch still upsets me.  It doesn't sit well to have a totally unknown man here under false pretenses.  If I had turned him away, would I still get paid for the 12 nights?  I want to make sure Valerie is removed from Airbnb as a possible guest. 

If this ever happens again I will definitely not take the alternate guest in.  That is not how Airbnb is supposed to work.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Janie109 we tend to go with the look of the person BUT we have apartments attached to our house. In a shared home situation this is totally unacceptable. The real problem is that even though the guest has broken the rules they will get a full refund if they are not allowed to stay. Clearly not worth putting safety over money but this feels really unfair to me.

[Janie109]

Thank you for the reply.  For three weeks prior to his arrival 12 days were blocked as unavailable and could have been booked by another guest.  So I hope Airbnb will rethink their refund policy on this. 

[Lorna170 · Accepted solution]

@Janie109  This is what AirBnB calls a third-party booking, and it is not allowed.  Unfortunately as @Mike-And-Jane0  have pointed out, if you had denied the brother-in-law entry, you would have lost the booking and payment.

The brother-in-law is an adult and should be able to create his own AirBnB account and book his own travel.  

I hope that you asked the brother-in-law to provide you with his ID, telephone number and email address so that you could communicate with him as needed and would have some assurance that he is of good character.  

[Janie109]

Thank you for the reply.  Going forward I will definitely handle this situation differently! 

[Sharon683]

What the!   Definitely a no go!  I screen all my guest as soon a they instant book or send a request.  No third party bookings.   I ask them to cancel and have the person set up an account in their name.   See my script below.

"Welcome XXX, and thanks you for choosing Shelia's Cozy Place. I have a few questions prior to your stay. Is this reservation for one or two guests? If there is a second guest, what is your guest name? Is this your Airbnb account, or did someone reserve it for you? What is your expected time of arrival? Do you smoke substances of any kind? Do you drink coffee or tea? Okay, looking forward to your arrival. Have a safe trip, and don't forget to read the house rules."  

If it is a "request" I inform them I will accept their reservation AFTER they answer all the questions. 

[Janie109]

I have already started more advance communication with guest who have already booked.  Those are good questions for future guest.  I always asked for estimated time of arrival, but will now add a couple of additional questions.  Thank you!