Thank you. My next reservation shows a caricature for a photo of my guest. After having this bad experience with a 3 rd party booking and having 12 unnamed people in my home for 3 days I am as nervous as if it’s my first airbnb guests.
You may have started a bit clueless on what to do even after hosting 4 years and hundreds of guests, BUT you show you are willing to learn from this experience. That is the most important part. This will serve you well. Good luck.
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I think that’s the problem; three night stays. I had the same issue when I first started. I no longer offer three night stays. Most of my three night stays were problematic. I changed it to 5 nights and it’s worked out great. I didn’t think I would get many bookings for 5 nights but at that point I didn’t care because I was sick and tired of the 20-25 year olds partying at my place and making a mess plus annoying my neighbors. Fortunately, it’s getting booked for 5 nights. Try changing it from 3 to 5 nights and see if it works for you. You can always change it back to 3 nights if you’re not getting bookings.
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All you need to do is say that is’t a third-party booking and to have Airbnb cancel the reservation. It’s against Airbnb rules so they have to back it up.
Little late for that, the host let them stay for all three nights, never trying to cancel their reservation.
Here’s my rules that the guest agree to when they book.
- Their photo must be of the person booking - no hats or sunglasses.
- The complete legal name, age, and current address for all people staying in the STR.
- The second person selfie must be sent.
- They agree to my house rules. The first person to arrive is the person who booked the space.
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I’m just trying to give her the ammunition she needs to cancel the reservation. I think it will still work.
As far as I can tell, they check out today.
You caught me. I didn’t read the entire post.
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Here and in another thread the OP is asking about what to do this morning.
I wouldn’t confront them directly, there’s nothing to be gained as any damage that will be done will be complete when they start rolling out. I would watch on camera and we I see them starting to leave I’d head over so that you can go in right away to start airing out, treating stains, wiping spills before the ants get there, etc.
If things are amiss, take pictures before you do anything else.
Finally, when you review wait until the last minute on day 14 unless they review you first.
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Unfortunately, you need to expect a 1-star review from this guest in retaliation for making her pay. When you get it, make sure to analyze it for any violations of Airbnb’s review policy so you can request Airbnb to remove it. Additionally, be very careful when writing your own review of this guest so that she has no grounds to have Airbnb remove your review of her.
I’m surprised you have “almost 300 Rsvp’s” (I assume that means you accepted 300 booking requests) and don’t know about this kind of guest behavior. You might want to spend some time on this forum (or others like the Airbnb’s official community forums) before the next potential catastrophe strikes.
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Update from 3rd party Mom booking for 20 somethings
- I could see them cleaning up b4 leaving and everything looks good. What a relief!
- airbnb has already told me they will NOT let her post a review. She broke the rule by not staying on my property. Bc I never would have rented to these young kids
- I’m asking all future guests to fill in the optional guest list on their reservation and to send me a copy of their photo Id of the person making the reservation. For example next week I have a gal with five guests and she is a host herself and instead of having a photo of herself it’s a caricature!
- this will now be incorporated into my House Rules in my book and I like the idea of posting it on the fridge as well that someone suggested.
- airbnb is doing a big investigation of this gal and it’s linked to another inquiry I had about their 30 ft RV asking if they could park it in the back. Little did I know that all these 20 somethings would come tumbling out!!!
I got very lucky propertywise on this one but the stress level was in the red for me, my husband and adult son who helps us with this property for 3 days. Airbnb added to the stress as well being no help!!!
Yes I agree with you all about the company. If this 3rd party booking is such a problem they need to incorporate that into the registration process to protect us as Hosts!
I am so grateful for all of your input and so quickly responding to my dilemma. And yes I agree to some of the poking too that I should have known. You can bet your forum is on my radar now!
PS my adult kids have always discouraged me from greeting our guests; they say only do self checkin … no one to meet their hosts….this issue now demonstrates that like most of the time…Mom and Dad know best! Lol.
Also bc it was 3rd party their stupid air cover would not have protected me from any damage!! WTF
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Absolutely love this advice. Will incorporate
Thank
You for sending. See my update post please. All ending well but what a nightmare!
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Don’t take that for granted. I’ve never heard of the ability for Airbnb to block a guest from posting a review. More than likely, if she leaves a review, it will be up to you to view it and then contact Airbnb to have it taken down because it was a 3rd party booking. However, you admitted she did show up at some point, even though she didn’t stay, so it gets a little bit more gray and, as usual, it could depend on the mood or training of the Airbnb customer service representative that handles it.
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What makes them experts on Airbnb guests, I wonder?
I have greeted my guests for years in person 99% of the time. When I haven’t, it’s been because they were arriving in the early hours.
I’m sure that when the guests have a personal connection with the host, and don’t see the property in the same way they would a faceless hotel, their behaviour is much better. I’ve had 99% trouble-free guests.
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I agree with Brian- I don’t believe this. A notice to leave a review will be sent to her automatically by the system, I would bet.
Also realize that “Airbnb told me” isn’t accurate. An Airbnb rep told you, and it seems like at least half of them give out erroneous information, terrible advice, and have no familiarity with Airbnb policies or procedures.
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This. It’s YOUR listing, ABB only takes everyone’s money and “lets” you use their calendar system.
You need to get down there ASAP with a friend/man/husband/your own SWAT team and kick them out. In the ABB Message Platform say “Broke house rules, Having a Party (ABB hates that), third party booking.” ABB can try to penalize you, but their own TOS are on your side.
This is NOT a scam. This is a 3rd party booking = mom and dad make a booking and the kids who aren’t old enough to book stay.
Stop. Just stop. Most of the hosts here are SH and it doesn’t mean anything to ABB nor does the number of positive reviews. If you’ve hosted for that long, you should know by now that YOU have every right to CANCEL a guest who breaks your rules and you should be more than familiar with the TOS for hosts and guests.
Absolutely, possibly even 1/2 an hour early. I’d be there with cleaning supplies, open the door and be ready to help them get their luggage out. I’d also video the entire house, inside and out, to make sure they follow check out procedures and to make sure they haven’t damaged anything.
You’ll most likely get a 1* review and a nasty comment. Make sure you come back here for help drafting yours at the last minute as theirs won’t show until you post or the 14 days are over.
“Third party booking, against ABB rules, guests were in their 20s and came to party, against my and ABB rules. Brought more guests than max for property. Would not host again. Left place filthy.”
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They just block the review from being posted to the website but the guest can still write it, it just won’t be seen.
You may or may not remember that a few years ago I had those crazy guests, racists and all, who were all kinds of trouble. I got exemplary service from Airbnb for the situation. There were several different departments communicating with me but there was one woman who was sort of the head of the case or something.
I mentioned to her that I was worried about getting a review and she said, “oh no, I’ve already put a block on it. If they write a review, it won’t be published”.
A couple of days later she called to let me know that they had written a review and that it was blocked. And then she said, “and boy is it a zinger”. I asked if there was a way for me to see it so she emailed me a copy. It was wild 
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I always cringe at myself when I say “RAT test” (let’s hope that phrase is gone by next year), but at least I don’t say “PIN number”
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I’m probably guilty of PIN number, though I don’t say ATM machine. And I definitely don’t say Rio Grande river (that one drives me nuts) or frozen tundra.
I myself love a pleonasm that I can see with my own eyes. An unexpected surprise is that is termed a specific name when it comes from an acronym: “RAS syndrome” which stands for Redundant Acronym Syndrome syndrome. A funny but true fact.
My current favorite is the COVID virus. 
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