I received a booking from a guy living in Norway. Communication was good, and all information told he gave me told me he was the one going to stay.
However, when I went to give the guests new towels, a Dutch couple met me. They said this guy had made the reservation on their behalf.
Apartment was left in good conditions on departure, and no other problems during their stay. But is this allowed and according to Airbnb regulations?
Nope against Airbnb regulations.
As @Zandra says it’s against the TOS but it does happen from time to time. Someone I know has booked for her parents several times.(Not our rental). Fairly recently I had a bloke book for him and his girlfriend. Only she arrived, and explained that they had split up so she was travelling on her own. Like your guests she was polite, clean and there were no problems.
The reason Airbnb has this regulation is understandable of course, but it does happen.
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Yes, I have had people booking for other guests before. A Son booked a surprise anniversary present for his parents and so on. They have however always told me they did the booked for somebody, but this person made the impression in messages he was the one going to stay there.
If he did so in writing using the Airbnb messaging you could report him to Airbnb if you want to. (I’m not saying you should, but if he was intentionally being deceptive, that’s not a good thing.) Otherwise I’m not sure what you can or should do.
You said there were no issues with the stay, but suppose there had been?
Yes, I reported him.
I have a couple coming from California, the father has booked it, he lives nearby and is bringing them here for a surprise birthday party. I see no problem in this case. If my brother needed an Airnb, I’d have to book it as he doesn’t do the Internet. I do his internet, he’s my handyman.
@Louise The problem is when something gets broken and you’re not covered by the host guarantee.
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I’ve had several third party bookings. Sometimes the person who books tells me that they are booking for someone else, sometimes they don’t. I’ve only reported it to Airbnb once. The person who booked was doing it for friends who were 17 years old and didn’t tell me that he wouldn’t be staying. These 17 year olds were not ready to travel on their own and needed too much hand holding.
I would report it to Airbnb if someone booked for someone who didn’t use the internet. We use the internet to communicate with our guests, and there are a lot of problems that could arise if hosts and guests can’t communicate.
Please explain? the person who booked is her father who is known to me, I see no reason to think he won’t take responsibility. The people who booked for themselves, damaged furniture and refused to pay, despite my efforts, Airnb refused to pay. I’m far less concerned with this booking, and the one last night as both bookers are known to me vs strangers. I agree that the Airnb policy says this isn’t correct, but that is based on strangers.
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Yes, in this case you know them (hadn’t noticed that) so yes an exception but generally third party bookings are a bad idea.
Re your point about the host guarantee, yes I see your point. I had a totally laughable situation recently where a guest took a £10 umbrella home, I made a claim though the resolution centre and escalated it to Airbnb when the guest offered £3. Airbnb decided £3 was fair. No idea how. We’re talking small amounts of money but it dies not fill me with confidence for if I ever had to make a bigger claim.
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