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The Air BNB is filled with siblings and cousins…and none of their parents.
A couple of the older kids are 18 and drove the others here.
I just sent mom a message (member 5 star with good ratings -since 2016-)
I mean- did the kids steal their moms account?
This was booked weeks ago.
Are the 18 year old big sisters in charge?
Why doesn’t AirBNB have an emergency hotline for hosts to call when weird shizola happens?
What do you expect Airbnb to do…? Send the Airbnb SWAT team? Your property, your business- when are you heading to your listing to front them and then canceling the booking as a third party one that isn’t allowed?
Seriously, what do expect/want Airbnb to do?
You checked them in therefore it’s down to you to enforce the rules.
Exactly.
JF
I’d contact the adult and ask her when she plans to arrive while pointing out the Airbnb requirement that whoever books has to be there. If she waffles, you have the option of cancelling and sending them on their way. Sadly, since you’ve already checked them in, you’ll probably deal with a bad reviews whether they stay or go. Guests do that when we enforce rules.
I believe that’s a third party booking which is not allowed. Call Airbnb and explain that it seems like it was a third party booking. Did you contact the parent? Perhaps they’re checking in a bit later than the kids.
I have messaged the person who paid… aka “mom” and no response…and My place has self- check in‐ (aka like a TON of airbnbs did during covid.)
so they were in there-
before I even knew there was no adults.
What do I expect AirBNB to do…
BACK ME up if I have to call the cops.
BACK ME up if these asses try and leave a bad review.
If a MINOR is raped on my property -I am liable.
If a MINOR uses or drinks on my property- I am liable.
I would LIKE to know how a 3rd party booking happens on a "5 star account.’’
AirBnB is BOOKING PLATFORM FOR YOUR BUSINESS.
Your recourse is to simply call Air, get a clueless CS person on the line, say the booking is 3rd party (against Air’s ToS) and you want to cancel. Then, on the Air platform, message the person booking to tell them “Since this is a third party booking and it not only violates Air’s ToS but also the House Rules, I’m canceling, going over, and evicting the children.”
Then you bring someone (I’d call a few rugby playing friends for largeness and backup) with you, go to the house, and evict them NOW.
If they give you crap, call the cops.
Yes, you’ll get a bad review. Suck it up, you can leave on in response. Come here for ideas on how to do that unemotionally and yet with a certain biting commentary.
Because they used Mom’s account with or without her permission. Mom’s 5 stars are about to tank.
Also, “Would not host again” toggle button is critical. I don’t want “Mom” trying to IB my place and then have 10 kids show up for a pool party.
THIS
Contact mom and tell her that you are about to cancel the reservation because it seems like it was a third party booking. She booked but is not present.
Call Airbnb and tell them you’re cancelling this booking and for them to find a hotel or another Airbnb.
I agree with you that you would be liable for anything that happens during that booking. Get them out!
Your expectations from, as @casailinglady quite rightly points out, an online booking platform are a touch on the high side.
Well, I wouldn’t like to suggest that you may be catastrophising, but you don’t appear that concerned yourself, if all you’ve done is message the Airbnb account holder.
Your only other previous post, about another guest partying at your property, indicated that you live close to the listing. Have you actually been to it, asked where the account holder is or spoken to the guests?
JF
Based on your posts, as @JohnF points out, you expect Air and this forum to solve YOUR business issues. You know what to do. Vent, by all means, tell us of the battle of the 5* reviews after the fact, come for biting commentary when you need to write that factual review and flaming rebuttal.
But run your business like a business.
I am as concerned as others about minors & 3 rd party bookings.
It’s a catch-22, if you kick them out where do they go? Did the 18 years olds leave? Minors can’t rent a hotel room. Are you now endangering a minor?
-Keep trying to call “Mom”
-Notify Airbnb & ask their help finding The original booker
-Ask if Airbnb has an emergency contact for Mom. (Minors without a supervising adult is an emergency)
-Tell the young guests you are concerned the original booker isn’t present-tell them to ask her to call you. -Use caller ID to see if number matches what Airbnb has, insist to use zoom or FaceTime so you can see them
Nope, leave the message on the Air platform that you’re canceling. Text “Mom’s” cell phone number on the reservation.
Call Air tell them you’re canceling and doing it now.
Go to the house and evict the minors and the 18 year olds.
They’re local? They can go home.
Explain liability to them and that they have to call their parents and go home. They’re within driving distance, drive back.
Get photos of their IDs and the cars and the license plates. Do that as you’re kicking them out. That way you have the info for the police and parents.
And the next time you should try meeting your guests. The remote check in isn’t working for you.
You brought up some valid to do-s
I think we are missing some key info as we offer suggestions on how to deal with this.
If the 18 year olds have left, to put minors out with no place to go puts them in danger. They can’t rent a hotel.
the liability is huge if the host knowingly evicts them to the streets and knows they cannot book elsewhere.
If 18 year olds not present, this may not be appropriate. States are not consistent on allowing 16-17 year old drivers during certain hours and without supervision.
This situation is an awful mess. Maybe the kids hijacked Mom’s account. Maybe the parent booked with the intention of not accompanying the group.
Regardless of how it happens, endangering minors/children is wrong.
Lots of ifs & unknowns here…
Guests like self check-in. A Ring doorbell lets you talk to the guest at check-in and see who enters.
Sometimes the guests have trouble hearing me on the doorbell speaker, but I can see them & call them
You have two problems.
You have a Third Party Booking (i.e. the guest that booked doesn’t actually show up). This is a violation of Airbnb’s terms of service, but as the host, you can allow it. You can cancel the booking without incurring Airbnb’s cancellation penalty, but guests will be refunded for unused nights and you will almost certainly get a bad review. There’s a small possibility of getting the review removed if the review violates Airbnb’s review policy, but don’t count on it.
Your policies on guest age don’t agree with Airbnb’s policies. Based on your comments, you have a problem with guests that are 18-to-20-years-old (and possibly more guests that are under 18) when there aren’t older guests also in the reservation. Airbnb policies do not prohibit this. Dealing with it is tricky because it gets into age discrimination. Some hosts have successful strategies for this, I personally didn’t care, but if you think you need to prevent that type of booking, you need find a successful strategy and start implementing before it happens again.
Whatever happens for this reservation, make sure you leave a review that says this guest booked and only teenagers showed up. Be careful how you word it so as not to violate Airbnb’s review policies. This will help prevent this guest’s account from being used for more 3rd party bookings on other hosts.
You’re correct that there are a lot of unknowns. That’s why I also suggested having the Police there as well. The Police will come for non-emergency, especially if the OP states there are unsupervised minors in an illegal rental. PM ‘Mom’ and tell her CPS may want to have a word about this…
Believe me, people will come running to take care of this if OP mentions the po-po and Child Protective Services (or the local equivalent).
Mom isn’t answering the phone. The listing NEEDS to be canceled. OP doesn’t state if the listing has a pool or other “attractive nuisance,” so she’s really screwed if someone gets hurt.
The listing is a nightmare waiting to happen. It needs to be nipped in the bud.
And yet this is her SECOND issue on this forum with remote check in. Clearly she needs a better handle on her rental.
Kudos that it works for you. It isn’t working for her.
Why on earth would you expect this? That is so bizarre.
To be fair, Airbnb should back up the host if the host receives a bad review from a guest that never even showed up to the reservation.
But yeah, I don’t know how Airbnb could back you up if you have to call the police. What could they do?
Anybody can book and send their friends/ relatives or business associates instead. I have had it happen multiple times. If I catch it at the booking stage, then I call Airbnb and get them to cancel and walk the guest to be through making an account and booking.
If they turn up and the booker isn’t present. Then I prevent access to my listings until I have made contact with the booker and Airbnb and have it in writing that the booker agrees to be responsible for any issues / damages.
Airbnb won’t back you!
They get the big money from the guest, the fee from you barely covers the credit card fees. You are replaceable, an unhappy guest isn’t.