My "gut" says cancel the reservation, but I'm hesitant...

[Joe151]

I'm on the fence about a rental. A young woman rented my house for a weekend in May (about 7 weeks from now).  She included this message with her rental... "Hi, I'm booking your place for my family from May 12th to 14th, as they are coming for my graduation. Thank you."

Several yellow flags started waving simultaneous...

1. She's renting it for her family (not for herself);

2. College graduation (Party!?);

3. She's using a pseudonym on her Airbnb profile;

4. She has no positive reviews (she also has no negative reviews).

I use "Instant Booking" with a requirement for basic identity verification (phone, email, photo, payment info). The phone number that I see when I check the booking confirmation is a Swiss phone number. When I call it it goes directly to a voicemail box.

Somehow I can't get the vision out of my head of people doing keg stands in my living room and beer pong in the kitchen.

Airbnb suggested that I message the guest to learn more about who will be staying at my house. My thought is that if I start probing with "Who? What? Why?" questions I'm just going to be setting myself up for a potentially adversarial relationship with a renter.

Apparently I'm allowed 3 discretionary cancellations of Instant Book reservations. I'm tempted to use one in this instance, but would love to get input from anyone who might help me figure out how to approach the Guest without coming across as ogre.

advTHANKSacne,

Joe

P.S. Complicating this is that I myself will be out of country when this rental occurs and will have limited ability to monitor what's happening.

[Lawrene0]

Think of "Who? What? Why?" as conversational rather than adversarial, @Joe151. If it is indeed a third-party booking, you will have to tell her Airbnb does not allow that. If, in that case, she will not cancel, get Airbnb involved. It's their rule. 

You might find her answers put your worries at rest. There is no harm, and a lot of good, to be gained by asking questions. Asking questions is a pillar of hosting. 

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Joe151

My first comment would be go with your gut feeling at all times - otherwise you will be on edge during the booking and it's not worth the hassle. 

However, there is nothing wrong with asking some questions and getting more information. Points 3 and 4 in your worry list are completely normal... points 1 and 2 are the ones you need to focus on.

As for a Swiss phone number - many people forget to update personal contact details and expect to receive email contact re AirBnB bookings in any event.

[Helen3]

Hello @Joe151

When I read your post I assumed you were new to Airbnb because of the issues you raised.

Looking on your profile I see you are an established superhost.

That being the case, I am suprised by your comment about not wanting to engage with your guest and ask her follow up questions about her booking as this is pretty standard practice.

Is this a third party booking or is she staying with her family?

Just message her find out if she is staying, ask her to confirm which family members she is bringing and the family plans for the weekend.

As you'll know lots of guests don't have previous reviews so not a reason to turn someone down.

Just find out more about who is staying and their plans, get a phone number that works and then you can make a judgement call.

[Huaai0]

Well, my gut tells me that this booking will be alright and you have been overthinking. Think positive and positive things will come. "Loveth me, that I may loveth thee. If thou loveth me not, my love can in no wise reach thee."

[Eileen4]

@Joe151 My rental is attractive to families coming to Montreal to celebrate university graduations. It's because there is a satellite university residence right down the street

I've never had a problem with a booking like this and actually prefer them to big groups of friends who might be coming here to party. But ask her if it IS her family that's coming and phrase the question in the context of, "Could you confirm that it is your mom and dad and sisters and brothers who are coming? (I like to make up my sign-in book in advance, which is why I'm asking now.) And while we're talking, is there anything extra they might need?" If it is her family, I think you'll probably be okay. I've hosted a lot of these guests and I've yet to have a problem with them. In fact, some have become repeat customers because they have more than one kid!

That said, only you know what your limits are emotionally, so your gut may just be your best guide. 

[Huaai0]

@Eileen4@Joe151@Helen3@Gerry-And-Rashid0@Lawrene0

I became a host last November and the third booking I received was actually a third party booking. I had just started doing Airbnb and had no idea about how to handle third party booking.

The story was interesting. Woman A had just broken up with her boyfriend and had no place to stay. She was with a 13 year old small doggie without teeth. While she had no Airbnb account, her best friend, woman B, booked my place for her, and only explained this to me after woman A had checked in.

I was deeply touched by their genuine friendship. I was also moved to tears by the compassion woman A showed to her teethless 13 year old dog. I even volunteered to be her dog sitter for free when she was out looking for a place during the day. 

On the day she checked out, she left me with 4 cute toy spiders that she had hand-made for me.

This story has told me--don't be hesitant, don't be cautious based on without-merit things; helping people is my priority. Everyone has a heart; if you love them and help them out, they will know it and feel it. 

[Cynthia-and-Chris1]

Once you get comfortable with the guest and her intentions, ask her to help her mother/father create their own Airbnb profile and ask that she add them to the reservation.  She can do this by going into her Itinerary and clicking "Manage Guests" where she can enter in her mother/father's email address and it will invite them to create an Airbnb account and accept the reservation.  Here's a screen shot where I added my husband to our recent reservation:

[Helga0]

I'd proceed like @Cynthia-and-Chris1 suggest. 

Having had many 3party bookings, there is a specialty to kids-parents bookings, especially foreign parents and tge kids already knowing the country. What the kids see now as normal, may be far from what the parents expect. 

Therefore I'd ask for a presentation of the parents, what they do in life, interrsts and ages. (Plus for other members of the party). 

ThenI would request a written confirmation that tge parents have seen all the pictures of the lusting and read the whole text, especially the house rules. If they did not do that before the booking, they need to do it now and confirm that they understand what they will get. If they are completely illiterate in computers, the kid can print it and send per letter or mail. If they are completely unable to communicate by mail or via computer, I would break the booking for being uncomfortable with the guest, given that you are outside the country during their stay. If there was any problem or danger, you would get no information about it and the guest no help. 

[Kelly149]

@Joe151 why would you use up one of your 3 free cancels for a reservation that ABB may cancel for you at no penalty for breaking the rules (no 3rd party bookings)?? Ask all the questions, see if the answers are satisfactory and then move on from there.  We pay for ABB to be involved, so endure the hold music and get them involved if need be.

Full disclosure, I'm in a university town too and had a girl vanish on a res after I told her "sorry, mom & dad will need to make the reservation themselves if they will be staying with me and you will be back at your apartment across town." This is an instance where the rules can help you if let them

Kelly -- Texas Real Barn

[link hidden - hover over post image and 'view profile' to see listing]

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

@Joe151 - As you stated, part of your hesitation is being gone.  Enlist the help of a neighbor or friend to check in on the guest and her family during the weekend.  A small token of your appreciation will go a long way to giving  you piece of mind that things are okay at home.  

We get booked a year in advance for Duke Graduation weekend.  First thing on the Monday following graduation last year I had a girl booking for her parents coming from China for the following year's event (in a few weeks here too!).  When I said, so sorry, you can't book for them, an hour later there was a new request from the girl's mom - well, she's verified and has all the t's crossed and i's dotted so I'm hoping it's really mom.  You might be surprised that it really is just a late request for a weekend that is probably already overbooked in town.  Will you still be worried about keg stands if you find out she's graduating from Lancaster Bible College?  

Come back and tell us what you did - I'd like to hear the rest of the story.  

[Joe151]

That's a good one @Alice-and-Jeff0! We have a joke here in Lancaster County.... "Always take 2 Mennonites fishing with you.  If you only take 1, he'll drink all your beer. If you take 2, they won't drink a drop between them." That being said, I come from a Mennonite heritage but one of my favorite things to do is travel to Asheville and spend a weekend enjoying the breweries there.

Thanks for the input. I will post back here again with the rest of the story.

[Andrea9]

@Joe151

Additionally prepare a checklist with pics showing condition of the house when going through the property that they have to sign.

That then is proof in case they do cause damages.

[Lizzie]

Hello @Joe151,

Lovely to meet you. It is great to see you have received lots of thoughtful suggestions from your fellow hosts. 🙂

As a few days have gone by now, I just wondered what you decided to do in the end?

Thanks,

Lizzie

[Joe151]

Greetings All...

Sorry that it's taken me a while to get back to you. THANK YOU for taking time to provide such great feedback. I will be contacting the guest later today and I will keep you all informed of how things transpire.

Best,

Joe

P.S. I tried tagging ALL people who took time to respond, but it seems the website limits me to only 4 names.

@Kelly149@Alice-and-Jeff0@Andrea9@Lizzie