Guest never stayed here but his friend did

carolyn
Moderator

Posts: 99

Guest never stayed here but his friend did Nov 11, 2015 20:01:11 GMT

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Post by carolyn on Nov 11, 2015 20:01:11 GMT

OMG. I've never seen this before. Pete made a reservation for two, and he had many glowing reviews as well as verified ID. I realized before he arrived that the reservation stated "1 guest," so I asked him to accept my alteration, changing one guest to 2, and he said sure. He never got around to it, but now I know why! He never stayed here!! He said he was traveling with his friend Joey, and they asked for self-check-in as they'd be arriving close to midnight. Over the 3-day booking I saw Joey several times but never saw Pete. Today, Joey left the keys and said "Thanks for letting me stay!" I go into the unit and it's obvious only one side of the bed was slept in.

I feel like I've been duped, but I can put that feeling aside and think of the facts: the guy who did stay here, Joey, was nice enough, but I didn't agree to host him. I accepted the reservation from Pete! I ended up with a guest for whom I had no reviews, no verifications, and no photos.

I am just glad nothing happened that would have required me to go to Airbnb Resolution. I would not have had any help, because the person who made the booking was never even here.

Has this ever happened to you?

I want to review Pete, stating the facts: "It appears only one person stayed here, and that person was not verified or reviewed."

High Priestess
Administrator

Posts: 9,110
Gender: Both and all -- I like all the choices!

Guest never stayed here but his friend did Nov 11, 2015 22:41:57 GMT carolyn and beeandbee like this

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Post by High Priestess on Nov 11, 2015 22:41:57 GMT

No, that never happened to me, but I only do single occupancy, so it isn't a risk for me.

The review you intend to leave doesn't mention that the person who made the booking never stayed at the place, which I think is what is most important to get across. Hosts have guests all the time who aren't verified or reviewed (I do -- at least half my guests are newbies without reviews) so saying that doesn't really mean much -- I would suggest something like, "Pete made the booking for himself and a friend, but Pete himself never actually stayed, so the reservation thus became a violation of Airbnb's policy prohibiting 3rd party bookings."

But I would only say this if you are quite sure Pete didn't stay. I think it's pretty important that hosts never falsely accuse a guest of something -- if in doubt, leave it out -- say only what you are certain of.

Clare
Knows the Neighborhood

Posts: 20

Guest never stayed here but his friend did Nov 12, 2015 1:21:06 GMT carolyn likes this

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Post by Clare on Nov 12, 2015 1:21:06 GMT

Carolyn, I had a similar situation. Jennifer made a reservation for 4 gals. She was really slow in answering my questions prior to booking and didn't have a review. I accepted anyway. Never met Jennifer since she was due to arrive at 11pm. Instead, one of the 4 gals (I'll call her Kate) got to the house at 9 and I showed her around. At the end of the stay, Kate was already gone and so was Jennifer when I got the call that they were leaving. Once they left, I noticed extra blankets and pillows had been pulled out of the closet. The hot water heater was turned way up. Conclusion: Jennifer was a 3rd party booking and there were more people in the house than I allowed. Fortunately, there was no damage. Still being naive, I left Jennifer a nice review (which I now regret), but of course, since she probably never was there, didn't leave a review for me. Learning experience!!

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Post by carolyn on Nov 11, 2015 20:01:11 GMT

Post by High Priestess on Nov 11, 2015 22:41:57 GMT

Post by Clare on Nov 12, 2015 1:21:06 GMT