A person is booking for another person...will I be notified???

On the Booking,com reservation page, there are two lines:

• Guest name:
• Booker name:

Whoever pays online for the reservation should state the guest's name.

on the subject of "booker/guest" relationship, there are 2 recent experiences we have encountered

1)  A booker books ,and pays online, for her partner's accommodation with us.

A week before commencement of the reservation, we sent a message to the booker in regards to airport transfer information, and other services.

The booker informs us that she had broken up all contact with her partner and was unable to pass on our information.

We contacted BdC, asking  for the guest's contact information , which was refused by BdC, because of privacy laws

((( If a booker books a reservation for any other person, we, the Hosts, can only communicate with the booker, NOT with the guest themselves))

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2)  A booker books a single room for 2 nights, in her name, for herself, but arrives late in the evening together with an anonymous person , and allows that person to take her place. Because the booker had paid online for the reservation, and the booked dorm room has a private, separate entrance, our house staff saw no reason to refuse the substitute person's access to the room. Apart from this single personal contact between the booker ,plus partner , and our house staff, we never ever saw them again

When we argued with BdC's support team  about the right of the booker ( when she never stayed at our premises ) to lodge a review , we received the following explanation:

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Booking.com

15 February 2020 - 15:17:31

Dear Partner,

Unfortunately it is too late to make a call, that's why I am writing a letter.

We can only remove reviews in certain situations. You'll find more info on removing reviews here:

Can I ask for a review to be removed?

In a case when the guest which booked your property did not showed up, you could have marked the guest as a no show, and the person who checked in, should have made a new reservation. But it would not mean that the guest who stayed at the property would have changed his mind and made a different review. So the result would have been the same.

Because you did not marked a no show, the system recognize this reservation as stayed and that the guest have full right to add the review.

Other case is when one person is booking the property for another person (for example daughter books for her mother the property).
Again in this case one person booked, and another one lived in the property.
Still the review will be valid. Because this is the subjective opinion of the person who stayed at the property.

Whenever you need us, we're always here.

Kind regards,
--
xxxxxxxxxx S.
Booking.com Partner Support Team

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Quite simple and clear, or is it ?

Good morning M Adamopoulou

It is always our pleasure to talk with you.

During the past 9 years, we never had a valid reason to argue with BdC,-- this is a first, and only ( unfortunate ) case that led us (maybe a little too harsh) to overreact to a situation.

After further discussions with our staff, we concluded that this "guest experience" was the result of  ( unusual ) circumstances, and confusion, for which neither of the parties involved should, or could, directly, or individually be held responsible for.

( BTW: after questioning the BdC support team, all our messages are back online. )

We wish you a pleasant day

cheers

Dear M Adamopoulou! Thank you for raising the question regarding booker vs guest.

During the reservation process we are asking the guest to choose whether they are the "main guest" or they are "making reservation for somebody else". If they are booking for someone else, they will have a section to add the name of the actual guest. In this case you will see on the Reservation details page two names: booker and guest.

Unfortunately, it always depends on the booker to choose the correct section and add the name of the actual guest. In most of the cases they do add a name of the guest, if it is different from the bookers name. The guests name can also be changed after the reservation is confirmed. 

Best regards!

Thank you, Community Admin, for the comment.

In general ( and in our opinion ), this policy that you are referring to, is perfectly well understood by most, or all, BdC Hosts.

As you stated"    Unfortunately, it always depends on the booker to choose the correct section and add the name of the actual guest "

So, (what we are asking is, ) what is the host's position in a case where a person or persons ,arrive at the guesthouse and claim that a different person has booked ( and paid for the reservation online ) under their own name ?

It was suggested by the BdC support team, that we request the booker to cancel the reservation, and ask the arriving guests to re-book their stay.

A very simple procedure ( or not ?)

On the other hand, because the booker is always the identity with whom BdC communicates, BdC refuses to make available to the host any personal information on the guest(s), even if their name is included in the original booking request.

When it comes to reviews, the booker ( not the actual guests ,who have been staying at the property ) << in case that the host is lenient enough to honour the reservation >>> is the only contact BdC sends an invitation to to leave a review on the property.

Again, BdC's support team offers the suggestion that the booker can send the link of the BdC review page to the people they had made the booking for, and ask them to fill it in. 

Once more, very simple !!

Talking about our recent experience,

In our case , a female booker from UK booked a single budget price room for two nights, and asked for early check-in.

Instead of arriving at Mid-day, ( as requested) she arrived in the late hours of the evening, after our office had closed.

She showed our security staff printed confirmation that the booking was paid for via online payment method, and declared that the room was not for her, but for her local driver.

Not a big problem!!

Three days later, a review was posted to or BdC host's page, with a rating of ("1 ") , which was supported by claiming that " the lights in the house were not really bright,-- and that "only dry bread was served for breakfast" 

The problem is that neither the booker, nor the "driver", ever appeared in person to meet with the House Management ,or any of the staff, after the initial contact on the evening of check-in.

Our Dorm Rooms have private, individual entrances. 

Thank you, https://partner.booking.com/en-gb/user/44919 for sharing with us your unpleasant experience with your guests. I plan to be very careful and to mark as no-show after midnight every guest who will not be the who they claimed to be. This way their reviews will not be published if BdC is keeping their promises.

Hi,

is there any way to block the option for a third party to make the booking for someone else? We would prefer to only allow the person who is actually staying to make the booking.

Thanks