I have been hosting for 4 years on airbnb and have about 400 reviews averaging 4.8 stars. My cabin is in the woods, so it's not uncommon to occasionally get a mouse in the cabin--especially if it has rained a lot. I have monthly pest control and spectacular cleaners, so I've never gotten a complaint from a guest about this until yesterday.
The guest showed up about 20 minutes before check-in time, and the cleaners rush to wrap up so they could check in. The guests had been there about an hour when I received a message that they had discovered mouse droppings in the cabin behind a table when they moved the furniture and were disgusted and wanted a full refund and to leave.
I apologized profusely and explained that we have regular pest control, but sometimes mice get in unfortunately. I offered to have the cleaners come back out immediately + $150 refund (on a $500 stay). I told them if they were adamant about leaving, I'd honor a full refund since I didn't want their trip ruined over this.
I asked the guest to cancel the reservation since they wanted to leave, but tell Airbnb to look in the thread to see that I approved the refund. I've only had to do this a few times in the past, but it has never been an issue--Airbnb sees that I approved the refund and processes it.
So the guest canceled yesterday immediately. The cleaners and pest control came out and took care of the issue and set out more bait/traps just in case. Another guest booked with a check-in today. I assumed everything was good, but this is where it gets weird, and I have no idea how to proceed because Airbnb support won't respond to me.
I get a message from an airbnb rep this morning saying that they processed the full refund for the guest, marked the reservation canceled by me (the host), and that I may be at risk for deplatforming due to this "health violation."
So now, airbnb canceled the reservation "canceled by host" even though I didn't cancel it and offered as much as I could to keep the guest happy. So now I worry my super host status is at risk, when I was just trying to the do the right thing by the guest by offering a full refund.
Also, my calendar is now blacked out because it's canceled by host, and I can no longer see the reservation of the NEW guest who booked last night. No one from support can tell me how to access his reservation or if he's still confirmed (I confirmed his stay last night but it's now blacked out on my calendar so I can't see it!).
I also apologized profusely and asked what "risk of deplatforming" means, but I can't get any response.
While I know mouse droppings are gross, a cabin built into the side of a mountain is almost impossible to completely guarantee nothing will ever get inside.
Did I just get a bad airbnb rep?
Have others seen a reservation that was canceled by the guest switched to being canceled by the host?
What do I do about the blacked out calendar and the guest checking in today?
Has anyone ever been deplatformed over something like this?