@Mike55....Hi Mike, I am sure, as a relatively intelligent man, you would understand why Airbnb do not promote their contact details more prominently. With the number of hosts Airbnb has around the world the number of support personnel they would have to employ would rival the largest companies in the world!
The issue with hosting platforms in general is, it's not like learning to drive a car, become a refrigeration mechanic, an electrician, an insurance rep or just about any other profession! With hosting you don't need any qualifications to do it....you just follow the 'List your property' tab, and your in business!
It is a fact of life 95% of hosts do not familiarise themselves with the rules of a hosting platform before start hosting...and when something happens that is not what they expected, they cry out for help, or they do something that will have a negative impact on them. You just can't feasibly have a large enough support base to handle the volume of trivial questions that arise. Mike, as you said in your original post, we see the same questions over and over again to the point where we don't even bother responding to them after a while.
The Community forum, as you may know, is not Airbnb!!!....It is a instrumentality commissioned by Airbnb to take the pressure off their help desks, answer relevant questions and provide feedback to Airbnb.
Having said that Mike I find Airbnb in Australia to be one of the easiest companies to contact both by phone or via Facebook. If I have ever had an issue I have never had to wait on the end of a phone line for more than 2 minutes before I am actually speaking to a representative...and in ever instance the person I have spoken to has had a genuine desire to solve my problem to the point where I have even received a return call to make sure my issue was resolved and a 'feedback' email for me to comment on the help I had received!
You obviously solved your problem by doing a bit of research or experimenting where the 'Decline' tab is concerned!....You realised you had to do more than simply hit Decline, and precisely following the instructions on the page and check all the boxes required in order to actually decline the booking request......but Mike, you should have made sure you knew how to 'decline a booking' before you started to get stuck into Airbnb for lack of contact ability and service. It is precisely because of your situation that Airbnb do not make their contact detail more available.
I am not specifically having a go at you Mike, you are no doubt a great host, I just wish more people would do their homework. Cheers.....Rob.