Why was a booking accepted by airbnb when the calendar has it blocked out

[Diana240]

I have had my calendar blocke for over 6 months for certain dates yet airbnb accepted a booking on these blocked dates. This means that I had to cancel the booking and now airbnb wabts to charge me a cancellation fee when they should not have accepted the booking.

[Linda108]

Rule of thumb, @Diana240, do not cancel a guest without contacting Air BNB.  Period.  When you cancel, no matter the reason, the automatic system responds with all the host penalties.  You need Air BNB human intervention.  Contact Air BNB and explain that the dates were erroneously unblocked and you had to cancel.  The rep should be able to see that and cancel all host penalties.

In case you need contact information, here is a guide to contacting Air BNB

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Contact-Airbnb-A-Community-Help-Guide/m-p/16165#M728