I'm in a similar situation, the Safety department has remained unresponsive. I unlisted my place. Should Airbnb fail to provide support, I will delete my listing permanently at the end of the month.
I escalated my concerns to the Safety department after a guest cancelled his reservation, and messaged me with threats of breaking into my home to extort a refund, while suggesting that he knows how to use guns. The Safety department never called back.
I reported the threatening message. I called Airbnb several times, I messaged Airbnb support, requesting a call back from the safety department and from a supervisor. I have not received a call back from either the safety department or the supervisor, it's been 3 weeks now. My ticket was closed out without explanation. I had to call Airbnb to reopen my ticket. No plan of action was ever communicated to me. Support said that there is nothing they can do to help, that all they can do is escalate, while the escalation process remains unresponsive.
Airbnb never called the guest to deescalate. To the contrary, Airbnb encouraged his behavior by giving him the option to retaliate with a review. Airbnb declined to remove the review unless it is published. The guest had never checked in or seen my home, and I'm confused as to why Airbnb does not protect hosts from retaliation.
Airbnb misrepresented the cancellation policy by telling the guest that the refund was up to the host. They encouraged the guest to contact me directly, and the misrepresentation escalated into threats. I don't understand why Airbnb redirected the guest to me. Now I have to deal with this on my own without support from Airbnb. This is not right.
I have been a super host for the past 6 years. I paid Airbnb a lot of money for services I never received. When a guest cancels, I pay Airbnb (1) to handle cancellations themselves, (2) to enforce the cancellation policy, (3) to remind the guest that he signed the cancellation policy, (4) to explain the protocol about refund under extenuating circumstances, (5) to deescalate, (6) to enforce the policy about extortion and retaliation.
Instead, Airbnb misrepresents policies and refund as up to the host, and exposes hosts to extortion, harassment, threats, and retaliation from the guest. I consulted the thousands of complaints against Airbnb on BBB. Almost all of them come from guests who are frustrated with the cancellation policies. I'm concerned that the ongoing misrepresentation by Support makes Airbnb liable for any retaliation from the guest. There is a strong correlation between cancellation policy and retaliatory reviews.
Airbnb designs contribute heavily into this problem. The ux flows fail to collect a clear consent from the guest about the cancellation policy. Guests seem unaware of the cancellation policy until they complete the cancellation flow. The poor design experience creates misunderstanding and frustration from the guest, and this ultimately exposes hosts to extortion and retaliation.
I think that Airbnb should consider solving this problem with better designs and support protocols. When a host is threatened by a guest, the safety department must call back immediately. When a guest makes a reservation, they should sign the cancellation policy. When a guest wants to cancel, they should be reminded about the cancellation policy, and acknowledge that they lose their eligibility for refund unless under extenuating circumstances. There should be no misunderstanding or frustration from the guest about the refund. As part of the cancellation flow, the guest should confirm if they checked-in or not, so that they aren't given the option to leave a review about a place they never saw.
