Airbnb do not stand by their own policy

[Robyn92]

I had a guest book 7 months in advance for 42 nights. Arrived on a Saturday and was perfectly happy until Wednesday when she wanted to cancel and find somewhere closer to her new job. (In her message to me she said there is nothing wrong with the property)  I told her I had a strict cancellation policy so she rang airbnb. They asked me to let her do an alteration and I said no. If she had booked the week before and had a real good reason I would have accepted but the fact was it was a cancellation not an alteration in my eyes. In Christchurch that week we had -3dec frosts and her windows were not open as my instructions or her wet towels were not put on a heated towel rail in the bathroom also as my instructions, they were left in her room therefore her window was dripping wet for the 4 days she was here. She then complained to airbnb about moss on the window sill which was immediately wiped off - photos sent to airbnb showing a nice dry clean window and yet they bullied me for a week sending me messages at 11.15 pm at night telling me to alter her booking. I refused due to reasons above. Then after 1 week they did the alteration themselves and now I have to pay them back just over $600 which I feel is so unfair, also I have not had any more booking for that room she had tied up for all those months.

Now Airbnb policy is (If there is a complaint from either party, notice must be given to Airbnb within 24 hours of check-in.)

I have been a Airbnb host for over 3 years and not one bad review on any dampness or moss. I lost my job in march this year and relied on the airbnb money for some income yet now I have over $600 dept to airbnb which is so unfair. I have always been fair to guests in the past when we had earthquakes - the shooting etc real good reasons why guests want to cancel but this was not one of those. Airbnb saw her message that there was nothing wrong with the property and saw the problem was fixed (after she had left) and yet would not give me any consideration at all. The biggest problem is there is no competion out there for Airbnb so they can treat you as badly as they like.

[Emiel1 · Accepted solution]

@Robyn92 

Corrrection: A 42 nights booking is a "long term stay" and has the "long term stay' cancellation policy attached, which overrules the policy mentioned in  the listing.

[Robyn92]

Then why did she only pay for 7 nights not the full month as per the policy See below

The Long-Term Airbnb cancellation policy is applied to all reservations that are 28 nights or longer. Guests are required to give 30 days notice of cancellation in order to receive a full refund. If the guest cancels within 30 days of the check-in date, then the first month of the reservation is paid to the host.

Additionally, if the guests decide to leave during the stay, the guest is required to pay for 30 days following the date of the cancellation or up to the end date of the original booking.