I just had a rather unpleasant experience. A couple recently booked a private room two weeks in advance. When they arrived the day of their stay, they were surprised and said they thought it was an entire apartment (my listings are very clear about what you book, they simply didn't read it). They got very angry and said that my photos were misleading (they obviously only looked at pictures without reading anything), and told me to cancel the booking. I said I cannot cancel it since Airbnb would fine me and a host cancellation has very negative repercussions for the host, and that they had to cancel if they didn't want to stay (my cancellation policy is "moderate").
They had quite a nasty demeanor and left very angry (as if their mistake was my fault), and about 50 minutes later (at 4:50pm the same day), as they still had not cancelled, I contacted Airbnb through the Airbnb Help Center, sending a message explaining what had happened and that I was worried the couple did not cancel to prevent me from renting the room to anyone else and, worse, to take 'revenge' by leaving an unfavorable rating and review. And I asked for advice what I as a host could do in such a situation.
The next day (Monday, 11:34am) I received an answer from a Luis from Airbnb Spain, saying that if they leave a review that is not according to the facts I shall contact Airbnb again and the review would be removed and not affect me. I thanked him and thought everything was fine.
As expected, the couple left a 1 star review and a negative comment (note: they had NOT stayed at my place!). I wrote again to the help center, then got called by a Sandra from Airbnb Spain, who then cancelled retroactively the booking which, according to her, was the only way to remove the negative rating and review from my account. BUT in this case Airbnb refunds the money to the couple!! (she didn't tell me, I saw that later in my "future transactions" page and called her again).
According to Airbnb Spain, I had only 2 options, and there was nothing they could do about it (because of the Airbnb policies, Sandra said):
a) Reactivate the booking and "cope" with the unjust 1-star-rating and negative review (bye bye superhost-status!), or
b) Have the booking cancelled, but the money refunded to the couple, despite of my "moderate" cancellation policy and the mean move on part of the couple
WHY this?? What did I, as a host, do wrong here to have to choose between either dealing with an unjust "revenge"-rating and review that severely damages my star-rating average, or loosing the income from that booking the couple willingly didn't cancel with the purpose of doing harm, and despite having a moderate cancellation policy? AND despite having contacted Airbnb IMMEDIATELY to inform about the situation and find an acceptable solution. This, obviously, isn't an acceptable solution.
HOW can we as hosts protect ourselves and avoid such situations? This is obviously an issue that needs to be addressed in a more appropriate way than that.
Is there anything I can do, or must I accept that I have to choose between the plague and the cholera, just because this is how it is??
Thank you very much for any advice; I must say that this experience left me with a rather vulnerable and unprotected feeling.
