Hi Lisa,
I had similiar experience just like you did. I booked an place, after 30 mins of booking, I found out place was inconvenient for our family. I knew policy was 'strict', and check in date was only 4 days ahead. So I could not cancel unless host agrees.
I asked the host, "I just made a booking but can I cancel this? We need kitchen area for our family otherwiese it is inconvenient".
Host answered, "Ok, go ahead and cancel".
I replied, "Thank you".
And then when I asked for a full refund through Airbnb, Airbnb contacted host, and the host said
he advised to cancel, but he never advised for full refund.
How deceiving host he is! He basically set a trap and I fell for it.
After a long conversation with Airbnb, they only refunded half of $812.80.
Beware of the host, airbnb doesnt do much for you either.
Airbnb should step in and do something about these deceptive host.