Can anyone explain to me why Airbnb is forcing me to never decline (for various scenarios I will explain) ? is declining a reservation the same thing as canceling?
1. declining - i either am booked at almost full capacity and accepting one more reservation would mean a miserable experience sharing the bathroom an kitcken, for everyone else
or I am not comfortable with that guest or do not have enough information about them to be assured it will be a good experience for them as well as for us
or the guest asked me questions, i responded and approved her/him for booking, but they failed to book in a timely manner; in the meantime someone else booked those days.
2. canceling - only happened once, again doing some repairs for the room, and i figured it's better to cancel 2 weeks before, and allow them to find another place, rather than wait until 1 day before their arrival, and then cancel and leave them without a place.
Now I got an email from Airbnb with the subject "Canceling could get you removed from search results" apparently I cancel too often!?! I only canceled once for the reasons explained above ... the rest are declining, and I belive I have the right to accept or decline who can sleep in my house, and safety and comfort are my main goals, for my family as well as for the (other) guests already living with us.
Is one cancelation borderline "blacklisted host", meaning now we are "bad bad people" and close to being erased from search results? do i not have the right to chose what guests can stay with me? is my personal safety less important to airbnb? i never left anyone in the road, and made sure if circumstances make it unlikely to host, that I give them alternatives to find another place. Also I chose to pay extra for another contractor to finish the repairs before the date the guest decided to come.
And last but not least, why is it so hard to reach airbnb? the email i got, cannot be replied to, and the help section just goes in a loop, or asking or searching the current conversation.
Thanks for your time,