Well, after reading all of your posts I can add to the story!
My email to Airbnb pretty much sums it up (enjoy the read) - (they've come back and basically said "no, F**k off" but they certainly like taking my money from all my other properties!):
I am absolutely furious to find that you have gone ahead and made a unilateral decision to cancel this booking without any payout to me. I have behaved nothing but honorably throughout this entire process and I believe that you have treated me unfairly as the owner of the property and the person who has ALL of the liability here. I had offered this £750,000 property to this guest at a HEAVILY reduced rate because my partner offered a property in Golders Green to them and then realised he wasn't ready to host their stay. I have now bent over backwards, had lengthy conversations with them (sometimes they phoned me at 2am in the morning!!!!! NOT OKAY), received and responded to a plethora of emails, been asked to accommodate their every need only to find that, because it appears they 'made a mistake in pricing their booking' I am now in a position whereby a) my property has not been available for bookings while they have totally messed me around and b) that I now have one week WITHOUT the payment owed to me due to my cancellation policy all because airbnb have allowed this guest to get away with it. I am part of one of the biggest Serviced Accommodation groups in the UK (around 200,000 strong) and I shall be sharing this on our platforms to make sure that everyone is aware that, despite airbnb charging US for their service, they have no interest in treating US fairly and instead side with the guest - who, in this instance has clearly been a nightmare and behaved appallingly. I am looking to take legal advice and action regarding this matter because my policy is clear and it has NOT been honoured. Therefore, the only reason I will NOT take action will be due to the follow: either you reimburse me the FULL amount as I am owed or you make sure that my listing is pushed right up the ranks and MAKE SURE that you get me bookings for that period of time to make sure that I do not lose this money with only one week now to find a guest. If neither of these happens , expect to hear from my legal team who will be looking to turn every stone to find out the legitimacy of this cancellation as it all seems just a little bit too convenient for this unruly guest to get away with this sort of behaviour - which YOU have facilitated. I would also like assurances that this guest is no longer entitled to use airbnb as I wouldn't want other providers to be affected by her outrageous behaviour - or, indeed, yours! And, for what it is worth, I am happy for ANYONE to come and view my properties to verify that ALL of my properties advertised on your site are of the highest quality and are truly represented in my listings as such. I expect a proper outcome to thisituationon and I expect it with immediate effect. Regards Annie