Last March 15, we had a reservation for two weeks. At the time that we got the booking, we also learned that the building admin had decided to unilaterally impose a ban on all incoming short term-stay guests.
We agreed with the guest that the booking should be cancelled at the time and so we immediately facilitated that and a full refund for the guest.
A month after, I got a message from Airbnb support stating that they were going to impose host cancellation penalties on us for having had this cancelled booking.
This booking cancellation was clearly COVID-19 related. But despite many attempts on my part to explain this to Airbnb support, it looks like they are dead-set on applying host cancellation penalties based on a mechanical and robotic application of rules.
I think this is most unfair and just adds serious insult to injuries for us as a superhost who has worked hard to give guests excellent experiences. At this time, our income is already zero for the past month, and I see so far no end to the present financial burdens we will have to face. The last thing I need is an additional slap in the face from Airbnb for a COVID-19 booking cancellation.
