AirBnB is really working my last nerve

This woman stayed with me for a few days in June. She worked nights at the hospital, though weirdly did not tell me this until after she had been with me for 2 days (I wondered why she never left her room). She was quiet and unobtrusive. We conversed through the app about a couple of things (she needed an iron for her clothes, I needed her to move her car, she wanted late checkout, which of course I gave her) - I was responsive and accommodating to everything she asked. I saw her in-person a few times in passing and we exchanged pleasantries. Imagine my shock at receiving this brutal review:

That she considers it "constructive" to say the kitchen was messy to manipulate her kind of summarizes my whole experience with her. And what the fuck does "You can't have your cake and eat it too" mean in this context? I would say that to her - you can't pay this price for a place and have these expectations (as for the cat smell, she has an aggressively sensitive nose - it's a small house and the catbox is as far from the bedrooms as possible, but that's the best I can do).

I tried to be reasonable in my response and avoid being accusatory. Maybe I should have been a bit more pointed (for example, of course there is a lock on the room, maybe she doesn't know how to use doors). I did send her a DM through the app, to ask why she was so mean after she had told me she would have extended her stay but she had found an apt for the rest of her time in Grand Forks. 

I've gotten a couple bad reviews in the two years I've been doing this, but nothing this comprehensively devastating (a couple of people complained about how small the place, described as small, was...one other guest did complain about the cat smell). I assume most people will take this with a grain of salt, with so very many positive reviews about my place, as well as the rather hysterical tone of this (my daughter says this guest sounds like she was drunk when she wrote it).

3 stars for the location because of "Bland surroundings"? What the actual fuck? There are stores and restaurants nearby. What does she want?

Adding insult to injury

 A few weeks ago, I cancelled an airbnb guest because I had already accepted an off-book reservation for that date. Oops. Definitely my bad, it's been a crazy spring and summer. The guest had a month to find a new place.

A few days ago, I found out that airbnb charged me $50 for cancelling the guest.  

This is what it says on the site under cancellation policies: 

If you or your guest needs to cancel or update a reservation, we’ve got you covered. We’ll help you navigate any cancellations or alterations, and explain what happens when changes are made.

Processing cancellations

Plans change, and that’s okay. If you need to cancel, first make sure you’re logged in to your Airbnb account. Then head to your calendar, find the instance, and select Cancel Experience. Your guests will receive a notification and a full refund. Keep in mind that if you cancel, penalties are involved and may include things like a cancellation fee.

The full disclosure of the fee is super hidden on the website, I had to search several times before I landed on the page that actually spells it out:

Host Cancellation Policy

Effective Date: October 9, 2023

Although cancellations by Hosts are rare, and some cancellations are beyond a Host’s control, cancellations by Hosts can disrupt guest plans and undermine confidence in our community. For those reasons, if the Host cancels a confirmed reservation, or if the Host is found to be responsible for a cancellation under this Policy, Airbnb may impose fees and other consequences. The fees and other consequences set out in this Policy are intended to reflect the costs and other impacts of these cancellations on guests, the broader Host community, and Airbnb. We will waive the fees and, in some cases, the other consequences, if the Host cancels because of a Major Disruptive Event or certain valid reasons beyond the Host’s control.

Cancellation fees

If a Host cancels a confirmed reservation, or if the Host is found to be responsible for a cancellation under this Policy, we will impose fees subject to a minimum cancellation fee of $50 USD. The fee is based on the reservation amount and when the reservation is canceled:

If the reservation is canceled 48 hours or less before check-in, or after check-in, the fee is 50% of the reservation amount for the nights not stayed

If the reservation is canceled anytime between 48 hours and 30 days before check-in, the fee is 25% of the reservation amount

If the reservation is canceled more than 30 days before check-in, the fee is 10% of the reservation amount

For reservations of 28 days or longer, the cancellation fees above will be calculated as a percentage of the non-refundable portion of the reservation as of the time of cancellation—up to the 30-day period following the cancellation date—rather than the entire reservation amount

When calculating cancellation fees, the reservation amount includes the base rate, cleaning fee, and any pet fees, but excludes taxes and guest fees. If the calculated cancellation fee is less than $50 USD, it will be adjusted up to $50 USD.

I think this is usury. I gave the guest 30 days, my penalty should have been 10% of what the guest would have paid, which is $13. Or, it should be nothing for a first offense - you should get a warning the first time, especially as the fee is unknown. Also, it's so unfair to have a $50 fee for a place as cheap as mine. The only reason airbnb should charge any fee is when a host is cancelling repeatedly or the guest complains. I am deeply disappointed. I tell people all the time how supportive airbnb is of the hosts, but I will not be saying that anymore. This fee is just a way to make money off of us. 

After a LONG interaction with my "ambassador" at customer support, they said they might be able to get the fee waived. That seemed fair to me, for a first and not very egregious offense. Then I got this fucked up reply:

I have exhausted all of my resources to see if we can waive the penalties, however, the Host cancellation penalty will remain on your account. As much as I would love to remove this on your behalf, we cannot override the system.

Get the FUCK out of here! They dangled it in front of me and then said, oh we just can't. They could do whatever they want in this situation, this just proves they DGAF about hosts. Such bullshit.

Unfair punishment

This is annoying because I'm killing it on the other 3 criteria...I canceled on one guest with plenty of notice. 

This summer, I've gotten many more cancellations, some for multi-night stays. So potential guests can fill up my calendar so it's unavailable to other people and then cancel without penalty of any kind. People mostly say their plans have changed, which is fair, and I don't blame them - I've cancelled reservations myself when my plans changed. I can change my cancellation policy to punish them financially, but I really don't want to do that. [I ended up changing it slightly to require a fee for last minute cancellations, but that doesn't help with people who keep many days in reserve and then don't end up staying. If I could base my policy on how many days they reserved instead of when they cancelled, I would do that.]

I don't really care about being a Superhost, but having it removed for ONE cancellation is rather frustrating...