Catherine's place looked ideal for a last minute booking for my daughter who was in a desperate need for a place for a week. I booked it because it was available immediately. Catherine responded quickly and got the place ready which I really appreciate. Unfortunately when my daughter arrived she found that the apartment was in a a basement in an area in which she felt very unsafe, so much so that she didn't even get out of the car and enter the apartment. We cancelled immediately. That's when Catherine became silent and stopped responding. Eventually she told me to go through Airbnb for a refund.
The refund process in the resolution center requires first asking the host, who then has 72 hours to respond. Catherine did not respond. Then Airbnb stepped in and managed to get her to agree to a 50% refund. What this amounted to was having to pay about $400 for making the booking and cancelling with 3 hours and not entering the apartment. I also note that she was able to book the apartment out very quickly to someone else. It is partly the greed exhibited by this host that is so infuriating but mostly that she refused to discuss the issue or even respond to me after the cancellation was made. She does not deserve the designation of Super Host. And people should know that this is a basement apartment at the end of a cul-de-sac in a not very safe area of the city.