This has been the most disappointing host experience I have encountered in the 6 years I have been using Airbnb.
Due to the travel bans associated with the omicron variant, we were unable to travel to the Netherlands for our stay and sent Rosie a message immediately, approximately 3 weeks before our stay. Importantly, Rosie responded saying we can cancel without penalty due to the circumstances. However, this would only have been possible by requesting a refund, as her strict cancellation policy would only allow us to cancel with a 50% penalty.
To mitigate this penalty on both our sides, I suggested simply moving our dates to a time we would be in the country, which she ultimately rejected, understandably, asking us to cancel (again, assuring us that we would get no penalty for doing so). HOWEVER, she took so long to respond to this, that we had surpassed her 50% refund policy and the reservation was now non-refundable. The only option I had was to ask for a refund, which she then rejected after repeatedly assuring me I would get no penalty. She also completely stopped responding to my messages asking her to clarify why she rejected the request.
I asked AirBNB to intervene on my behalf, which they agreed to do, because my request was understandable according to the proof of our AirBNB chats, but she continued to remain steadfast that we cancelled outside of the refundable period according to her cancellation policy (which, again, she caused the delay on).
Ultimately, there was nothing they could do, so I am forced to write this review, as I tried to be reasonable, communicate effectively, and ask Rosie for even the smallest level of understanding, however, there is a certain lack of integrity in this matter.