There must be some word in the world of psychology for that manipulation tactic- trying to make someone feel you’ve just done them a huge favor by agreeing to correct your own mistake that impacted them negatively.
The irony of all those controlling policies is that if Airbnb were a pleasure to work with, if their CS reps were knowledgable, helpful and fair, if the platform wasn’t full of glitches, if hosts and guests didn’t have to wait weeks to get refunds they were owed, etc, etc, users would be much less inclined to go off platform, and they wouldn’t feel the need for
those policies.
They still haven’t figured out how to build brand loyalty. In fact, while users would sing their praises in the early years, they have turned a ton of users off by their increasingly poor service and policies.