You should have had the guest cancel and then provide the refund. Then they cannot leave you a review.
Depends on when they cancel. If they cancel less than 24 hours before check-in, they are prompted to leave a review. Which is obviously what happened in that case.
Good to know… I was not aware of this. If the guest did not stay, can you get Airbnb to remove the review?
Not usually, according to posts I’ve read.
BTW, I had a guest who did not stay. She cancelled the next day but she never checked in.
She contacted airbnb to ask for a refund as she did not stay. I told airbnb that she did not check in, and cancelled the reservation well after the deadline so no refunds.
Airbnb gave her as well as me an option to write a review. I asked airbnb if she will be allowed to write a review. They told me the review will be removed if she writes one. Luckily she did not write a review.