We are new to Airbnb, and just had a similar disaster - the guest paid (it was a same day booking), but then there was a message 'pending verification' on the calendar. Apparently, someone who is new to Airbnb can pay, but only needs to verify themselves afterwards with their Identity document (e.g. passport). It doesn't matter if you don't need identification for your booking - Airbnb appears to require it from guests. Most new users to Airbnb don't know that, and assume that everything is fine with their payment. If the guest does not provide their Identification within 12 hours to Airbnb, the payment gets reversed and the reservation gets cancelled. This was a nightmare to sort out with the guest - to explain what they needed to do, and the urgency with which they had to send their identification. In the end, while already staying at the flat, the payment was cancelled, and the days were immediately freed up on the calendar. At this point, we even thought that the guest was deliberately avoiding sending their Identification, and had no protection with any kind of contract with the guest, while they were already staying there. Today, we tried again with the guest - he did send his document (but not within 12hrs), and the payment was made (while he is still waiting a refund from the first cancellation!) So he essentially paid twice, there was a frustrated exchange of words, and we are now awaiting a bad review. This policy does not make sense - if it is essential to verify yourself before a reservation is accepted, how can they ask (and accept) payment first? Google 'pending verification' to see the extent of the problem. Hope this helps
