I once asked a question from a potential airbnb host through the contact form. The host answered something totally unrelated like "Hi, good question. We have 3 kitchen towels, 4 spoons, 7 chopsticks 5 plates 5 bathroom towels etc". It was strange. I woke up in the middle of the night when I understood it in my dream.
Oh yes. They want all contact to go through them. They charge huge fees and they want to make sure that the hosts and clients don't try to make arrangements on their own without AirBnb getting their cut.
