VRBO review: Host cancellation penalty

I am a host (property ID 2127671) with a short-term rental property platform VRBO. I have an issue with VRBO regarding a cancelled reservation May 22, 2024; The guest was C.G. I was contacted 5/22 by C.G. at 4:54 PM to request a last minute reservation 5/25 - 5/29. I responded affirmatively to accept reservation at 4:58 PM. Approximately 5 min later I realized I could not accommodate this guest and sent guest an apology and I attempted to cancel the reservation. The VRBO platform was having technical difficulties, and the cancellation would not process immediately. I called VRBO and the agent told me there were technical issues processing my request and it may take 3 - 4 hours to process the cancellation. Eventually the VRBO site processed the cancellation. My complaint involves a 'host' cancellation policy that VRBO initiated 9/23/2023. Basically, VRBO will penalize the host with a monetary fee. They are trying to reduce guest complaints involving hosts cancelling reservations and inconveniencing the guest. The VRBO penalty is on a sliding scale based on when the host cancelled reservation prior to arrival. The closer the cancelation gets to the check-in date the higher the penalty becomes. The host does have a waiver policy of the penalty, but it must be received no later than 30 days after event. Evidently, VRBO has determined that I owe a penalty of 40% ($640.00) for cancelling a reservation. I received an invoice from VRBO in June and I deleted the e-mail immediately due to my suspicion this was a scammer / hacker trying to get my credit card info. Basically, this penalty is unfair to me especially since the cancellation was made 30 minutes after guest requested to book last minute. I believe my issue is an event that falls into a grey area and requires senior management review. I called VRBO 8/29 and the agent told me they would review / consider my situation. They responded that since I did not initiate a waver within 30 days there is nothing, that they could do since I did not complete a wavier within 30 days.