Selling my house, I cannot contact Airbnb!

[Olivia240]

My husband and I are selling our house after almost 2 years hosting, so sad!!  But since we are moving next month to DC, we must.

I have been trying to contact Airbnb for ages.  Every time I call there is a 30 min to an hour and a half wait!  I cannot get through!  When I contact them through chat, the guy that answers says he cannot help me and will get me in contact with a specialist. No one has answered back.  What do I do?  I cannot take anymore reservations and I have tons of them to next year that will have to be cancelled.  

Help!

[Lisa723]

@Olivia240 what do you need help with?

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/476/how-do-i-snooze-unlist-or-deactivate-my-listing

[Olivia240]

Thank you for your help!  But this doesn't work for me.  The article says: "You won't be able to permanently deactivate your listing if you have any upcoming reservations or reservation requests."  

I am selling the house and must cancel all the reservations after the first of August.  Only Airbnb can do this, so I am told, without me suffering quite a lot of penalties. 

[Lisa723]

@Olivia240 you can start by unlisting so you at least don't get any new reservations.

Yes, Airbnb penalizes host cancellations pretty heavily, but if you are not going to be hosting anymore those penalties are not very meaningful. Whether Airbnb will grant penalty-free cancellations for this circumstance, I don't know, and it seems to be practically impossible to get customer support right now.

In your shoes, I would unlist and immediately alert all guests that they will need to find other accommodations. Some may be willing to cancel on their own, though that is not in their interest as Airbnb will not refund their service fees. 

[Helen3]

I can absolutely see why Airbnb says this, as their priority, quite rightly, is to support guests you can no longer accommodate whose travel plans will be disrupted.

Were they not able to help you when you contacted them on their social media or through their website? @Olivia240 

I do appreciate it must be frustrating not to be able to reach them by phone.

According to their terms you will  liable for penalties as Airbnb will say you should have blocked out  longer term dates when you put your house on the market so you only took shorter term booking you knew you could accommodate.  However you may get a customer rep who will be flexible so worth a try.

I agree that in the meantime do alert your guests as soon as possible so they can try and book an alternative.