emergency cancellations for a long period of time

[Moran9]

Hi there,

so i'm a rookie at this hosting and been doing it for half an year.

for reasons not up to me, our apartment wont be able to host for the next 3-4 months.

unfortunatly i hade to cancel about 5 guests.

the first cancelation had no fees. the other 4 cost me 50$ each.

what can i do the prevent these charges? i mean, the entire area will be undergoing repairs and i dont have control on timing or leangth of work.

thanks!

Moran

[Steve143]

Hello @Moran9,

If you have an issue that's covered by Airbnb's extenuating circumstances policy or otherwise believe that you have a valid reason beyond your control for cancelling you should always contact Airbnb first. When you cancel unilaterally their automatic penalty system comes into play.

Some information on the policy is contained in the article below. It does say to cancel first and then contact them but advice from hosts here is to contact Airbnb first and some hosts here reported that that's what Airbnb support told them i.e. that they should have contacted them before cancelling.

What is Airbnb's Extenuating Circumstances Policy?

Click on "Help", then on "Visit the Help Centre" and then on the "Contact us" button near the end of the page. That should show phone and message links for Airbnb support.

You can also type "contact airbnb" in the "Search the community" box on these forum pages where you posted your question. Scroll down a little in the list of suggestions that appears and click on the "Contact Airbnb: A Community Help Guide[UPDATED]" one. That lists phone numbers and ways to contact them via Twitter or Facebook.

Steve.