Issue with rental and Airbnb response

[Mary3999]

Hi-

We rented a place for a month.  Approximately 2 weeks after checking in the faucet fell off the kitchen sink.  It took 4 days for the host to fix the sink.  We had no running water in the kitchen for 4 days.  In addition, we had other issues including dirty rugs and cockroaches.  

I requested a refund from the host of $50 a day for the kitchen issue for a total of $200.  The request was denied.  So, I requested Airbnb to review the complaint.  Airbnb responded saying that any amenity issue should be reported within 24 hours of checking in.  They can only refund $35 off the first night.  

I don't understand this response from Airbnb.  How is no running water in the kitchen 4 days  an amenity issue?  How could I report withinn 24 hours when it didn't happen until 2 weeks after checkin? 

Does anyone know what the policy?  This response from Airbnb doesn't seem right.

We also host and when we have issues with basic functionality we refund appropriately.  

Just wondering what the policy is for this type of issue.  

Please let me know,

Thank you!

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Mary3999 I THINK the policy is to report within 24 hours of the issue arising NOT within 24 hours of check in which is clearly stupid.

[Mary3999]

Thank you as this makes more sense to me! We definitely reported the issue witin 24 hours of the issue occuring.  I'm not sure why he is saying within 24 hours of checking in!   makes no sense!

[Anonymous]

@Mary3999  It's really up to the whim of the individual on your case, whether they seize funds from the host's payout to compensate a guest for an inconvenience.

An inoperational kitchen would almost certainly qualify as a Travel Issue. So if the faucet had not been fixed within a day of reporting, you should have been given the option of vacating the property with a refund of the unused portion of your stay.

But if the guest chooses to complete the stay despite malfunctioning or missing amenities, there's no guarantee of any specific refund. There's no provision that the guest gets to dictate how deeply their stay will be discounted. So if you aren't satisfied with the resolution offered by your host, and no longer feel the home is adequate for your needs, your best recourse would be to ask Airbnb to terminate the remainder of your booking and leave. 

[Sarah977]

@Mary3999  "In addition, we had other issues including dirty rugs and cockroaches." As a host yourself, you should be aware that if a guest arrives to find the place unacceptable in some way- dirty, inaccurately described, etc, the protocol is to first report it to the host, giving them an opportunity to correct the issue, and if they can't, or won't, you then decide whether it's a big enough issue to warrant cancelling and leaving, or whether it's something you can live with or remedy yourself (i.e. washing the dirty rugs, if they are small enough to throw in the washing machine). If you just continue to stay, that indicates that the place was acceptable to you, and you can't fairly complain about it after the fact.

As for the faucet that took 4 days to be repaired, I think you are due some refund for the inconvenience, yes. I have no idea what the nightly fee was, but $50/ day seems somewhat excessive for the inconvenience. I assume you had access to water and could have filled a pail with water to keep at the sink. It doesn't seem like a huge deal to me, as something like a non-functioning toilet, or a non-working refrigerator or stove would be.