Water went out during stay

[Aaron860]

Hey all, 

I am a guest that stayed in an Airbnb recently and was hoping for some help/guidance on the issue.  I had a group of 5 people renting a place on the beach and on the 3rd night of the stay the water went out.   Suffice to say, it severely impacted our stay by not being able to freshen up/shower after getting sweaty and full of sand etc.   The complex was still under construction and the construction workers were in communication with us that the water would be back on soon.  I contacted the Host as well who said he would look into it than later responded to me that the water was out for 2 hours and restored (incorrect - it was still off and had been off over 12 hours at that point so I don't know why the host said that).  Late that night the construction workers knocked on the door and told us they were going to temporarily turn on the water for 30 minutes before turning it back off which, thankfully, allowed us to quickly freshen up before bed and is the only reason we didn't relocate at that point in time.   The next morning it was still off so we avoided the beach so that we could go out without being full of sand because we had already canceled our plans the previous day.  We left in the early afternoon with the water still out and the same as the night before I told my group if it was still out when we returned I would relocate us but thankfully when we returned around 9pm the water was finally back on.   

The problem for us is that the park we cancelled on the first day was actually closed the rest of the days of our trip which we didn't know at the time until we tried to re-book it for another day and couldn't.  We called the park and they said they were closed those days.   Thankfully we got a refund for our park cancellation, but the event that was supposed to be one of the main highlights of our trip we never got to do due to the water being out.   

All of this was explained to the Host who basically kept responding that the pipe was broken for the complex, basically implying in their messaging it's not their fault and out of their control.    Obviously I agree the host is not at fault in this situation, but regardless, it still severely impacted the trip.  We lost an experience and had to alter plans for 2 days which was explained to the host, and the host finally apologized at that point. 

On the first day the water was out, I went to Airbnb's website and looked up help.  The website sent me to a chat bot for assistance, I clicked on the water is not working as one of the options from the chat bot and the chat bot put up a box with a  button for me to request a refund from the host which I clicked, it took me to another page I typed in that we had cancelled our plans, explained we would leave if the water was not turned back on soon, and I requested a refund for the one day.   I got an email 30 minutes later that my support ticket had been closed so I believe the Host had rejected the refund.  

On day 2 of the water being out I instead did a refund request through the dispute resolution center, once again explaining what happened, and now requesting a refund for 2 days.   Airbnb gave the host 72 hours to respond, and the host never responded.   I called Airbnb once the 72 hours had elapsed without response because at this point I was now back in the country and had a working phone, and they said they would try to contact the host again and give them another 24 hours to respond.   The next day I get a call from Airbnb telling me the host agreed to a full refund of the 2 impacted days, but explained to me that because I had stayed and that the reservation had already been completed that they would not refund my service fee for those 2 days ($130).   In regards to the reservation being completed - all of this was done while the reservation was ongoing but because the host didn't respond for 4 days it wasn't resolved until AFTER we had checked out.   Not sure how that is my fault...  In regards to staying - it's a pain to re-locate 5 people in the middle of a trip so if there is an indication of the water returning it makes a whole lot more sense to try to stay in the current place rather than have to re-pack all of our dirty clothes into our suitcases to move to another place, plus the cost of doing so which I highly doubt Airbnb would reimburse us for relocation costs.   But apparently doing the logical thing comes with penalties.  

Question #1) Is it at all possible to get my service fee back for those 2 days or is calling Airbnb a waste of time at this point.  Seems like an anti-guest policy to me that if the days in question are fully refunded due to a lack of necessary amenities - the service fee *should* also be refunded for those days as well....  I asked the Airbnb representative if he had stayed at a hotel and didn't have working water would he be fine with the hotel refunding the stay but keeping the resort fee?  He said no he would expect the resort fee back as well, but still insisted I pay the service fee for those days explaining to me that Airbnb is different from hotels.   I obviously disagree with him.   Yes, Airbnb's are "different" from hotels but the concept of refunding a stay due to a lack of working necessary amenities is the exact same thing.   It looks to me like the service fee is Airbnb's cut so essentially the stay is supposed to be fully refunded for a lack of amenities on those days but Airbnb is perfectly fine with the host refunding the Host's cut of the affected stay but Airbnb is refusing to give up Airbnb's cut for the impacted days.   

Question 2) What do you all think is an appropriate rating for the stay?  I am leaning towards leaving a 2 star review solely based on how the Host responded to the problem.  He downplayed the severity and dismissed my concerns.   Not having working water sucks but I understand fully that is not the fault of the Host at all but arguing with me as to the cause of the water outage and dismissing my concerns is just not the way to handle it at all.   The place was amazing and otherwise would've received a 5 star review from me but I am removing 3 stars solely due to how the host handled the response.   What's weird to me is that it looks like the person Airbnb is asking me to rate is different from the person who had been responding to me.   The main host of the property is an Airbnb "Superhost" but he never responded to a single message.   A secondary host handled the responses and is the reason for the rating downgrade - but Airbnb is asking me to rate the main host that I never even communicated with a single time.  

[Lisa723]

#1) You are probably wasting your time trying to claw back your service fee from Airbnb.

#2) How you rate your stay is entirely up to you, but whether you were corresponding with the listing owner or their co-host is irrelevant. You are rating your stay at that property; all guest reviews and ratings accrue to the listing owner. Do keep in mind that Airbnb presents an entirely different message to guests about the meaning of ratings than the message it gives to hosts; any rating less than 5 is essentially a vote to delist the property, as Airbnb threatens to suspend any listing that drops below a 4.7 average rating.

I'm sorry you experienced an unresponsive/uninformed host.

[Kia272]

@Aaron860  You sound like such a pleasant and reasonable guest. Your thorough explanation of what happened, and your acknowledgement of that fact that the water issue was not the direct fault of the host speaks volumes. 

I think that AirBnB should refund your service fee for those two days, but you are likely wasting your time. 

As to rating your host, I don't think he handled the situation very well. Instead of trying to place the blame elsewhere, he simply had to acknowledge that whatever the cause, your stay was severely impacted by the water issue. I would have handled it very differently. 

Your review benefits others in that if future guests should have a problem at this property, they will want to know what kind of host they are dealing with. You can offer a brief explanation as to what happened, but definitely be honest with your rating. How a host handles things is part of a package, and it has an impact on your overall experience. Let your conscience be your guide. 

Better luck with future stays and hosts. 

Kia

[Sarah977]

@Aaron860  As mentioned, the ratings and review you leave really aren't dependent on whether it was the listed host or their co-host you feel fell down on being suitably responsive. You are rating your experience. 

In the written review, if you feel you want to make a distinction, you can state whether it was a host or their co-host you feel didn't handle things appropriately.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Aaron860 I am thinking a 4 star review would be fair with 1 star lost for the poor responses not the loss of the water which, as you say, was not the fault of the host. 

Rather than fixating on the star rating the wording of the review is equally important. An honest short review saying how a lovely place was ruined by loss of water supply and the co-hosts poor response seems sensible.

Finally the lack of Airbnb returning their service fee seems totally wrong. Perhaps ask the host to go into battle for you?

[Anonymous]

@Aaron860  Having the water go out for long stretches of a stay is a nightmare for both guests and the hosts. It's a shame that your host didn't get out in front of your understandable frustration with a more creative solution - for example, comping your group admission to a local spa or gym where you could shower and relax, or at the very least initiating a partial refund for the affected days so that you didn't have to deal with the customer service hassle after the fact. 

But what's done is done, and I agree with @Lisa723  that trying to get the service fee back is probably a waste of time. That's not really a thing that they do when the guest completes the stay, except in much more extreme circumstances. If you got 100% of the room rate refunded for the waterless days, even though you were still presumably using the other facilities, you actually made out OK - probably best not to rock the boat too much on this one.

As for your other question, consider that you'll also be reviewed by the host. If you want to book an Airbnb in the future, and a not-so-great review appears on your profile, the future host might cross-check the reviewer's profile to see the other side of the story. It makes a good impression if you show that you reacted fairly and proportionately to an unexpected problem outside the host's control. I don't know if it's even possible for a star rating to be fair (the whole concept of the stars is too dumb for that), but 2 stars sounds more like revenge than a balanced assessment of everything that went into preparing the home for your stay.

[Aaron860]

Based on the responses it sounds like a 3 or 4 star review is more on par with the community expectations of the experience here.   Hence why I posted and asked.   Having the water go out for extended periods of time is clearly a lose/lose for all involved.   I would be remiss to say I am not upset, I certainly am.  One of the main things we wanted to do on this trip we didn't get to do as a direct result of the water going out.   After airfare, travel, lodging cost there is a huge monetary commitment beyond just the cost of lodging for the night only to miss out on the experience due to missing water. 

@Anonymous   I am not trying to revenge rate the host.  Hence why I asked prior to writing a review, I want to make sure it is fair.   Your post implies, which I agree with, that I am also at risk of being revenge rated by the Host.   As a guest, we checked in and out on time and we left everything in the same condition it was when we arrived.  All dishes were washed, all trash taken out, nothing was damage, there was no partying, no loud noises etc.   As a property owner myself, I treat someone else's home the same way I would want my place to be treated.   However, the Host could also be upset that I requested a refund for the impacted days and that could impact my guest rating just the same.   It is clear the risk goes both ways if we're being honest.   With that said, the responses have convinced me to adjust the rating upwards but I definitely do not feel the host's response earned 5 stars though and to agree with another poster I think people should know how they responded/reacted to it. 

For the service fee issue, it sounds like dropping it is the best course of action but it definitely leaves a sour taste in my mouth about Airbnb in general.   Why screw guests over like that?   The loss of vacation experience to me is more valuable than the cost of the 2 nights of lodging but I feel that a refund for the impacted days is a fair trade-off.   The host still keeps the money from the rest of the stay, we get a partial refund for the impacted days, both sides share in the loss.   For Airbnb to essentially keep the service fee in a situation that any hotel would fully refund no questions asked is just asinine from a customer service standpoint in my opinion.   Their "policy" is basically incentivizing leaving the lodging at the first sign of trouble which is a far worse scenario in most situations than amicably trying to resolve the situation.   Obviously if there is no end in sight you need to relocate but in a situation where it's being worked on it's a giant hassle to rush to leave for another lodging versus waiting out the resolution and as a guest you are impacted regardless.   

[Lisa723]

@Aaron860 I doubt you will get any argument here on your conclusions about Airbnb's customer service.

[Sarah977]

@Aaron860  I think what Andrew was getting at re the review was not that you shouldn't leave a fully honest review and the ratings that seem appropriate, but that hosts often cross check if they see a bad review of the guest to see how the guest reviewed the host. In doing so, it sometimes becomes evident that the guest had a valid complaint and the host actually posted an unduly harsh or revenge review. Poor hosting is something that gives Airbnb a bad name, so affects all hosts in some measure. Therefore experienced hosts do not automatically believe another host's review of a guest- we would dig a little deeper to see if the guest has a history of complaining about every place they've stayed, if the host has other bad reviews, if the guest's account of the stay seems honest and balanced.

So while you can't do anything about a host leaving a bad review, you just have to make sure you leave a factual, fair review, which judging from how reasonable you appear to be, and open to input, won't be hard. 

It's the reviews guests leave that are just a litany of complaints, all about how their vacation was ruined, without acknowledging other things about the place that were fine or even great, that will make a host wary to accept a booking from a guest, unless the host has a bunch of reviews that make it clear that the host or listing is terrible.

A 2* rating would pretty much indicate that it was a terrible stay on every level, which doesn't apply to a missing amenity, (although no water is an untenable situation on many  levels- bathing, washing dishes, having to forego other activities because you can't get clean), and lack of attention to it, if you would have otherwise found the place to be perfectly acceptable had you not been out of water. 

[Sandra126]

I once had the hot  water out for around 5 hours, cold water worked. I offered guests my house to shower in, 5 mins drive which they accepted.  I then offered one day's refund.  They declined. Instead, they went straight to Airbnb to claim refund for entire stay. I argued it out with support,  they said guests were owed nothing, I had offered more than reasonably. Guests escalate issue. After many, many to and fro we settle on one days refund. Exactly the starting position. You are definitely in need of refund of some sort, and I believe based on my experience that you will get it.

[Lisa723]

@Sandra126 he got a refund of two days (the period affected by the outage) from the host. Airbnb did not refund its service fee for those two days. That is the amount at issue.

[Sandra126]

@Lisa723 obviously I didn't read properly. Oops