Obliged to Repair a Broken Appliance?

[Fiona684]

I am interested to hear your thoughts and also the Airbnb rules on this. Firstly I'm not just being difficult when  I ask this question... it is because there are other facilities available.

So our washing machine in our listing has broken during a guest's stay. They insist on us getting it fixed but there's an issue with how quickly I can get someone to come out and fix, and also I am not prepared to pay hundreds of £s to fix it if that's what the quote comes back as. Sometimes washing machine fix quotes are absurd. I'm also not prepared to spend hundreds of £s on a new one either as we intended to remove the appliance anyway after this season! This is the last guest staying this season! 

The guest says she paid for the washing machine as part of the holiday cost. However, 1) it would have cost the same with or without the machine. 2. There are on site washing machine facilities so she is not actually without a washing machine at all and I can offer to reimburse costs for those machines if necessary. The listing mentions 'washing machine' but there are machines there in the On site laundrette anyway so really there still is the use of a washing machine...if we were being silly about it... which I don't want to have to do! 

Just wondered what the best advice is on this from an owner perspective. I presume I'm not obliged to fix or replace the machine at just any old cost just because it was noted in the listing when there are plenty of on site facilities? 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

How long will this guest stay ? if just a few nights you can direct them to the laundromat and say you will pay for x loads. .  Or offer to wash their laundry yourself at home 1x or 2x a week.

But I would say the repairman cant come within a week and offer to shorten their stay and refund unused nights. Because if they stay they can ask airbnb for an reasonable refund and still leave a bad review.

If you will continue hosting without  the machine then better turn it off on amenity list and just write in your description there is a laundromat near by.

[Sarah977]

@Fiona684  If the guests had to load up their laundry and drive to a laundromat, then the usual way of dealing with a missing amenity that can't be repaired or replaced quickly is to offer a bit of a discount.

But if there are other laundry facilities onsite, the guest is being unreasonable.

Apologize, and tell her in an Airbnb message that you will pay for her use of the other washing machine. If that's not good enough for her, suggest that she cancel the rest of the booking if this is a deal breaker for her.

[Amanda660]

I had this happen with quite a new washing machine.  During a same day turnover my housekeeper spotted it was leaking from

underneath.  A Canadian couple were booking in for two days and on arrival I  advised them that the machine was out of action but I’d be happy to wash and dry a load for them. 

They handed over 3 black bags of laundry - 6 FULL LOADS WORTH.  😱

[Fred13]

      It is implied that not all material things in life will always work or lasts forever; if the guests are part of the human race every they would know that. 

     ~ IF~ they take an unreasonable position, they are hustling and taking advantage of an abnormal situation, then I would treat them accordingly.

      Offering to pay for the alternative route should be more than fair with this lot. Rethink even mentioning laundry in the future.

[Anonymous]

@Fiona684   I like @Sarah977 's approach on this one.

You can basically give the guest two choices:

a)  Accept a booking alteration to move the checkout date forward and get the remaining nights refunded, so she can stay somewhere with a functional washer, or

b) Accept a token reimbursement toward the cost of using the coin-op laundry on site, at a reasonable rate determined by you.

It helps your cause here to be firm and make it very clear that the guest is welcome to leave if she's no longer satisfied with the stay. It's not her place as a short-term renter to dictate how you do your own home maintenance, and her banging on about the money suggests she's not acting in good faith here. Personally, I'd nudge her toward (a).