How much refund for no air conditioning?

[Steven418]

I recently stayed at a cottage with some friends and the listing stated there was a/c. It turns out that the owner had a new a/c insyalled but it never was actually installed! The owner called a technician on the 2nd day of our stay and they said there is no a/c unit. There was a heat warning all weekend and the house thermostat showed 27-30 degrees celsius for our entire stay.

The owner agreed to a partial refund but how much should we ask to be refunded? I was thinking 50% but wanted to see what others thought would be fair. It was extremely uncomfortable and I would say borderline dangerous for us.

Thanks,

Steven

[Ali40]

How long did you choose to stay in the "borderline dangerous" cottage? If you slept in the beds, used the bathroom, shower, and kitchen (if equipped with one) I would say a 50% refund is an unreasonable request. You could have asked Airbnb to find you a new place to stay. 

[Michael3346]

No. 50% is fair.  Air conditioning during hot months is part of what guests pay for.  Hosts need to realize you are in the hospitality business.  If you ever had a host cancel on your or try to refund you last minute to not deal with a problem you know how horrible it is for the guest in having to find last minute and 90% of the time more expensive accommodations.  If there was a dangerous hear wave 50% is a perfect refund.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

Why would you choose to stay at a place that is "borderline dangerous"? You could have cancelled for inaccurate listing info with no penalty AND get Airbnb to provide about 10% additional credit for you to be re-homed. Also.......agreed that 27-30C is uncomfortable but let's get real.......this is not anywhere near dangerously high temps. (how uncomfortable you were would highly depend on humidity levels in addition to temps)

If everything else was as described except for the A/C, then  I would think it would be max 15% and only because it was during a heat warning - personally I think 10% would be more appropriate.

[Michael3346]

No. If the A\C was part of the listing then 50% is very fair during hot months. Cancelling a trip or stay causes a huge amount of issues for the guest including higher rates to book things last minute.  Ultimately it is the host responsibility to ensure things are working properly before guest stays.  I would not be able to sleep in a 24-30 degree house and live in an area that gets 42 degrees temps.