Refund denied because the hot water is not included to the amenities of your host

Ioana47
Level 2
Zürich, Switzerland

Refund denied because the hot water is not included to the amenities of your host

I was staying at a host for 3 nights (Friday to Monday). If on Saturday morning there was chill water (supportable for having a  quick shower), on Sunday morning there was no hot water. I announced my host and he replied after ~8h30m (he was traveling). On Sunday I left the place to stay at a hotel (where hot water was provided).

I asked my host one third of the amount I paid to AirBnb for my stay at his place. The host did not reply (on the reason that he was traveling). I escalated to AirBnb team and after 2 weeks of discussions I get the following reply:

 

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Hi,

I understand where you're coming from, and we have carefully reviewed the case details and the information provided by both parties, and have determined that the original decision will be respectfully upheld because the hot water is not included to the amenities of your host.

I understand that this was not the outcome that you desired or were hoping for, however, please know that we have carefully taken into consideration your documentation and feedback, and truly appreciate all of your efforts towards a resolution given the circumstances.

Thank you again for your valued time and contribution and I hope that you have a nice rest of your week.

I'll close out this thread within the next 24 hours. However, If you come across any other questions or concerns, just let us know! Thanks for being a valuable member of the Airbnb community. We also have a Help Center to serve you at www.airbnb.com/help

Best regards,

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AirBnb has a fee for their services, but apparently as a guest, I don't have the right to ask for hot water in the apartment.


What are my options in this case? (at this point the only solution I can see is to escalate the situation outside AirBnb)
I can provide more context if needed.

 

I appreciate your input.

 

Kind regards,

Ioana

10 Replies 10
Andrea2893
Level 4
Las Vegas, NV

I am sorry to hear this happened to you. I would advise to request to speak to the case managers supervisor to have the case reviewed or request a new case manager.

 

I hope everything works out for you.

Hi Andrea,

 

Thank you very much for your reply.

For future readers: This is not something that you will hear from customer support but I confirm it is possible! [I called customer support 2 times and they did not mentioned this. I was asking my case manager for escalation, he did not mention it!]

 

I will follow your advice!

 

Kind regards!

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Ioana47  As a guest, it is your responsibility to thoroughly read through the listing description of a place you are booking. That includes checking out the amenities list. You can't just assume that something will be available. If the host doesn't have Hot Water checked on the amenities list, then you can't expect it or think you can get a refund because there wasn't any.

I understand that having to take a cold shower isn't pleasant, but it was your decision to book the place.

Hi Sarah,

 

Thank you for your reply.

The hot water was not mentioned neither included or NOT included amenities.

It is 2019, in the center of Geneva. Is my understanding correct that AirBnb services do not offer a minimum standard? They are charging for these services. 

 

Also, talking about amenities: where can I find the exhaustive list of all the entries that can be in that list?

If you cannot mark that you have or not have hot water then this statement does not have any validity.

 

 

Thank you

@Ioana47  There is no marking a negative, only a positive. I found the listing that you stayed in, and in fact, they have not checked the "hot water" amenity. Very odd for such a first-world city location.

 

Your host only had 10 amenities selected:

Screen Shot 2019-10-03 at 2.10.57 PM.png

I have 38 checked, and you can see that hot water is listed.

Screen Shot 2019-10-03 at 2.11.35 PM.png

Your review does make it clear that you were not happy with your stay at all. In the future, you might want to pay closer attention to the ratings which appear just below the calendar. Here are the ratings for the listing that you chose.

Screen Shot 2019-10-03 at 2.13.33 PM.png

@Ioana47  Thre is an amenities section in the listing description. Right under it is a button to click that shows all amenities provided.

The basic amenities required by Airbnb are towels, sheets, soap and toilet paper. It's up to the guest to check the amenities list to see what more is checked off.

I agree that it's odd that hot water wouldn't be provided in a listing in a big city, but it isn't a requirement.

@Susan151 and @Sarah977 Thank you both for your detailed replies.

@Sarah977 I did not know that towels are mandatory for AirBnb, thank you for pointing this out. I've asked my host, and he said that they are not included but he managed to give one towel to 2 ppl.

@Sarah977 @Ioana47 

 


The basic amenities required by Airbnb are towels, sheets, soap and toilet paper. It's up to the guest to check the amenities list to see what more is checked off.

Towels, sheets, soap and toilet paper were only required for 6 months (maybe 2 years ago?) before the outcry from seasonal vacation home hosts forced AirBNB to rescind those requirements. There are, to my knowledge, absolutely no minimum amenity requirements at all to host on AirBNB.

Alexandra316
Level 10
Lincoln, Canada

@Ioana47 That's so bizarre... I'm honestly disappointed in Airbnb. To say that in 2019, having hot water in a major city isn't a basic requirement is really strange. Who would stay somewhere for multiple nights without the possibility of taking a shower? I'm usually all for reviewing a listing thoroughly before booking, but it would never have crossed my mind that it wouldn't be an available amenity in a regular apartment. It should definitely be clearer in the amenity list: it should be shown crossed out, as some other amenities are, or something.

 

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Susan151 @Ioana47   Susan is correct in that none of the "essentials" are actually "required"- I misspoke. They used to be, but that changed some time ago. Instead, the Airbnb info for hosts "strongly encourages" providing the "essential" amenities. Which of course guests wouldn't know, and it seems like it would be confusing to guests to have all those things listed under "essentials" if they aren't required. 

So, Ioana, if the host didn't list towels in the amenities section, then you can't really object to that either. 

 

I must say, this host seems to be providing very little, which might be expected in a rustic, rural listing, but not something guests would expect in a large European city. But the bottom line is that if the host didn't list those things as amenities, a guest can't expect them, ask for a refund because they weren't provided, nor would it be fair to leave a bad review just because the guest failed to read through everything and made assumptions. So next time, be sure to thoroughly read what is provided,, and if you have questions about something, message the host to clarify before booking.