no hot water in accomodation

Answered!
Dan272
Level 1
Manchester, United Kingdom

no hot water in accomodation

Hello,

 

I'd like some advise as to what my position is regarding a property I'm staying in that has no hot water. I'm still in the property having arrived on Thursday night (we're staying for 5 nights). I raised the issue with the host Friday morning who sent someone round to try and fix it as well as attempting herself to no avail over Friday and Saturday.

 

I think the issue is it's difficult to get a call out plumber where we are staying.  I appreciate she has tried to fix the problem but it's left us (me and 3 friends in a difficult position). The first full day here (Friday) we had to go to a public baths to shower and yesterday we braved a freezing cold shower. 

 

The host has booked a room this morning in a local aparthotel so we can use the shower there as its clearly not going to get fixed.

 

What level of compensation should we be looking for here?

 

I appreciate we now have a 'solution' bit it's still not ideal as we have to leave the apartment and go somewhere else for hot water. We really shouldn't have to deal with this kind of thing on our holiday which has meant time spent trying to sort out an issue we shouldn't have to.

 

Thanks,

D

 

 

1 Best Answer
Marzena4
Level 10
Kraków, Poland

Hello @Dan272. Having once heard about problems a student of mine had (she had booked a place on booking.com) - just like yours - no hot water, I advised het to file a complaint with CS over there - she got 30% refund on her stay. So I think you might do the same.

// "The only person you can trust is yourself"

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14 Replies 14
Marzena4
Level 10
Kraków, Poland

Hello @Dan272. Having once heard about problems a student of mine had (she had booked a place on booking.com) - just like yours - no hot water, I advised het to file a complaint with CS over there - she got 30% refund on her stay. So I think you might do the same.

// "The only person you can trust is yourself"
Linda108
Level 10
La Quinta, CA

@Dan272   I agree with @Marzena4 in that you should seek a refund.  Even though the host made good faith efforts to have the issue resolved and provided an alternative after several days, your experience was signifiantly impaired.  You can request a refund by going to your reservation reciept and click on send/request money.   Simultaneously you can message the host and request a partial refund and she can initiate it.

Christian65
Level 10
Copenhagen, Denmark

I agree with most but if it was me, I'd contact the host in the app and ask for compensation and see what she proposes.

If she declines, you have your very reasonable request in the airbnb system and then i'd contact airbnb support and ask them to either refund or relocate you to another spot.

 

You have to decide for yourself what amount would be acceptable in terms of refund. No hot water for 3 days or more would for me be a huge problem and I would ask for at least 50 % or even more.

It cannot be your problem that it cant be fixed immidiately and look. If there's no hot water in the unit the place wouldn't be rentable for others, so at least the host earns 50% of the price as opposed to nothing at all.

 

Best of luck @Dan272

@Dan272

Did you try to get Airbnb to "re-home" you? If it were me and there were limited options leaving me little choice but to stay - I would probably ask the host to provide some level of compensation (refund) for the inconvenience and see what she offers.

 

I'd expect at least a 30% refund for the trouble (assuming EXCEPT for the hot water issue everything else is fantastic), plus, I'd probably ask the host to provide a large pot, a couple large and small buckets, and extra towels so you can boil water to make a quick wash up the "old fashioned way" possible - personally I never take cold showers, even in the summer. If the host booked a room for you to shower in, can't you just move to that room for the remainder of the stay? Good luck~

 

 

Quincy
Community Manager
Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hello @Dan272,

Nice to meet you!

I'm really sorry to hear about this. All the hosts here have given some great advice, and I was wondering how everything went? 

Would you be able to let us know? 

-----

 

Please follow the Community Guidelines // Volg de communityrichtlijnen

Glad to be able  read this conversation thread because I am in Carrara, Italy - in a great location and if I have had heat and hot water in the morning and evening even one day of my now 11 days, I would be surprized. 

 I got the feeling that there wasn't a problem with the heater, except that there wasn't fuel so I went myself to look at the heater and took a photo of the empty tank. 

 

I have tried to communicate with the Hostess and really am not getting what feels like honesty.  I just sent the Airbnb Responsibilities from a Hostess and the repercussions to the Hostess.

 

Will call Airbnb in a couple of hours to 'rehome' me -    HOW CAN I CALL AIRBNB FROM ITALY ?

 

Thanks !

 

Aaiyn

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

Hello @Aaiyn0 

 

As it says on your booking confirmation if your Airbnb is not as described you should contact Airbnb within 24 hours of arrival if your host is unwilling or unable to resolve.

 

It is not clear from your post - are you saying you have lived somewhere for 11 days with no heating and hot water? As an experienced Superhost I am surprised you haven't contacted Airbnb at a much earlier stage.

 

Why wait a couple of hours to call airbnb to help you cancel the booking and find somewhere else?

 

Call Airbnb now - all the customer help lines are listed towards the top of the forum you are posting in, in a post entitled CONTACT AIRBNB.

I am traveling in Europe and I can not get through to America.  I would have called immediately if I could have gotten through.    The first few days I was so busy and out early and back tired so and I am in a new culture so I was being open to differences.  The Hostess mentioned it to me on a Sat.  and when I clearly got on Monday (I had a busy week-end) that I probably hadn't really had much of anything to whole time, I began to document in our conversations.  

 

The thing is -  on the Monday when she said they were still having trouble.....I went to the heater myself because it didn't feel right -  sure enough - no fuel.  I photographed that and mentioned that to her.   Then the next day she said the 'Technician' was in and fixed it -  I went and photographed that it now had fuel..  

 

I registered this in the Resolution Center -  have not had any word from Airbnb.   In American they are 'my angel geek squad'  - here in Europe am lost.

 

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

You just call your nearest Airbnb contact centre in Europe @Aaiyn0, contact them on social media or via your booking confirmation.

@Aaiyn0   It is amazing to me that a host with your experience (over 240 reviews) and as a frequent guest you do not know how to contact Air BNB.  What is wrong with this site that sooooo many people cannot figure out how to reach Air BNB directly.   Anyway, here is a guide found on this CC that covers the various ways to contact Air BNB from various locations.

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Contact-Airbnb-A-Community-Help-Guide/m-p/16165#M728

I am traveling in Europe and now have an Italian phone number.   To call my bank in Maine . . .when the outside ATM on Santorini in Greece ate up my bankcard. . . .don't laugh - . . . my husband had to call the bank from America, dial me on his cell - and put the two phones together . . . . . . . . . . .   really, hilariously sad I say, in this 'global economy' ~     I have no trouble calling Airbnb in the States ~

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

Use Skype or similar for low cost calls abroad.  Call your Airbnb Italy with your query. @Aaiyn0 

Sasha210
Level 1
Loughborough, United Kingdom

Hi everyone, 

 

I am currently in Istanbul staying at my Airbnb for one month. We arrived on the 28th and have had no hot water since arriving (now 30th). 

I have raised the issue with my host who was helpful and did send a technician round to check on the issue on 29th but the problem seemed bigger than expected. 

it is now late afternoon on the 30th and am questioning what my options are as we still have no resolution to the problem at hand. 

Please let me know what my options are at this point! 

Thanks! 
Sasha 

@Sasha210   This is a very old thread on this forum, but the advise remains the same, if you have read through what has been posted.  Once you have contacted the host and the host has responded but the issue is not resolved, your options are to stay but negotiate a partial refund or leave and be refunded the remaining days of your reservation.  If you cancel the rest of your stay, be sure to contact Air BNB CS directly to advise of the issue.  Hopefully you have communicated through the Air BNB message system so the CS can see the attempt to remedy the problem.  You are not automatically due a refund for any days you remained in the listing, however most professional hosts will provide some sort of refund for the days of inconvenience.  Good luck!!