power outage, only in the apartment

[Jürg191]

hello everyone

i am currently on a work trip to rome. this morning at about 7, when i was getting ready to leave, the power went off. i thought it isnt a big deal because i will be out of the house for most of the day. either way, when i got back the power was still out and the host could not give me an explenation. her english is barely existant so all she could tell me is "there is a problem".

it isnt an outage of the whole neighbourhood. even the hallway right outside the apartment has light just fine. I have never seen a power outage so i an not sure what is normal. but only the apartment being affected makes it seem like it s a problem on the side of my host. unpaid bills or something? 

i need power to work on my laptop and the situation frustrates me. what rights do I have? 

[Helen3]

You and host  should be able to use the translate function on Airbnb messaging if you don't speak each others languages  @Jürg191 

Hopefully you have been keeping a record of any conversations on the platform.

Has the host arranged for someone to come to the property to see what the issue is?

As it says on your booking confirmation if there is an issue such a missing amenity and the host can't or won't try and get it fixed you can ask Airbnb to cancel the booking and help you relocate.

[Nathalie-Et-Gilles0]

@Jürg191 

Generally it means 1 thing in the appartment shut down the electrical system (it is a security - see red line) .
It may be because 2 things were running at the same time (ex : hair dryer and iron).

The host must check every button to know what electrical engine is under security

[Jürg191]

thank you, i know about those security switches (i dont know the correct english term) of course. i checked them, they are all in place.

@Helen3 the host lives here too so i spoke to her in person. but she left and is not responding to messages. 

[Ute42]

.

@Nathalie-Et-Gilles0 

This is a pretty foolproof explanation. Maybe @Jürg191  hasn't seen a fusebox yet - now he has. Great work Your post.

My post was just overlapping with Jürgs post. Still great work from @Nathalie-Et-Gilles0 .

[Jürg191]

ah right, fuse is the word. 

yes, i checked the fuse box. the fuses are all activated

[Ute42]

.

@Jürg191 

There are 2 types of switches:

• Sicherung = fuse

• FI-Schalter = fi-switch

they both have to be in place.

Try this: unplug all devices which are pluged into an electrical socket. Then turn on all the fuses and the fi-switch. Then plug all devices back in one after another. If the fi-switch or a fuse blows this device may have an electrical problem.

If nothing works, try this:

[Jürg191]

it is a big apartment, woth seperate eooms for multiple guests. i csnt go into all of them to unplug stuff. 

and i dont think there is a geberator here, if that is the red thing you posted

[Jürg191]

so, now she wrote me a message to tell me she called the power company and they told her what is the problem. but she is not telling me. 

[Ute42]

.

@Jürg191 

I think it is time to call airbnb and ask them to rehouse You and possibly other airbnb guests in that apartment.

Maybe Your host just didn't pay the powerbill and that's why she doesn't want to give You a reason.

[Jürg191]

thanks. i did contsct airbnb support 2 hours ago, all they ve told me so far is to wait while they are trying to figure it out. i went to a bar to charge my phone

[Ute42]

.

@Jürg191 

How do all the other guest in this apartement react? They have no electricity either.

[Jürg191]

basically the same way. we were stsnding together in the dark talking about whether we can buy candles somewhere in the middle of the night

well, i decided to go sleep for a while snd get up very early tomorrow. i am working as a teacher here in rome and i was planning to prepare sone lessons for tomorrow, i guess i will have to do that kind of improvised snd in the early morning. either in the airbnb if the power is back or i ll just have to go to the school as soon as the doors open.

not a great situation. but since my phone has sone battery now i will manage

[Ute42 · Accepted solution]

.

@Jürg191 

I strongly suspect that Your host didn't pay the powerbill.

As You sayed the entire bulding does have electricity but only the apartment You are staying in has no electricity, that is very strange. This looks like the power supply company just cut off this one apartment.

A second indication is, that the power went down at 7am. Power companies always cut off electricity either in the morning or during daytime, they never do it in the middle of the night. First, their employees aren't working at nighttimes, and then it would be too dangerous to cut off power at midnight.

To get electricity back I believe Your host has to pay whats owed immediately. Promises will not be sufficiant. The host will have to go to a bank or to a postal office and pay whats owed in cash and then fax the receipt to the power company. I don't think there's another way.

I would bring all this up to airbnb, especially that this apartment is the only one in the building that is effected.

Of course I have no idea what the real reason for the problem is. But if it's the money and Your host just doesn't have the money, You may be without electricity till the end of Your stay.

Good luck.

[Jürg191]

thank you, that makes sense. if the situation is not resolved by the time i get back from work today i will insist on them booking me an alternative place to stay.

i mean i could deal with darkness but by nlw the food in the fridge is going bad and it is getting cold because the heating seems to be out too (i assune it is electrically heated)