Air Conditioning Not Working - Reasonable Refund?

[Katrina27]

Hi there,

I have been hosting for many months and had great reviews. Unfortunately, my AC was not working for my guests who left after a three-day weekend stay. I had a technician come prior to their stay (the night before) but he could not fix the problem. I made arrangements to come once they left. (The alternative was to have him come back during their visit!) Instead of canceling the reservation last minute, I let them know in a friendly and apologetic email. I got a response saying no problem and did not hear from them during the weekend.

However, upon check out, now they ask for a partial refund. Please note, my rate is extremely reasonable AND includes parking. What is appropriate? I don't want to be a jerk and pride myself on being a great host but I also go out of my way to accommodate guests and leave my house - it has to be worth my while.

Thanks so much in advance.

[Jann3]

Was that message to them (you said "email") over AirBnB messaging? If so, they agreed to the change... AirBnB will hold them to that. 

Did you give the guest the option of having the A/C repaired WHILE they were there? If they declined, it's on them, not you.

That's my $.02  I'd do a low credit, but only around 10%...

[Katrina27]

Thank you for the response. I sent the message via email and, no, I didn't offer the choice of having it fixed during their stay because I had to decide on the spot with the technician.

They wrote back and said anywhere from 25-50% would be reasonable. I feel even 25% is too much. Again, I must stress the unit is very well priced and includes parking. I think I'm going to go with 15% and, of course, repeat my apologies.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

[Paul7621]

I got 5 of 7 ac days with no ac in hot weather free.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Katrina27

If it were me, I'd just offer a 10~15% refund and just simply repeat the appology.

I agree that hosting has to be worth the extra work, but from the guest point-of-view, they were also inconvenienced in July with no AC for a couple days. Although technically they agreed to stay anyway, if they said no, the guests would have had to find new accomodations suddenly and maybe they thought no AC for a few days was better than scrambling to find new lodgings at the last minute. I don't necessarily think what your guests are doing is right or fair, but I do understand their logic. 

Having reasonable rates is good, but your prices should always include a small buffer for the unexpected. 

[Katrina27]

Thank you for the response. They wrote back and said anywhere from 25-50% would be reasonable. I feel even 25% is too much. I think I'm going to go with 15% and, of course, repeat my apologies. I appreciate your comments and thank you so much for your insight.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Katrina27

When you make the offer to refund 15% I think it might be better recieved if you add an explaination that a 15% refund will allow you to just barely break even for the cost of hosting them for 3 days, and anything more than that means you will end up having paid them to stay at your listing so you are sorry that the refund you offer does not meet their request but hope they are understanding of your predicament. Good luck!!

[Colette203]

You are likely going to get a bad review by giving a 15% discount. Is it worth the money to risk having your rate drop?

[ML3]

same thing happened to our airbnb guest, Our airconditioner actually wasnt working before guest arrival, we told her to either book others with full refund from us, or if she chose to stay then wont be any refund. guest did stay and complained to airbnb after check out and asking for almost 50% refund. not to mention guest only stayed for a night with $124 for 6people. airbnb was telling us that it's our fault, guest has no choice but to stay. if things end up like this, I would rather cancel the booking next time, seems like being nice isnt a way to protect myself.  my cleaning fee + water and electicity need money too! how could airbnb assistant being so helpless!  very disapointed.

[Coldo0]

@Katrina27

Something similar happen in one of my listings,i didn't  waited  for the guest ask for a refund.

I send them a message and offer them a refund for one night.

Its not worth the headache. just give them what they are asking the 25%.

Good luck to you !

[Marie82]

my opinion when things like that happened never offer a refund or partial anything ask ABB to relocate them as at the end they will always complained and get 50% money back which is not worth hosting.

When something is essential and missing i dont negotiate and ask them to be relocated as he never end well for host. 

and while the place is empty i found someone to get it fixed

[Paul7621]

Slummy

[Michael3346]

Ultimately you are in the hospitality business and you cannot have such high standards.  A proper host can either cancel the listing and give a full refund before they check in ,  or must at least give a partial refund if amenities are not working.  A/C is essential in a good nights sleep and that does warrant 25-50%.  There are risks in any business and at times you must take a loss.

[Phil3635]

I agree with this response and think it is fair, since this just happened to us.  We rented a condo in Florida and had record high 80 degree temps for the first half of January.  The a/c was out for the first 10 days so to cool down inside, we had to leave the windows open (but had no cross breeze).  There is a smoking area for the building right outside our window plus it's a main entry and exit where people were coming and going, meeting for a smoke, all while we needed the cool air from outside especially after dark.  We didn't find out the a/c was not working until after check in.  We took the call and assisted with the repair estimate appointment one day and had three repairmen in our place for a second full day (plus had to set an alarm for early 730 am workday start). 

Very uncomfortable, uneasy, and unsafe 10-day situation for a $100 per night condo.  We feel a 50% discount for the 10 days is appropriate.  We rented for 31 days total but only expect a partial refund for the 10 days without a/c.

If we had checked out and asked for a full-refund, it is likely the owner would have suffered a much higher loss.

[Petra507]

I am having this same exact problem right now. Mom is visiting from Canada, I live 2 hours north from here and my husband works nearby so I thought it would be nice to get an air bnb on Miami Beach for us. The AC is not working and none of us slept. I’ve been searching for any other accommodations, it’s TOO LATE, everything gone on such a short notice. AC guy is here right now, looks like Maybe  it can not be fixed but I have my fingers crossed. Husband is almost serving Me divorce papers for my poor decision. This place is costing us $1500 for the week. The hostess seems very nice but that does not help the problem. I would expect full refund since the place is not as described and more like a torture chamber. This will leave me getting a hotel last minute- costing me more and being too far from the beach having to take a taxi but we can’t stay here, it’s simply unbearable and UNACCEPTABLE. I hope she fixes it and saves us all a headache, I am desperate, mom only comes once a year. 😞