Airbnb refunded guest because of the water flow

[René137]

Sorry for the long text...

I should have noticed the signs when the guest booked my humble place for 5 days (I rent 3 rooms in the same place with shared kitchen/bathroom/living room). In his first message he said "Dear Rene', I am a neuroscientist visiting Montreal". Then I went to check his profile and he described himself as a Research Scientist (PhD) and Multi-lingual (10+ languages). I have to be honest, I thought "Why isn't this guy booking in a hotel or Airbnb Plus?". But fine, maybe I'm pre-judging the guy, his other 7 host reviews seemed very good to me, anyway I have instant booking so I couldn't cancel if I wanted. In that same message he says he's allergic to smoke and asks: "I hope there are no smoking neighbours?". I sympathized with him and tried to assure no smoke smells were left from previous guests, although smoking is not allowed inside of the house, but we never know, right?

Fine, he arrived I showed him his room and gave him a tour in the house. I said I live upstairs and he could contact me if he needed anything. Few minutes later, he sends me a message "is there an electric kettle for boiling water?", I told him I didn't have one, showed him other options to boil water and told him I'd buy one in the next time, which I did (all stores where closed at that time). Next day, he sends another message "the water flow in the bathroom washbasin is very very Low. Is it possible to check and improve the water flow?". I apologized to him and mentioned that I had planed to do a bathroom renovation to improve that flow, but for the moment I couldn't do anything, it takes about 5 seconds to fill a 100ml cup. I had 100 other guests in this house and 3 other living at that very same moment and they were absolutely fine with the water pressure, I even got a 5 star review from one of them who stayed 3 days in another room at the same time as this guy (the other two are still there) and many others before. One day later I found out that he had closed the hot water valve below the washbasin, possibly trying to solve the issue himself, when other guests mentioned there was no hot water there. I opened it again and everything was back normal.

He seemed OK after that, asked for more stuff in the kitchen which I pointed him where to find. He used well the kitchen, stayed late hours watching TV with his tiny short in the living room (that was mentioned by other guests). Overall looked like he was enjoying his stay. In his last day he asked to check out few hours later than the allowed and I happily agreed as I didn't have any guest booked for his room in that day. I personally went to talk to him to check how was his trip, if he had enjoyed Montreal (which he did not) and socialize once again. Everything seemed fine. I even thought in giving him 5 stars.

Three days after he left, Catherine from Airbnb (Case Manager from Trip Department) contacted me saying the guest had opened a case about some amenity issues:
1. Very low water flow
2. Washing machine was broken - never mentioned by the guest. I have a note on top of the machine asking guests to contact me if they want to use it so I can help them to use my personal washer, many others already used and were glad.

I explained her the whole situation, showed her pictures, asked her to contact other guests and send investigators to my home to see for themselves all to take a fair decision. I also asked her what the guest was trying to achieve with this opened case? Did he want to close my listing until the water is by his desire? Did he ask for refund? She told me he did not ask for refund, but she explained him he would be eligible to get one, "The guest have the right to know the Guest Refund Policy as it is part of the terms and conditions we have with Airbnb just like the Hosting Standards".
https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/544/what-is-airbnbs-guest-refund-policy-for-homes

I asked which exactly hosting standard I was failing to accomplish, she said "this would fall under amenity (basic needs of the guest). Water should be available and operational." If it wasn't available and operational all other guests would have complained (specially the ones living there at the same time). Why the guest stayed the 5 days?

Anyway, she decided the guest should be refunded 30% of the nightly rate for the inconvenience and "the guest was more than wiling to resolve this issue" (of course). Airbnb is paying half of it and I'm paying the other half. I just can hope if he writes a review he writes a honest one.

I knew there were many guests out there asking refunds for many different reasons, but I was naive to think that would never happen to me.

[Helen350]

@René137 Sympathies from the UK! I too have cranky bathroom taps, flow is variable & they make a loud noise for many guests, tho not for me - or my plumber, who considers them a non issue. Thankfully, like Sarah977, I tend to attract nice holiday makers, who are not the sort to nit pick & complain about non-issues.

WE ARE NOT HOTELS! Airbnb is 'Live like a local!' - The locals chez vous live with low water pressure in the bathroom taps.... Get over it!

Mind you, I don't think the guest's high education is the issue... I've hosted loads of guests who are studying for PhDs or Masters degrees, and folk in high powered jobs. In fact, they've been the most considerate & grateful guests, their values seem to value basic & cheap. I'd even say that here, it's the least educated who expect the most... (Probably a British thing.)

[René137]

Glad to hear you have been attracting nice holiday makers, I sincerely hope that doesn't change.

I don't think he was like that because of his degree. I know a lot of nice and humble ppl with the same degree. If he was a Software Developer like me or anoother profession, I don't think he would introduce himself in his first message to the host saying: "Hi, I'm René, Software Developer visiting Montreal". So, the first thing that came to my mind was he was trying to appear like a superior race 😞 

[Helen427 · Accepted solution]

@René137 

Sorry to hear of your challenging guest.

You could explain to guests as you do an introductory tour that the water pressure is something beyond your control.

People need to be mindful that water comes via what one of my guests said to me, is like ' a series of roads, and along the way there's congestion that may impact on it's flow."

It's a simple way to explain where water pressure may be subject to variations in pressure due to shared water mains supply with neighbours, or when one is doing the dishes/ laundry when another person is having a shower.

If there was an issue with the pressure in the shower may I suggest you find the best temperature where it is with the shower fittings and draw a coloured line on the fitting so they know which point it's too low to have it at.

There are options one can take to rectify these issues in one's circumstances.

Meanwhile if your water is set at and within local regulations, you may like to mention it in your listing - It's what I had to do to ensure guests are aware of it as I had a challenging guest taking unreasonably long showers & excess water consumption.

All the best

[René137]

Thanks @Helen427 , I added this to my "Other things to note". Hopefully I'll be able to fix that little issue before any other picky person comes to complain.

The only place with other low pressure was in the washbasin which why it shd be that big deal. I'd agree if that was a problem in the shower... I'm not aware of any regulation, but I'll check that as well. Good tip

[Christine615]

I'm always mystified that Airbnb does this. If the guest complains on the first day and then leaves, that's one thing. But when they stay and enjoy themselves then ask for compensation (when they're already paying less than a hotel and getting more) it's just mind blowing.

As for the water pressure - check the aerator first. I had a problem and the plumber came and unscrewed it from the faucet, rinsed it out and boom - the water pressure was perfect. Could be something as simple as lime scale in the faucet. Or a bad valve (I just changed a faucet and the hot is perfect but suddenly the cold is low - which was because of a faulty valve).

Sometimes the simplest solutions are the trick.

[René137]

yeah, I agree, if because of that he had left in the first day, I'd understand a little bit more asking for compensation, but after all... The worst part is that was the CS who put that idea in the guest mind, at least it wasn't in the complain asking for anything in the first place. Although if that was something he didn't want he would have refused...

I'll definitely check every solution you guys gave me, glad to feel that support from other host, because we don't get that from Airbnb, right?

[René137]

When I thought this would be over,  3 weeks later after reading my review, this weekend the guest requested a full refund saying the review was derogatory and false. Since I declined this new request he chose to involve Airbnb.

Let's see now how Airbnb wants to handle this.