Guest complaining about pool being too hot in August (Palm Springs)

[Leah436]

I have a ( first time guest - has no reviews) that has been complaining about the pool being too hot. Guest is saying it’s too warm for them to enjoy. The weather is 100 degrees and the pool is around 80-85 degrees. Typically August in Palm Springs can result in 120 degree weather with pools heating up to 100 degrees so it could be way hotter. 
Backstory on the guest is they arrived and the air conditioning wasn’t cool enough. I had someone go right over and adjust it for her - it was 82 degrees inside and it should be set to 74. I apologized profusely and had Uber eats drop off some ice cream sandwiches from cold stone creamery as an apology. Based on her messages to me, I am certain that the guest is angling for a discount - she comments that it sucks she has to wait 15 minutes for someone to come look at the air conditioning and it’s a bummer that the pool hasn’t cooled down any even though I mentioned it should cool some over night. I do not feel I owe a refund and I am wondering how to politely phrase  that it is out of my control that the pool is too warm for her. Our pool tech told her upon check in that he isn’t able to cool the pool down and most guests actually pay to heat the pool to the temperature she is currently complaining about. 
Any advise is appreciated! 

[Sarah977]

@Leah436  I've never had a pool, so I'm no expert, but while I know that people heat their pools in cold weather, I've never heard of pool cooling.

"XX- I don't think you are familiar with pools- there are pool heaters, but not pool coolers. If the ambient temperature is extremely hot, the pool water will be quite warm- this is common to all pools. I'm sorry you find the water too warm for your liking, but there isn't anything anyone can do about that."

If this guest has much longer to stay, I would try to get her to cancel ASAP. She's going to leave a bad review no matter what, you have nothing to lose but a pain in the butt and the remainder of her nightly payment.

This woman is either a crazy or a refund scammer.

[Leah436]

Thank you very much! I appreciate the detailed response, I was struggling how to phrase it and it was really helpful! 

[Nick2843]

There are pool cooler, but the cost is $2K-5K plus installation. This does not account for electricity. They can lower the pool temp to the night time air temp, but if you are in the dessert with 120 degree days and 105 degree nights, you may be SOL

[Laura2592]

@Leah436 is this guest pinging you with comments like "sigh ..the pool is so hot!" Or are you interacting in some other way? If it's through ABB I would just politely shut her down as follows:

"Hi-

Pools are generally heated to X temperature as no one wants to jump into cold water. They do get warmer or cooler based on the outside temperature. Unfortunately I don't have control over that! Have a great day."

End of conversation. 

If she continues just say "I'm concerned that you are not enjoying your stay as much as you could.  Let me call Airbnb and see if there's somewhere that would be more suitable. I want all of my guests to be thrilled but if this is not the right fit, I'll see what ABB advises. Thanks!"

This is a bad guest who is targeting a new host, period. You know it and she knows it. Who complains about the desert being too hot in August? Just move her along and concentrate on your next guests.  

[Leah436]

Thank you, I appreciate your reply! Your advice was on point. I’m thinking the guest is perhaps better suited to a hotel. And they are checking out tomorrow morning, which leads me to believe the messages she’s sending me thru the app are just to garner the offer of a refund. 

[Laura2592]

@Leah436  I think you're onto something there. 

Its a darned if you do/darned if you don't situation.  If she files a claim you will probably still end up paying a refund and get a poor review. If you give her a refund up front for the temperature of pool water in August in the desert, there's still a chance she will give a middling to poor review.  

Speaking of reviews, what are hers like? I would definitely say something like:

So and so was a communicative guest who had some concerns about the temperature in our desert location at the height of summer. We tried to make her as comfortable as possible but believe this guest would be more suited to a fully controlled environment with an indoor pool, such as a hotel can offer. We wish her the best. 

ETA saw this is a first time guest.  She may be the first time on this profile but an experienced scammer. They often create new profiles as soon as the bad reviews pile up....

[Leah436]

Thank you. I will be paying much more attention to the brand new guests with no reviews in the future. 😞 

Guest has sent me a “short” message that their parents have a pool in Arizona and they do not have a sauna temperature pool and then included a screen shot stating that “if your pool is shallow or has a large amount of sunlight you can install a pump with a cooling feature.” 
 
I thanked her for that information and left it as that. Hoping the check out goes smoothly tomorrow and I can move on. Appreciate your write up for the review, because I wasn’t sure how to kindly say the guest is a high maintenance nightmare. 😆🤪 

thank you so much for taking the time to respond to me! 

[Sarah977]

@Leah436 Do not  consent to refund her anything if she tries to scam a refund! Scammers and irrational complainers should not be rewarded.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Leah436 This reminds me of something I have never understood. Why do people (often in America but presumably happens elsewhere as well) cool their houses in summer to a temperature below what they heat them to in the winter?

[Bob297]

@Mike-And-Jane0 
When I go to our villas in the Caribbean, I only cool them at night, but not lower than 25 degrees Celcius.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Mike-And-Jane0 exactly, I’ve been wondering the same thing, and I came to conclusion they are idiots 😄

[John5097]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

Humidity is the bigger factor. Right now its 100% at night where I am. When it gets 70 degrees at night it feels like 90 when sleeping. You would be sweating buckets at night at 70 degrees in the summer. At 75 at night you would be checking into a hotel that night at 2am. as an act of survival. 

In colder climates the AC may only be on a few times at night if its kept at 78 so feels hot when sleeping. Same here in the Spring of Fall you have to turn it down lower to force it to cycle on at night. 

It is annoying when guest request to turn it down to 69 and don't realize its going to feel much cooler than their AC at home. A ceiling fan also helps.

However a lot of people like to sleep with blankets in the summer that's kind of annoying but my place is very efficient, and hardly get any request to change it at 72 in the summer. 

I did just read a post over at the Host ABB forums where a host likes to turn down the AC and have a space heater under her desk, but said she would never allow guest to do this. So for some its who ever is paying the electric bill. 

At 72-73 it also keeps the humidity level inside at about 50% which is good and keeps mold and mildew from growing even under the house, inside wall etc. 

The mattress and pillow protectors also trap more body heat, even the good ones,  but gotta have them. 

Finally each AC system can vary quite a bit. If one is oversized its often less expensive to replace the entire thing in this climate. Bed rooms can also be 5 degrees hotter than what they see at the thermostat. So a lot of variables. 

When cleaning the apartment just going in and out of the door raises the room temp by one degree but feels 10 degrees hotter because of the humidity. 

[John5097]

Also wanted to add that while 70 degrees is quite warm to set the heat in the winter, 70 degrees in the ocean or water would cause hypothermia in a matter of hours and body would totally shut down. 

As guest you would likely end up breaking the AC unit. 

[Sarah977]

@Mike-And-Jane0  I don't get it either. I just came back from a month in Canada. When the winter drags on into late spring, everyone is complaining about when will it finally be summer.

When it's finally summer, every store you go in is refrigerated to arctic temperatures and the employees are wearing sweaters.

I had to carry a long sleeved shirt around with me to wear inside the shops, even though the outside temperature was totally pleasant.