Heating and warm water isn't working

[Lauren2971]

Hi,

My boyfriend and I are staying in an airbnb that looked really nice on the photos. When we arrived (on Friday) the host mentioned that there was a repair man coming to repair the boiler the following day (Saturday) and that he has been trying to fix it for weeks, which was inconvenient but we understand that sometimes these things happen. However, on the Saturday when the repair man was supposed to come, the host told us that he won't come until Monday instead and then messaged and said it would be Tuesday instead.

Now it's Tuesday where the host said the repair guy will come at 14:30, so when nobody arrived we messaged the host and he said that he isn't sure when the repair guy will arrive, and now at 16:30 he said that the repair guy will now arrive at 18:00. 

On two separate occasions we asked the host to help us fix the heating as it was cold (the apartment is a basement conversion) and the weather is cold and raining. He came over on two occasions (hours after we asked) and said it should be fixed. The radiators barely became warm and then stopped after an hour, we have been using an oven to keep us warm. 

We are really frustrated because we can't even wash our clothes because the apartment is so cold that the towels and laundry isn't drying and is just damp...

On another note, today when we were showering, the water suddenly became ice cold meaning we had to wash out the shampoo in the sink. (The water has been fine prior to this situation)

The problem we have is that we have all the interactions through WhatsApp because his average response time on airbnb is 7 hours and we thought that writing on WhatsApp would be quicker. He does have his phone number on his airbnb profile so we thought it would be okay, but we are hoping we can get a refund for the rest of the days we are supposed to stay, and a partial refund for the inconvenience of the days we have currently stayed.

We are just hoping for some advice and best way to go about it really

Thanks for all your help and advice!

[M199]

@Lauren2971 

To most hosts, this is not acceptable, and is an embarrassment.

Suggest that you print screen (if possible) your communications with the host and then call Support for assistance.

Good luck!

[Mark116]

@Lauren2971  I don't know anything about Whatsapp, are those conversations saved?  If so, then you can send them to Airbnb to document that the listed amenities weren't available.  If not, I would start sending or duplicating messages on the Airbnb app that document the timeline.  

While it is true that the host can't control the repair schedule, if you don't have access to hot water or heat that is a major issue and he at least should have offered some discount after 4 days of inconvenience.