Sink clogged New Years Eve & guests asking for discount

[Nicole2592]

Hi all! Happy New Years. We have a guest that contacted us at 11:30pm last night on New Year’s Eve and said the sink was clogged. We went over 15 minutes later and by the time we got there, they had got the sink drained. We have a garbage disposal but it wasn’t working and I said we can send someone over today if they’d like or wait until the leave since the sink was draining properly now. 

I messaged her this morning again saying the same thing and replies two hours later saying it happened again and she wants a discount because of the inconvenience and because her dad worked on it for two hours. We would have came over immediately if they messaged us before they started working on it and would have sent our handyman over first thing this morning. This is our newest property so we are terrified of getting a bad review. What’s a reasonable discount to offer? 

[Normen0]

@Nicole2592 @I’d also not be happy that they worked on it for 2 hours before letting you know then you arrive and it’s cleared out.  
Were they aware the disposal wasn’t working? 
A garbage disposal is rare where we live so we just don’t put things down the sink anyway.  
I would definitely wait until you get there to clean and assess the house first. Being New Years Eve, you may find other damage or extraordinary cleaning or something amiss.  
Do not offer a refund until you have fully assessed and fully cleaned the place. Once that is done and nothing is amiss, perhaps a $50 refund is in line if it was in fact an inconvenience to not have the disposal and they weren’t aware. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Nicole2592 Much history on the Community Centre says that 

1) Offering a discount will lead to further discount requests and

2) Even when a discount is given you will still get a bad review.

I am sorry but you are between a rock and a hard place. There is no clear way out of this situation.

[John-Henry0]

I didn’t give a discount & the people booked and I got a lousy review. Now if someone wants a discount I will block a day in the middle of their request.

[Sarah977]

@Nicole2592  A discount for what? You didn't clog the sink, they did.

And guests are way out of line to "work on" plumbing. They should not be touching anything like that- they could damage things and cause huge expense.

[Lorna170]

@Nicole2592   Be prepared for a nice "happy new year" plumber's bill and a lousy review.

The sink isn't draining because there is something that has gotten further down the pipes.  The fact that it eventually drained but clogged again says (to me) that most of the dinner leftovers, including bones, went down the disposal.  We actually removed the garbage disposals from our properties due to people putting EVERYTHING down them.  They seem to think that a disposal is the garbage can.

Do not offer a discount.  You offered to get the plumber in, they declined.   Let them know that they will not be charged for the plumber's time or the cost of the parts if the plumber finds damage from food blockage.  That should quiet them down.  The woman that put adult diapers down the toilet and clogged the septic system at the cabin was "relieved"...

Do NOT worry about the review.  Do not explain or reply with a whole lot of accusations if the review mentions the sink blockage or other lies.  "The guests left the accommodation clean but in need of a plumber's services".  Nuff said.  You will get other guests and better reviews.

[John5097]

@Nicole2592I would say something like this, "Hi xxxxx,  thank you again for reaching out to me.  Airbnb policy states that any non functioning or broken appliance should be brought to the host attention as soon as possible and allow the host to have it repaired. So I will offer again to have the garbage disposal replaced or repaired. Would tomorrow work for you? Once again thank you for reaching out to me. I don't want guest to put themselves at risk or inconvenience themselves, so please do not try and repair anything on your own. I enjoy accommodating guest as best I can and its really not a problem for me to send someone over and have it replaced at no cost to you. Thank you and please let me know if tomorrow is ok with you so I can schedule it." 

In my experience one a garbage disposal breaks it has to be replaced right away or the sink clogs up. I would suggest replacing it with a 3/4 hp one, as the least expensive ones at big box stores tend to only last 5 years with minimal use. It looks like a new listing so should have adequate dedicated circuit. I researched this and a lot of reviews said they were landlords who upgraded to higher quality and more powerful one after replacing numerous cheaper ones at numerous rentals. Of course there is no way to know if they also managed to clog the drain lines but at same time a broken garbage disposal isn't unusual. I acually have to use a less powerful cheapo one in my kitchen as it has older wiring as back in the 60s didn't have a dedicated circuit for one, and at most last 5 years with nothing going into it except water and very light cleaning. Thankfully haven't had guest try and flush something crazy. I do mention in house rules to only flush toilet paper. I also replaced all the drain lines. I'm not sure how the old cast iron one was working at all.   

[John5097]

PS.. wanted to add that guest generally break things if they can't figure out how to work. Pull out couch, iron chord they can't find the button to tract, ironing board that has a little lever, shower door, luggage rack, not sure how that got broken. But in this case, best you can do as a host is make it clear that the only option would be to have it replaced, as a broken garbage disposal is going to clog. Then increase rates or put aside enough to cover this kind of repair. The fact you have a reliable person to repair it I would emphasize that to guest that you have a very nice person to repair it and not a problem etc. The only thing I've had broken was a brand new AC and guest were fine with having it repaired. I did offer a nights refund or they could cancel their reservation and they were fine with the nights refund and was just cool enough that night. I let them know this was a very reputable company and great guys who I'd been using for years, and that I would be there to make sure everything was cleaned up and back in order. You could offer a gift card or something or not after the repair but at this point no reason to even discuss that, and make it clear they aren't to work on anything. 

[John5097]

At this point I would offer a gift card to get them out of the place, and insure them that you would be there and that the cleaning and covid policy would be respected. I would just say you would abide by the Airbnb policy of having it repaired and because its a spike in omicron offer gift card to get them out while, and you would see to it that its completely disinfected, vented, etc, and leave extra cleaning supplies. From the get go I state a policy and guest options. In this case if guest didn't want to allow it to be repaired, a 15 minute job, the sink would continue to clog if they planned to use it. (It will drain down slowly for a day or so but then completely clog. 

Edit: moving forward could put a sign above sink, using plastic stand, to clean plates in to the trash before rinsing, and have strainer. The basic "builder grade" garbage despoil pretty much quits working in a year of very light rinsing as impellers and bearings wear down fast.   

[Nicole2592]

After getting a photo in the morning I let her know that I’ll send my guy over asap. She didn’t respond to that and said how she was upset she paid so much and how her Father had to deal with it (because we weren’t notified right away) and she wanted a discount. I apologized for the issue arising and though we hope these things never happen, that we do our best to have it taken care of right away. I let her know then that our handyman was on the way. No response. 
he gets there and the dad is doesn’t want him there because it drained (which I was not informed about). One of the guests told him it was fine and so he went in to fix it…..

bottle caps were put down the drain which is why the garbage disposal wasn’t working. 

They are leaving in 30 minutes. It was her first ever stay at an Airbnb and I am just hoping she doesn’t leave a review at this point. Tough New Years. 

[Normen0]

@Nicole2592 Yeah, definitely no discount.  I’m sure the handyman let them know what was in the disposal? 
I’d wait until the last day to do the review and just give an honest and fair recount. 

[Nicole2592]

Yeah. They didn’t actually say anything to me when told. No response. 

That’s what I’m planning on. This was her first airbnb stay. I guess we’ve been lucky that out of our first 40ish guests, we’ve only had one difficult one so far. 

[John5097]

@Nicole2592 

I did find this article which is different than the one I've read before. Not sure but ABB constantly changing policy. 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/248/if-something-is-wrong-at-checkin

It does say guest can request how to have it resolved. But repairing or working on something themselves is not permitted. If she mentions that her dad attempted to repair it in the review I think that's something you could have removed as its both a safety issue and violates airbnb policy. 

I would get documentation from repair person that the problem was plastic caps put down the drain and also copy messages and note messages from guest that it was resolved and draining properly, if possible. 

I also just do the best I can and plan on occasional wacky guest. At the least you will have an opportunty to respond and say you sent repair person there as soon as you were notified and the sink was clogged with plastic bottle caps. 

Pease post back with follow up. Other host are even better at phrasing things and its good to get a broad range of opinions. 

[Lorna170]

I knew it!  How brilliant is the guest who thinks a disposal can grind up bottle caps!  Be sure to get a written report from your handyman and send a picture of it to the guest via the website.  Proof against a refund claim.