Wifi

[Sarah6658]

Hi can anyone advise us on how much refund to offer for WiFi not working.  Guest has booked in for 3 night?  Thanks

[Helen3]

Airbnb will offer them up to 30% @Sarah6658 

[Guy991]

Hello @Sarah6658 ,

I can only speak from my own experience. Many of my guests work online and really need reliable WiFi. Honestly, if I didn’t have WiFi, they wouldn’t book my place in the first place. Some even ask before booking how fast the internet is and how reliable it is.

I’m happy to say we have the best and fastest connection possible, and guests love it.

When they arrive, the first thing they ask isn’t where the bathroom is, but what the WiFi password is.

So in my opinion, a full refund is completely fair. Not just because the listing says there’s WiFi and there isn’t, but because the host didn’t make any effort to provide it.

the host could go to a local provider, get a prepaid SIM card for twenty pounds, or rent a portable WiFi device until things are sorted. Or at the very least, clearly say in the listing that there’s no WiFi.

[Helen3]

Sorry @Guy991 it's completely ridiculous to say a guest deserves a 100% refund because one amenity is not working .

nowhere did @Sarah6658 say that she did nothing to try and resolve it. 

as you point out there are lots of alternatives if a hosts Internet goes down in many countries . 

[Guy991]

@Helen3 ,

Oh, I hear you Hellen, but for guests who need WiFi for work, this isn’t just one amenity that’s not working. it’s THE amenity.

Like I mentioned, my guests wouldn’t book my place without WiFi, and if it went down, I would let them cancel their booking. 

If you truly think WiFi is just another amenity, try switching off your internet for three days ( the length of her guest’s stay)  and then let’s revisit the question of how minor that “one” amenity really is.

[Helen3]

The vast majority of my guests don't stay with me work at home. You can't compare your market with me or that of many hosts. @Guy991 

and as you said in your earlier post there are alternatives guests can use and hosts pay for if the Internet goes down.

no hosts can guarantee there will be internet 24/7

all we can do is put in place back up plans if it does.

I stand by what I said in my earlier post - it is a key amenity hence why Airbnb will offer a 30% discount but no more  important than heating, hot water or electricity and actually less so because you can put alternatives in place quite easily .

[Gordon337]

Just had a terrible time with this very matter. Had 5 star permanent rating until a month ago

Suddenly connection was gone. NOWTV were the provider said they'd look at it. They didn't.

We live 80 miles away and could not physically fix it.

I tried every communication with them but support was zero no-one to talk to.

My guest at that time 3 wks ago was disappointed but accepted I'd done everything possible to fix it.

I offered her £60 refund for 3 nights stay. She refused saying it was not my fault.

Went to flat with OpenReach engineer . He said all was fixed. Next guest went in but would not work -Uurgh.

Found out technical things had been happening caused by OpenReach a month earlier

I told this guest there could be issues with the internet and she said not to worry. Offered to refund to her £40 for two nights should it still not work. It did not and she insisted upon the refund which I was happy to give but she gave 4 star rating due to "internet problems" although she noted communication between us was "prompt and brilliant".    

I changed to Sky I went to the flat with engineers and left it ready.

Next guest went in and it again did not work even with new Sky hub. I said to guest get back to me if there were issues.

To quote him "We're not here for the internet for our three sunny days, our 4 year old is out every day at the beach. DOn't you worry about it, thanks for telling me"

His wife gave us 4 stars and complained about the internet. I did not offer a refund on this occasion.

I went back to flat this week with 2 Sky Openreach engineers and they said the new router was from a bad batch and would never work! ....Uuurgh.

Now it's all working fine and dandy! 

The broadband / internet fiascos has caused me to lose my 5 stars and will no doubt affect future bookings  even though I was communicative and helpful in every possible way in a situation I had zero control over. Great!