Hi there, we have two women from Germany staying in our place for 12 nights. They checked in late Tuesday night. They are lovely people. One of them has a son in college here. On Thursday they said the toilet was clogged. My husband went over and easily plunged it and it seemed to flush fine. We’ve never had plumbing issues although it is an older building. At about 8 PM last night they messaged it was clogged again. We weren’t home but said we could be there in 1/2 hr. They declined because they said they were super tired and had plans requiring them to get up at 6:30 AM. We continued with our dinner plans and my husband planned to go there in the morning. About 20 minutes later they messaged that it had overflowed. Apparently they’d tried to plunge it themselves but it didn’t work. We rushed home, he plunged it again and gave them some rags, etc to clean it up a little as they wanted to get to bed. This morning while they were out my husband, with the help of a plumber friend, fixed the toilet; there was something lodged in the pipe causing a partial blockage. It was fixed and cleaned by 2PM today. To make a long story short, I would like to buy them a gift certificate to the little breakfast/coffee shop close by that they told me they love (and they went there again today) for the inconvenience. Enough $ that they could have 2 more breakfasts there during there stay. Do you think this is adequate or should I just give them a partial monetary refund? They’ve been very sweet and understanding about it but I’d like to do something for them. Sorry this is so long.
i think the gift card is a great gesture in these circumstances (nice guests who say, “it’s no problem,” but you want to compensate them for the inconvenience) – you could probably just give enough for one big breakfast (vs 2 meals). I’ve done something very similar a couple of times – one guest had a drip come down into their apt in the middle of the night as we had a leak where the least path of resistance ended up being in the doorway of their bedroom. They were so nice about it and kept saying, “oh, these things happen, etc”. When they left a few days later, they were stressed about how to get to the airport on the train with their luggage and I just got them an uber all the way to the airport ($30 vs refunding them $120/night which I was also considering).
Another time, landscapers started dumping materials and a huge mound of dirt right in front of the apt walkway and I didn’t realize this for at least a couple of hours. Guests were super nice and said it was no problem and I gave them a $20 GC for a cute breakfast cafe around the corner.
The gift card is the perfect “I am sorry you were inconvenienced” gesture. In fact, @jaquo does the same thing and I have made a mental note that this will be what I would do in the future for a guest that had to deal with some house inconvenience.
I think it is so much more personal than refunding some money. Now she knows that you paid attention to where she enjoyed having a special treat. Relationships are built on listening!
Yes I really like them. They are here 9 more nights so I don’t think they’ll have any trouble visiting the cafe a couple more times. They have been very understanding, even making a joke with their so so English of “sh*% happens”, LOL. They could have been so much less easygoing about things. The woman that booked has an old dog at home and my dog is 16, and she makes a point of coming to say hi to our dog each day (we live in the building next door). Very nice people.
Nice experience! Feeling good to read this!
I always think, “what would a hotel do?” And the answer is, not a damn thing. Especially considering they’re the ones who clogged the toilet. As a landlord, I’d charge them for the service call so…
Actually, we used to offer complimentary drink coupons all the way up to a free dinner in the hotel restaurant. Hotels are in the hospitality business, and respond accordingly.
Actually, when we were at a resort in Cabo San Lucas, the toilet overflowed right after we checked in and they had to come twice to unclog it. They sent a room service platter of cheese and fruit up to the room. it wasn’t even a 5 star resort.
Hmm…well I’m actually not sure they were the source of the clog. It seemed like something may have already been there, causing a partial clog.
I had this happen as a backup happened to a new guest when our sanitary sump was clogged by “someone” who was down there; a couple I think who dyed their hair yet no towels were damaged?! Anyway, since this inconvenienced our guest 2 nights, and she would not let me clean the mess, I gave her one night’s refund on at 40 night reservation. I wanted to ensure her that we would deal with any situation and be more than fair.