Heat and Air Conditioning

We have guests in our suite and we are away. They say the AC isn’t working and it’s too hot to sleep. It is 14 degrees C outside and so I don’t know why they don’t just open the windows, but regardless of that, should I offer them a refund?

Yes, you should refund or send someone to check on it. If you are going to rent while away and not have someone to help you if there is an issue you’ll just have to take the hit.

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I agree with @KKC – if you aren’t there when you rent, and don’t have a minder for the place, then you just have to lose…

Your other option is to not offer a refund, and literally tell them to open the windows – and then be there when they leave so you can be sure the windows get closed.

Who the heck thinks 57F (14C) is too hot to sleep, anyway?? Siberians?

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The problem is, it is a weekend and the repair people work during the week.

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The problem is you don’t even know if they are telling the truth.

I know I have some guests who don’t even turn on the AC and I think they must be boiling. Others turn it on when it’s cooler outside than inside. It comes with hosting and you’ll just have to suck it up. If it’s a promised amenity and not working they can cancel and get a full refund.

It seems that so many of the problems we see being posted here are due to the fact that the hosts are out of town, or living a distance away, and there’s no responsible co-host in pl;ace. As an onsite host, I take my hat off to anyone who can do that but I know that I’m way too scared to do so. Property costs a fortune and there’s no way I’d leave it with complete strangers staying there with no-one there to take care of problems. And there are going to be problems - which really are wonderful opportunities to show what a great host you are when you solve them promptly and efficiently.

I thought at first that there was a typo in the OP and that it was the heating that wasn’t working until I saw the thing about not being able to sleep ‘in the heat’. I still think there’s something odd here.

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Actually, to be blunt, it seems that the problem here is that you don’t have your contractors geared up for an Airbnb rental scenario. Of course there are going to be problems that happen at weekends. Surely you have contractors on your list who will work weekends???

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I posted about having a door lever fail. No way for the guest to get in or for it to be repaired from the outside. I guess if I’d have been out of town I would have either had to just refund the night and send them elsewhere or direct them through my home using the garage door code, down to their room and hope they didn’t abuse the privilege of having access to my home. Not ideal but I always have a back up plan of some sort.

I’ll be out of town for 8 days next week. The guest is already here and has stayed here before. Fingers crossed.

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Plus 100 :slight_smile:

You’ll remember that some time ago, I was hospitalised totally unexpectedly. And I was there for two months. I never, ever thought that such a thing could happen to me but thanks to having a back up plan (well, several) I was lying in a coma, making money…

It’s not just for the host’s own financial benefit either - there would have been at least a dozen couples/individuals who would have had to alter their vacation/business trip plans.

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Sorry 14 degrees C? You’d be lucky to get aircon to go that low. It makes no sense.

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Exactly. 14C is 58F and every thermostat I’ve ever owned would not go lower than 60F for cooling.

That is probably the problem — idiot guest trying to to use air con when air temp is below normal room temp for temperate climate. But if he has no one as backup, how can he know?

Simply a quick message to the host on the app. Failing that Google the weather or aircon temperatures. Failing that common sense and a good word with themselves.
I was in Turkey recently and I would have been delighted to get the aircon lower than 21 degrees C as I was sweltering under a sheet. It was meant to go down to 18 degrees which European and east coast doctors agree is best for sleep.