Boiler had gas certs done few weeks ago. Dad not technical so he called plumber Friday morning. Turned out the bathroom radiator had been turned off. Plumber turned it back on lol. Guests arrived Saturday afternoon. I messaged them via Airbnb to check everything was OK (always do this). No response.
Monday 1am I get a phone call saying theres no heating or hot water and demanding a refund. I start to explain where the boiler is. I am told they are not stupid they have checked the boiler and re pressurised it as 1 bar was in their opinion clearly too low. They said as it was 1am and they were leaving soon there was no point doing anything just give them a partial refund. Our cleaner went in this morning as she knows how to use the boiler. She tried to relight the pilot light but couldn’t because according to the guests the pressure was too high!!!
They say they tried to phone/text numerous times. I have asked for screenshot evidence of this to send to service provider. I have had other calls/texts and I do not believe they tried to ring before 1am this morning. They have left and are asking for a full refund as the apartment was 'uninhabitable '. What do we do please?
why would you let guests just your boiler?
I don’t think guests should be touching a boiler. You need a new system if this is standard procedure.
Absolutely agree, @purple, send them a counter claim for the amount it costs to get a full boiler checkup saying they changed boiler settings without authorization from you and are liable to pay damages.
The only way you will get to the bottom of this is to get your plumber out again. Have they checked out the boiler again since your guest left?
(DId you authorise your guests to mess about with the boiler by the way?)
Write back to the guests and say you are sorry they decided to cut short their stay. And that you are puzzled as what could have happened as when the plumber came the previous day (on another matter) , he didn’t find anything wrong with the heating and hot water system.
That as Airbnb advises you would have liked the opportunity to get someone out the next day to see what had happened and try and resolve any issues, but unfortunately they decided to leave in the early hours of the morning before you could do this.
Not sure what you mean about the pressure - at first you state the guests say it’s too low and then later in the post that it was too high.
Once you have a report from your plumber you can decide whether you need to refund any nights they didn’t stay.
Although I agree with most on this, as well as Helsi. Guests shouldn’t be touching your boiler, let alone re-pressurising it; I wouldn’t even do that myself. How many more rules do we need to be explicit about,that of course, don’t get read?.. Common sense seems to have gone out the window these days!
No refund. They have tampered with your facilities that could be rendered unsafe.
If the guest didn’t respond to your initial message asking if everything is OK, their claim that the apartment is “uninhabitable” more than than 24 hours after checkin doesn’t seem to hold much weight. Have you tried contacting Airbnb? I wouldn’t give a refund, hopefully they will support that decision.
A guests messed with your boiler??? Damn, I don’t even touch my boiler. Like ever! I think you should be on solid ground with Air if they messed with something so potentially dangerous!
Thank you all for your replies. They didn’t leave early they left lunchtime Monday as booked. They decided the pressure was low added water then decided it was high. I was stunned to hear they had tampered with the boiler. I have now found contact from them on my personal Facebook. I have asked correspondence only be via Airbnb.
Thanks for advice I feel more confident about refusing refund now!
I would be sure and mention this in any review you give. Other hosts need to know that these are the types of people who will literally get all up in your stuff. I am still in shock over people messing a boiler.