How much refund for a guest without heat?

21

Oh, I missed that as well. That would be nice for a guest to just stay an extra night, not so helpful if they have to come back at a later time to claim their free night.
eta: Although I think I may be misreading this as well. Could they have added one night onto the end of their stay, or were you offering them a free night if they booked at another time?

I refunded them 15% of my nightly fee (for the whole trip) because they were without water for 15% of their stay. It was only a 2-night stay, so it wasn’t a huge amount. If they had been staying longer, I probably would have just made it a fixed amount for the refund.

22

So, 30% of stay. That makes sense. I don’t think I would have refunded for that though. You really have nothing to do with the utility company turning off the water. Now, say, you knew and forgot, and then you booked. Then, it’s your fault.

I was a landlord long before I was a host. I never refunded them for any appliance that failed…because as a landlord, we are subject to the “reasonable time clause” so we do not have to offer refunds unless we go beyond reasonable (24 hours to fix heat is obviously reasonable). If the house is uninhabitable for whatever reason, just like homeowners insurance, their renters insurance should handle their hotel bill…but it never affects my rent.

And…just wanted to say again since I was not clear about what additional night I was offering…I was offering a night on the tail end of their reservation!

23

Nope, 15%. You don’t add percentage discounts like that. 15% of the first night + 15% of the second night = 15% off the total, (not counting cleaning fees and Air fees and things.)

And no, it wasn’t within my control, but it was a HUGE inconvenience. I think being without water is more inconvenient than being without heat for a short period of time. Unless you have been negligent in not keeping up with furnace maintenance, a furnace going out unexpectedly is not under your control any more than the water main breaking was under mine, in my opinion. Now if you knew the furnace was going to go at any minute and kept using it, then that really is your fault, and I probably would give a full refund for the time that there was no heat.

24

Aw! thanks! I am going to take that, “it’s a circumstance beyond my control” and run with it.

I was thinking that your 15% x 2 days is really 30% for the one day of inconvenience. Shoulda explained my thought process there.

So, for those who are wondering what I ended up doing…I gave them 1/3 off one night…which amounted to $140. I deducted out the $45 for the 1.5 hours of late check-out that they used.

I will still watch for responses. Thanks all!

I also came up with this to share.

In the event that the furnace, water heater, water pump, or septic pump malfunctions, guest has the option to receive ⅓ discount on nightly base rate for that night of malfunction or a free additional night added to his existing reservation (if available) for each 24-hour period inconvenienced.

If the furnace, water heater, water pump, or septic pump malfunctions for more than 24 hours, guest has the option to cancel his reservation and be refunded the remaining amount of stay. The 24-hour time period begins upon guest’s reporting of an issue.

If temperatures in the house are above 90 degrees or below 50 degrees due to the malfunction of of the furnace or air conditioner, guest may immediately choose to cancel his reservation and be refunded the remaining amount of stay OR guest may receive ⅓ discount on remaining time.

No refunds or cancellations are available for any other household appliance, including, but not limited to refrigerator, oven, range, microwave, dishwasher, washing machine, and clothes dryer.

If appliances are unavailable due to acts of God (e.g., weather, ice, snow, power outage), acts of utility companies (e.g. water shut off), or national emergency, cancellations are not possible and refunds are not available. Trip insurance is recommended.

Whenever possible, reasonable accommodations will be made (e.g., space heaters, concierge laundry service, bottled water, and window units) will be made to ease the burden should a situation arise involving the loss of use of an appliance.

25

Honestly, I wouldn’t put that in your listing, or you might get guests that want to take advantage. “Yeah, the water pump wasn’t working all day yesterday, but oh look, it seems to be fine now that you’re here to fix it.” :wink: Probably better to address refunds on a case-by-case basis on the rare event that you actually have one of these major malfunctions. I would maybe just keep the part about recommending trip insurance because you don’t offer refunds for issues arising outside of your control.

26

STOP GIVING REFUNDS! For anything! Just stop. All you’ll get is people taking advantage of you, and you won’t make any money.

Circumstances beyond your control.

And stop worrying about bad reviews…

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27

You are too funny!

How about this:

If appliances are unavailable due to acts of God (e.g., weather, ice, snow, power outage), acts of utility companies (e.g. water shut off), malfunction despite proper maintenance, or national emergency, cancellations are not possible and refunds are not available. Trip insurance is recommended.

Repairs will ALWAYS be made in a reasonable amount of time.

Whenever possible, reasonable accommodations will be made (e.g., space heaters, concierge laundry service, bottled water, and window units) will be made to ease the burden should a situation arise involving the loss of use of an appliance.

28

Sorry, my bad. When you said you offered

I read that as one free night of the booked stay. You meant just another night on top of the existing booking. When you said it “cost you nothing” I was confused and now I get why. In any case, a refund of one night, for the day there was no heat wouldn’t have been crazy. Note I’m not saying it was deserved, I’m not saying it was the right thing to do. I’m simply saying I wouldn’t try to talk you out of it like many here will. BTW, I consider $420 to be pretty upscale and if I’m on vacay with my family and we have to huddle together in front of space heaters to be comfy I won’t be happy. But if I go to a place for $45 a night, check in at 5 pm and out the next morning at 10 and have to deal with a space heater a few hours I don’t expect much. I hope that makes sense.

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29

Not really upscale, just really BIG! We can sleep 16! They actually got the place on a bargain before I knew that October is the most popular month of the year for weddings (yes, please take note for those who do not know)! The same weekend for next year will go for $600 per night.

The space heaters are enough to bring the room up 10 degrees, which would be up to about 70. Living on a farm, we are on our own. So, when the oil delivery didn’t come on time when they were getting used to the schedule of a smaller tank, we were cold A LOT! That’s why we know how effective the space heaters are. In fact, one bedroom solely uses a space heater because the HVAC is so poor. And stated night temps are 65 (it’s on a schedule).

I think she is mad because they were really without heat since their Friday arrival BUT they didn’t tell me until Sunday morning.

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30

Lots of [lovely] chatter so wanted to make sure all saw what I ultimately did.

I refunded $142 (1/3 night’s rent) and deducted $45 for 1.5 hours of late check out.

Thank you all!

Now, we will just have to see how she reacts!

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31

We are in a rural area on a Caribbean island, and parts can be hard to get. If we “hot shot” something (ship it express by air) from the US to the island, we can get it there in about 5-7 days, but it can cost a hundred dollars or more to ship it.
So, here is what we have in our house rules:
“We advertise the property in good faith, and shall strive to ensure the operation of all amenities in the Property. However, we shall not be held financially responsible for any such items’ failure to work, but will make efforts to correct reported issues as quickly as practical. Repairs will most likely be less timely in [our country] than you usually experience in your home country, and may not be completed prior to the end of your stay.”

This gives us the control of refunds - at least in theory. Thank goodness, we’ve not had to try it yet!

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32

I think since the heater wasn’t working, they should get a refund for that one night, even with the space heaters. If they contact AirBnB , they might get the entire stay refunded. I would rather be out one night than lose the fee for their entire stay.

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33

@Ritz3 Can you let us know why you feel Airbnb would refund for the full stay when the heating was only out one night and the guest already accepted the compensation offered?

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34

I didn’t know guests had already accepted the compensation offer. That changes the situation.

35

Well it does say @Ritz3 that in the post you are responding to :slight_smile: :frowning:

36

too much info. A clause denying liability is fine, and then in your brain you know how you plan to handle it.
By the way, in this instance of heat, I would refund 1/2 of one day. It is totally comfy for night sleeping with your provisions, but perhaps not totally comfy for daytime with space heaters. So i would give the 1/2 day $$ refund + a late checkout to make amends.
I would NEVER deduct that $45 for the late checkout…that is going to bite you in the butt and you will regret that splitting of hairs.
Just me…that is what I would do…and ask for that 5 star review, which you may not get.

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37

Guests did not accept 1/3 refund (less 1.5 hours of late check-out). That’s why I went to this post!

I first offered late check-out OR an additional night on the end.

They availed themselves of late check out (1.5 hours worth which is tacit acceptance) and then the next day demanded a full night’s refund.

Yes, I see the point about hair splitting. However, if I were them and were unhappy with the offers, by principal, I would not have take either offer (in whole or in part), and I would have asked for a refund (or if I asked for a refund, I would have acknowledged what I used). They DID take me up on my offer (generally late check-out is all or nothing, regardless of late check-out time as stated in rules).

Admittedly, I was annoyed that they asked for a whole night, without acknowledging what they used even. Hence the hair splitting. They are also whining about not having to pay for their extra person ($30 for stay)…which amount was invoiced ahead of time and which pattern was established in their original booking with 2 extra people.

The space heaters really were adequate in this case (with the acknowledgement of the nuisance of moving them to the respective day room or night room since there were only 4 heaters, but 4 bedrooms and 4 day rooms). Had it been January, it would have been a WAY different story, and I might consider refunding an entire night.

So, I think that all or nothing is not right (refund full night or not at all), but rather the amount of the refund should be commensurate to how much “no heat”. 1/3 off for this particular weekend at outside temp at 50 degrees and house temp at 67 degrees (house rules state that day temp is 71 and night is 65), but more off up to the whole amount if house at 50 degrees (30 degrees outside).

In fact, if it were January, since I did not know whether the heater even would be fixed by the time of their departure, I might have given them the option of cancelling if it were not fixed.

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38

I didn’t see it on the first post.

39

refund everything if your heat doesnt work

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40

Ok… I didn’t read all the posts so bear with me if this has already been addressed. Your heat went out, making your guest uncomfortable. While out of your control you should reimburse them the time period the heat was out. Send the reimbursement and also a nice note apologizing for the issue advising them you did the best you could under the circumstances. I had the same issue only with an A/C unit (was 92 w/high humidity) and fortunately I was able to move them to another property but I still reimbursed them their night stay for their inconvenience. Got a rave review and denial of reimbursement because it was out of our control that the a/c went out in 2 a.m. While yes it will hurt monetarily but having someone leave a horrible review is asking for issue in my opinion. Good luck!

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