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I have a window AC in my airbnb room. Each winter I unplug it and put a cover on the inside facing part and on the housing that’s on the outside part of the window. It’s getting warm here but I hadn’t yet put it into service.
Last night’s guest uncovered the inside part, plugged it in, probably into the same circuit at the mini fridge but it didn’t trip the circuit, and ran it all night. That would all be fine except for the outside cover which was still on. When I heard the compressor kick on I ran outside and quietly removed the outside cover. Had I not been home or not heard it it probably would have burned out the AC. And chances are the guest wouldn’t have thought they were to blame. It seems obvious to me that if something is out of service for the season the guest should check, or at least ask.
OTOH, if I had been out of town for this booking and returned to town, I never would have even known she had done it. She returned everything to the status is was: cord unplugged, wrapped around face of unit, cover replaced, drape pulled across the window.
I’m leaning towards no harm, no foul and not mentioning it at all, not even in private feedback. I like to respect guest’s privacy and am not keen to even let on what I can and cannot hear in the guest room. However, in the off chance she runs into this situation again I’d like her to not burn out someone’s AC unit.
Not all guests are familiar with windows AC units. (I learned this the hard way). I actually take my units out until the season starts. I have it mentioned in my manual. Once the units are in the windows, I have written instructions on how to use and how to just get fresh air.
Put a sign on the unit and state DO NOT USE - out of season or whatever. I really think the onus is on you not the guest.
I would not think that an AC unit is out of service unless there is signage to indicate such. I would add a label to the cover that it is not to be used. Contact Host it AC is needed to properly install.
Exactly this. Put a sign on it or disable it in a way that a guest can’t turn it on. The guest was uncomfortable (hot) and the solution was right there.
I disagree about thinking it was not in service based on all the trouble she had to go through to use it. Regardless, I would educate her nicely in private feedback.
Ok, so the consensus is that I’m to blame and therefore no need to mention it to the guest at all, correct? That was the question that no one is answering.
If I lived in really cold climate I would do the same. It’s just so much easier to leave mine in. A sign on the interior cover is a simple and no brainer solution. Up until this point everyone took “unplugged with cord wrapped around unit with cover on and drape pulled” to mean out of service I guess.
Not all guests are familiar with A/C at all. Here’s a funny and unfortunately true example: my mother-in-law and sister-in-law came from Germany to visit us in Phoenix. My wife and I left for work early in the morning and left them at home to recover from their jet-lag. I returned home around 5pm and when I walked in I saw that the front and back doors and several of the windows were open. I checked the downstairs thermostat and it was set as low as it could go at 60F. The thermometer in the kitchen showed inside temp of 105F and outside temp of 119F (not kidding!). My sister-in-law was in the kitchen washing dishes. I said “Why are all the windows and doors open and the A/C set on 60 degrees.” She replied “It was hot in the house.”
My whole house central air is a swamp cooler. Those need a door or window open to work properly. So when I had no window unit when I first started Airbnb I had a note about that in the Airbnb room. With the window unit the doors/windows need to be closed. And never mind that it was a nice cool dry 70 down to 64 degrees overnight and with a door open and the ceiling fan on it was probably colder in my bedroom than it was in the guest room with the AC on.
I wouldn’t mention the incident in your review. I sure as heck would label the AC cover panel DO NOT REMOVE BEFORE CONTACTING HOST or something similar.
I think you can very softly mention it in the private feedback. Even admitting that it probably wasn’t very clear, but that she should always take care because it could have burned the house down.
And then of course: Try to find a way to make the ‘situation’ more fool proof. To be honest, in this case I very easily could have been equally foolish as your guest .
I would not mention it in a public review … I wouldn’t even bother including in private feedback unless it is gentle to the extreme. The time to mention it was when they were there. You simply can’t anticipate everything a renter will do in an unfamiliar house.
Eureka! I have my solution. Your post reminded me that the AC is on it’s own circuit and therefore should have it’s own breaker. So I located the breaker switch, labeled it and now we are set. I no longer need to move the bed to get to the plug either. So I’ll put a sign on the interior cover and turn off the breaker so if they ignore my sign they still have to contact me to turn on the breaker and remove the exterior cover. I can also use the breaker on those occasions when people go out and leave the unit on despite my instructions not to. I can turn off the unit at the breaker without entering their room.
I agree with maybe 3 others here to mention it in private remarks, so that it doesn’t happen to someone else.
I am CONSTANTLY astounded by the things that the average person or guest doesn’t have a clue about. I.e., don’t put wet towels on fabric chaise lounges. Or anything wooden. Or to not switch return ducts from summer to winter setting, in the summer. Since momma and papa didn’t seem to give a lot of folks any practical understanding of how water damage works, or the physics of hot air/cold air, or that their dirty bike chains do NOT belong on imported Thai silk cushions, &tc., or anything to do with mechanics … well someone has to learn them before they screw up their own house.
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