I have guests coming in tomorrow for a week. Went to clean the house and found out that the water heater is not working! Got a local plumber but he was unable to fix it because he’s not familiar with Navien tankless water heaters. What do I do? Cancel reservation? Call Airbnb and ask them to relocate guests?
Yes, call Airbnb for help. Maybe you won’t be penalized in terms of search rank, etc. As for the guests, if you could find a comparable listing for them that would help. This is when being an Airbnb guest really sucks.
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Thank you. I’ll call AirBnb right now. Thanks again.
Plan A: Ask Airbnb to relocate your guests to a similarly-priced, nearby rental unit.
Plan B: Explain the unforeseen dilemma to your guests and offer them a half-off discount for the days without heated water. The water heater might be fixed sooner than expected. It’s a gamble.
Plan C: If Plan A and B fail, then cancel their reservation.
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Attached is a recent experience that you can learn from. If they decide to stay, the Best Advice is to sort out whatever agreement BEFORE the stay, and ensure it’s in writing (ABNB message board) and that the guest agrees to it.
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Be prepared for Airbnb to request documentation that the water heater problem cannot be fixed in time, preferably a note or estimate from a plumber written on company stationary. Last winter, pipes to my rental bungalow froze the same day that a guest was set to arrive, plumbers couldn’t fix the problem in time, and Airbnb demanded such documentation. In my case, though, I avoided cancelling by successfully applying a heat cable to the pipes–then the guest cancelled due to massive highway flooding!
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Thank you. I didn’t even think of that since I was stressing. I’ll make sure to get documentation. Thanks.
This might be a daft question but couldn’t you get another plumber?
We had a water heater break down when a guest was staying and it took three or four phone calls to find someone to do it the next day.
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We were on the phone calling different plumbers and they said they were not trained on the Navien tankless water system and others said they would not work on it unless they had installed it. We’re now looking at Home Depot to buy a new one and have it installed. It’s a shame because the unit is only two years old. It’s under warranty but we can’t wait for the company to send someone. The house is booked for the entire summer. I messaged the guests that are coming today and offered them a partial refund since it will be worked on during their stay. We were very lucky, they were very undestanding.
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That’s excellent news. Good luck with the new install. I hope Navien makes some sort of effort to compensate you for your trouble.
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You pointed out something we have found to be true. That installing plumbing fixtures that are European or non-standard, are impossible to fix. Most plumbers cannot get parts that fit. It is frustrating. We have concluded that we will buy only mainstream brands found at Lowe’s or Home Depot, and forego the designer showroom fixtures.
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I had the same issue with the Bosh range. Had it fixed three times in one year. Finally, kicked it to the curb and bought a Maytag.
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@lizmillercht
Many plumbers hate the products sold by big box stores as they find them inferior to ones sold by plumbing warehouses.
My only problem with those places, like FW Webb, is that they won’t sell some parts to me (like for my LP gas heaters) because I’m not a plumber but I found i could buy them via manufacturer but that added shipping charges. I’ve gotten to where i fix a fair number of things myself which my plumber is happy with as he knows that I’m not bugging him for the little stuff for my six cottages.
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I get most of my appliance parts, tool parts, and such from RepairClinic.com. They have handy diagrams to help identify parts, as well as a grid behind their pictures so you can see how big parts are. Fast, quick service.
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I have a small grave yard of tankless hot water heaters. They aren’t all a complete loss and I use them as trouble shooting dummies and I hope to Franken-fuck them back to life with the working parts. But this is a project kinda far off. I have learned a lot about my system but it’s a tricky off grid layout. buying new one is $100 + 3 hours of my day. The peace Of mind is priceless.
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You have a good point. Lightweight or rusting fixtures and planned obsolescence seems to be the case anymore.
This is good advice. I used RepairClinic.com last year when my furnace stopped working. Turned out all I had to do was drain the condensation line and I never had another problem. Saved me $750 from having a tech do the same thing.
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