Great answer, you are a smart person, I was right!
OK, going against the grain here but yes, I would contact AirBnb and expect some kind of refund. If the hot water system is unreliable then he should say so, it’s a basic amenity that can really affect a holiday. You have made the host aware of the issue and is "resolution ’ of using his shower wasn’t acceptable.
The host should have rectified the situation or offered a discount, it’s definitely not unreasonable to expect this. Contact AirBnb and point out you have tried to address this with the host to no avail. (Also worth mentioning the planned generator). A contract is valid if both parties stick to it, he has offered something substandard and not as described.
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Edited - I just re-read the original post.
You say he is completely off the grid. I presume that means all the electricity and all the hot water has to be generated from solar panels.
If that is true, he should have made it clear in his listing that his home is COMPLETELY off the grid, and electrical-powered amenities may be limited.
If he did not make that clear, then you have a valid claim.
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Call Airbnb xx
…
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Does anyone know a good contact number for Airbnb? The website isn’t too forthcoming with the digits! Thanks so much everyone for your advice and support! I appreciate it so much!
There are off grid properties on ABB.
Usually the issue is the capacity of the system, not no supply.
PV is electricity generation, in such situations usually hot water is generated separately using solar hot water panels.
I would like to see the listing. Difficult to comment otherwise.
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Hi @corsierosie,
IMO (and as say this as a fairly fussy person who has been called names like “princess” from time to time), but I don’t think lack of hot water is a sufficiently good reason to cancel a rental. Maybe it’s a reason to get a discount.
The hot water heater in my guest bathroom is apparently not perfect, and one set of guests mentioned that the hot water ran out very fast. But they didn’t ask for a discount, or threaten to leave. They’re so far the only people to complain about this (so I’m not sure if there is a problem), and for structural reasons it’s hard to put in a bigger heater.
Oh, and a couple of times the heater broke while guests were here, though in both cases I managed to get it fixed fairly quickly. Those guests didn’t ask for a discount either.
I do think the host should perhaps be clearer in his listing that hot water isn’t guaranteed. Tell him that - perhaps he will.
I really don’t like his attitude toward you too. You had concerns and he blew you off. Where did you end up going?
I still think this is kind of a grey area. He should have disclosed in the listing that hot water may not be guaranteed. But his attitude toward you totally stinks.
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I couldn’t manage without hot water unless I was prepared for it - eg camping at a music festival with no facilities and a few packs of baby wipes. It would be very detrimental to a holiday if I couldn’t bath /shower or wash in comfort. Perhaps expectations are different in hotter climates, but I’d definitely offer a guest a refund or discount if there was an issue.
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It depends how cold the water is. The original poster mentioned 88 degrees (clearly Fahrenheit), which isn’t really cold. Though that may be a figure the host came up with, not herself - it’s not clear.
If it’s cold, that I agree that would be a problem. Though I personally would find it more annoying than serious.
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Thank you to everyone for the thoughtful responses. Yesterday morning we got a call from the owner after we had left and he told us he was going to refund us for the days we’re not staying. Then he said his wife had been out of town and she had just got back. He put her on the phone and she was very sweet and apologized for the inconvenience and they have already refunded the money for the time we’re not going to be there. So we’re happy with that. We did tell them that the hot water issue should be mentioned in their listing so hopefully they change it. We’re just happy that he didn’t stick to the talk about having signed a contract. The only contract he’s referring to is the Airbnb agreement. Thankyou again to everyone. I have a better understanding of how solar power works now for sure =)
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Sounds like the dude didn’t have very good PR skills!! And the wife did.
Unless they disclose in the listing that the water won’t get hot on cloudy days, then refunding was the right thing to do. Glad it all worked out. Are you still in Hawaii?
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perhaps you would like to shower in England, in the winter, with no hot water!
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But we are talking about Hawaii, where it’s 80 degreesF right now. Hardly a fair comparison.
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Sorry, I laugh-snuffled explosively through my nose only because it caught me unawares.
I know I’m encouraging you.
My apologies to everyone.
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No, I wouldn’t. But I should have clarified that I was talking about places where the water wasn’t actually cold. Around room temperature, perhaps. Though I suppose in England even room temperature can be cold.
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Good point. If he’d said 'cancel THE rental", it would have sounded very opening-post specific, but just ‘cancel a rental’ sounded more like cancelling any old holiday
Why you comparing Hawaii to England?
How did we get so spoiled that we can’t shower in 88F water?? Also when I see “solar” it means it depends on a sun.
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Thank you, @corsierosie , for starting this thread. We are in the Caribbean and we have solar hot water with no backup system. This thread has given me something I should think about.
We have never run out of hot water while we are there (it’s our vacation/retirement home). In the last four years, only one guest has run out of hot water. It was cloudy for much of their stay AND they took several baths a day.
My DH and I have discussed a backup electrical water heater, but since running out of hot water is so rare it is low on our list of upgrades. I’m contemplating adding it as a “limitation”, but since it almost never happens, I’m concerned I’ll scare people off.
Thanks again for starting this useful thread!