Note to all hosts: Always always always have a plunger in your rental’s bathroom! 
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This is what I’m going with! Thank you for your response! I’m a gift-giver by nature so this satisfies me in that way as well.
Interesting. I actually think the opposite. I don’t think they would offer to clean it up themselves unless they knew it was their fault. I can’t imagine they’d want to clean up someone else’s mess.
I actually really do think it was them. When cleaning after the previous guests, my husband put a tablet in the tank. It’s to deter rust and grime. However, it makes the toilet bowl water cloudy for awhile and I don’t like the way it looks, so I flushed it no less than 7 times prior to their arrival and had no trouble.
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Agreed. And even though it is not “my fault”, I am still the host and am still responsible for their overall experience. It’s nice to be able to blame someone when shit happens, even if it’s not warranted. It’s rare that we get to do that but being a guest opens up that opportunity. I have been well-compensated for silly things in hotels and it did make me feel better. It kind of sucks for me but I feel like the right thing to do is to take the fall to make them feel better.
In some ways, I could see a guest believing it is actually somehow my fault anyway. Along the lines of, “she should have a better toilet” or something. Either way, I just want happy guests.
Thank you for your response!
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Thank you for your response @muddy, I do appreciate it. However, the reason money helps is that they paid money for a certain type of experience, a certain value that was based on not dealing with a backed-up toilet. They actually paid quite a lot. So, the toilet backing up and having to plunge it and clean the area, brings the value down. It doesn’t matter that it wasn’t my fault. The value has been diminished so they should pay less than what they originally agreed to. Just my perspective.
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The first guests to stay in my brand new ensuite bathroom when it was completed in Feb 16 was my nephew and his girlfriend. I had flushed the toilet a few times prior to their arrival as part of the cleaning and readying. My nephew asked if I had a plunger and I gave him one. I also immediately called my contractor and he told me to call Roto Rooter and he would pay for it. The plumber told me that sometimes in new construction something falls into the pipe and it doesn’t block it at first. He’s rootered plastic bottles out of new construction. In terms of old construction I’ve had my own toilet back up once at about year 20 and I don’t think it was my fault.
In any case, a properly functioning toilet is a required amenity and I, like JJD,am going to err of the side of taking responsibility for it. If a guest wanted to be an ass about it they could probably contact Airbnb and get a better settlement than whatever I offered so I would take the initiative. And while I won’t be held hostage by a bad review and not going to pretend a bad one might not hurt my business. I see several reasons to offer some compensation, no good ones not to.
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@JJD you and I share similar perspectives on hosting → Treating guests as you would want to be treated (if not better) will ideally pay itself back.
Even when a guest told me they didn’t want any compensation for a water heater failure, I still refunded one night. Those guests have returned 2 times since that incident occurred.
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I understand your perspective. But I do think that hosts have gotten too used to guests who will try to get refunds for any little thing (not that a toilet backing up for 12 hours is a tiny thing) and so tend to think they should refund to appease the guests, make them feel we are fair hosts and not leave a bad review.
But, in fact, adaptable guests are what all hosts really want. There are guests who are quite adaptable and understanding, especially seasoned travellers. They know that “s**t happens” and that even the best laid plans can go awry. So if it doesn’t appear that the guests are particularly fussed about something, I just don’t see a reason for the host to act like it’s something that needs to be compensated, other than an “I’m so sorry about the inconvenience”, and perhaps a thoughtful offering of some kind.
If the power goes out from 8PM-6AM, some guests would demand a full refund for the night, even though for more than half that time, they were asleep anyway. If you get guests who you can tell are irritated or upset about something, I agree that it’s probably best to offer some refund so as to avoid more complaint.
But other guests might say “Well, we were planning on watching a Netflix movie, but you know what? We ended up playing cards by candlelight and had a great time. We know it wasn’t your fault that the power went out. No worries”. If guests seem to take something in stride, I don’t see a reason to refund money, unless you feel you were somehow responsible for the issue.
I’ve never had a mechanical problem at a hotel and gotten a refund. The most has been a wine basket for a extended repair time. And if the power or water goes out all over the hotel, they’ll give you bottled water or a flashlight and apologies, that’s about it Anyone’s experience differ?
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I’m another one who would NOT refund anything. The guests blocked up the toilet, you didn’t! Not once – TWICE! Causing YOU extra work and hassle; not them.
As @jaquo said, there should have been a plunger in the listing.
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Yeah, definitely bottles of wine and fruit trays usually. The only thing I’ve had outright refunded was parking fees. But I’ve received credits for free stays, upgrades to bigger suites and dinner vouchers or gifts from the lobby - I have an awesome robe from a place who had trouble quieting some loud people out on the terrace right next to my room (I had a call time of 4:30am so I was pretty peeved).
And @jaquo, there is a plunger in the listing.
The toilet had to be snaked. The plunger wasn’t enough, the poor guy tried.
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Sorry, I wasn’t saying that there wasn’t one. I said:
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Sorry, @Ken implied there wasn’t one. I was just sort of CCing you cause you had brought it up earlier 
No problem at all. 
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I’ve been given a full refund 2x at hotels I’ve stayed in when I encountered problems.
- very noisy AC unit
- a very loud party
Both instances made it difficult to sleep
I was only providing feedback upon checkout when asked “how was your stay”. Both refunds were unsolicited, however I’m a top tier status at this hotel chain so there is a level of service that I get afforded.
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I just remembered. A boutique place in L.A. did actually give me a full refund. There was construction with jackhammers outside my window. Doh.
Otherwise, it’s usually free nights for another time.
But the Chateau put me in a hillside suite with full kitchen, bedrooms, etc cause my room smelled musty!
I’ve definitely gotten better perks at higher priced properties. But even Hilton has given me free nights.
Yes.
You have a problem in one room, they put you in another room. Airbnb’s like those of most hosts on this forum don’t have that option which is why a refund is the appropriate response. The more I think of it the more I’d be annoyed if I paid full price for a room with a toilet that didn’t work (unless I knew it was my fault).
I got some bonus member points for a Best Western I stayed at in Chicago. There was loud noise outside my window from a street fair that was being cleaned up after 10pm. It wasn’t the hotel’s fault per se. I suggested they install better windows. And moving me wasn’t an option as the hotel was completely full due to the Bruce Springsteen concert at nearby Wrigley that weekend.
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Exactly. If I had been able to just move them to one of the 2-bedrooms, that would have been an upgrade and a solution all in one and no refund would have been offered.
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A plumber told me that the new types of toilets with low cisterns are nowhere near as efficient as the older style which have the cisterns a little higher up the wall.
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I agree with SNC, refund one night. The guest will be appreciative and hopefully won’t mention the toilet incident in their review.
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