No WiFi in Airbnb

[EatingRipeCamembert]

How much refund would you request if there was no WiFi in your Airbnb?

We're here for six nights, four of us, phone signal barely works in the area.

Having no WiFi is having a big impact on our holiday, teen & young adult DC are cut off from contacting friends and we can't watch TV or films in the evenings.

We can't do the things we'd usually do in between going out.

I'd never have chosen somewhere without WiFi, the property is listed as having it and the host has been very casual about it not working. I asked for it to be fixed but the host says she can't give me any assurances. I've asked for a partial refund and she's said she'll need to ask her brother, but hasn't got back to me.

I've seen that Airbnb has a facility to request a partial refund, I have to suggest the amount.

We paid around £1700 for 6 nights, what's a reasonable amount to request for a partial refund?

Had a couple of fairly disastrous holidays with no WiFi, both were rural, we wanted WiFi to check local (MWIS) weather forecasts/met office radar to plan walking days, beach days, tide times and for a lesser extent for work/entertainment. There was no mobile signal either so lack of WiFi meant a 15 minute walk up a hill/15 minute drive out of the valley to get usable signal. I'd be asking for a 1/3 to a half off as not having WiFi and no local signal on common networks makes booking and planning anything very difficult now, especially if there is no TV (or only local language TV for weather forecasts!)

Some attractions you need to book a few days in advance.

If you don't pay for specific seat reservations, airlines like Ryanair and Wizz Air will only let you check in 24 hours before.

Access to the internet is needed nowadays for a lot of holiday things. Also useful to be able to check train timetables beforehand rather than have to hang around train stations for ages or make a trip to one just to see the timetable.

Surely the wifi operator, BT, Virgin, whoever it is should be fixing it, owner must be paying for it so would expect the service to work

I'd ask for 50% and settle for 25%.

A friend booked a cottage in this country via another platform that was advertised as having WiFi. Shortly before the holiday the holiday company called and said the property actually didn’t have it. The phone signal in the area was rubbish too. This was a dealbreaker for my friend as she needed to be able to keep in touch with family during an illness. The holiday company cancelled the booking and found other suitable accommodation at no additional cost so on that basis I would say requesting compensation amounting to a significant portion of the booking could be considered reasonable. I don’t expect AirBnB to be particularly helpful on this though, they’ll leave it up to the host.

Is there a router there, does it exist

Depends if it's that the internet is down in general or if it's that the owner's router has broken.

WiFi is very very important to me. Would really ruin it for me. I'd be very cross.

The router is usually the property of the internet provider

Unless there is some industry standard for what "Wifi/Internet" speeds are in these properties then you havent got much comeback anyway. Ive been to places with incredibly slow internet that was probably 3Mbps and could barely get much out of it on one device let alone multiple.

Is it in the UK, obviously in other countries internet providers will be different to here and they may do things in a different way if it's not UK

I’ve stayed at several places that advertised as having WiFi, and although they technically did, it was so slow that it was almost pointless. There does need to be some kind of industry standard, at least in the tourism industry.

We had this on a one-week holiday in October. Wi-Fi was fixed probably on day 5. We didn’t ask for any refund.

Is it an issue of Wi-Fi being down, or never being available/false advertising? If it’s the latter, I’m surprised none of the reviews complain about it.

If it was advertised and isn't available it's surely a breach of contract. I'd be livid and want a full refund (and would also be happy to leave early!)

Has the owner even attempted anything? If she's been in touch with her provider she'd surely at least have an update

Have you tried resetting it?

It all depends on why the WiFi isn't working. If it is because the phone line is down after a storm the it is an act of God and no compensation is due.

If however it is because the homeowner hasn't paid the bill then you are due reasonable compensation (I think 10-15% is about right). Even if you wouldn't have booked the property, you have used all the other facilities.

I’d have been looking for a last minute cottage nearby and would have left and be seeking a full refund. They’re lucky you haven’t done that.

Could airbnb find you alternative accomodation that does have wifi? This seems like it would be covered by their AirCover. You need to contact them ASAP since the host has not committed to resolving it.

Another possibility is that a different phone service might have better coverage and you could buy a hotspot and sim to cover you while you’re there.

I agree that, although it would put a huge dampener on holiday plans, it’s probably unreasonable to expect a huge discount. One thing I might try is adding up any additional costs you incur along with the amount of time you spend trying to mitigate it then use those figures to back up your request for a refund.

You'd get laughed at asking for a full refund.

Yes, if it's because of the dreadful weather then I wouldn't expect a refund, it's just one of those things and may take a while to fix. You need to find out why to get an appropriate refund if any

Hmm I think if the owner was trying to get it fixed- apologetic, explaining she was in touch with the company and giving whatever estimate the company have given her then I would accept 10% after all these things do happen.
However as the owner doesn't seem to be bothered/not accepting it's a big issue for you then I would be pushing for more- 25% maybe.

If the cottage was advertised as having Wi Fi, and you booked the holiday presuming it to have working wi fi, then I would say 25%. I mean, suppose you had intended to work whilst away? Suppose you had the kind of job or life where you HAVE to stay in touch?

There are periods in the year where I would absolutely HAVE to be able to connect to the internet for work purposes, and I'm hyperventilating at the thought of not being able to get online at that time (and yes, it's PRECISELY at the times when I might be away on holiday!)

Are there any mentions of poor wifi in previous reviews?
Keep a log off all phone calls/texts to them about it not working.
AirBNB have a community forum, so you might get more responses on there about a fair price or of there is a specific % for such an inconvenience, so read up on there.
Personally, I'd start higher, say 50% and you can always negotiate down.

If it was advertised as having WiFi, and it’s only available if you stand in the garage, then I think I’d be looking for a 25-40% reduction in the cost of the holiday.
As you’ve said before, you wouldn’t have selected this particular location had you been made aware at the outset of how poor the internet service was.

You aren't paying for the cost of WiFi, you are paying for the loss of enjoyment/impact on your holiday. So I'd go for £700 and see what they come back with.

There's no wifi in the garage - that's the only place they can get a phone signal.