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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to let you all know that Airbnb hosts have shit happen sometime?

100 replies

Jujujuile · 06/09/2018 11:41

Two guests booked in from tomorrow for the weekend and my boiler’s gone wrong! The engineer has just told me it’s dead. Thankfully I have the funds to pay for a new one, but I have to wait for it to be installed.

With the paperwork / receipt to prove this has happened, telling airbnb is no problem. I’ve also called the person who booked to say sorry, and understandably she was very angry.

Airbnb hosts have a bad reputation for this, but I just wanted to put my side of it.

OP posts:

Luckymummy22 · 06/09/2018 11:50

Do you have your boiler regularly serviced? How often do they just pack up without any warning?
I would be pissed as well if I was the customer.
Of course things happen and I guess it’s a risk you have to take when booking air bnb. One of the reasons I would never book one!

YolandaTheYeti · 06/09/2018 11:53

I don’t think she should have been angry with you necessarily unless you’ve done something negligent or misleading. I think it’s a risk you take when booking air bnb. It’s also a risk I’d rather not take, so I don’t use it! I’ve only had one experience with air bnb and I decided it wasn’t for me.

BossWitch · 06/09/2018 11:55

Also one of the reasons I avoid air bnb. The attitude of a homeowner doing someone a favour, which can be cancelled last minute, but combined with the cash grabbiness of a business. You can't have it both ways! You (I assume) expect to get paid on time and in full, and wouldn't accept "shit happens" from a guest who couldnt pay their bill. Your paying guests expect the service that they booked.

Original poster

Jujujuile · 06/09/2018 12:00

Well I could have left airbnb to do my dirty work for me, but I thought the customer deserved an explanation and a personal apology.

Yes I do have my boiler serviced every year and get a gas safety check done at the same time. When I say it is dead, I mean that it is old and I’ve decided to get a new one.

OP posts:

minky5 · 06/09/2018 12:00

Isn't that just part and parcel of running a business, that you have to pay out for costs and that you don't just make oodles of profit?

WorraLiberty · 06/09/2018 12:01

When I say it is dead, I mean that it is old and I’ve decided to get a new one.

Rather than a quick repair?

NameChangedAgain18 · 06/09/2018 12:03

I don't use Airbnb any more either, for this reason. Knowing that your accommodation could be cancelled at the last minute is too stressful.

Original poster

Jujujuile · 06/09/2018 12:03

Minky 5 well I live here with my partner, and we need hot water too. We’d have to pay out anyway so nothing to do with profit.

OP posts:

52FestiveRoad · 06/09/2018 12:04

I suppose the guests are just disappointed as their trip has now been ruined, assuming Airb'nb cannot help them find something last minute as a replacement? It is understandable that they might be pissed off about that.

JustGettingStarted · 06/09/2018 12:04

I've stayed in hotels that had boiler breakdowns. Sometimes they fix them ASAP and sometimes it's apparent that it will not be that day. I have checked out and gone elsewhere. It was inconvenient but of course things happen. No point being angry about it.

Original poster

Jujujuile · 06/09/2018 12:04

Guests can and do cancel at the last minute, and most never think of any inconvenience they may cause the host.

OP posts:

BossWitch · 06/09/2018 12:06

Surely if its that old, you will have been warned (or could have found out for yourself) that it was nearing the end of its life? And therefore planned to replace?

What kind of reaction did you honestly expect from the poor person who made thw booking and now has to scrabble about at the last minute to get new accommodation?

Hereward1332 · 06/09/2018 12:06

I would imagine that your guests are angry as you're not offering a solution to the problem, just cancelling. Boiler broken - fine, but did you offer them any alternatives?

If their car broke down and you didn't offer flexible booking, would you accept their cancellation without demur? It seems like a very one-sided contract.

Iamagreyhoundhearmeroar · 06/09/2018 12:06

I’ve decided to get a new one. So a quick repair to cover the period booked out to guests was an option?
That isn’t shit just happening. You had a hand in it

ladycarlotta · 06/09/2018 12:08

oh boy, some people really hate AirBnB. It can't be helped, OP - I totally get that it must be really annoying for the guest, but they'd be pretty fucked off with a broken boiler too. Seems like you can't do right for doing wrong.

Original poster

Jujujuile · 06/09/2018 12:09

Offering a solution to the problem is down to airbnb not me.

OP posts:

ballseditupforever · 06/09/2018 12:10

Some people are just angry about everything. It's one of those things. Move on and don't worry about it.

NameChangedAgain18 · 06/09/2018 12:10

Guests can and do cancel at the last minute, and most never think of any inconvenience they may cause the host.

It's up to you to set appropriate cancellation penalties. I don't see this as comparable to being left in the lurch without accommodation, possibly in a city where it is almost impossible to find any suitable at short notice.

BloodyBosch · 06/09/2018 12:13

There is a serious mismatch between customers having consideration for business owners and their staff and the other way around. Some guests (not air bnb) expect instant fixes, but forget that plumbers etc do take time. No business owner with any sense allows a repair to drag on, but they are subject to availability of tradespersons / availability of parts etc

Customers have a tendency on the other hand to cancel / demand things on a whim with no notice. It cuts both ways.

FWIW op in your position I would have looked for local availability for the customer and asked somewhere to hold equivalent accommodation for a short while so your customer could get back to them, in order to minimise the impact to your guest.

LaurieMarlow · 06/09/2018 12:14

Are you offering the customer a discount? No hot water is a big deal.

I agree with the poster upthread, you'd be a bit less 'shit happens' if the customer couldn't pay their bill.

Original poster

Jujujuile · 06/09/2018 12:16

...FWIW op in your position I would have looked for local availability for the customer and asked somewhere to hold equivalent accommodation for a short while so your customer could get back to them, in order to minimise the impact to your guest...

No that’s down to airbnb to do that. They tell us always to go through them - I’m not even supposed to have rung the guest directly really.

OP posts:

Quartz2208 · 06/09/2018 12:16

To be fair to the OP I had and serviced an old (think 35 years old) boiler and one day it just went. They came out and basically said there was no quick repair it had to go - so it does just happen like that

DontCallMeCharlotte · 06/09/2018 12:16

Well as a regular AirBNB user and a former B&B owner, I would be very appreciative of your personal explanation and apology

And I have also had a boiler die on me suddenly (not when we had the B&B). They don't tend to send a letter of resignation with three months' notice.

EmeraldVillage · 06/09/2018 12:17

I'm not clear - have you cancelled their booking or are you still expecting them to pay but with no hot water?

Original poster

Jujujuile · 06/09/2018 12:18

I rang airbnb who cancelled their booking.

OP posts:

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