Airbnb and TV - AIBU?

[GoldOnyx]

DH, DMum, DS and I are on holiday in an Airbnb in Portugal.

We had a few problems with the shower and with a lingering smell of drying laundry, so messaged the host and she came today to try and sort these. She sorted the shower, which was good. The drying laundry smells have persisted for a while, which I think has pissed off my DMum, although they’re no longer there, which is good.

The other thing is we have a TV, which is good, but there aren’t many channels and they’re all in Portuguese. The remote I think we need to access the channels doesn’t work unfortunately.

When the host came today to sort the other stuff, we asked her if we could use the other remote and she said she’d drop off some batteries so we could use it.

The host didn’t drop off the batteriesI went out to get some, but the other remote still didn’t work unfortunately. I don’t want to annoy her, as I’m worried about getting a bad review, but would it be worth me messaging her again to ask if she can help firther with the remote?

We’re leaving on Sunday morning, so in a way it doesn’t seem worth it, but my DM quite likes watching TV before going to bed, which is fair enough, and would like some English language channels to watch if possible.

Yes, we can change the channels. We do have a working remote control, but there is a second remote control (with access to these other channels) that we can’t get to work yet.

Fair enough, bigger screen and all that.

Op you can't get it to work as the service is no longer available. I've heard a lot about the English channels not being available in parts of Portugal anymore. What you want isn't possible so don't contact the owner

Chances are the second one doesn’t work unless there is a cable/internet router box or satellite. You wouldn’t have two remotes for a tv. Probably an old one

I'd love to know the answer to this. Is it a Portuguese thing because here in the UK the remote controls the telly, not the channels (obviously unless it's a for eg Sky controller, but then that's controlling the sky box, not the actual telly)

There is a cable box, which is what the second remote connects to. The host said this herself when we spoke with her.

I'm completely flummoxed as to why you didn't mention this, and gave only been referring to it as a second remote control.

So what you’re actually asking is, is it unreasonable to be able to use the cable box if there is one there!

I guess that depends on whether it was advertised as having satellite TV. Even with this I wouldn’t think an English Channel was guaranteed.

I would then ask her to come and show you how it works. Definitely not unreasonable to do this.

We don’t have a second remote control or cable box at home normally, so I am not used to that at all, and I’ve been v busy all day with DS. Seems a tad strong to say you’re ’flummoxed’! My DH is much more techie than me and he’s been amazing with this, but is a bit stumped. Apologies for not remembering about the box.

Yes exactly. Apologies for not remembering about the cable box. It’s been a very busy day, and we don’t have a cable box or several remotes at home, so it slipped my mind.

I would definitely get her to come have another look.

You are paying for facilities, you should be able to enjoy them.

We had a pretty miserable experience in an AirBnB flat in Spain, really put me off international ones that are flats, had issues. We booked a cottage in the UK which was slightly better.

"You wouldn’t have two remotes for a tv. "
?
I have 3 for my TV.
One is the Sky Box; One is the TV; one is the google remote,
And this omits the remote for the sound bar, so actually 4.

So you don't have 3 for your tv - which is what the previous poster was alluding to. One is for something other than the tv (in your case two are for things other than the tv) - but for things that connect to the tv.

I think it’s time to plan more trips and meals out. Sitting in a slightly subpar Air BnB focussing on all the small disappointments isn’t a good use of any of your time. Make the best of it now, forget the TV and do some other fun stuff away from the apartment.

Don’t you have a pad or a phone with you? Watch news online surely?

Exactly.

No, not really at all. Was there laundry actually about? Properly hung/drying laundry should not stink and it would be very strange to have laundry around in a let out flat. However, mold/mildew of the apartment would be a different thing.

If the remote does not work, how do you know it has English language tv? This argument is really odd.

Non-Brit here, have lived in 3 different European countries and traveled to many others. In my experience CNN, Euronews, BBC World and sometimes AL Jazeera are standard in most cable packages and I would certainly expect them to be available.

Why not enjoy your holiday?

Of course you can't watch ITV in Portugal...

You're in Portugal. You expect English. Channela?

A TV in Portugal only showing Portuguese TV. Fancy that!

I am currently staying at a (so called) 5* hotel somewhere in the med. The only English TV is BBC world which I haven’t watched. You can get your news on your tablet/ phone. I would not expect to watch TV abroad.

That sounds like the remote has lost it's pairing with whatever device the host has to receive these other channels. Can you, with the working remote, put the tv to the channel that you would use to receive these extra channels on and then see if you can follow whatever instructions are needed to link the control back up again to that device?