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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Something not working in holiday rental - annoyance or money back?

89 replies

oneveryannoyingthing · 31/10/2024 10:12

Currently staying in a holiday rental in Devon, due to leave tomorrow.

The hot tap in the kitchen hasn't worked at all since we've been here, it's a Quooker as the main tap, so given it is not working we haven't had any hot water in the kitchen at all. Not even luke warm. Stone cold.

We've tried doing a reset on it a few times but not had any luck. Raised it with the holiday let company on Tuesday, on Wednesday they said they would send someone to look at it and to leave the key for them. It's now Thursday and no sign of being fixed before we leave tomorrow, despite chasing.

We paid a decent amount for this place as it's on the higher end spec.

But we've not been able to wash up without boiling the kettle several times (it's a huge sink) and need to go to a different floor to wash hands etc. Hot water is fine in the bathrooms.

Would you ask for any money off given the inconvenience and fact we paid for a 'premium' rental. Or just suck it up as one of those annoying things?

OP posts:

Reallybadidea · 31/10/2024 16:04

SilverChampagne · 31/10/2024 15:43

I wouldn’t spend half my holiday in the kitchen, so with a kettle and a dishwasher available I don’t think I’d find it a major inconvenience, really.

Show quote history

So, hand on heart, if a property listing said that there was no hot water tap in the kitchen, would you book it?

healthybychristmas · 31/10/2024 16:06

I would be really really annoyed about that. I can't believe the people who think you are being unreasonable!

cansu · 31/10/2024 16:06

Yes I would expect hot water from hot tap in kitchen if not available from special fancy tap.

SilverChampagne · 31/10/2024 16:12

Reallybadidea · 31/10/2024 16:04

So, hand on heart, if a property listing said that there was no hot water tap in the kitchen, would you book it?

Show quote history

Honestly, if the location was perfect, yes.
If there were comparible properties nearby that did, maybe not. But not because easy pan washing was high on my list of deal breakers 😁

Sampler · 31/10/2024 16:18

I can’t believe some of the replies on this thread ! Hot water is a completely normal requirement for a holiday rental or for any home. Have a good moan at them and see what happens OP.

StamppotAndGravy · 31/10/2024 16:33

I think I'd expect some money back, but maybe not a huge amount. I'd probably settle for a bottle of wine. Hot water in the kitchen is a very basic expectation. Fine in your own home to go without for a few days, but not in holiday. Otherwise it's basically camping

Ygfrhj · 31/10/2024 16:55

Probably depends how the host handled it. My mum has a holiday let and things go wrong sometimes - it's rural so it's not like in a city where you call lots of plumbers until one is available to pop round immediately, it can take days or weeks to get someone out.

I've had similar problems as a guest and if the host ignores or refuses to fix I complain, if they're doing their best I don't.

Nap1983 · 31/10/2024 17:02

I was expecting some minor thing to be broken. I think hot water is a pretty basic expectation of a holiday let, id certainly be letting them know I wasn't delighted. Lots of other things I have and would let go but hot water Id defo mention.

Elphame · 31/10/2024 17:03

oneveryannoyingthing · 31/10/2024 10:33

Well they would know, aa they've not been!

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Are you sure a tradie didn't come in to take a look whilst you were out? We normally ask guests permission to access and fix this sort of thing whilst they are out and about.

Only once has anyone said no and they had to live without the appliance.

Arran2024 · 31/10/2024 17:14

oneveryannoyingthing · 31/10/2024 10:30

The kettle is shite and takes an age to boil a full one

Show quote history

I use cottages a lot and tbh I would just let it go. Stuff happens. Once the tv wouldn't work and we had no tv for 48 hours. Another time we had a problem with a bath, with water spraying everywhere. Maintenance issues are a pain but taking money for the inconvenience is a bit petty imo.

Magnastorm · 31/10/2024 17:27

YarkYark · 31/10/2024 15:41

Ah, the usual pile on and derails I see. Hot water in a kitchen is a fundamental in most people's book. Who would book a holiday rental that said "NO HOT WATER"? Answer - no one. If someone had come around same or next day to look at the problem fair dos, even if a fix wasn't possible, it would have showed intent. But not to turn up, that deserves comments in reviews and,yes, some compensation.

Hardly a pile on.

OP asked for opinions, quite a few people had the opinion that it wouldn't bother them that much. Or do you think people who only agree with the OP should be allowed to discuss the issue?

For the record, I wouldn't book a cottage which said "no hot water in the kitchen", but for the time and energy it would take to chase up what would be what, like £20, I would just let it go. I once booked a cottage where the oven didn't work. I reported it, but managed to go a couple of days without it and not let it ruin my holiday. Stuff breaks occasionally.

Original poster

oneveryannoyingthing · 31/10/2024 17:52

To clarify a few things

it's not a HUGE inconvenience, but it definitely is one
Yes, we gave permission for them to fix it as they asked us yesterday morning to leave a key in the box, which we have the last two days
they may well have been to try and fix it, but it's not fixed and neither have there been any comms
if there had been any comms, I wouldn't have been as annoyed
no, it hasn't ruined our holiday.
yes, I do think it's reasonable to expect hot water in a kitchen. Especially on holiday.

Anyway, I've emailed the letting company and let them know I'm cheesed off - mostly with their lack of communication - but I'm now going to open the remaining fizz and settle down in front of the fire and enjoy fish and chips to finish off a lovely few days away.

Thanks for everyone's thoughts - quite polarising which is interesting.

OP posts:

harveyGaskellsMoll · 31/10/2024 18:01

doginabowtie · 31/10/2024 11:14

Only on MN would people think that having to boil kettles to get hot water for the kitchen sink is no inconvenience. That may be how you choose to do things at home for your own reasons, but not in a holiday cottage where people will reasonably be expecting to make use of a fully functioning kitchen. Not everyone lives off pre-prepared food or takeaways. Some people cook from scatch — even on holidays.

Yes, OP, this is a a really annoying and potentially dangerous issue. How are you supposed to clean dirty saucepans, roasting tins etc in cold water? Washing up in cold water is really chilly and unpleasant. But even more than that, this is a health and safety issue, surely? I don't have one of these Quooker taps but as I understand it they dispense boiling water. So you're chopping up raw chicken in the kitchen and you need to wash your hands and the chopping board well, in case of salmonella, and you have the choice of a cold tap or scalding yourself with boiling water. So I presume you have to use both the hot and cold taps to blend till you have water hot enough to kill bugs but not so hot as to scald you.

By the way, why do they supply a kettle if they've got the Quooker? Sounds as if it's packed up before. I'd point all this out and say you'd like the considerable inconvenience and potential health risk to be adequately compensated for. These rentals aren't cheap, you certainly should have hot water at the kitchen sink.

As usual lots of people posting saying that something that would actually be very irritating and time consuming (and yes - potentially dangerous for the reasons you have pointed out) isn’t a big deal!

I agree with everything posted here and hope the OP sees it and takes your advice.

I wouldn’t be happy at all if I went away and had to waste time boiling kettles of water to wash up and cold water just isn’t the same for getting things clean. My boiler broke down last year and I had to wait a few days to get a part for it delivered and it was a right pain for the reasons mentioned here. I had to boil the kettle and fill the sink with hot water to wash my hands whilst cooking and after handling raw meat, then I’d have to pour that dirty water away and rinse with cold water.
It took ages for the kettle to boil and washing big pans and anything greasy was difficult. I had to buy disposable wipes to clean surfaces.

You don’t have to kick up a huge fuss OP but I’d hope that they would offer some sort of discount if you mention that you have a good stay but it would have been far better if you’d had hot water. The owner is more likely to take the issue seriously if you mention the positive aspects of the place because they they know they would have likely had a glowing review with full marks if they make sure all appliances are working. Even having just one negative review can put people off.

Dollshousedolly · 31/10/2024 18:12

I would request a 10%/15% refund. No hot water in the kitchen of a self catering holiday let is a nuisance. Having to boil water to wash dishes, rinse out cloths, wipe down surfaces, wash hands etc would be a complete pain.

To the poster who said they always use cold water to wash hands and dishes - really - if you’ve just used a chopping board to dice raw chicken - do you just rinse the utensils you used in cold water. And do you really just rinse used cutlery in cold water ?

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