Airbnb- internet down

Discussion in 'Airbnb & Short Term Letting' started by jodes, 20th Oct, 2017.

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  1. jodes

    jodes Well-Known Member

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    Keen to hear any guests/ hosts thoughts:
    We have unlimited wifi which we mention in our guest listing. We use a reputable company and have a brand new modem. Unfortunately last night, the internet in one of our airbnb's stopped working. Our guests let us know and we contacted our service provider right away- unfortunately they couldn't troubleshoot with us as we weren't at the apartment (and live in a different city) - so the guest was happy for the ISP to call them. They troubleshooted, the internet was fixed, all good. This morning it's broken again so more troubleshooting was done- the ISP has decided they don't know what it is but it won't be fixed today. Guest is very nice and understanding. They have an 8 night booking and leave tomorrow. We have offered them a $50 refund which they accepted with thanks.
    Any thoughts on what our obligations are here- what would you do/ expect?
     
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  2. thatbum

    thatbum Well-Known Member

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    Not sure what else you could have done there, short of buying some sort of dongle for them if they really needed it.
     
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  3. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

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    If they have had to use their own data, then $50 would more than cover it (assuming they aren't stream content and only just checking emails etc).

    If they say they are happy I'd leave it at that. Unless you want to check with them that they won't mark you down for it?
     
  4. Ouchmyknees

    Ouchmyknees Well-Known Member

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    What do they mean "It won't be fixed today"? Was it your Prahran property? I used to live in Prahran and the internet broke down from time to time but it always get fixed right away. (It was with a less reputable ISP)

    Do you have new guests check-in tomorrow? Try to trouble shoot again?
     
  5. hobartchic

    hobartchic Well-Known Member

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    Leave it. Your compensation erred on the side of generous and I expect you will have a return customer. Did all the right things.
     
  6. teetotal

    teetotal Well-Known Member

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    Your $50 refund is a nice gesture in itself.
    I think you went beyond what you needed to do but did exactly what you should do. I think it’s sufficient.
     
  7. Marg4000

    Marg4000 Well-Known Member

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    Not really. Not only were these guests without their expected wifi for a time, but they also took the trouble to go through the rigmarole of dealing with a call centre to troubleshoot and fix the problem temporarily.

    $50 is well worth it to have a guest sort out a telecommunication problem with a call centre, probably offshore.
    Marg
     
  8. hobartchic

    hobartchic Well-Known Member

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    I absolutely think you did the right thing but a major motel / hotel chain would have apologised and maybe given them a voucher for the next stay/ restaurant. You work for a big enough place with enough guests and realize that the profit soon goes if you pay out for every issue.
     
  9. jodes

    jodes Well-Known Member

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    Update: Both our airbnb's are with the same internet company and since the beginning, have had no outages. We've just signed up for the same company for our home internet and on the SAME DAY our home internet gets installed, both airbnb properties have separate issues with the internet! (and they say it's just a coincidence)
    So our guests in Prahran were very happy with the $50 and gave us a great rating- and the internet fixed itself. Guests in St Kilda (where the internet is now also down and needs a technician) weren't super bothered but we gave them $20 anyway and they were stoked with that (they didn't troubleshoot). I offered new guests checking in today $20 off and sincerest apologies but they don't care either. We have a hot spot in Prahran now hidden in case it goes down again and will add one to St Kilda as soon as we can for instances like this.
     
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  10. teetotal

    teetotal Well-Known Member

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    I think most guests don’t bother because either they are on holidays so they don’t really need internet all the time. Or they just use their mobile data and can’t be bothered.
     
  11. Gockie

    Gockie Life is good ☺️ Premium Member

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    Depends... domestic guests are likely to have data. International guests, perhaps not....
     
  12. Ouchmyknees

    Ouchmyknees Well-Known Member

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    I think you did the right thing. I expect wifi when I travel and if it doesn't work I'd expect compensation for my inconvenience. Anything promised on the Airbnb listing should be available and in working order.
    Btw the hot spot is a great idea!
     

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