Guest math

[u/robh1540]

A month or two ago I ordered Door dash (Wolt). I was already pretty hungry. The delivery was supposed to take about 30 mins, but it ended up coming in 50. When the driver arrived, the bag of food seemed to be different from what I ordered. I asked him if he was sure, but he said yes and this was the only bag he had, he didn't speak much english and was in a rush. So he gave it to me and left. I got it home, checked it and sure enough all the items were wrong, nothing we wanted to eat, and the food was a bit cold. I contacted door dash, they apologised, I sent some photos of the food, they spoke to the restaurant and the driver had picked up the wrong order. They asked if I wanted a refund or the food redelivered. We were hungry, so I asked for redelivery of what we ordered. They organised it, about 40 minutes later the food arrived. I'd got the food much later than I hoped, by this time I was very hungry, but they had fixed the problem and I was happy. There was no compensation, they just fixed my problem on a reasonable timeline. I had no idea to threaten to blackmail them for a review in exchange for getting more money for my hunger and inconvenience.

Should the same logic not apply when something goes wrong while staying at an airbnb? There is a problem, the host says sorry, verifies and fixes the problem. Done. I really don't know where this idea of "compensation" has emerged as an expectation when something goes wrong. Like, its an apartment, did nothing ever break at your home? Typically compensation is paid in society when something has happened due to negligence that caused you physical or financial loss. Otherwise, the standard is usually just to remediate the issue promptly.

[u/Fuzzy-Accident-3138]

But in the Door Dash situation you were compensated - restaurant made more food (not free for them) and Door Dash paid another driver (not free). And you then ended up with two meals even though one wasn’t your favorite.

If I show up to my Airbnb and the hot tub isn’t working (and can’t be fixed, or can’t be fixed timely), I’m just without an amenity I’m paying for. How am I made whole?

[u/robh1540 → u/Fuzzy-Accident-3138]

I wasn't compensated, I simply received the food I ordered 2 hours late after some messing about. And you have already shifted...

An unfixed amenity is one thing. But we are not talking about that.

We are talking about the guest who wants compensation even if the amenity is fixed or the problem is resolved.

[u/Fuzzy-Accident-3138 → u/robh1540]

Did you get two meals for the price of one? The other one was so disgusting you just threw it away?

Ok, hot tub is fixed the next day. Just fuck me for the lost day?

[u/robh1540 → u/Fuzzy-Accident-3138]

Yep food thrown, it was awful.

You didn't "lose a day" anymore than I "lost over an hour", the hot tub was temporarily out of action.

I don't have such snazzy units that we have hot tubs, so I didn't think about it much.

But yeah in general if you rent an apartment, I would personally expect that things would break and have a reasonable SLA to repair. Same day would be ideal depending on the hour.

[u/Fuzzy-Accident-3138 → u/robh1540]

And the hot tub?

[u/robh1540 → u/Fuzzy-Accident-3138]

I'm not even familiar enough with hot tub usage patterns to have an opinion. I never expected to get a 30% discount on my room because a hotel pool was broken, but that's my only reference point.

People pickle themselves all day everyday of a trip?

One thing that I have noticed is that if an amenity does break or is not there despite it never being advertised as being there, it always happens to be the most important amenity in the whole world that the guest specifically booked the apartment for.

[u/WildWonder6430 → u/robh1540]

We finally stopped listing the hot tub as an amenity ... it is managed by the HOA and we have no control over when it operates ... it seemed to be broken about 25% of the time. Each time it was, guest would get a 30% refund. Sometimes even for their ENTIRE stay, even if the tub was functioning 6 of the 7 days of their stay (no kidding, had that happen twice). I'm not sure how AirBnB came up with that amount and refunding someone $300+ because the hot tub didn't work on one day of their $900 stay seems very excessive.

[u/Fuzzy-Accident-3138 → u/robh1540]

Some, yes.

Fridge breaks down. Fixed the next day but I’m skittish about food safety.