Airbnb says host 'not obligated' to provide hot water in chilly response to friends on Tahoe trip

Friday, February 17, 2023
ALAMEDA, Calif. (KGO) -- Alexander Yee of Alameda and his friends went up to Tahoe. They were up there for this year's great snow and rented a great place through Airbnb.

On the first night everything went well, on the second pretty good, but the place seemed to be running out of hot water. On the third day, there were more hot water problems.
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"Because of that, we had no hot water at the Airbnb, and we reached out to the host," Yee said. "Just let them know that there was an issue with the hot water, and that we were taking cold showers. Which wasn't great in the cold Tahoe weather, of course."

Yee and his buddies also let Airbnb know what happened, too.

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Renters refused a refund after finding Airbnb unit full of trash


"When we heard back from the Airbnb customer service, we were quite surprised by the response," he said. "They had mentioned that because hot water wasn't specifically included as an amenity at the Airbnb that we were staying at, the host was under no obligation to provide hot water."



That didn't seem right, so Yee contacted 7 On Your Side. After looking at the Airbnb listing, sure enough, hot water is not on the amenities list. A hot tub is listed.

Airbnb said, "We do allow hosts to self-select hot water as an amenity, however this is meant to be used for remote, off-the-grid listings so that guests can plan properly. For this particular case, our team did follow up with the host to inquire about any amenity issues that may need to be addressed."
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"So, thanks to you, after you contacted Airbnb they provided us with a resolution, and that resolution was, they refunded us Airbnb's service fee, as well as a cleaning fee which was equivalent to about one night stay, so I thought that was a fair resolution from Airbnb," Yee said.

MORE: Airbnb: Booking success different because of perceived racial bias

It gets even better. The host also refunded a portion of their payment. 7 On Your Side reached out to the host, but they have not responded.

7 On Your Side wants to thank Airbnb and the host.



Some advice: read the amenities list very carefully when booking through Airbnb.

Take a look at more stories and videos by Michael Finney and 7 On Your Side.

7OYS's consumer hotline is a free consumer mediation service for those in the San Francisco Bay Area. We assist individuals with consumer-related issues; we cannot assist on cases between businesses, or cases involving family law, criminal matters, landlord/tenant disputes, labor issues, or medical issues. Please review our FAQ here. As a part of our process in assisting you, it is necessary that we contact the company / agency you are writing about. If you do not wish us to contact them, please let us know right away, as it will affect our ability to work on your case. Due to the high volume of emails we receive, please allow 3-5 business days for a response.
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