Airbnb Maintenance during guest visits, proper ethics?

Question

Hi Guys,

I tried searching for a relevant post but didn't find anything so I thought I would start a new thread.

My wife and I have an airbnb in NC that is doing extremely well and we have over 90% occupancy scheduled from now through August ( from all our research this means we are likely too low on our prices, but this is our first property and we are still happy with the returns).

A guest recently mentioned the stove was clicking (electric range) and we started to go through the motions of how we would schedule a replacement to be done if we are booked so solid that the next available "off day" is not until a month from now.

Is there a standard etiquette that other STR investors use when they need maintenance done on a property and have guests scheduled continuously? We don't want to cancel a guest because of the damage it would do to our host status.

Is it okay to mention ahead of time to a guest that a service team will be replacing the stove during their stay?

Thanks,

Alan

Nathan Gesner · Answer

Yep, just communicate. If you know the replacement unit will be installed during the next guest's stay, contact them now and explain the situation. It's not much of an inconvenience, particularly if they've been told in advance.

Alan Martin · Answer

@John Underwood thanks for the reply! New to the app and never saw a notification that anyone replied.

Ultimately the clicking ended up being a slight movement of the stove and having the top touch the countertop whenever someone walked by.

Since this instance however, we did have a cable box fail on us and the guests were super helpful in allowing the repair man in to deal it out and I did give them a partial refund for their willingness to help out.

In these 2 instances I have found that the guests were more happy to have a host who was responsive and involved than they were disappointed about any potential issues with the property. The communication is definitely the key.

John Underwood · Answer

Absolutely.  Communication is key. Let them know ahead of time and ask if that is OK. Tell him you can have someone let the appliance person if it is an inconvenience or if they won't be there.

Better yet try and swap out the stove during a turnover.

Is the stove not functional? Is there someone staying there with no operational stove? If so I'd get it replaced or fixed ASAP.

Have you thought about a repair? It might be something simple to fix.

Are you going to compensate current guests if they have no stove to use?