We recently had a sit where the homeowner said the house was air conditioned in the listing. When we got there the AC was only in one room of the house. We spent 10 days sweating. THS support said that was “okay” that they technically had AC.
Similarly, the host list bikes. But the bikes were non-functioning. Should host be allowed to list things that are broken? Apparently THS doesn’t see a problem.
I suspect that there is only a tick box for HOs to indicate the presence of air conditioning without specifying if it is central. So, technically, I would agree with THS (begrudgingly). I would mention in the review.
For the bikes, the HOs tick off ‘sitters can use your bike’ on the amenities. So fair play to assume they would be functional. Again, reasonable to mention in the review.
In the UK we class an open window as air conditioning.
The way to deal with that kind of problems is in writing the review. Did you mention these things?
Technically I guess it was both AC and bike available, although I agree one would assume the bikes were functional. If the host don’t use the bikes much (which it seems) they might not be aware of the bikes not functioning. Oil can dry out and air seeve out if not used and maintained regularly.
I guess one would need to ask specifically if it is important. A/C is not that common in many places, and even if it is there, maybe not used much because of cost. We have the option of using A/C but never use it, even if hot.
Could be the reason why they had it in one room and not the whole home.
Over time we have become super thorough in our vetting processes. We check if the host has listed ac - can we use it? does it work? Is it in all rooms? Has it been serviced recently?
Further, @MaggieUU is correct, there is a box to tick off, so the host would have had to explain this in words in the profile. (As a sitter, probably a good idea to add this to a list of questions to ask in a chat.)
However, you have agency here! You can leave a review mentioning that the A/C was only in one room and even giving details about that. Was it the room you slept in? How did you cope? How did the pets cope?
You can also mention your disappointment about the bikes.
A four star rating rather than a five will bring this to the homeowners attention and make them more likely to fix the bikes or remove them from amenities and to explain the A/C stuff even if not asked about it.
Edited to comply with Community Rules
This is useful. I have AC listed as a HO. But … it’s only the upper level of the house. We live in a temperate climate where AC only really needed for a few weeks in summer, but I will be more explicit for sure! That being said the main level stay pretty reasonable on summer months with great cross breezes. But this was a heads up- I’ll correct my listing!
Yes, technically the HO has AC. But who goes to a sit thinking that AC will be confined to one room? If that was the case, the HO should have at least provided a floor fan to help with the heat. Having AC in only one room should be specified in the HO’s listing.
It is quite possible that the HO did not know the bikes were non-functioning. However, if the HO listed bikes, then the HO should have ensured that the bikes were functioning.
I am on a sit now whereby the HO has two bikes. Through our walk-through, she showed me both bikes of which she keeps in her storage unit. One bike is functional and one bike is non-functional. Just moments ago, I returned from a bike ride with the bike that was functional.
I ride bikes for the exercise. However, if someone relies on bikes to get around, it would be imperative to know if they are functioning.
This sit was in Central America and the temperature outside was a sunny 86. They asked us not to open the windows or the cats would scratch a hole in the screens to escape.
Thanks for the replies everyone. I am much clearer on the check-box type system that THS uses. I just chalked it all up to my sitter education. Honestly, in retrospect there were a few signs that I should have noticed. In the future I will adhere to the old adage “trust, but verify”.
They probably shouldn’t have ticked the box for air conditioning without an explanation, or mentioned the bikes if they couldn’t be used. It sounds like you wanted THS to do something or force a change and they won’t. The power to change this or at least make other sitters aware is yours.
Edited to comply with Community Rules
FWIW, some folks who live in tropical climates sometimes have AC only in some rooms and don’t think anything of it. They might take for granted that having AC just for sleeping is a nice thing.