Vacation rental: Non-working amenities

[Maijagj]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

We rented a luxury vacation home in Palm Springs for $3000/week. It was advertised online to have a heated pool and spa. When we arrived, we carefully followed the instructions in the owner's guide to heat the pool and let it run overnight. The next day it was still freezing cold and unusable. It was a very large pool, so we assumed we needed to run it at least 24 hours, so we doubled checked the instructions (even read the pool's owner manual) and let it run again overnight. By the THIRD day of our vacation, it was still cold and unusable, so we called the owner and the pool maintenance tech. They never called us back. Luckily, my boyfriend found a block of outside heaters behind the guest house and figured out how to turn them on (none of this was described or instructed in the home's rental guide). By the FOURTH day of our stay, the pool and spa were finally usable.

Do we have any legal recourse to ask for pro-rated rent? This was at least 50% of the reason we rented this home so we could lounge by the pool, swim, or enjoy the spa. We did not get use of this amenity for 3 days of our 7 day vacation due to incorrect instructions in the owner's guide. I e-mailed the owner after our stay regarding this issue, even noting that we called him for help while we were there, but he did not bother to reply.

Another guest noted the SAME problem with their stay at the home in the owner's "guest book" (but they didn't get it heated till day 5). Shouldn't the owner have some legal obligation to make sure that all advertised amenities are in working order or that the instructions to use them are correct?

I don't want to sound petty, but the pool was a huge part of the vacation

 

[Mass_Shyster]

Do we have any legal recourse to ask for pro-rated rent?

You always have a legal right to ask. They have a legal right to refuse. You also have a legal right to sue.

 

[justalayman]

I believe you have a valid claim for some level of refund but trying to determine how much is difficult. Even if you used the numbers you provided as determining a number, you state that the pool was at least 50% of the reason you rented this house. Let's use 50% for easy numbers so you would figure the pool is worth $1500 for the week. Then you got the pool operational for the 4th day so you got to use it 4/7th of the week. That would mean a reduction of 3/7 of the $1500 or $642.

Personally, I doubt you would convince a court you lost $642 of value of the entire rental but even if they did, is it worth going to court? How far away do you live from the owners residence or the rental house? With gas over $4 a gal, the costs to fight for the money could be substantial. How much money would be lost from work?

 

[Maijagj]

Personally, I doubt you would convince a court you lost $642 of value of the entire rental but even if they did, is it worth going to court? How far away do you live from the owners residence or the rental house? With gas over $4 a gal, the costs to fight for the money could be substantial. How much money would be lost from work?

I'm not a litigious person and have never gone to court, so I really don't want to go down that road. I guess what I should have more clearly asked is if the owners have a legal obligation to provide all advertised amenities in working order? And do we have any recourse other than hoping they will do the morally correct thing?

(We were only going to ask for $257.14 in pro-rated rent refund. We calculated the value of the pool as the same as each bedroom in determining our loss of value for 3 days)

 

[justalayman]

s if the owners have a legal obligation to provide all advertised amenities in working order?

yes but to toss a bit of confusion in here; the pool and heating system were apparently working which is supported by the fact you heated the pool and used it. That doesn't mean your claim is lost. Just that that is not the reason for the claim.

And do we have any recourse other than hoping they will do the morally correct thing?

well, any recourse could mean a lot of things but as far as legal and leading to a result; you have asking and if they refuse you can sue them. That is the end of the list of legal acts that might result in a refund.

personally, I think your number is quite reasonable based on your rendition of the events. As was said previously; you can ask.