Things Guests Think Are Broken But Usually Aren't

It’s 9:40pm. A guest says the heating is broken, the hob won’t turn on and the television has “no signal”.

There may be three faults. More often, there’s a thermostat running an old schedule, an induction hob waiting for the right pan and a television set to HDMI 2. Clear Airbnb appliance instructions won’t prevent every maintenance issue. They will stop a fair number of unnecessary call-outs, frustrated WhatsApp exchanges and guests pressing every button in sight.

Most “broken” messages start with an unclear instruction

Property owners know their homes too well. The parking bay is obvious because they’ve used it for years. The shower control is simple because they know the small knob is a diverter. The heating makes perfect sense once somebody has explained that the flame symbol does not mean the boiler is currently running. Guests arrive without that background. They may also be tired, carrying bags, dealing with children or standing outside in the rain while trying to open a stiff key safe.

If several guests struggle with the same thing, treat it as an instruction problem until proven otherwise.

For the broader guidebook problem behind this, see why guests do not read your short-let guidebook.

A practical appliance troubleshooting guide

1. Heating that is following its own schedule

A guest turns the thermostat up to 24°C. Nothing happens. Ten minutes later, you receive a message saying the heating is broken.

Common causes include:

• The thermostat is still in scheduled mode
• The guest has changed the target temperature but not activated a boost
• The display has gone to sleep
• The control is in a different room
• The temperature change takes longer than the guest expects
• A wall switch near the boiler has been turned off

Avoid vague instructions such as “turn up the thermostat”. State which button to press, what should appear on the screen and what the guest should expect next.

Example guest-facing wording:

To turn the heating on now:

1. The thermostat is on the hallway wall beside the mirror.
2. Press the round button once to wake the screen.
3. Turn the dial until it shows 21°C.
4. Press the button again to confirm.
5. A flame symbol should appear. The radiators may take around 10 minutes to feel warm.

If the screen stays blank, send us a photo and we’ll help.

The last line matters. It gives the guest a clear stopping point instead of inviting half an hour of improvised boiler investigation.

2. Induction hobs that dislike the available pan

Induction hobs generate a lot of “the cooker is broken” messages. The hob might be locked. The pan might not be centred. The guest might be using a pan that the hob cannot detect. Sometimes they have pressed the power symbol correctly, then waited for something to glow like a traditional electric ring.

Your Airbnb appliance instructions should explain:

1. Where the main power control is
2. How to remove the child lock
3. Which pans work with the hob
4. How to select a cooking zone
5. What the display should show

Turnover check: Check the cupboard during turnovers too. Instructions cannot fix an incompatible pan left behind after somebody replaced the original set.

Example guest-facing wording:

Use the silver pans stored in the lower drawer. Place the pan on the ring before switching the hob on. Hold the key symbol for three seconds if L appears on the display.

Keep it model-specific. A generic paragraph about induction cooking is much less useful than one accurate photo with the correct button circled.

3. Showers with a secret handshake

Some showers have one control for temperature and another for water flow. Others have a separate diverter for the overhead shower. There may also be a pull cord or wall switch that nobody notices until they’re standing in a towel wondering why nothing works.

Photograph the controls straight on. Label each one in plain language.

Example labels:

• Left control: turns the water on
• Right control: changes the temperature
• Small top knob: switches between the handheld and overhead shower
• Wall switch outside the bathroom: must stay on

Do not write “use the shower as normal”. There is no normal shower. There are only showers their owners have become accustomed to.

Instructions also need an escalation point. No water, a leak or a control that will not move needs a human response, not another five-message troubleshooting loop.

4. Lockboxes that need more than the correct code

A guest can have the right code and still fail to open a key safe. The digits may need to sit precisely on a centre line. A release button might need to be pushed down rather than pulled. The box may be stiff in cold weather. Another guest may have closed it without scrambling the numbers. This is particularly frustrating because the guest is still outside the property.

Good access instructions should include:

• A close-up photo of the correct key safe
• A wider photo showing its location
• The exact position of the number line
• The direction the release moves
• A warning not to force the box
• A clear route to human help

One guided attempt is reasonable. Six increasingly creative attempts while the guest stands beside the bins are not. Access issues should reach a person quickly, especially if the guest says the code is rejected, the key is missing or they may be at the wrong building.

5. Smart TVs on the wrong input

Smart televisions are often working perfectly. They are simply showing the wrong source, waiting for the correct remote or displaying an old streaming login screen.

Your instructions should identify:

• Which remote controls the television
• Which remote controls any separate box
• The correct source or HDMI input
• How long the television takes to wake
• Which services are available
• What guests should do if they see another person’s login

Avoid writing a full television manual. Most guests need three steps, not three pages.

Example guest-facing wording:

Press the red power button on the larger remote. Press Source, then select HDMI 1. Use the smaller remote to choose a channel.

During the turnover, cleaners can confirm that both remotes are present, the batteries work and the television opens on the expected screen. That is usually quicker than diagnosing “no signal” at 10:15pm.

6. Switches that have been turned off or tripped

A toaster, dishwasher or washing machine may appear dead because a nearby wall switch has been turned off. Guests sometimes switch off unfamiliar controls while looking for the bathroom light.

Start with simple, visible checks:

• Is the appliance plugged in?
• Is the labelled wall switch on?
• Is the appliance door fully closed?
• Is there power elsewhere in the room?
• Does the display show an error code?

Keep electrical troubleshooting within a process your team has already approved. Do not ask guests to experiment with switches or panels that are not clearly identified in the property notes.

Repeated tripping, unusual smells, visible damage or anything else outside your normal process should go straight to a human. The goal is to prevent needless call-outs, not to talk every guest into becoming an electrician.

7. Mystery light switches

Every short-let seems to have at least one. It controls the outside light, a lamp connected to a switched socket or an extractor fan that starts several seconds later. Sometimes it controls nothing because the fitting changed two refurbishments ago.

Label useful switches discreetly. Remove obsolete labels. Where a switch needs explaining, add it to the property guidebook with a photo. This sounds minor until a guest switches off the boiler supply while trying to turn off the kitchen lights.

How to write Airbnb appliance instructions guests can follow

Better instructions are usually shorter, but more specific.

Start with the guest’s physical location

“Use the thermostat” is weak. “The thermostat is on the hallway wall, beside the coat hooks” is useful. Guests should not have to search three rooms before they can begin the first step.

Describe the starting state

Say whether the appliance should already be on, asleep, locked or showing a particular screen.

Example guest-facing wording:

The hob display will be blank until you hold the power symbol for two seconds.

That one sentence prevents a guest from repeatedly tapping a touch control that requires a longer press.

Use the labels the guest can actually see

Do not call something the “programme selection control” if the button says Mode.

Mention visible words, icons, colours and shapes:

• Press the button marked Source
• Hold the key symbol
• Turn the right-hand dial
• Select the picture of a radiator

Explain the expected result

After each important step, say what should happen. “The flame icon will appear.” “The lock symbol will disappear.” “The display will show a number between 1 and 9.” This helps the guest notice where the process has failed.

Add one clear stop condition

A troubleshooting flow needs an ending. Ask for a photo, error code or brief description if the simple steps fail. Then pass the issue to the team. Do not keep sending another possible fix simply because there is another possible fix.

Turn appliance instructions into a better support process

Build a two-minute troubleshooting flow

A good flow should answer three questions:

1. What is the guest seeing?
2. Which one or two checks are reasonable?
3. When does a person step in?

For a television, a few automated checks are usually low risk. For a lockout, water leak or repeated electrical problem, the escalation point should arrive much sooner.

The related guide on late-night guest messaging goes deeper on what to answer automatically, what to hold and what to escalate.

A simple heating flow might look like this:

1. Confirm the thermostat display is on.
2. Ask the guest to set a specific temperature.
3. Explain which icon should appear.
4. Allow the normal response time noted in the property guidebook.
5. If the expected result does not appear, collect a photo and alert the team.

This is where letbloom.io can help without pretending every problem has an automated answer. It can reply on WhatsApp using the property’s own guidebook, house rules and appliance notes. If the steps do not solve the issue, or the message matches an urgent escalation rule, the conversation can return to the team.

The quality of the answer still depends on the quality of the property information. An outdated guidebook will simply produce a quick, outdated answer.

Treat repeated questions as maintenance data

Guest questions are useful clues. If three guests cannot operate the shower, rewriting the shower instructions may fix the problem. If the next three still cannot use it, the control itself may be unusually awkward.

The same applies to:

• A key safe that regularly sticks
• A thermostat that keeps losing its schedule
• A television that defaults to the wrong input
• A dishwasher with an unreliable door latch
• A light switch label that no longer matches the fitting
• A washing machine that displays the same error code each week

Do not use better messaging to hide an item that genuinely needs repair or replacement.

For more examples of repeat questions that quietly eat into a short-let team’s day, see the guest questions every short-let manager answers on repeat.

The practical loop is simple:

1. Record the repeated question.
2. Check the appliance during the next turnover.
3. Improve the instruction or photo.
4. Monitor whether the question returns.
5. Repair or replace the item if instructions are not the real problem.

A broken explanation can look like a broken appliance

Some guest reports will uncover real faults. Many others are caused by unfamiliar controls, missing context or instructions buried on page 17 of a welcome PDF. Good appliance guidance helps guests solve the small things quickly. It also makes genuine maintenance problems easier to spot because your team has already ruled out the obvious causes. The aim is not to avoid every call-out. It is to stop sending somebody across town because the hob was locked.

If your team keeps answering the same heating, hob, television and key-safe questions, letbloom.io can answer guests on WhatsApp 24/7, in any language, using the guidebook and appliance notes for each property. Clear questions get instant, property-specific replies, while urgent, unclear or sensitive issues are passed back to your team. See how letbloom works, or start for free.