Vacation rental question

[bluebutton]

So we rented a lakeside house for vacation and one of the features in the listing is that there was a crib onsite for our 18 m.o. daughter who still sleeps in a crib at home. I emailed the owner to see if we should bring our pack n play or if the crib was still available. She said it was still available and we could use it.

We arrived yesterday after work ~8:30PM and our daughter had already fallen asleep. The hope was to find it, put some clean bedding in it, and transfer her as quickly and smoothly as possible. Instead we could not find it at all. We ended up putting some bedding down in a corner of the 2nd room and we each spent an hour laying on the floor with her trying to get her to sleep. She doesn't sleep well with other people around, but we didn't want her crawling around the room. She falls asleep finally around 11 but then wakes up screaming at 3AM. I lay on the floor with her again for an hour before my husband comes over and suggests we bring her to our bed which will basically kill his night's sleep because he's a light sleeper.

Anyways, to make a long story short, we basically had a miserable first night of vacation. The question is how should we approach the owner? At the least, I'd like this mythical crib to show up. But should we ask for a reduction in our payment? We paid a deposit but we haven't paid for our actual stay yet. And frankly, if there isn't a solution by tonight, I can't see why we'd stay the next two nights we've booked.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Well, I would call the owner and jokingly ask where they hide the crib. He/she should get your drift and either tell you where they hid it or bring it to you. If a previous renter has stolen it, well, maybe he'll go out and buy a new one that actually meets current standards... or not. Depending on how accommodating the owner is, and why the crib wasn't there when you got in, determines whether or not I'd ask for a discount or even a full refund for last night, since none of you got the night's sleep you were entitled to.

[CathyCA]

Well, I would call the owner and jokingly ask where they hide the crib. He/she should get your drift and either tell you where they hid it or bring it to you. If a previous renter has stolen it, well, maybe he'll go out and buy a new one that actually meets current standards... or not. Depending on how accommodating the owner is, and why the crib wasn't there when you got in, determines whether or not I'd ask for a discount or even a full refund for last night, since none of you got the night's sleep you were entitled to.

What Ozzie said.

But next time you might want to bring your own pack-n-play, even though it's a pain in the patootie to drag all of that baby stuff around. My experience was that the furnished cribs were usually scuzzy leftovers. If my kid was going to sleep in scuzz, I wanted him to sleep in his own scuzz, so I always brought the pack-n-play.

[bluebutton]

It gets better. There's only one shower (well, there's one outdoors) and the connection is bad so half the water went spraying up into the ceiling and the other half down the sprayer thing.

So I called about both the crib and the shower. As for the crib, the owner said she didn't know we needed it. This is depressing since I just reread our emails about the crib. I am sensing a lack of handling details. Regarding the shower, she said they'd swing by in the evening to fix it. I get that these people probably have real jobs and this is extra income but being kinda nasty for an extra day isn't that fun particularly when a good shower could make the last night a bit better. Thankfully, the husband just called and it seems like he'll swing by in the next couple hours to fix the shower.

Any recommendations on how to ask for a discount without being an a-hole about it? In my head, I'm throwing a temper tantrum, but on the phone I've been pretty sweet about everything -- although honest.

[CathyCA]

Politely ask for the discount.

If they don't give you some concession, then feel free to use the internet message boards to get your message across to future renters.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Politely ask for the discount.

If they don't give you some concession, then feel free to use the internet message boards to get your message across to future renters.

What Cathy said!