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I’ve worked at hotels. People still figure out how to complain about these things.
Cold rooms have improved my sleep and made my life better.
Newer versions of these can have par levels set for the temps and I don’t know who thinks 74f is a comfortable room temp, but no… it is not.
Fortunately, internet legends went on to explain how to put these into service mode, thereby defeating their laughable levels. Just gotta remember to put it back to their mode when you’re checking out.
But, yeah, these things fkn crank coldness. And the electric bill. And the environment.
I think if a hotel billed me for resetting their AC I would throw the bill away and see if they really want to waste their time with collections and court.
My take was to not let them in on the secret.
and see if they really want to waste their time with collections
It would be the collections agency who’s time would be spent in court, not the hotel’s. And collection agencies are in the business of collecting debt, so I don’t think they would see it as a waste of time.
Whoever is trying to collect on it, unless they have a posted sign to not tamper with the AC controls, with a description of the fines/fees, AND they have a way of proving I was the one who did it, I wouldn’t hesitate to dispute a charge like that. Because I’ve done it a dozen times on small BS charges from companies large and small and 90% of the time the collection or credit hit were successfully dismissed.
Pro-tip on both staying in a hotel or renting an apartment: take a video tour real fast on your way in and out. It’s one thing to dispute something harmless you did do, it’s quite another disputing actual damages that someone else did. If nothing else you get a little vacation clip to remember your stay.
Afaik when talking about computers you can be charged by acessing some thing (a site or a feature) that you know you are not supposed to. The same logic may apply here. If you got into an hotel, the unit was lockedand you used some trick to get it to do what you want, it could be illegal. They do not need a sign
OK, but my point was that the hotel will have washed their hands of your debt by the time it’s at a collections agency. How much time does it take you to dispute a collection note on your credit report? I’d guess it takes less time to take the AC unit out of service mode before you check out.
How much time does it take you to dispute a collection note on your credit report?
In most cases seconds. This all works online. There are forms. You should get to know your credit history and how to manage it, it makes a huge difference in your financial life.
I know how credit bureaus work. How often are you doing this that you’re able to find the forms, fill them out, and submit them all within seconds? Not to mention logging in to your accounts…
Even if you’re doing this all the time, it will still take longer than resetting the AC unit before you leave. I don’t know why some people seem to seek out conflicts…
I will not guide you how easy and fast it is to submit disputes, because you seem to think this is contentious and as such you will resist knowledge I share now out of spite, because you’re a human on the internet. But if you’re spending more (or less) than a few minutes a month going through the charges, you either don’t need to or don’t care or never learned. Look into it if you care.
Otherwise, I’m done trying to argue the basic point that “it’s not a big deal to leave the AC reset in a chain hotel” like i’m advocating for Unibomber-level anti establishment actions, you do you.
Fuck PTACs, and the developers who install them.
All over NYC, Brooklyn, Queens, Jersey City, you see fucking 1.2 million dollar condos or $5000/mo “luxury apartments” with these fuckers in every room.
It’s a giant hole in the wall, you literally can see outside if you take the plastic cover off to change/clean the filter.
They’re window units that have a dedicated window.
They’re also monstrously inefficient compared to mini splits even before you account for leaving a giant uninsulated hole in your wall with free movement of air between the inside and the outside.
I laugh every time I see one of these shoved in right below a brand new quadruple pane low-e argon filled latest ultra efficiency mega R value vinyl window. Yeah, the window is not where your air leak is, bro.
They also look huge, in Europe the standard is to have an outside unit and an inside unit.
That’s the standard in North America as well for single family homes or even condo buildings where they might put the condenser on the balcony or use a heat pump with a central loop.
I would guess these are popular in New York because they have many many old buildings with central heat and it’s easier to punch a hole in the wall then hang somethings off the building 8 floors up. Also easier to work on the unit.
I once considered moving from Seattoe to Bremerton, WA to take advantage of the much cheaper real estate. In attempt to get a feel for the daily commute, I decided to stay at a Super 8 in Bremerton for a week. 5 minutes into that experiment, I flicked on the AC unit that looks just like this one and it reeked of cat pee.
I did not move to Bremerton.
In that Super 8s probably rarely see cats who enjoy urinating on electrical equipment (although I’m sure that’s happened nonzero number of times), it’s probably a ton of condensed meth. When it’s in secondhand form, exhaled or wasted, it’s hydroscopic and instantly mixes with the room humidity, which is then processed by the A/C coils, where it accumulates.
Possibly the room was actually used to manufacture meth. I mean, I used to manage REO properties on Bremerton, and I definitely cleaned up the remains of a few meth labs.
But maybe Mr Fluffy did go to urinetown on it, who knows. Bremerton.
You just vastly improved a family story that we’ve told numerous times over the years. Thank you for sharing your meth-related knowledge.
Also, I think this hotel was across the street from a house that exploded the previous year, so yeah. Bremerton.
You judge a city by their Super 8?
That’s like judging a city based on its Arby’s.
You know from staying in multiple super 8s, this would be a pretty accurate way to gauge a town
District heating/cooling should be standard :)
If only they weren’t so goddamn noisy.
Nah the noise is perfect to drown out every single noise in the hallway because the doors aren’t soundproof at all.
So true. Hotels, you have one job: provide somewhere for me to sleep. That means make an attempt at soundproofing. Ah well.
And so energy inefficient.
On Hoth, you philistine.
Eh.
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Echo_Base
The Echo Base was the facility established by the Rebel Alliance on the frigid planet of Hoth
The interior of Echo Base extended seven levels below the surface, with the lower levels for barracks, rec rooms, maintenance hangars and fuel stores.
on the frigid planet of Hoth
on […] Hoth
The interior […] extended seven levels below the surface
seven levels
HOW DEEP IS A LEVEL THOUGH???
Not if they mean inside the Wampa cave
I got it once I looked up what a Hoth is.
I am so fucking old.
Fuck those A/C units that require leaving a card in them to work
I haven’t seen that but I believe you. Can you not just get an extra card from the front desk, or do they have it further enshittified in some way?
I’ve been in hotels where it’s just detecting that the slot is filled the card doesn’t matter. So you just use the cardboard sleeve the card came in.
Also been in newer ones that have RFID cards though that are harder but not impossible to spoof
Oh really? I can’t say I’ve come across the RFID style—basically every hotel I’ve stayed in over the past few years still happily takes my supermarket loyalty card in the power switch thing
How do you go about the spoofing of those and is it anything simpler than just creating a duplicate card?
Yeah you’d need cheap RFID blanks and a reader/writer. I do it with my phone easily enough. Just read the hotel card, copy, write to new card
Second time I’ve seen this meme… Never experienced it. They always sucked compared to even cheap window units. Half the time barely able to push below 22*. Granted I spent a lot of time as a kid on summer break locked up in a room with an 80s high end window unit that could get the room to 10* on a 25+* day.
Perhaps it’s more of an American thing, these are super common in budget hotels and have the ability to freeze you to death
I met one for the first time ever on a work trip to NC and can confim i nearly died overnight…
I think it’s down to lack of maintenance. Either there’s a refrigerant leak, or the condenser side is clogged. Most budget hotels don’t have the best maintenance.
I will never understand people who WANT to be cold. I’d rather be a sweatball than a little chilly. When I see one of these it usually get immediately turned off, because yeah, they do some fucking work.
edit: Apparently people who like to be cold are really sensitive about not being understood. 😂
Because I can’t take off my skin but I can put on more clothes/blankets. As a human nuclear furnace, I sweat and get uncomfortable as rooms start going over 70f. It’s miserable.
Trade ya. My feet and hands will start turning to ice in a room below 70F.
And I experience both! Thanks, Raynaud’s.
I’m the same. Usually still in a blanket even in the 70s.
Your opinion is wrong! Screw you for sharing it.
I’m going to make 10 new accounts just to downvote you, you heat lover.
I don’t want to be cold. I want to be comfortable. I want to not sweat. And for that to happen, I need the room to be cold.
Warm hotel rooms always feel stuffy, no thank you
…and smell. They’re stuffy and they smell.
iirc people believe that cold environment warm insulated blanket promotes better sleeping.
because you are wrapped up burrito style like in the womb I guess. and most human heat exchange happens through the head (I read somewhere).
Yeah but straight up I’m not getting out of bed in the morning in those temperatures
Maybe it’s Placebo but I definitely get much better quality of sleep in the winter time. I keep my room very cold and I have some nice big heavy blankets to keep me warm in the bed. And winter is by far the time of year that I regularly wake up feeling refreshed and not groggy
Humid climates really necessitate it unless you want to swim in bed.
Well I don’t want to be cold, but I crank the AC and snuggle up under the covers. It’s a treat somehow.
Amana Distinction PTAC Air Conditioner or something like it
