When we walked into the house, it was immediately clear something was wrongâthe heat inside was oppressive. The upstairs thermostat read 89 degrees, and it felt every bit of it. Outside was about 95, and there was no noticeable difference. Even more telling, each bedroom had a portable AC unit blasting away. Not only did this suggest serious issues with the central air system, but it made it obvious the management company already knew. (And those units were loudânearly impossible to sleep next to.)I called the property management company that night. They said an AC technician had come earlier that day and claimed the system was âworking.â That only made it worseâthey were aware of the problem but rented the place out anyway. Rather than fix it or inform us, they patched it with temporary units and hoped we wouldnât complain.When I asked if the representative knew how hot the house was, she admitted she didnâtâbecause she was calling from an offshore call center. So not only did they knowingly rent out a house with a broken AC, they outsourced support to someone powerless to help.We were stuck. It was late on a Saturday, we had five kids, and no backup options. The company eventually refunded us 25% of our total cost for four nightsâonly after I pushed back hard on their initial offer of 50% of the one-night "rate" without fees--which was less than 10% of our total cost. We stayed all four nights because we had to, but it was a thoroughly miserable experience.