I just received email from my daughter and her 2 friends, who had rented an apartment in Barcelona for 5 nights. They stayed in the reserved one bedroom apt. last night without hot water and with a broken air conditioner. They went to the management office this morning to complain and are being moved to a studio apt. some distance from where they had originally booked for the remaining 4 nights. Should they be expecting a price adjustment when they pay their final bill (781 euro for 5 nights for the one bedroom), or is this just the way business in done?

I wouldn't expect anything but ahead of time, I'd say they should definitely ask for one. It can't hurt to ask.

We had an apartment switch the last time we rented in Italy but it happened before we arrived and our agent handled it by giving us a bigger (i.e., more expensive) apartment at the original rate. We lost out on the balcony we wanted but I cannot fault them one iota for how they handled the switch.

not knowing the apartment cant say much. However you can always negotiate everything in Spain ,even if after it is written.
Let me know the apartment or/and agency before i give away my 5 cents worth.

When we had a bad experience with the Barcelona Agency we went personally to the Agency office, spoke to the Manager and told him we expected a consideration for the hassle, the rudeness and the poor service.

Almost to our surprise we actually GOT a 10% reduction on the overall amount.

You can try - you just never know!! Nevertheless, the whole experience marred our time in Barcelona and left us with very negative vibes towards a beautiful city.

I have just posted the following on another post concerning a rental agency. The same applies in this case and YES - definitely ask for a discount if they are not receiving the services paid for.

"For your information all establishments, from the smallest to the largest have to have a complaints book in Spain - the "libro de reclamaciones".
If you are disatissfied and do not feel you are getting the service you are paying for you can ask for this book and they MUST provide you with it (do not be fobbed off with lame excuses that they do not have one, or it is being checked or out of the building). If they do not provide it and you feel you wish to pursue your complaint - my advice would be to get the police or the guardia civil involved - they will soon produce the complaints book then!!
A follow up letter to the tourist board is always a good idea."

Michael

Michael, what purpose does the complaint book have? Once you receive it, what do you do with it?

Kim - info as requested. spain takes tourism complaints rather more seriously than other countries.

All registered establishments (in which the public can enter) must have a complaints book (actually it's a form called 'Libro de reclamaciones') where clients can file complaints. Shops, Hotels, Rental Apartments. Restaurants, Bars, Banks, Information centres or even a bus - has a sign on the wall that says "This establishment has a complaints book for any customers that require them" (in both English and Spanish, although occasionally the English is dropped in favor of Catalan or Basque). It is a legal requirement for them to have this and it carries a lot of weight in Spain.
So, if you receive bad service somewhere ask for the complaints book (point at the sign on the wall if you don't speak Spanish). The forms are bilingual, so you shouldn't have a problem filling it out. Keep the two copies indicated (usually the green and white ones) and hand in the other (usually pink).
After filling your personal information— you will be able to declare your concerns. This form has to be sent to the Dirección General de Turismo (General Tourist Board):

Dirección General de Turismo
Servicio de Inspección de la Consejería de Economía y Empleo
Príncipe de Vergara, 132
28002 Madrid

Don't forget to include the documentation, or a copy of it(highly recommended), related to your complaint (contract, ticket, advertisement, etc.)
We recommend you keep all your payments documentation until the end of your trip or even until you can verify your card payments at home.

Each form is followed up and the establishment (the establiskment has 14 days to respond by registered letter) can suffer heavily if the law sides with you - if two people make a similar complaint they are even more likely to find in your favor.

You may be wondering how this will help you when you are only staying a few weeks in the country. Well, so seriously are these forms viewed, you often don't even need to fill one out - as soon as you ask for the book the service often changes instantaneously and you find you get what you want without having to go through with your complaint.

These complaint forms are a very powerful weapon for the consumer - don't be afraid to use them.

Michael