Trip was booked in April as a surprise for elderly relative to watch the AFL. Received a phone call with less than 24 hours notice advising that they'd accidentally triple booked the property out, and that I had 2 alternatives - a short stay apartment that had 2 king size beds 1.2km away from the ground, or a nicer studio well away from the ground that only had the one bed.
At no point were the hosts apologetic about this situation, and seemed unnecessarily argumentative about the suitability of either/capability of an 80 year old man walking to the ground from the venue, or how accurate Google Maps was in respect of this.
Accepted the first alternative offered, as by now, every other arrangement was sold out or about $200 more than what was purchased. Arrived to discover that the place had not been cleaned from previous occupant, heater on full blast still, and smell of half eaten kebab/half drunk beers was now a permanent fixture for the weekend and the claim of 2 king size beds was in fact 1 king size bed, a set of bunk beds and a single bed, all of which had the comfortability of a bus stop bench. Given how often I mentioned elderly relative, it would have also been nice to point out that to enter the premises took about five flights of stairs.
Coming back to the premises, turning a light on caused the electricity in the entire apartment to go out. After coaxing someone to look at it, power was restored eventually but only on a "hey don't touch that light, you'll short circuit it again" basis.
To be offered a $30 partial refund when I'd have surrendered 50% of the booking had I been the one to cancel at such short notice, I felt was a bit cheeky also.
In fairness to Emma & Dale - I'm not sure if this accommodation was one that they also owned, or were simply doing the best they could to accommodate my booking given the circumstances, but had the full circumstances been made aware to me at the time, I would have cancelled, and overall, feel like I shouldn't have been put in this situation purely because someone else paid more.