Air BNB rules state that the owner shall make the apartment available for the renter to use upon their arrival as mutually agreed to. The key was not left for us as promised and we sat in the hallway for a half-hour trying to figure out what to do. Fortunately, a neighbor came to our rescue and offered us a room for the evening! He called Claudia and the call immediately went to voice mail. Air BNB rules state the owner is to be immediately available upon check-in to resolve any difficulties.
I then initiated contact with Claudia thru Air BNB messaging as she did not respond to the voice mail left for her. She responded and apologized and promised she would have the key provided to us that evening. After a 14-hour flight, we were very exhausted and went to sleep in the neighbor’s apartment. Towards midnight I awoke and checked to find the key to Claudia’s apartment was now available to us.
I followed up with Claudia and she explained the previous tenants were to leave a key for our use. Claudia admitted she did not check that this was done and again apologized. Had this been the end of this horrible series of events I would not be writing this very negative review.
I asked Claudia why she did not respond to our phone calls when we could not check in. The neighbor had called her, and I also called and reached the same voice mail. I believe the intent of the Air BNB rules is to get the owner immediately involved in resolving problems. A sympathetic voice would have easily alleviated our concerns. Instead, we had a series of written messages.
Claudia initially said she did not receive the calls and asked me to verify the telephone number that I called. When pressed she finally admitted that she prefers using texting as English is not her first language. I can only assume that means she chose not to respond to our calls and only replied when I started using the Air BNB messaging. Anyone can make a mistake and it’s gracious to forgive that mistake. I forgive Claudia’s mistake, but I do not forgive her attempts at covering up her inadequate response and breaking Air BNB rules. You do not want to stay here for that specific reason.