Be very careful of what you book.
The room I booked on AIRBNB was not representative of the room that I was booked into via the Sonder company.
At the time of booking, the Airbnb listing I chose clearly:
a) showed photographs of a vastly larger room, with different furniture, and clearly a larger floor area.
b) states that the floor area was 22 square meters (Queen Room)
c) shows a window overlooking the city
Upon arrival, I was greeted with a bedroom that
a) was so different to the listing in terms of furniture provided
b) measured a total of 11.2 sqm at the most
c) had a window overlooking a light well
We arrived at 11 pm, and immediately called the Sonder helpline, to which they were extremely unhelpful. They stated that they were unable to move our room or offer any financial compensation.
We were kept on hold for substantial periods of time in the early hours of the morning.
Ultimately, this was severe false advertising and the customer service was appalling.
Additionally, the sonder representative on the phone stated that we could stay the night, but receive a refund on our total booking. Yet, at 3.40 am, she THEN sent us an email saying that the refund would not be processed due to the fact that we had to stay the night in the room.
Below is a copy of the correspondence that we sent to the sonder email, to which they never responded.
I have screenshots and photographs of a) the Airbnb listing and b) the measurements of the room I took with my laser measure. I provided these to Sonder.
We were subject to false advertising, and when challenged, Sonder were unwilling to offer our money back or provide us with the actual room we had thought we booked through Airbnb.
From Zhid at Sonder. 3.40 am on Apr 1 2022.
Hi!
This is Zhid with Sonder. Upon checking here on our end, if you are going to be staying in for the night, it will already count as 1 night already. And you will have to pay for it, as it is the cancellation policy of Airbnb that we uphold as well. I know it's the wee hours of the night and I do apologize about the inconvenience.
Should you have any further questions or concerns, please let us know to assist you. My colleagues and I are available 24/7 or via text (89738) or call (+1 617-300-0956).
Thank you.
Zhid
The Sonder Team
Our response on 1 April 2022 9 11.04 AM
Zhid,
This was not what your representative explained on the phone call last night. Due to the time taken on the phone last night (2 hours) to tell us the that there were no spacious Queen beds available and that it was 01.30am in the morning - we had no choice but to stay the night and we were advised that this would not be charged. As all calls are recorded you can check this along with the original representative not calling back.
We therefore wish to raise an official complaint with Sandor based on the false advertising on Air B&B whereby the photographs are of a Spacious room with desk, chair, wardrobe and large bed and then we are given a small double room with no furniture other than a hook to hang clothes on the wall. The second part of the complaint is the lack or customer service and how for 2 hours in the early hours of the morning we had to stay awake and dressed ready to move to another room that did not happen. We were then advised we could cancel the hotel at nil cost to us. We received the below email at 3.40am saying we could not.
We cannot spend the time we are here dealing with Sandor’s booking systems not Air B&B - please sort out between yourselves and either provide a comparable room to what was advertised booked and paid for or reduce the charge for the stay as we are now obliged to stay.
Please lisse with Air B&B and offer good customer service rather than seek to make money by false advertising.
In addition, we have measured the room with a laser measure.
The room entails approx 11.1 sqm INCLUDING the bathroom.
The Airbnb description describes a 22 sqm room.
Henri and Tracey