My quest to find adequate temporary housing amidst my own apartment ails has led me astray.
And after putting up with this particular properties foibles and the issues that most certainly was "out of Gary's hands" I cancelled my stay, and got a pro-rated refund for 5/7 days , not spent.
Now Gary is a brilliant advertiser. Self-proclaimed 'Airbnb enthusiast', he also knows how to navigate and exploit the grey areas of AIRbnb to his advantage when things go south for the hapless guest.
Word to the wise: To the inexperienced, you are outmatched and outflanked. Any sorta concern you have will be met with indifference or perceived 'attitude.'
This is his canned default stance. And he's good at it. But this isn't an anomaly . The neighbors also had problems with the property apparently.
So what happened?
Before booking, I asked him if there was on-site parking. He said simply 'Yes.' And while there technically is on-site parking, Gary omitted a crucial detail: mainly that it's TANDEM parking -- requiring cooperation between neighbors completely foreign to me. This would have been great to know! Because if I did, I certaintly wouldn't entertain his property.
So imagine my frustration when my spot was taken when I arrived home at 1:00 am on a Saturday night. Now I could joust with the neighbor with whom I don't have any relationship with, or I could do the mature thing and find street parking.
I found street parking.
Next, something was wrong with the toilet. After flushing, it made a hissing sound for the whole day until next days usage. It appears the thing was clogged/backed up riddled with previous neglect, but it can also be a plumbing issue.
Gary assured me he would get management to fix it . But they were closed. But also, he instructed me not to call them myself. That's not suspect at all!
Something tells me management either doesn't know or prohibits Gary from Airbnb'ing. Otherwise, why would Gary instruct me not to call them?
The last thing I found alarming, some vagrant trespassed, and went to work on the common lawn area. Demolishing/uprooting/turning over plants and their pot and destroying other things on the common lawn area.
Not necessarily Gary's fault. But when factoring the properties other issues, this was all I need, and I refused to stay a minute longer.
There were other minor issues as well. None a dealbreaker, but Gary was completely dishonest.
He instructed me to cancel it, and he would alter the date for two days. I acquiesced, but he also robbed me of the cleaning fee in full. Something that should have also been pro-rated.
After reaching out to Airbnb, I finally received a pro-rated refund on the cleaning fee.
This was a terrible experience. I recommend anyone considering Gary's property to proceed with caution and do your do research before booking with such an unscrupulous host.