My colleague and I had a pleasant time in Sara's apartment - which was everything her AirBNB posting said it would be. We were delighted to find a clean place in a convenient neighborhood upon arrival.
The same cannot be said, however, of our appalling checkout experience. On the morning of our checkout (scheduled at 11am), I asked Sara whether we might be able to leave our luggage by the entrance door until early afternoon. In her reply, sent just after 11am, Sara unilaterally decided to charge us a $35 late fee and demanded that we return to pick up our luggage by 12pm.
Nothing about luggage or a $35 late fee is mentioned on Sara's posting or on her "terms and conditions" section - otherwise we would have booked one of the many other options available in this neighborhood. However, there was a mention that luggage may not be held post check out - conveniently easy to miss as it is below a "return parking pass" section - in a long check-in text we received the day before our arrival.
We understood that it was Sara's prerogative to allow - or not allow - late luggage pickups, so we complied and rushed to return to her apartment by the mandated time.
Upon arriving at the door, Sara then refused to give us access to our property before we made the payment. She knew full well that our upcoming flight left us no time to discuss this with AirBNB and possibly local police, as I am pretty sure that requiring money as a precondition to returning once's possessions - without a binding contract - is a pretty big no-no with AirBNB and DC law. After telling Sara we would happily pay this fee once she showed us where it appeared in her booking's terms and conditions (she refused twice, which is an admission of guilt in itself), we obviously had to relent and pay the fee.
We regret that this incident marred our overall experience. We regret even more that Sara chose to make a quick buck instead of dealing with this properly by elevating the concern to AirBNB for an independent arbitration, which we would have happily complied with. Sara's inappropriate and extortionate behavior sadly make it impossible for us to recommend her as a host.
We reported the issue to AirBNB for their arbitration. The above comments are backed up by our message chain and Sara's profile history.