I have never written a bad review before, even when I wasn’t happy with a place, but I do have to share what we experienced. To start off: There was nothing wrong with the accommodation. It looks exactly as in the ad, was clean and full off light and check-in worked easily. The sofa bed isn’t the most comfortable but most of them aren’t. When we didn’t have proper bedding for the sofa bed, Craig was quick in responding and brought us a blanket. If you want to cook and eat there properly, be aware there is not enough cutlery for four people. There were only 3 forks and no table spoons, only tea spoons. When we told Craig about the table spoons, he told us that we could buy them in a store. But all that wasn’t a big deal.
What was indeed a big deal was that Craig charged us 100$ on the first night as we accidently locked ourselves out of the apartment. I know this fee is written on the listing but, it’s not like we lost the key or left it inside. We simply locked the front doors and we didn’t realize that we need a separate key for it. I just don’t understand why Craig did not give it to us and only hid a note in the Airbnb check in instructions to not close it. I know I overlooked it and I apologized for it, but charging that much money for it, considering he actually seems to live in the same house and could have helped us within 2 minutes is not the nicest gesture.
The worst part though isn’t even about the money. It’s the fact he kept us waiting outside in the cold for 45 min. by asking for the money upfront via Zelle, which I didn’t even know what this is, as we don’t have this system in Germany. I offered him a normal bank transfer or paypal but he didn’t even respond to that. He just kept sending the Zelle number and asked for the money. At some point I was begging him to help us. Only once I offered cash he was there within 2 minutes. We felt blackmailed by him exploiting our situation being cold, tired and jet-lagged. I have never seen something like this from another host. This start kind of ruined the rest of our stay unfortunately.