My family and I decided to do a stay-cation in NYC in order to get a new change of environment. Upon arrival at the unit we were VERY disappointed with the unit received. When we called the service line we were told that there is a stipulation in the description the unit we receive can be different than the one advertised on airbnb. I understand that there can be small differences here and there but what we received was DRASTICALLY different from what we thought we would get. The living room was so small we could not even use the pull-out couch. The listing stated there is a queen and king size bed - we were given 2 queens. The listing falsely advertises in-unit laundry - this is false. Washer and dryer is in the building and it costs $6 to do one load.
After going back and forth all day on the phone with Sonders, they reached out stating that they now saw the error between what we were given - and stated that they were giving us an “upgrade” we were switched into another unit that had much more space but was technically a 1 br + den. The Den was a room with no windows and a see-through door. Given the size of our party, we decided it was best to switch. However, it is still very frustrating to have been advertised something and expect it, only to be very disappointment. On top of that, the staff try to convince us that they were upgrading us - when in reality they never gave us the correct listing to begin with and the switch was still subpar to what we originally paid for. The inconvenience of moving between rooms on day 2 of our trip was also stressful given that some in the party were working or attending school remotely.
In terms of other things that was very disappointing, they advertise blazing fast wifi but disagree. Repeatedly the wifi would cut off Facetime calls, video streaming unto the TV, video calls. The bandwidth was not strong enough to reach the second bedroom. We originally planned to stay for two weeks and assumed that we would be given amenities to last for two weeks. We were given only two trash bags, a small bottle of dish soap, and some dishwasher soap. We asked for more which they only provided trash bags and dish soap. When we ran out of dishwasher soap we asked Sonders for more and they state they have a policy where you can only get one “courtesy” per stay - just be aware of that before booking here.
Other very irritating and honestly quite disrespectful experience happened during week two of our trip. We decided to extend our stay for one week. We completely paid for it and it was reflected in our booking online. Sonders aggressively sent someone to evacuate us on our original check-out date. When we informed them that we had extended our stay they left. However, we then received text messages and Airbnb messages asking that we show proof that we extended our stay. I had to then send screenshots to them to prove that it has already been paid!! I am very confused why they would be so aggressive and not refer to their own website for confirmation. After all they were the ones that approved the extension of our stay.
One of the individuals staying with us quickly left the building to go to a corner store. When he came back, he was questioned by security if he had a room in the building “Do you live here? Do you have a unit here?”- keep in mind that you need a code to enter into the building. Not only was this a micro-aggression against a black man, it was a racist remark to assume that a black man, who rightfully entered the building with his own key code, would not live in a unit in the building. I have never seen anyone else questioned in such a manner when entering into the building.
The last thing I will say that it is difficult working with Sonders. The customer service representatives are nice over the phone, however there seems to be a huge disconnect between Airbnb and Sonders. The Sonders customer services representatives would repeatedly mention that they are unable to see or have access to Airbnb system which made it very difficult for anything to be really done. The system isn’t set up for success which made it very frustrating to get anything done.