Hello and Happy New Year! I have just returned to NYC after staying at the location in Cardiff. To say it was unpleasant is an understatement. The issue was related to the Wi-Fi access in the apartment. The host is not offering me any reimbursement for this horrible experience and air b&B said there is nothing they can do about it. As a courtesy, they offered me 30% of 3 night's stay ($151), which is ridiculous. I feel so powerless. Is there anything I can do here?
Here is what I sent air b&b and included so many screen shots of my conversations with the property management company and manager. Any guidance would be so appreciated. -
In October, having read the reviews regarding other customer complaints and concerns about internet access I reached out directly to the management company. I stated that I would be working from the apartment for a few days and waned to check that Wi-Fi would be up and running upon my return. Their response was "we always makes sure the dongle is topped up and shouldn't be a problem."
We checked in on 12.21.22 and didn't have Wi-Fi for a few days. I had to 10-year old's who had to log on to their classwork and relied on internet access, and I would be working for 4 days while staying at the location. I sent at least 6 messages to the management company that went unanswered. My sister sent a What's app message to the property manager and she stated that I should be able to "top up the data, and that she was having difficulty connecting to the account from her laptop to access the account." After she was unable to resolve this directly, she told my sister that she would provide a new dongle. I was without Wi-Fi from the 21st until the evening of the 24th. On the 24th when I reached out to her directly since the management company wasn't responding to me, the manager stated that she didn't understand what the issue was, and that most people are able to "top it up without difficulty." I explained that I wasn't the main holder of the account and that they would need to provide direct access. Kellie told me that I was being "rude" in her thread to me. When I checked on the delivery of the dongle at 1.00PM, she said that we would receive it that day. We received the dongle on the evening of the 24th. She said, she would offer a small discount for the inconvenience.
Then the management company sent me a snarky e-mail stating that they were communicating with my sister; It was 2 messages, via my sister and the manager from the 21st-23rd stating that they would be working on it). We had Wi-Fi on and off on the evening of the 24th and the morning -afternoon on the 25th; then I had to contact Kellie on the 26th because it needed to be "topped up."
It was topped up again with data and lasted less than one day.
On the morning of the 27th, I contacted the manager again and told her there was another issue. I sent her a screen shot of what I was receiving "data will restart again in January), yet there was 25-pound credit, which I couldn't click to access. I asked her if there was another way the Wi-Fi (credit) could be applied. She said that it was probably something wrong with the carrier. At this point I told her to forget it and that I would work from my parents' home. I didn't have Wi-Fi, nor did she offer another solution for this issue.
We checked out on the 29th. I was without Wi-Fi my entire time, except for a few hours here and there over 2 days. What's important to note is that I am a psychologist and needed to see my clients via zoom. This is how I make my living, and this was explained in October. I lost out on 2 days of paid work because I didn't have internet access. This would have been close to $1000, that I lost. Of course, I couldn't see patients at my parents' house due to privacy. My kids couldn't complete their schoolwork either and we had to go to the Starbucks on the corner, close to the apartment.
By the end of the stay, it was so bad that I had to stand out on the balcony to make a phone call using my own data. I am terrified that I will be charged international roaming charges by my carrier T-Mobile. If this is the case, I will be submitting my statement to them directly.
Towards the end, I was unable to check my own e-mails, or even reserve an uber from the apartment. I literally had to go down to the street at 3.00am the day we were leaving to order an UBER. This literally took 30 minutes to even connect, using my very low data left.
What is very sad to me is that I have stayed via air B&B in remote areas of the world, with impeccable Wi-Fi access. Yet, I couldn't get Wi-Fi while staying in Cardiff, City center! I am very, very upset at not having access to Wi-Fi in this day and age. I could also mention that the apt had only enough hot water for one shower when there was 3 of us. That the place was unclean, and despite many reviewers mentioning that the door in the kitchen cabinet kept falling off hadn't been resolved shows that they really don't care about the comfort of their guests.
Many thanks!