Stayz nightmare in Sydney
We’ve just had a nightmare experience at a Stayz.com apartment in Sydney at the old Olympic village in Homebush.
We were there as a multi-generation family of six for one of my granddaughters competing in a sporting event.
When we arrived there were cockroaches in the kitchen but as my daughter (who had booked the property) had spoken to the manager the day before about a bad review she had seen on their website, she was assured the apartment would be spotless.
We complained to the manager on several occasions during our stay and his response was to give us a can of insect spray!
There was mould in the bathrooms, filthy stained and sticky carpet, and even cockroaches in the dishwasher and fridge! When we ate anything we had to wash our plates and cutlery first.
We were not in a position to move to somewhere else because of my granddaughter's need to be at rehearsals and competition and we couldn’t afford to go to a hotel. In addition one of my granddaughters has food allergies to certain foods which meant we couldn’t eat out and had to have accommodation with cooking facilities.
One night we were cooking a barbecue for dinner on the balcony and it was producing a lot of smoke. We couldn't understand why the smoke alarm was not going off, until we looked up to realise that the smoke alarm had been disabled, the innards and battery were no longer there!
I rang Stayz on our second day but was told we had to speak to the manager who showed no interest in our complaints. When I told their call centre this, they showed no interest in helping us. I asked them if they had any idea about the state of the properties they listed on their website, and was told "we don't take any responsibility for the properties we list, we're just a listing platform!"
In addition, the "manager" is no longer returning calls or emails from my daughter who initially booked the property.
Luckily I took photos of all the issues I’m noting here.
Is there anything we can now do to get a refund for this horror holiday???
Thanks for your help.
Stayz?
This was the business which got into bed with landlords who were running their places as party houses with up to 30 partygoers staying there and having all night functions. Stayz ignored what it knew was happening.
I would avoid this business like the plague as it is an anti Australian way of life business model. There are better options which do not allow the plundering of neighbourhoods where people want to live in their homes.