Brightworks/Airbnb
For some reason, Google does not allow Airbnb reviews even though my saty ended less than two weeks ago. So here it is.
I cannot provide a bad enough review for this experience. I have had thousands of temporary lodging experiences throughout the US, Africa, North, South, and Central America, and Europe. This was by far the worst experience I have ever had.
To begin with, the host, Elliot, probably doesn’t even exist. The phone calls, emails, and messages I sent to him through Airbnb or directly to him went unanswered. Occasionally, the co-host, Brightworks Property management, would respond so I’ll report exactly how that went.
We were scheduled to arrive in London earlier than expected and requested an early check-in the day before we arrived. When we arrived, we still had not received a response. We waited in the airport for over an hour, and I attempted to contact the owner through Airbnb, their direct phone number, and even their guest portal. Brightworks finally responded and said that I needed to check in through their “guest portal” where instructions were provided on how to check in early. There were no instructions on checking in through their guest portal. I was under the impression that all communication was to be done through Airbnb but that wasn’t what was happening here.
We took an Uber from the airport to where the Airbnb is supposed to be and there is no such place. Me, my wife, and two kids were dropped off by the Uber and are walking around London for about an hour looking for the place. Brightworks isn’t responding and doesn’t answer phone calls. So after about an hour, I get a response from Brightworks that I have to go to a different place to get the keys. The place they sent me to, so I can get the keys, was a Bodega where I was to provide the middle eastern gentleman behind the counter with a code and he would give me the key. I gave him the code provided by Brightworks, he responded that the code is incorrect, and he said that he will not call Brightworks or provide the key.
I tried to contact Brightworks again and there is no response from them for a while. After a long while, they responded and provided me with what their exact words are is “the full address” of the Airbnb. Clearly the address that I have been provided with by them and where they advertise on Airbnb as their location, is not even the actual address of the Airbnb. After I received the full address from Brightworks, once again the family and I are walking through London to find the place and that proved harder than it should be. We stopped into a local condo where the maintenance man and receptionist were kind enough to search the web to spend about 20 minutes online to find the place for us.
We begin to walk to the location and receive another message from Brightworks. Here’s what they say. “Hi Alan, sorry for the confusion. Apparently, there’s a photo shoot happening at the property right now and that’s why the code didn’t work because they have the keys.” Brightworks did offer to refund my early check in fee, but this never happened.
So, we arrive at the location of the Airbnb and, while we’re waiting at the door, we are approached by a shady looking man who asked if we were looking for the keys to our unit. We said that we were, and he just handed us the keys and left.
We went to what was supposed to be our third floor, 2 bedroom 1.5 bath apartment. It was actually on the fourth floor and was actually a 2 bedroom 1 bath apartment. The amenities described in their ad didn’t actually exist, and of course the condition wasn’t as described. But this seemed small compared to the shadiness of actually getting there.
Here’s the exact timing of what we experienced. From the time we arrived at the airport and messaged Brightworks until they responded was two hours and nineteen minutes. From the time they responded until we were actually in the room was an additional two hours and fifty-three minutes. I think five hours and twelve minutes is a bit excessive.
I immediately contacted Airbnb, described my extremely shady check in experience, and requested that they not contact the owner. So, Airbnb immediately contacted the owner who began to text me on WhatsApp, asking what the problem was. We left early and went to a hotel.
19 August 2024
Unprompted review