Gastgebruiker
23 augustus 2023
Where do I begin? For context, I have stayed at four different Sonders (NOLA, DC, Savannah, Austin) and have had issues with all. With each experience the following elements have been consistent: Units that "look" modern and clean but at closer inspection are older facilities that are cheaply revamped. Customer service that doesn't serve anyone. They are uselessly unresponsive OR take forever to respond and generally unhelpful. This is because Sonder has - like many US based companies - outsourced its customer service overseas so you're usually dealing with people with English as a second language, who are using canned scripts and prompts. For example, I had issues with my Savannah unit that prompted them giving me a credit toward a future stay. That credit never materialized and took me a YEAR to get resolved. So for this experience, I stayed in Austin. The only benefit of this unit turned out to be its location. It is very close to downtown and the surrounding neighborhood is very cute and eclectic, with many food options. As soon as I entered my unit (708A) I was hit with a very strong smell of mildew. Immediately I knew there had to be some sort of longterm water damage somewhere, which generally points to a growth of mold. Considering this would prove to be a threat to my respiratory health, I immediately messaged customer service requesting to be moved. I was told they could not because they were fully booked, so I requested a full refund. Per usual, customer service gave me the vague “we will log your request and someone will get back to you” canned response. I stayed in that unit for 4 nights and at no point was a maintenance technician sent over to inspect the unit (despite my sending pictures of the water damage/mold surrounding the bedroom vent) nor did any sort of management reach out to check in an offer any options such as reimbursement for staying at a hotel instead. I was scheduled to check out on a Sunday afternoon, and ended up leaving very early Sunday morning. When I entered my unit late Saturday night the mildew smell had not only gotten significantly worse, but the unit also smelled as if there was a pipe emanating vapors caused by raw sewage. I could not breathe or sleep, and ended up changing my flight home so that I could leave immediately. I ended up missing some excursions I’d paid for. Of course I reached out to Sonder requesting a refund of my full stay in addition to reimbursement for the expenses I incurred for having to change my trip. As of today (a week since my check in) I still have not had ANY response from management. Needless to say I will not patronize this brand anymore and suggest you stay away as well.
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