UPDATE THE HOT WATER HEATER IS BROKEN AND WE CAN NO LONGER REACH ANY OF THE HOSTS
My teenage daughter who is a freshman at a UC school, decided to surprise her brother ( student at NAU) and I with an Airbnb for the holidays. We hadn’t all been together in over 3 months and this would be perfect for us.
My daughter rented the Ruby Red apartment. They also have a yellow themed unit and a blue themed unit in the same complex. My daughter has stayed in contact with me through this entire process. Once she sent a request to book, the host sent back a long list of rules and regulations she had to follow. She had to respond “I accept” to all the rules laid out in the email.
We arrived on Saturday 12/23, the apartment is very cute at first glance. Then you notice there are dried stains all along the walkway. They look like someone was taking the trash out and the trash cans leaked all over the walkway. No one cleaned it up. The baseboard are filthy, the paint job is not even and the pictures on the walls are all crooked. The couches are crap and super low to the ground. They are not in the least bit comfortable. The bathroom is tight and there is visible mold and mildew around the tub. There are dirty splashes on the white cabinets near the toilet…. Not sure what that is. The kitchen is updated but the pots, pans, and utensils all need to be replaced. There are also not enough pots and pans in the kitchen to prepare a Holiday dinner.
The neighborhood is a little sketchy as well. It’s Scottsdale but it’s in a very old neighborhood. The home has an old outdated smell we have tried to cover up with air fresheners.
We noticed when we checked in there was no hot water. We let the water run for a bit, I went outside to the water heater and turned up the temperature to “very hot”. After 30 minutes still no hot water. I boiled a pot of hot water because I need to cook and hot water is a necessity in the kitchen. It’s also a necessity for the bathroom to have hot water but there was no hot water at all in the entire house.
Once we contacted the host, Leslie, around noon on Sunday. They begin to tell us someone was at the home recently and checked the hot water heater. “We don’t know what would have happened since then”. We are not sure either but the fact is we don’t have any hot water. They proceeded to guide us through steps of trying to get hot water. Asking us repeatedly to let the water run for a little while. We let the water run for an hour! still nothing. Leslie asked us to fiddle around with the hot water heater. This is not our home and we will not be responsible for any damage. With all their rules we felt if the water heater breaks they would simply try to charge us for it. Leslie claimed to be unable to find someone to come to the home on Christmas Eve. We researched a few places through Google and found a Chas Roberts. They had a technician that was in the area and could be here within the hour. I gave the hosts the contact information and waited. The hosts then contacts us states they are unable to get a technician out until Monday (Christmas). I let Leslie host know this is unacceptable as we have had no hot water for 2 days. She stated she would try to find someone to come out sooner. Leslie refused to contact Chas Roberts and handle this in a timely manner. After much reluctance I checked the pilot on the water heater and it was not lit.
We contacted Leslie let her know the pilot was out and we only need someone to come over and relight it. Leslie claimed to have found a technician that could arrive on Sunday between 4:45-8:45 PM. This was not Chas Roberts. But someone else they normally deal with and we were going to have to wait another 4 hours for hot water.
I initially contacted Leslie at noon on Sunday. We spent 9 hours texting and they showed no urgency in having the hot water fixed. It was Christmas Eve, we had plans with friends for the day. We had to cancel those plans because we were unable to shower. A kitchen is unusable without hot water. I was unable to cook anything for my family for fear of cross contamination without hot water. We were absolutely miserable and not even Airbnb could get the hosts to respond. Yes they ignored the messages from Airbnb who was trying to help us resolve the issue.
Airbnb did give us the option to move to a new location but for a few reasons that was not possible for us. We booked this Airbnb and we should have hot water as a basic need. With all of their rules and regulations you would think they would be able to provide hot water.
After 9pm, when a technician did not show up, we called Leslie again. She told us the technician wouldn’t be able to arrive until Christmas morning at 9am.
It’s 10am Christmas morning and we don’t have any hot water. We contacted Leslie at 9:20am and made her aware the technician has not arrived. She stated she would check and call us back. This is also after she sent a message saying she confirmed the appointment.
We have been treated poorly, dismissed, and not taken seriously. This issue has not been a priority to Leslie and Wish Star Rentals. Maybe if we were of a different race or rented a higher end property then they would care. But this has not been an issue or a concern for them at all.
The hosts has given my daughter dates and times for a technician only for one not to show up.
It is Christmas morning and instead of celebrating, we are wondering if we will have hot water today. This is our last night in this property. We will never stay with Wish Star Rentals ever again, we are suggesting you do the same and stay away. They manage over 110 properties on Airbnb, none of these guests matter to them, they only care about the bottom
Dollar.
It’s now 10:19 am and I had to call Leslie back again, she informed me the technician would be out within the hour.
We have been dealing with this issue for too long and it doesn’t look like they plan on fixing it at all. They just keep telling us someone is coming and they never show.
This has been the worst Airbnb experience we could have expected. The hosts will try to reply to my review by apologizing profusely. Their apology is not accepted. Not today, not tomorrow, this will always be a sad memory of Christmas 2023. Leslie and Wish Star Rentals are solely responsible for ruining our holidays. Even if they provided us with a full refund. It wouldn’t wash away the memories of this place and this horrible experience.
