Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:28/07/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I rented a property from Smart Stays International 7/1-7/5.
  The property number is: #*********
  The reservation ID is: ************************************
  The total cost to stay at this property was: $5284.17.
  Residence address: **** *** **** ***** ******* ****** ** The renter promised a luxurious and serene family escape in Niagara. They offered beautiful photos and a promise of cleanliness and luxury amenities.
  I had multiple issues with my property rental and despite repeated emails and calls, my issues were either not acknowledged or unresolved. While the property appeared luxurious, it was anything but. The rental property was not well maintained. The kitchen was infested with flies to the extent that we could not cook or eat indoors. The dishes in the cupboards were dirty and required cleaning before use. The listing indicated there was a working gas grill but there was no propane tank. The blinds were broken and so was the outside umbrella.
  On the last day we were there we had no running water. We could not shower, flush toilets, wash dishes or even make a morning coffee.
  The company has offered 30% off the last day we were there, a couple hundred dollars. This is unacceptable for a property that we paid over$5,000 to stay at. At the very least, I believe we are owed reimbursement for the full last night and reimbursement for all cleaning fees.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:27/06/2023

  Type:Customer Service Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I reserved a condo for a vacation thru Smart Stays Inc/***** * ****** ** ******** ****** for June 11 thru June 13, 2023. Reservation # **************. I made the reservation in April 2023. I didn't find out it was cancelled until the night before I got there, June 10. I tried to contact them, finally made contact with them the morning of June 11. They said it was cancelled because they could not get the 2nd half of the payment to go through our credit card. I was not notified of this. I received no emails or phone calls to let me know about this. Of course, I had to find another hotel at the very last minute. They will not refund my money, which was 50% of the bill, $225.20. Had they contacted me, I would have fixed this and make sure they received the 2nd half of the payment because we were traveling there for vacation! They are extremely hard to get ahold of. Contacted ******** ***** * ****** and after about 2 weeks they said Smart Stays had emailed me to tell me it was a cancelled reservation, but they did not make contact with me like they said. ******** could not refund they payment because they said it was Smart Stays responsibility.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/06/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Made reservations using **** to stay in one of ******* Smart Stay rentals May 7 - 11, 2020. April 19, I sent an email directly to Smart Stay at the advice of ****, that due to the borders shutting down, I would not be able to make my reservation and requested for either a full refund or a credit for a future stay. I was informed the same day, that due to the office being closed, a refund was unable to be processed at that time. They did offer a credit to place on file. I accepted the credit in good faith that future accommodations would be comparable. On December 30, 2022, I requested to use the credit on file. Over the next few days, I established a time frame that we were wanting to travel and confirmed they had availability. The listing sent was not comparable to the house we had originally booked. On January 28, 2023, I informed Smart Stays that the rental would not meet our family needs and sent the listing for a house that was similar if not the same as the original home we had tried to rent, but was told that despite that the rental being listed on their website and showing available, that city ordinances would not permit our family to stay there. No attempt was made by Smart Stays at any time to offer a different listing. On 3/7/23, Smart Stays reached out again to collect the remaining balance. I restated that the rental did not meet our needs and that if they could not provide a comparable stay, I would like to request for a refund. On 3/27/23 I received an email that management was willing to reimburse half or waive the remaining balance for me to stay in the rental that I had already told them would not work. I agreed to take the half reimbursement, but indicated that I didn’t think that this was a fair business practice. On 5/5/23, I reached out again to Smart Stays to inquire about my refund. I received a response on 5/7/23 that I had never been offered any credit at any point in time, they would not be offering any credit to me, and that this was the policy for all their Covid guests since they were unable to complete refunds. ******** ** *** **** ** ***** ******* ******* ******* ********* ******** ***** ** ***** ***** ****** **** **** **** ********* ***** ****** ** ***** ****** **** ********* ** ******* ***** *******.

  Business Response

  Date: 12/06/2023

  Please be advised that On January 28th(after securing a rental) the guest requested details on another property owned by Smart Stays however she was advised, on January 29th, that it was unavailable due to the local bylaw requiring 30days or more for that rental. After that there was no response from the guest until I reached her on March 7th to collect the remaining balance(above and beyond what her credit covered). Therefor, the dates were blocked and held for her and were unable to be booked by paying customers. Additionally, on March 27th we offered to waive the additional cost of the rental and only charge her what the credit covered but she was also presented with the offer to receive a refund for half of the amount of the credit on file. There was no response until April 11th. There was however some confusion on further communication and our agents did miss an email from her requesting the partial refund. Therefor, this offer still stands. To be clear: the offer is for half the amount of the credit on file. ***** ** * ****** ** *** ****** *********