A holidaymaker has been left fuming after a real estate agent scheduled an open inspection while they were staying at a guest house.
The Aussie explained they had reserved a room through Booking.com when they were abruptly told several people would be coming over for an inspection.
‘At 11:45am we were informed that from midday there would be an open viewing for people looking to buy the house, and to allow access to our room,’ they wrote on Reddit.
‘In came the real estate agent, we allowed the first group into the room because we were a bit confused at what was going on.
‘The second group we told we did not want going into the room as these were just random people off the street, we’d paid for this accommodation, and our valuables were all out in the room – they just let themselves in anyway!
‘I had to sit in the room from then on to tell people to get out when they wandered in.’
Social media users were horrified by the experience, with many encouraging the holidaymaker to lodge a complaint with Booking.com.
‘How detached from humanity must someone be to make a decision like that,’ one wrote.
‘If this happened to me I’d be livid. Completely unacceptable,’ another added.
‘That’s amazingly illegal,’ a third commented.
Purcell Property real estate agent Ned Pearson-Bourke said tenants should be given at least seven days’ notice if the real estate agent is planning to have an inspection.
‘You come to an agreement beforehand saying look, “every Saturday we’re doing this inspection this time”, and you can kind of plan a little bit of a roadmap,’ he said.
‘And the people within the accommodation have every right to decline that from happening.’
Mr Pearson-Bourke said that being notified 15 minutes before an inspection is ‘absolutely outrageous’ and ‘unethical’.
‘If you’ve got someone that is willing to spend quite a bit of money to stay in a house, they’re paying that money with the understanding that they’re going to have an uninterrupted stay for that period of time,’ he explained.
‘We sell a lot of properties that are up for short term rentals and it’s just a matter of liaising with the homeowner as to when it’s available to show and when it isn’t.
‘It’s an absolute no-go to even think about showing the property when someone’s already staying in it.’
When asked about the Redditor’s claims, he said: ‘That situation shouldn’t ever happen’.
‘It almost tarnishes the image of the agency and the image of Booking.com.’
Daily Mail contacted Booking.com for comment.