Housing Anywhere review: Cancellation policy & refund

I made a booking for a room in Munich. Upon arrival, I noticed that the apartment was in a terrible condition. There were tears in the kitchen floor, kitchen itself was also starting to chip and fall apart here and there. The Bathrooms were so filthy that I would never feel comfortable stepping into the shower without slippers. Even the tenants there immediately informed me that Housing Anywhere does not care about improving the conditions in the apartments, or even bother to stop by on occasion to inspect the conditions. Therefore, I decided to cancel the booking the next morning, still within the first 24 hours of making the booking. The cancellation went through, but Housing Anywhere decided that they do not want to refund me the service fee of €166.25. I took a few photos of the damages and filth in the apartment and shared this with customer service when trying to get my refund, but this seemed to be an acceptable standard for HousingAnywhere. They claimed that "After reviewing the images I provided, it appears that the accommodation aligns with the pictures available on the listing page." Obviously the pictures do not accurately depict everything wrong with the apartment. These wide angle photos do not allow customer service to see enough details in the photos to make an informed decision. Now in hindsight, I know I should have taken a lot more and a lot closer photos to really see the damages and filth, but I never imagined Housing Anywhere would make it so difficult to get a full refund. Anyone who enters the apartment in real life would agree with what I am saying, and I find it extremely disrespectful and extremely unethical to be taken advantage like this by such a large company. If possible I would love to go back to the apartment with someone working for Housing Anywhere so the can see the truth of the apartment in person.

View 0 more photos