Flatbook

Arrived to my apartment and it had obviously not been cleaned up since the last tenant. Beer bottles everywhere, human waste, absolutely disgusting. Within 2 minutes I was outta there. Awful experience, will not be booking anything «flatbook» ever again.

We stayed in Boston and these people were fine. The apartment was clean and spacious and updated. they answered when we called or emailed. I was leery about having them put $ 400 on the credit card but I learned that that is the industry standard these days. They gave all the money back and it was fine.
I would certainly stay with these guys again in Boston.

SHADY. SCAM.
Booked/​paid for/​confirmed a reasonable 2bd/​2ba with gym, hot tub downtown Chicago unit January 25, 2016 with Flatbook. Booked early as I knew this was a High Demand weekend (NFL draft). Got note from NTS (had no clue who this was) on 3÷16÷16 that I did not have a booking/​sorry Flatbook overbooked the unit that is not theirs to manage and they cannot honor my reservation. WTF?
Flatbook initially tried to point finger elsewhere. Sorry, but I signed with you… any issues you have with others — between you and them, not me.
Flatbook offered a unit 25 minutes away on public transit, with no gym or hot tub as their «comparable» accommodation. No other consideration/​compensation. Just got «sorry/​we made a mistake/don’t have anything else». They would be ‘happy’ to refund my money (yeah, and if I say sure, then they can say «I» requested a refund!). Thus, I’m left trying to find like accommodations at much higher prices… and Flatbook is just shrugging shoulders…
SUSPECT THAT THE REAL REASON is that Flatbook did not realize early enough this is a very busy weekend – when they did, dumped me to take a higher paying rental… OR is it that the unit they sold me is not/​was not ever theirs to rent?
Also charming was the comment made to me «well, you are not the only one this happened to». I’m supposed to feel better about that? Judging by comments made on social media, I am not the only one that this has happened to in Chicago. And as I discovered and questioned, the pictures they post are not necessarily from unit you are renting. Happened to notice that the same exact pictures were used on four different postings that they had on HomeAway in Chicago.
Think long and hard before dealing with this outfit, especially if you try to book during high demand period.
What a scam and shameful practice.

Don’t rent from them unless you want your dream vacation evaporate and you end up homeless at your destination.
Booked two months ahead of travel date, paid in full, confirmed, reconfirmed, they have many properties according to their websites. Not knowledgeable about the units (should have been a warning sign). today a few days before my travel, i have been told that sorry flatbook overbooked the unit that is not theirs to manage and they cannot honor my reservation. left me dead in the cold with no better options. the unit they sold me is not theirs and they have absolute zero control over it. what a scam and shameful practice.

DO NOT GIVE THEM RESPONSIBILITY OF YOUR PLACE.
After a fairly pleasant introduction, and through a friends recommendation I decided to leave my place to Flatbook to be managed while I went away to Asia. Before Flatbook I ran a successful Airbnb business where I was a Superhost meaning a overall 5 star rating. I also had over 20 bookings which made neither myself or my apartment a stranger to Airbnb.
Once Flatbook accepted my listing in November, one of the positives that I was looking forward to was the professional photographs of my place and having NO WORRIES while travelling abroad. However this was NOT the case. Firstly my photographs were not done until end of December, a month and a half in! to take photos!!. Moreover, the individual in charge of converting the apartments was brutal. After already being in Asia for a week– The stress begins with me being asked for my hydro receipt/​proof of residence so they can put my listing on Home away– Shouldn’t this have been dealt with the week before I left? after we had already signed the agreement. Afterwards, my listing was still not up still not photographed and still not bringing in any reservations. Next rookie mistake was that they rented out my shared apartment listing instead of the entire place– which cost me 150 $ of an unmanageable reservation for my entire apartment, all the while I had to continue communicating with them– essentially managing my apartment from Asia, trying to enjoy my travels all the while paying them to have my place mismanaged by someone who was less than capable. Instead of apologizing for the problems; the reasons i was given was that it was a mismatch, that my apartment wasn’t right, that they shouldn’t have SIGNED THE CONTRACT– even though it is a proven concept, I can show the stats and my 5 star rating with 13+ reviews! At the end of it — I fired them, got my own maid and I am managing it with less stress then when I hired a company to take care of it for me! At the end of it i was supposed to receive a whopping 200 $ after their 2.5 months of uselessness– however this came to zero after i was charged for their ‘turnover fee’ and the professional photos that should have been comped after their mismanagement renting out my shared room rental vs my my entire place rental. I’m sure the other employees might have been okay– but wow was the team/​individual in charge of the listing absolutely under qualified and consistently one step behind rather than on step ahead (which is the opposite of what you require from the company that you hire). Therefore if EVER deciding on going away and need someone to manage your place, first think to hire a friend, a family member (it’s much easier than you think!), another company, ANYONE ELSE, because from my experience it is not hard to match the competency level offered by this company (at this moment in time). The hype is exactly that — just hype and they need much improvement if they are going to compete and succeed in this space.

My family came to visit me in Montréal this summer. They usually get a hotel room but I encouraged them to book with Flatbook this time and I’m glad I did! From beginning to end, the process was really easy. The Flatbook team was quick to respond to questions before and during the stay (for example, the wifi went down and someone from the Flatbook team came right over and called the internet company to get it up and running again).
Getting in was painless — there were keys in a lockbox right at the front door so we didn’t have to worry about meeting up with anyone. And lucky for us, there was even free street parking right out front. The location was great too, closer to my own apartment than any hotel would have been.
The apartment itself was really nice as well. Because it was so close, I actually ended up staying there with my family rather than at my own place! My parents and brothers loved it too, and apparently so did some other guests who left a thank you note on the chalkboard that we found in the kitchen! Overall an excellent experience. My family and I will be booking again the next time they’re in town.

Be warned. Do not rent from these guys.
We are on a family vacation (2 kids, 3 adults, 2 grandparents) and had taken up one of the flats these guys had posted on Airbnb in Ottawa. Place looks nice, until 2 of the beds we got on collapsed under our weight. One of our kids was injured by the splintering plywood board that broke in half. We called Flatbook immediately. Turned us to automated response with no reply. We emailed them. Didn’t get a response at all. It seems that these guys just disappeared into thin air. Utter lack of responsibility and accountability.
We went back to inspect the bed, and upon closer look, we saw that the bed was improperly installed, with lots of missing screws on the frame (resulting in its instability). The plywood used was too thin to support anyone’s weight (our kid weighs 100 lbs). This is an utter and complete hazard to anyone’s safety.
We have filed a complaint to Airbnb for what we have experienced. We have photos taken and videos recorded for full documentation. Still awaiting for an appropriate response from Flatbook’s team, which is still nowhere to be found (and is completely unreachable).
@rogerhuang we’d like to arrive at a resolution promptly with your team.

crossposted from producthunt. don’t trust these guys will come out of the woodwork to help you if anything at all goes wrong.
@eyaltoledano @rogerhuang. I have had the most unbelievably poor experience with flatbook. My lease ends at the end of this month. The current tenants, found by flatbook, have taken it upon themselves to not let the brokers involved with the management company to show the place to prospective new tenants. They (flatbook found) tenants literally will not let the brokers inside.
I realize that sometimes things go wrong — however, the major issue is the ENTIRE LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY on the side of flatbook. Rather than work with me to figure this out, they’ve decided to ignore me. My contact decided to completely ignore all my calls, texts, and emails. The customer service team has been equally unhelpful. She directed me towards to customer service line — which of course robotically told me there was an error and promptly hung up on me.
Perhaps, you two as founders will decide to take responsibility for this. Not holding my breath though.

I recently stayed in a flat book apt in Quebec City reserved through airbnb. The apt was beautiful, clean, and met all my expectations. Unfortunately the flat book service did not. Their rep failed to meet us at the apt. He did not return text and voicemails and the flat book office has long hold times — expensive for international calling on a cell phone. Eventually we got into the apt and flat book apologized for the mix up but It was an unnerving experience for a single mom traveling with two kids.

Yeesh… stay away. Had an AirBNB apartment in Boston through Flatbook that was a disaster.
Place was dirty, items of furniture in the photos weren’t actually in the apartment, dirty dishes from the previous renter were still in the dishwasher, bathtub was clogged, there was no kitchen trash can.
The local rep was perfectly pleasant and tried to fix things up after we mentioned them to him… but really, there’s no reason any of this shouldn’t have been taken care of before we got there.

I recently stayed in a Flatbook apartment in Toronto and was more than delighted! I didn’t want to spend an arm and a leg on a hotel in the city, but also didn’t want to room with someone through Airbnb. That’s when I stumbled upon Flatbook.
The location was right downtown (which I couldn’t believe) and cheaper then staying a hotel. The apartment looked just like the pictures, fabulous, trendy and extremely clean! It was really cool pretending to be a Torontonian by renting this local apartment, even though I never caught sight of Drake.
The Regional Manager in Toronto was also super helpful throughout my entire stay (always checking in and seeing if I needed anything) and the Flatbook team that I spoke to in order to book my reservation answered all 768 of my questions immediately!
Needless to say I am more than impressed and have already booked another Flatbook apartment for my trip to Boston at the end of July!

I stayed in a Flatbook apartment in NYC this past weekend and I had an excellent stay.
The location of the apartment was awesome, right near a bunch of great amenities and activities for individuals as well as larger groups. The neighbourhood felt very safe and the apartment was incredibly clean.
The best part of the apartment though were the bedrooms. All the beds were perfectly made and I felt like I was right at home.
I needed a few extra towels late at night and a Flatbook representative stopped by with fresh towels.
I’m really blown away by Flatbook’s service and will definitely stay with them rather than at a hotel next time I travel.

I rented my apartment to Flatbook for the summer and came home to find my belongings missing and damaged. Electronics had been taken by guests the company had booked — and many of my household items had been taken by the company itself! It turns out Flatbook relocated a lot of my belongings to other properties they manage, without keeping track of what belonged to whom. My contractual agreement included a warranty, but the company has no protocol for filing a claim. I created my own inventory of missing and damaged items, which total over a thousand dollars, but was told by my (very friendly) representative that Flatbook is too understaffed to address the situation at the moment. Finding my own summer subletter would have saved me both money and stress. Flatbook’s staff is very nice but the company is disorganized at best and unscrupulous at worst. Don’t be fooled by Flatbook’s cute videos — renting to the company is a huge risk. DO NOT TRUST FLATBOOK TO MANAGE YOUR PROPERTY.

Rented apartment was not as described. Following items were listed to be included but were not: parking, books, concierge, sleep sofa, dishes and utensils, pantry items and microwave. No fan in the kitchen so cooking was not an option.
Kitchen picture shown on vrbo website was NOT the kitchen of the rented apartment.
Floor of apartment had not been cleaned before arrival, dishwasher had not been emptied.
internet box was laying haphazardly on the floor in the middle of the living room.
Rental company Flatbook would not return calls or emails, and when reached wouldn’t acknowledge apartment was not what they advertised.
When contacted, the so called local manager claimed he was only responsible to do the check in and check out and didn’t know what the corporate office had promised.
They sent the «manager» to drop off some of the missing items on the 2^nd day: he put a new boxed microwave in the middle of the living room on the floor, didn’t install it, and left a bunch of mismatched silverware and dishes on the counter.
Extremely unprofessional company!