A tourist was left furious after a real estate agent scheduled an open inspection while he was staying at a guesthouse.
The Australian explained that he had booked a room through Booking.com when they were suddenly told that several people were coming for an inspection.
‘At 11:45am we were informed that starting at noon there would be an open viewing for people who wanted to buy the house and to allow access to our room,’ they wrote on Reddit.
‘The estate agent came in and we allowed the first group into the room because we were a bit confused by what was going on.
‘We told the second group that we didn’t want them to come into the room because they were random people off the street, we had paid for this accommodation and our valuables were all in the room. They just came in anyway!
“From then on I had to sit in the room and tell people to leave when they came in.”
Social media users were horrified by the experience and many encouraged the tourist to file a complaint with Booking.com.
“How detached from humanity someone must be to make a decision like that,” wrote one.
A tourist shared his experience on Reddit after several people stopped by and inspected the room they had booked on Booking.com.
“If this happened to me, I would be furious. It’s totally unacceptable,” added another.
“That’s shockingly 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 plans to conduct an inspection.
“You come to an agreement beforehand and say, ‘every Saturday we’ll do this inspection this time,’ and you can plan a little roadmap,” he said.
“And the people at the accommodation have every right to refuse to let that happen.”
Pearson-Bourke said receiving a 15-minute notice before an inspection is “absolutely outrageous” and “unethical.”
“If you have someone who is willing to spend a lot of money to stay in a home, pay that money with the understanding that they will have an uninterrupted stay for that period of time,” he explained.
An Australian man was left furious after a real estate agent scheduled an open inspection while they were staying at a guesthouse.
‘We sell many properties that are available for short term rental and it is just a matter of contacting the owner to find out when they are available to show and when they are not.
“It is absolutely unacceptable to even think about showing the property when someone is already living there.”
When asked about the Redditor’s claims, he said: “That situation should never happen.”
“It almost tarnished the agency’s image and the image of Booking.com.”
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Booking.com for comment.