"Picture this: you're on holiday somewhere, enjoying your stay at a short-term rental that you thought you got a good deal on - a hotel for people who don't need all the accommodations of a hotel. Then, without warning, you're evicted from the room you paid for before you can finish your early afternoon martini. The startup you were renting from, it turn s out, has gone belly-up, leaving you on the street."
"The decision precipitated an epic and unceremonious collapse for a multibillion dollar startup that was once being hailed as a potential rival to Airbnb. And it couldn't have happened in more embarrassing fashion: stranding, or at least majorly inconveniencing, travelers just ahead of Thanksgiving. It was not, in fact, "a stay you can count on," as Sonder's website promised. Disgruntled vacationers complained about their ruined travel plans online."
"Speaking to the New York Times, a 47-year-old guest and his husband said they were informed that Sonder was no longer honoring their reservation moments after they checked in, effectively forcing them not to leave the property in case they got locked out. "I was basically trapped and like a prisoner in my room, because I was afraid if we left, we would never get back in," the guest told the NYT."
Sonder declared bankruptcy after Marriott ended their partnership, triggering an immediate collapse of operations. The company owned and managed short-term rental properties rather than operating a marketplace model. Guests reported being evicted, locked out, or left without amenities, with some accounts describing heat being turned off during a winter storm. Several travelers experienced cancellations or refusal of honored reservations moments after check-in, leaving some afraid to leave rooms. The shutdown disrupted travel plans globally and left a multibillion-dollar startup unable to fulfill bookings just before the Thanksgiving travel period.
Read at Futurism
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