Extremely Disappointing Experience — Would Not Recommend for Airbnb or Guesthouse Installations
We hired AC Direct to install two air conditioners in an apartment used for Airbnb, and unfortunately the entire experience was far below acceptable standards.
First, the installation team arrived late on the scheduled day, and the work — originally quoted at 4 hours — ended up taking 10 hours over two days. On the second day, they only arrived at 16:30 instead of the agreed-upon 08:00, which caused further delays to our preparations for incoming guests.
During the installation, the team accidentally broke a glass door. Instead of handling the repair directly or assisting meaningfully, we were instructed to go through several administrative steps and arrange our own contractor to replace the glass. Because of this, we were forced to cancel Airbnb bookings for four full days, resulting in financial losses and inconvenience to incoming guests.
What made the situation even more frustrating was the complete lack of customer support. The Western Cape branch manager does not take calls from customers, and the CEO’s office also did not return calls despite repeated attempts to address these issues.
Based on our experience, we will not be using AC Direct again, and we would advise other Airbnb or guesthouse owners to exercise caution when considering this company for installations that require professionalism, punctuality, and accountability.
Regarding the installation timeline:
JP did unfortunately communicate that the team would return at 08:00 the next day, which turned out to be incorrect due to our installation schedule being fully booked. This has been addressed directly with him, as that commitment should not have been made. Despite being fully booked, we still made a plan to return later the same day to continue and ultimately complete the installation, which has now been done.
We fully acknowledge that the experience was stressful and that communication around timing could have been better. However, we did take responsibility for the damage, initiated the repair process, completed the installation, and addressed the internal issues involved.We appreciate the feedback and will continue using it to improve our processes, communication, and on-site coordination going forward.
Regarding the installation timeline:
JP did unfortunately communicate that the team would return at 08:00 the next day, which turned out to be incorrect due to our installation schedule being fully booked. This has been addressed directly with him, as that commitment should not have been made. Despite being fully booked, we still made a plan to return later the same day to continue and ultimately complete the installation, which has now been done.
We fully acknowledge that the experience was stressful and that communication around timing could have been better. However, we did take responsibility for the damage, initiated the repair process, completed the installation, and addressed the internal issues involved.We appreciate the feedback and will continue using it to improve our processes, communication, and on-site coordination going forward.