Un refunded, no roof over my head, honest working woman in the Capital Of The Western Cape

I have never been so disgusted and ashamed of how some companies drag the small upcoming businesses in South Africa through the mud due to lack of service delivery and false advertising/marketing.

I relocated from Pretoria to Cape Town on the 5th of September 2023 and needed a fully furnished, well managed and maintained apartment in Cape Town. Me and my friend looked on the internet and my friend told me about Homii and that they are trust worthy and service delivery is of their utmost nature and value. I viewed the pictures posted they advertised on their site and honestly fell in-love with every single post I saw. Beautiful and clean and exactly what I needed as we explained to the lady that we had no family members in Cape Town and even verified with her that it was a fully furnished 2 bedroom apartment and that we will on be coming with our suitcases and our flight would be late in the afternoon and will head straight to the apartment. My flight got delayed and we came an hour later then expected but that as well was communicated and we were informed that the security will let us in as my friend had already been registered.

We landed and got to the most ********** filthy and disgusting unhygienic dump ever especially for the money I paid and what I had been advertised on their site. There was no furniture, only 2 bed with filthy mattresses that looked like a lady had her menstruation on it. No sheet or even pillows, the simplest thing not even a towel. There was no furniture in sight, or anything they had advertised on their site. The shower was filled with fungus and looked liked it has not been cleaned in years and I have sinuses and extremely sensitive to filthy smells. Across the road was an abandoned building that was occupied by a lot of homeless people🥺🙏and the smell was so bad that one could taste it on my tongue. Opening the curtains in the bedrooms, my view was homeless characters half naked, high and intoxicated looking right back at me.

I came with the intention that all I will need was my clothes and toiletries, no blankets or sheets and had to go look for a blanket in the middle of nowhere and paid R800 for a R200 blanket because I was desperate and had work the very next morning.

I woke the next morning with a bad cough and blocked nose and was extremely congestive from sleeping in an empty apartment that felt like a under parking garage storage.

I requested and informed Homii with regards to my references and have been waiting since the 6th of September for my complaint to be resolved. They then offered us another apartment which was even worse of, this time only one bed with everything the same. The kitchen basin tap blew of when I tried to get water and the only person that tried helping in anyway possible at his means possible was the maintenance guy Yusuf and he hands could also stretch that far.

We made contact with the people from Homii and explained and rendered our concerns and how unhappy we were with regards to what we were promised and got absolutely not even the opposite but an absolute slap in the face of a dump. We just barely made it out of one of the most horrific pandemics and I am in the hospitality industry and I believe industries like ours were effected mostly.

I was not the only one complaining as their were other tenants that had the same issues and we were all scolding and screaming at the security and he could not do anything as the offices are based in Durban and the only way to get a hold of anyone was telephonically or by email.

I could not bare staying in such a unhealthy, filthy fungus filled apartment as my health was of question and the concern was that we are mothers of 2 kids each and with the hours we work the surrounding and safety of our kids during school holidays was of utmost concern.

We had back and forth phone calls and eventually I asked for a refund and was told that I will not be refunded the full amount due to their terms and conditions but I did not get a single thing I paid for. The Zandile Msomi lady told my friend that it is a 21 days waiting period for a refund and I have been in guesthouses since spending an arm an a leg for the inconvenience and false marketing they had me believe and paid for. The Zandile Msomi lady requested that we forward bank details for the refund and so we did. I waited patiently as disappointed and inconvenienced as I was for my refund and on the 21th day when I had to call for information with regards to my refund, Zandile Msomi informed me that the refund was made on the 8th of September 2023 but they didn’t refund it into my account which they had received and claims that they paid it in my friend’s account. No money has been refunded and not once was any service rendered or a follow up from anyone in Homii offices with regards to.

I have explained and forwarded the statements to Zandile Msomi with regards to the refund they claim and still she is rude and unfriendly as I am a customer that have been nothing but patient and I used a few words cause they have done nothing but cause me an inconvenience. I will sue them for every single cent I had to spend unintended and un-budgeted, I have explained to the lady my intentions was to get my refund and get a roof over my head. Zandile Msomi threatened me last week Friday when she called me that she will block me when I told her that I will post this on every single platform and social media page as I am a customer, she also told my friend Xolile that she should tell me that she will block my mails and calls.

I tried calling again to which the one lady transferred me to Zandile Msomi after requesting to speak to her superior and one of the other lady’s answered and even confirmed that she had knowledge of who I am and that Zandile Msomi was busy and then she hung up on me.

I have been back and forth with this whole mess and still had to work 14hour shift a day with going from one guesthouse to another.

I am publishing this because definition of service seems to be misunderstood by Zandile and the lack of attention on returning or following up on a complaint as serious as this I see as her *****ing my money. I am going to open an official case against her and the Homii company cause I would not want anyone to have to go through what I have gone through and still going through. We once had to spend a whole night at a garage because of this inconvenience and I have video footage of it.

An un refunded, no roof over her head, honest working woman…

I am looking into approaching a law firm cause I feel that with everything I have been going through cause their is way more that I have me every right to sue Zandile Msomi and Homii for everything.

Jenovia