Gafa Garden

4 reports · 2 recent reports · 138 text reviews scanned

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Evidence reviews

1. Review 1 Google Maps 5 months ago

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   • Booking / payment / trust Relevant passage We were too tired and just arrived in the country to realize this was a scam.

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   UNSAFE! WOMEN BE WARNED. Had my boyfriend not been with me, I am scared of what would have happened if I was alone. The owner is a lier, scammer and began aggressively screaming at me after I asked for a refund for the nights we could not stay there due to the inaccurate room listing and horrific amount of black mold. I have asthma and am immunocompromised (he laughed at me when I told him this is why it was so concerning for me) but even then, the amount of mold in this establishment is unhealthy for anyone and they should not legally be allowed to rent rooms until fixed. We should have called the police. We checked in late at night after 15+ hours of travel. They charged my card 10% in fees. We were too tired and just arrived in the country to realize this was a scam. “Tourist tax” and VAT were clearly stated and added to my reservation in booking.com. Service fees are illegal in Turkey and the additional 10% is illegal tax avoidance/ tax fraud that this business is committing (look it up!!!). This is also illegal for them to do via booking.com terms and conditions. They also took my receipt and threw it away when I provided it for the refund and refused to give it back. The transaction on my bank statement is run under a restaurant name that is no longer in business. Our room smelled of cigarettes and mold and due to our arrival time we had no option to switch accommodation. The bathroom was COVERED in black mold (see photo) and the other bathroom had busted blinds for people to see right in. There was no mention of remodeling and the other bathroom had destroyed blinds you could see right through. The bed sheets were horribly stained, the floors were torn apart, walls visibly dirty, the chairs were torn and filthy. The list goes on. Immediately after check in we spoke with them and were told we would be refunded for the two of three nights we wouldn’t stay but when we went to take care of this in the morning they refused. We approached them politely and calmly and even said “I would like to be respectful and mindful of others staying here while having this conversation with you and do not want to make a scene” The man proceeded to tell me he didn’t care and gave me a list of lies and reasons why he would not refund. I politely told him that was unacceptable (for the reasons listed above) we wanted to be refunded for the two nights we would not be staying there. He then began to yell at me with aggressive body language. I repeatedly asked him to “please calm down, I do not want to make a scene, I am trying to be respectful about this” but things quickly escalated. He told me to shut up and get out. Eventually they gave us some money back but a $26 room turned into $47 and a traumatizing experience. We eventually left as I began to fear for my safety. The other staff was friendly but the owner is dangerous and I warn any women or individuals who might choose to stay here. They have now modified my original booking.com reservation so I cannot review them there. They are ignoring all booking.com customer service attempts of contact. Filter reviews by most recent and you will see a handful of other reviews similar to ours.

2. Review 2 Hostelworld 9 months ago

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   • Booking / payment / trust Relevant passage When I pointed out that the 10% fee was a scam, I was able to pay by card.

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   Be careful if you book with payment on arrival instead of pre-payment! The hostel ONLY required cash, insisting on a 10% fee for card payments, and was quite rude, as if I didn't intend to pay at all! When I pointed out that the 10% fee was a scam, I was able to pay by card. During my stay, they tried to move me from room to room several times!

3. Review 3 Hostelworld 2 years ago

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   • Theft / access / security

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   not enough toilets and no proper sinks in the bathrooms. --> quite dirty no security at all, doors not locked, don't supply enough padlocks for the lockers.

4. Review 4 Hostelworld 2 years ago

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   • Boundary violations / harassment

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   • Theft / access / security

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   All the staff was very humble except one person, we arrived pretty late and one of the staff messed up our booking but it all got sorted with the help and support of other staff. I loved Ayesha (the kitchen staff) who was so genuine and generous. Emir was great help and good friend. The only thing which bothered me was this particular guy who was bit weird, smoked in washroom, entered the room without knocking and kept making conversations even when we felt uncomfortable.