Redditor Sounds Off After Landlord Cancels Apartment Viewing Right As They Arrived To See It

Not only is renting unprecedentedly expensive, but the market's also a pain to navigate. It's hard to find all of the non-negotiable features in a person's price range and then for them to apply and put down a deposit on the space before somebody else does.

That's only made worse by difficult landlords.

Redditor Total-Being4977 shared on the "Mildly Infuriating" subReddit, where people share relatively minor inconveniences and annoyances, that they'd booked a cab to see an apartment, only to discover the landlord had rented it out before they arrived.

At the time they were supposed to meet, the landlord let them know that their appointment was no longer needed.

The Redditor complained:

"Found a rental on Marketplace and scheduled a viewing for 10:45 AM."

"I took a cab and was already waiting in the parking lot when, at exactly 10:45, he messaged me saying the unit had already been rented."

"A heads-up before I made the trip would've been nice."

"Also, I tried rating them for this behavior. Found that they blocked me, I guess, and I could not even rate them."

The potential landlord texted:

"Sorry, someone just came to view the unit last night and deposited [sic] was received this morning."

"So there is no point that I can show you."

"Really sorry for the trouble caused."

Redditor Total-Being4977 called him out, including a photo of the front of the building.

"I booked a cab from Langley and came."

"This is not at all professional."

"You're supposed to tell me this last night."

The potential landlord offered a halfhearted apology.

"Right, that is all my fault. Really sorry for the trouble."

"I texted you this morning as I thought you could see it before you leave your place but obviously that was too late for you."

"Otherwise, when we meet in person, I would still have to tell you that this has been rented out and you will be upset either."

"Sorry again for the mess and trouble."

You can see their text message exchange here:

u/Total-Being4977/Reddit

Fellow Redditors agreed that the landlord was being very unprofessional.

"Oh, that’s deep into Surrey, too; that’s like a $30 cab at least, depending where in Langley you are. I used to live near there." - MonkeysInABarrel

"Infuriating, but also, sh*tty landlord bullet dodged." - Leading-Tone-863

"If he lacks this much basic respect for people's time before getting money, imagine trying to get him to fix a broken heater or pipe later." - sevaun01

"I wouldn't expect a landlord found on Marketplace to be professional. I think this was a bullet dodged because this guy is likely unorganised and inconsiderate." - ComfyInDots

"Honestly, I don't care how much the cab costs; if I were that landlord, I'd be offering to pay for it, plus extra for the inconvenience. Doesn't matter if it was a $10 cab or a $100 cab. But of course landlords aren't known for being generous." - ian9921

Others agreed and argued that the situation was more than "mildly infuriating."

"That seems more than mildly infuriating, but maybe I am just easier to anger." - Valoneria

"This would ruin my week, to be honest." - thehazzanator

"I had a similar experience, and it infuriated me for days. I was searching and searching for months for a place that fit my situation and finally found one. It was pretty much exactly what I wanted and needed, and I was pretty lucky with finding it when I did because my lease was two weeks from ending."

"I am taken on a tour, and I really like the place. The next morning, I try to call the office, and they don’t answer multiple times and never call me back. So I say, screw it, and drive to the property management company's office. I really like this place and want to make it happen."

"When I get there, they tell me they already have three applications on file, and there is virtually no chance of me getting the unit…"

"I was so pissed. Those applications didn’t all appear that same night. They knew about them when they gave me the tour, especially because I took the last slot available for the day at 5:30 PM."

"I was upset about this for at least four or five days and went on rants to probably like five people." - biddyman6

"Apartment hunting is a full-time job on top of your full-time job. It is a level of stress and heartbreak I would not wish upon anyone. Crap like this makes it so much worse." - ripestrudel

"'That was too late FOR YOU.' Don’t let that slip. He’s not gonna be your landlord. Burn that bridge." - 2624926057

Landlords are people too, and it's understandable that they'd want to continue to entertain candidates in case another candidate's application fell through or a deposit bounced, but there must be a balance between protecting themselves and being considerate of their potential renters.

In this situation, perhaps the timing was just terrible, but fellow Redditors argued that if the landlord was truly apologetic, they might have done something to make it up to the Redditor, like covering their cab or at least pointing them in the direction of other similar rentals.

Writing at the time of the appointment and then blocking was definitely a bad look.