“My boyfriend and I rented a flat in Reading from ......”
1 Star Review
Jan 26,2012
By:
'D,'
Jan 26,2012
Branch: Reading, 23/24 Market Place
Services: Lettings (as a Tenant)
Would you recommend?: No
Postcode:
Branch: Reading, 23/24 Market Place
Lettings (as a Tenant)
Postcode:
10
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My boyfriend and I rented a flat in Reading from Atlantis. They were adequate in terms of viewings i.e. they were what you would expect from estate agents - flash, vacuous, lazy, thick. Nevertheless, one of the flats they showed us had not been checked and we found the toilet in the most almightily dreadful state - excrement everywhere.
But that's just an aside. The main thing is a warning about charges. I note on this site that all the five star reviews seem to be from landlords, the one star reviews from tenants. IF YOU CAN AVOID IT, TENANTS, DO NOT RENT FROM ATLANTIS.
I have rented four or five properties in my life in London, including through the notorious Foxtons. I have NEVER been charged what Atlantis charges. When you sign up, they send you a list of things you have to pay for. So on top of the first month's rent plus a six week deposit upfront (requested by most agents), they charged us an extra £400 for admin and all other kinds of rubbish. We needed a flat quickly so hadn't time to quibble. I then had no ongoing relationship with Atlantis as they played no management role. I dealt directly with my landlord, who was a lovely guy.
A year after we had been there we had a letter through saying that we had to pay £89 to Atlantis to renegotiate our contract. I negotiated directly with my landlord instead. When we left the property, I dealt with my landlord directly. He did the finalisation of the tenancy, checked inventory, took back the keys etc. Atlantis did NOTHING.
The only thing I did through them was to ask for my deposit back as they held it. I received it £200 short of what I had put in. They had charged me £89 for going a month beyond the year I had signed up for, in spite of my having renegotiated with my landlord, who they claimed to be representing. He supported my case. They then charged something like a £120 finalisation fee. I challenged it and they rather smugly said 'you signed the contract'.
They are complete shysters and I would encourage tenants not to go through them if they can avoid it.
10
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Dear Secretary to Mr. Andrew Strong,
Please stop this "copy and paste" response and tell Mr. Strong that his company has a reputation for being a bunch of thugs and he is the biggest one of them all.
Thanks,
Another Tenant who suffered rip-off at the hands of Atlantis agents.