“I have in the past purchased properties from Haart and ......”
1 Star Review
Jun 27,2012
By:
'ph1l'
Jun 27,2012
Services: Lettings (as a Landlord)
Would you recommend?: No
Postcode:
Lettings (as a Landlord)
Postcode:
4
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I have in the past purchased properties from Haart and not had any problems, so it was natural to use Haart when i decided to let my property.
We decided to let as we want to explore a new area, before we buy. So we are also renting a property through Haart and can see everything from both sides and through different agents.
As a landlord they are terrible. They have actually proved themselves to be outright liars on multiple occasions.
The property was empty for a while between moving out and the tenants moving in. They didn't do the inventory or gas inspection during this time as they should, they waited until the tenant was in. Disrupting them and rendering the inventory pretty useless.
The property I own had a few minor issues, however i disagreed with the extortionate price for a basic job they were quoting. After a few days arguing with them the price became a more reasonable £130 from £400. The tenant waited patiently for 2 months, while Haart faffed around. Multiple missed appointments where the tenant waited in all day and no one turned up, a visit to repair which was actually just another look at what needed doing, not a time to actually fix.
When it was eventually repaired it was only half done. Now over a month later it is still unfinished. The tenant has become exhausted with constant chasing and no response that they eventually decided not to pay the rent.
Haart were useless at collecting it. I suspected the reason why, but this is because I have similar problems with the property I rent through them. I asked for details of the tenant and they said the tenant refused. I asked them to pass my details on.
After a couple of weeks, Haart unable to collect or tell me why it hadn't been collected, I went to the property to query with the tenant direct. I met them when they first viewed anyway as I was still living there and didn't think they would not pay without good reason.
I was correct, they were pleased to see me, they had been asking Haart for months to pass on their details, but they said I refused to contact them. They hadn't paid the rent as they had enough, we have now agreed that Haart can't continue to manage the property. It requires more work than doing it myself and the tenants are happy to contact me if there are any problems.
They also told me that the tenants were known to them, as the property they were in prior to mine was also through Haart, they verified that there was never any rent problems and they were nice people, respectful of where they live.
I mentioned this to the tenant, they said they have never rented from Haart before! They simply went in the branch to look for properties.
Haart have already billed me for the repairs, therefore before I cancel with them I want the repairs finished. They were supposed to complete the repair last week. But nothing happened. No visit, no calls and no response to either my or the tenants calls.
In short, they are useless and CANNOT BE TRUSTED.
As i mentioned earlier, i also rent a property through Haart and that is just as bad. I have spent 3 months trying to get them to fix a major boiler fault along with some minor other bits and pieces, when the heating engineer came out it was immediately condemned as unsafe and decommissioned! We raised it due to the excessive smell when it was running, they left us in this situation for months and months before they even looked!
I also tried to get them to pass my details to the landlord and vice versa, they said we both refused. In the end a neighbour passed on the details and Haart had barely passed any information on to the Landlord and what was passed on was incorrect and incomplete. So the landlord had no clue what was going on. He was being ripped off!
We are now sorting things between us, it is far easier. i am doing the work in getting quotes for repairs or doing most bits myself and it takes far less time. It is much much less hassle for me than constantly chasing a company who ignore calls, don't do what they say they will and simply don't fix anything.
The landlord is also not constantly in the dark, with regular emails that say nothing or the wrong thing. He is not paying fees for management and then paying nearly 50% over the contractors fees.
Everyone wins.
Haart are supposed to make this stuff easier but they create more work. The service they provide (if you can call it that) is absolutely worthless. Its supposed to take the hassle out of being a landlord, but it creates far more.
I escalated my problems as far as i could, we agreed i would actually get all my fees back and they promised that the problems would be sorted. I haven't actually seen these fees back yet and the problems persist. Nothing has been done and i have called 5 times in the last 5 days and still not had a call back with any answers.
AVOID HAART AT ALL COSTS, THEY WILL COST YOU MONEY AND WASTE YOUR TIME.
I have spoken to a few other agents and landlords. The feedback about Haart, since they have become Spicer Hart, has always been the same. They are useless.
What agent could do to change your mind?
They agent is bad I would never consider using them again. Ive given them opportunity over and over again to put things right. But then as soon as anything needs doing it goes back to the same old ways.
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