“DO NOT TRUST THIS AGENCY! AVOID! I had the misfortune ......”
1 Star Review
Feb 13,2018
By:
'SL'
Feb 13,2018
Branch: London, 222 Bow Common Ln
Services: Lettings (as a Tenant)
Rent PCM: £750
Would you recommend?: No
Postcode: E3
Branch: London, 222 Bow Common Ln
Lettings (as a Tenant)
Rent PCM: £750
Postcode: E3
3
people found
this helpful
DO NOT TRUST THIS AGENCY! AVOID!
I had the misfortune to rent a room from this agency on september 2016, with a 1 year contract. The room and the house, at that time, looked alright. Before signing the contract, they tell people that they provide cleanings, that all the bills are included, that they take care of manteinance and so on...
Well, you discover only after signing the contract that cleanings are a courtesy service, so not included in the contract. In 1 year I think the cleaners showed up a couple of times. They also have a cap in the bills, very low, and hardly will be enough to cover the bills, especially in winter.
My deposit has not been protected. I asked them 1000 times in every possible way to protect my deposit, otherwise I would have gone to court. They did not protect my deposit and they were so smart to even try to convince me that they did. The good news about it is that there are plenty of no-win-no-fee solicitors that are more than happy to deal with cases like this, and if your deposit has not been protected in 30 days after signing the contract you are entitled to get a compensation up to 3 times the deposit you paid. Free money! :)
Our house slowly started to get covered by mould, everywhere. There were leaks everywhere, we reported the problems a million time but nothing has been done.
Only one month before our contract ended, and with no reason, they suddenly decided that they want to relocate us to another property or evict us. For several reasons we weren't able to move at that time, so we suggested to wait a month until the contract ended. Well, after few days someone entered our house and took the internet router away. So we had to live more than 1 month without the internet (that, by contract, was included).
It was a continue hassle. The staff is rude, arrogant, and incompetent. For example, we were threatened that if we didn't accept to relocate, they would have changed the lock without notice.
I had to fight for months to have my deposit back. after 2 months I left the flat and that the deposit was not returned, I had to go to thei office and refused to leave until they did the bank tranfer. It took a whole day but at least it worked.
They also keep a certain amount of money from your deposit as "inventory fee". I was lucky and in my contract this fee was only 30 pounds, but I know that now started to charge also 150 pounds. The most funny thing is that they don't do an inventory, not at the beginning nor at the end of the tenancy.
I could continue forever telling the most absurd things about how they treat customers. They are a bunch of liers, incompetent and dishonest people, trying to get the more money out of everyone.
If you had, like me, the misfortune to sign a contract with them, please be aware that there are a lot of ways you can have your rights respected.
Regarding the deposit protection, you can simply contact the deposit protection scheme they use (it is stated in your contact) and require a certificate regarding your deposit protection. If it is not protected in the legal terms, you are entitled to get a compensation, and there are a lot of no-win-no-fee solicitors that will deal with this for you.
Also, you can get informations and free legal assistance from any Citizen Advice bureau or Shelter office.
You can also contact your council trading standard office. After a certain amount of reportings, they will start an investigation.
Business like this should not be on the market. Avoid to sign a contract with them, you'll save a lot of time, money and stress.
Comment on agent fees
They will try to charge you fee for everything, even illegally sometimes.
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