100% lettings valuation accuracy
83% lettings fee satisfaction
Aug 31,2018
Aug 31,2018
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
As a credit to Bill Free Homes, the house they provided us with was absolutely lovely - three stories, five bedrooms, two bathrooms, nice kitchen/living room, absolutely perfect for students. However, their service was absolutely appalling - we paid £500 deposit, £180 of which went to agency fees, and any problems we had were met with downright disrespectful replies. Issues were very slow to be fixed, for example we had no wifi for the first two weeks, the freezer was broken and smelt disgusting for one week, we found a pair of dirty knickers in our sofa, the house was dirty when we found it... And on top of this, they continuously sent threatening and aggressive emails near the end of our tenancy to "warn" us that if we did not pay for a cleaner then we would likely not get our deposit back - very ironic considering the state we found the house in. I assume the only reason they have so many awards is because they basically beg for good reviews by sending an email asking people to write a review only if they have something "good or great" to say, or because they entice people with freebies (to be fair, we loved the Spags voucher & amazon prime stick!).
Comment on agent fees
An absolute scam - for the amount you pay you get absolutely terrible customer service. Agents are aggressive, rude and slow to reply.
Was this helpful?
Yes
Yes
Agent Response / Add a Comment
You can use this form to reply to the above review or a displayed comment on the above review.
Browse popular links for estate agents, letting agents and properties nearby
Latest Reviews
20th Aug 2020
reviewed by 'Philip'
4th Feb 2020
reviewed by 'David'
19th Nov 2018
reviewed by 'Andrew'
6th Oct 2018
reviewed by 'Alexandra'
4th Sep 2018
reviewed by 'Adam'
31st Aug 2018
reviewed by 'Beware'
Opening Hours
Address
Bill Free Homes
85 New Elvet
Durham
County Durham
DH1 3AQ
0330 330 0999
Performance statistics
| Services | Valuation Accuracy | Fees Satisfaction | Min Price of property reviewed | Max Price of property reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lettings | 100% | 83% | £400 | £756 |
Review statistics
| From Landlords | From Tenants | From Vendors | From Buyers | Other | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Areas covered
- DH1
Services offered
- Sales
- Lettings
- Block Management
- Surveys
- Conveyancing
- Mortgage Advice
- Home Builder
Advertise on
Members of
Rankings
Overall
Overall
Latest Properties
No Properties
Aug 20,2020
Aug 20,2020
4
people found
this helpful
this helpful
BFH held back some deposit due to them claiming a professional clean was needed, even though the property was left cleaner than it was at the start of the tenancy agreement.
I strongly advise tenants to take hundreds of photos of any dirt, dust, marks ...
read full review
read full review
Was this helpful?
Yes
Yes
Sep 08, 2020
View all comments
(1)
Dear Mr George,
The process of returning deposits is not a simple one. Most houses
are left in a great condition and if there are any deductions for breakage etc they
can usually be agreed without need for arbitration. However, if we return deposits
without comparing our check in inventory and condition report with its check out
counterpart then we are held to task by our client landlord. The process we use
is transparent and works well. As you were not a tenant of ours, we have not expl ...
Feb 04,2020
Feb 04,2020
0
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Excellent tenacity and use of data to get properties let . The team work well together to achieve the result for the landlord. Will use again...
read full review
read full review
Was this helpful?
Yes
Yes
Nov 19,2018
Nov 19,2018
0
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Have been with BFH for 2 months now, and they have been great at working with both my flatmate and I as we were settling in. As we were both coming from overseas, and couldn't view the place ahead of time, this was very much appreciated.
...
read full review
read full review
Comment on agent fees
Fees are a bit steep, but don't seem to be out of line with anyone else.
Was this helpful?
Yes
Yes
Oct 06,2018
Oct 06,2018
0
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Literally the best costumer service, I got locked out of my house during the weekend out of office hours and a member of staff came all the way back in as soon as I notified them to give me my keys- so warm and helpful....
read full review
read full review
Was this helpful?
Yes
Yes
Oct 06, 2018
View all comments
(1)
Thak you Alexandra! ...
Sep 04,2018
Sep 04,2018
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
We stayed in a Bill Free Homes property last year and had a fantastic year. The repairs service was spot on, every time we needed to report an issue, a response was created and a handyman came around to fix it.
All in all, a ...
read full review
read full review
Comment on agent fees
We got lots included for the admin fee that we paid
Was this helpful?
Yes
Yes
Aug 31,2018
Aug 31,2018
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
As a credit to Bill Free Homes, the house they provided us with was absolutely lovely - three stories, five bedrooms, two bathrooms, nice kitchen/living room, absolutely perfect for students. However, their service was absolutely appalling - we paid £500 deposit, £180 of which went to ...
read full review
read full review
Comment on agent fees
An absolute scam - for the amount you pay you get absolutely terrible customer service. Agents are aggressive, rude and slow to reply.
Was this helpful?
Yes
Yes
Sep 03, 2018
View all comments
(1)
Dear tenant,
We are very sorry that you feel that you were given a bad service by the staff at Bill Free Homes. We are surprised to see your comments as we received positive feedback from all tenants throughout the tenancy.
Having checked our system I have looked into the issues you have outlined and can see that cleaners re-attended your property after you had reported the cleaning issues.
The freezer was replaced in a timely manner in accordance to our repairs policy (reported on th ...
Sep 20,2017
Sep 20,2017
0
people found
this helpful
this helpful
We stayed in a Bill Free Homes house during our second year at Durham University and I can highly recomend them as a great company to use for student accommodation. We stayed in a property in the Market Place and not only was the property ...
read full review
read full review
Comment on agent fees
good - we paid £180 each but got lots of things for this including prime tv and a meal at a resturant
Was this helpful?
Yes
Yes
Sep 14,2017
Sep 14,2017
13
people found
this helpful
this helpful
The location of the house in the middle of Durham is fantastic, ignoring the fact that there are several nightclubs in the vicinity. The room sizes are good and there is ample communal space, as well as a good number of bathrooms, all reflected in ...
read full review
read full review
Comment on agent fees
We don't feel we had our money's worth!
Was this helpful?
Yes
Yes
Sep 01,2017
Sep 01,2017
0
people found
this helpful
this helpful
A great letting agent for Durham University students. We stayed at a property in The Sands, Durham for 6 people and we found that everything we could hope to be dealt with in way of repairs during the tenancy was done so, and was done efficiently....
read full review
read full review
Comment on agent fees
Not an issue, we paid £180.00 but that seems to be have good value for money.
Was this helpful?
Yes
Yes
Aug 23,2017
Aug 23,2017
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
I trust this company completely to handle my house letting, and I find them to be really helpful and efficient.
They offer lots of green incentives to students, and letting is streamlined and convenient....
read full review
read full review
Was this helpful?
Yes
Yes
Aug 15,2017
Aug 15,2017
14
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Awful, house was not clean at all when the rent started, including condom wrappers. This was not properly cleaned and had to complain on multiple occasions about this. At the end of the tennancy the deposit was not returned for nearly 7 weeks. Avoid....
read full review
read full review
Was this helpful?
Yes
Yes
Feb 01,2017
Feb 01,2017
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
What a great year we had staying with Bill Free Homes. Any problems that we faced during the year were dealt with quickly and efficiently. The house, although expensive, was luxurious throughout and we had a repairs service to match....
read full review
read full review
Comment on agent fees
Not an issue
Was this helpful?
Yes
Yes
Oct 21,2016
Oct 21,2016
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Had a great year staying in a Bill Free Homes property in Durham. All of our bills were included and the response to any repairs or issues was fast and effective...
read full review
read full review
Was this helpful?
Yes
Yes
Jul 01,2015
Jul 01,2015
18
people found
this helpful
this helpful
I would strongly advise not to use Bill free homes. During our tenancy we had multiple set backs with them. We were unaware that the property we had chosen was under renovation, during our tenancy. The boiler broke which took nearly a week before it ...
read full review
read full review
What agent could do to change your mind?
Too high for what we got and others around the area were paying.Attached Filesnbsp;
Comment on agent fees
Too high for what we got and others around the area were paying.
Was this helpful?
Yes
Yes
Jul 14, 2015
View all comments
(1)
We are sorry that you seem so aggrieved however we cannot comment on your issue as we are unaware of your property address. I understand that you may wish to remain anonymous .
However I can comment on most of your issues in a general sense.
As regards renovations – we do carry out repairs to all properties as they arise but renovations are different in this case we do shut the house down.
Boilers do break and we have to deal with repairs, how these are dealt with depends on av ...
No fees information available
Kindly note that legally, letting agents need to publish information about their tenancy fees, government-approved redress schemes and client money protection schemes on their website and on third party websites (on which agents are listed). For properties to lease/rent in England, agents need to keep this information up to date and precise on allAgents or specify within the property description.
Complaints Procedure
Complaints policy can be viewed at www.billfreehomes.com/complaints
Last updated at 10:02 AM 21/10/2019 by heather heather
We are very sorry that you feel that you were given a bad service by the staff at Bill Free Homes. We are surprised to see your comments as we received positive feedback from all tenants throughout the tenancy.
Having checked our system I have looked into the issues you have outlined and can see that cleaners re-attended your property after you had reported the cleaning issues.
The freezer was replaced in a timely manner in accordance to our repairs policy (reported on the 3rd oct- replaced on the 9th oct).
The knickers was an error on our cleaners part and they were sent a strongly worded email, we apologised and asked you to dispose of them however did not get a response regarding this.
The Wifi was down for 2 weeks, this was due a supplier issue which was out of our hands, however, a full refund was given for any inconvenience caused.
At the end of your tenancy you received your deposit of £320 back in full, the non refundable administration fee of £180 is clearly outlined on our website and in your contract.
The principle reason that the moving out email is sent to all our tenants is to try and help them to receive their full deposit back. The email asks you to collect a moving out pack which contains a checklist as a guide for cleaning standards, we are sorry if you perceived this to be threatening/aggressive but we are only trying to help.
We strive to provide good customer service to all of our tenants, great to hear you enjoyed your free meal and free amazon firestick. We wish you all well in the future.
From all the team at Bill Free Homes