“Lots of issues with the property (HMO)...”
2 Star Review
Apr 24,2019
By:
'Nursey'
Apr 24,2019
Branch: Birmingham, Suite 2 Chamberlain Building
36 Frederick St
Services: Lettings (as a Tenant)
Would you recommend?: No
Postcode:
Branch: Birmingham, Suite 2 Chamberlain Building
36 Frederick St
Lettings (as a Tenant)
Postcode:
2
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I'm unable to recommend Empire as my experience was poor and caused me a lot of stress. The issues I experienced were as follows:
- CLEANING
On moving in to my room, I found a toenail on the floor. Lovely start. The advertised house 'cleaner' did almost nothing (when she did turn up). She repeatedly didn't show - its a 6 bedroom house & cleaning was essential. In the summer, there were bug eggs in the kitchen due to the fact that there were so many tenants and no cleaner. It was absolutely disgusting, I've never seen anything like it. Empire were told about this & provided with photos to which they repeatedly said that the cleaner would be coming to sort it out... on the next two visits she didn't even sweep, let alone remove the eggs. She then apparently did a 'deep clean'... I don't know what kind of deep clean it was because you couldn't even tell she'd been.
- DRUG SMOKING
At least two tenants smoked weed constantly in their rooms & when reported Empire again did nothing as they said they couldn't "prove" who it was. Who knows what other criminal enterprises were going on in the house - some very dodgy characters in and out who disappeared at random.
- APPLIANCE ISSUES
The dishwasher was full of mouldy crockery & mould inside, it was probably a health hazard. The tumble dryer door was faulty so it wouldn't turn on until one of the male tenants could wrestle it shut. (It was eventually replaced.) The boiler was locked and the heating is controlled by the agency. The shower and sink (top floor bathroom) frequently blocked so by the end of a shower you'd be ankle deep in water. There was some kind of alarm in the hallway just as you entered the house and this beeped CONSTANTLY. It wasn't a quiet beep and yet again, nothing was done.
- INTERRUPTED IN MY ROOM BY A STRANGER (TWICE)
When I was in bed watching TV the door opened & someone from the agency & a viewer stood looking in, apparently they 'thought it was empty'?
The agency unbelievably did this twice, I wasn't given any notice of these viewings (a legal requirement) and I received no apology.
- The agency itself
Empire's attitude shows ambivalence and a lack of respect towards tenants. After escalating complaints to the supercilious owner Paul, he actually said to me 'I don't usually allow tenants to email me directly'. It's a laughably arrogant statement to make to a tenant, without whom you'd have no business. You don't have to 'allow' me to do anything. No one owes you respect - you earn it. He made the usual promises on the phone but failed to return any calls, and I never heard from him again regarding any of my queries. The only time I ever saw staff at the house was when they were showing people around or hurriedly clearing out the room of someone who'd presumably done a runner.
In the interests of balance the rent was low and the PMS they use (Arthur) is easy to use. The landlord also replaced the mattress at my request (thanks to the landlord, not the agent).
Making money, money and more money is really absolutely all this agency is interested in. They say all the right things on the website, but they are no different to any of the others.
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