40% sales valuation accuracy
60% sales fee satisfaction
100% lettings valuation accuracy
33% lettings fee satisfaction
Jun 21,2020
Jun 21,2020
4
people found
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this helpful
The only good thing I can say about Acorn is that we are no longer letting our flat through them. FAIL ONE: Their very aggressive letting agent offered to discount our first month set-up fee from £360 to £199 but they charged us £360 regardless. The letting office denied all knowledge of the discount and it was a battle to get it reinstated. FAIL TWO: We rapidly discovered that almost all our calls and emails to Acorn went unanswered and it was virtually impossible to communicate with them. FAIL THREE: They charged us £180 for a PAT electrical appliance test, and we received no response when we queried it – or when we queried their lack of response. We subsequently discovered the PAT test was not a legal requirement, and that they had not even performed it. They then denied charging us for the test, and we had to prove that they had. FAIL FOUR: They also charged us £210 to apply for a Croydon landlord licence fee on our behalf and then left the application incomplete, whereupon we received a threatening email from Croydon Council demanding immediate payment. FAIL FIVE: They charged us £96 for a plumber’s visit in which the plumber did nothing except suggest spending over £400 on replacement bathroom taps, when we knew that the originals had cost £64.75. When we tried to follow up direct with the plumber he dropped all communication with us. FAIL SIX: Finally the tenant abandoned the flat without notice, leaving it in a filthy state and full of junk, with bathroom fittings pulled out the wall. We notified Acorn by phone and email with photographs of the mess. The tenant then advised both Acorn and ourselves by email that she could not afford to clean it and that we would have to pick up the cleaning tab ourselves. We had it professionally cleaned at our own expense and emailed Acorn on 22.05.2020: “Please advise where we may pick up our keys on 28.05.2020” which was the date the tenancy legally ended. Predictably there was no reply and their local office was closed on 28.05.2020. However, on 29.05.2020 – the day after the tenancy ended - they sent in a check out team who left lights on, drawers and cupboards open, items on the kitchen counter, the toilet seat up and the new throw and mattress cover pulled off the newly cleaned bed – the day before our new agents were due to show it. For this unauthorised incursion, they charged us £159. When we challenged this, they insisted that we were contractually obligated to pay for a checkout. We responded: “What part of “Please advise where we may pick up our keys on 28.05.2020” do you not understand?” I received the response: “I cannot see that you received a response from us to confirm key collection.” Yes, dear readers, you read that right. They didn't have to return our keys on the grounds that they ignored our email requesting the return of our keys! Best of all, Acorn gave the tenant a copy of the check out report as well as a reference, allowing her to pass on the abuse the next landlord.
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Latest Reviews
21st Jun 2020
reviewed by 'Melissa'
6th Dec 2017
reviewed by 'Amita'
14th Nov 2017
reviewed by 'AZ'
6th Nov 2017
reviewed by 'Andrea'
21st Oct 2017
reviewed by 'Ian'
Opening Hours
Address
Acorn Group Estate Agents
29 Westow Street
Crystal Palace,London
Greater London
SE19 3RW
020 8768 0000
Performance statistics
| Services | Valuation Accuracy | Fees Satisfaction | Min Price of property reviewed | Max Price of property reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales | 40% | 60% | £80,750 | £545,000 |
| Lettings | 100% | 33% | £0 | £0 |
Review statistics
| From Landlords | From Tenants | From Vendors | From Buyers | Other | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Areas covered
Services offered
- Sales
- Lettings
- Block Management
- Surveys
- Conveyancing
- Mortgage Advice
- Home Builder
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Latest Properties
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Oct 21,2021
Oct 21,2021
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
We encountered nothing but stress and incompetency from the team in Crystal Palace from start to finish. They were not transparent and were not interested at all in acting in our best interests . As soon as our offer was accepted they withdrew all assistance and ...
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Jun 21,2020
Jun 21,2020
4
people found
this helpful
this helpful
The only good thing I can say about Acorn is that we are no longer letting our flat through them. FAIL ONE: Their very aggressive letting agent offered to discount our first month set-up fee from £360 to £199 but they charged us £360 regardless. The letting office ...
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Dec 06,2017
Dec 06,2017
0
people found
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Really impressed with the friendly and honest service. Jack and Andrew pushed hard to get our sale through and we are very grateful.
THANK YOU....
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Comment on agent fees
Good.
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Nov 14,2017
Nov 14,2017
0
people found
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Ricky the Branch Manager said he could sell our property within 7 days at full asking price and we saw he sold a couple in our neighbourhood in the previous weeks so decided to opt for Acorn. Within 7 days we received a somewhat fraught phone call ...
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Comment on agent fees
Took house off market to let instead
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Nov 15, 2017
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Hi "AZ", I am sorry to hear about this and would really like to investigate the issue further. Would you be able either call me on 020 83156922 or email me at [email protected] with the property address please? Thanks. Andrew Roberts - Customer Relations Manager ...
Nov 06,2017
Nov 06,2017
0
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Aidan has been fantastic, stuck to his word and delivered to his promise. Very happy with Acorn and Aidan! I am sure they will deliver equally well during the tenancy....
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Comment on agent fees
a bit steep, but they delivered
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Nov 07, 2017
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Thanks for the review Andrea and glad you were happy with the service received. Andrew Roberts - Customer Relations Manager ...
Oct 21,2017
Oct 21,2017
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
We instructed Acorn to market our flat in June. Laura was very helpful to complete the advert promptly, which looked very professional.
We were informed that Acorn already had several potential buyers ready to view the flat, so were very hopeful. We timed the sale ...
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Comment on agent fees
Average
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Oct 23, 2017
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Dear Ian, I am very sorry to hear about your recent experience with our Crystal Palace office. I would like to investigate this internally and wondered if you could let me have the property address in question please? Thanks. Andrew Roberts - Customer Relations Manager ...
Mar 30,2017
Mar 30,2017
0
people found
this helpful
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Dear Belinda.
Having you head our sale meant the difference. Good team work. Today, we finally exchanged, over 4 tortuous months after acceptance of offer. You kept your cool, constantly communicating with all parties and keeping us in the know. This is gave us comfort and ...
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Comment on agent fees
Well worth it.
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Aug 31,2016
Aug 31,2016
8
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Absolutely fantastic at getting back to you ASAP to move you in and take your money. Non-existent after that. Endless emails and calls to try and get issues with the flat sorted and nothing all back from them. The conditions of us moving in were ...
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What agent could do to change your mind?
Bad, overpriced. Professional cleaning fee for 2 people who took an entire day to mop a floor!Attached Filesnbsp;
Comment on agent fees
Bad, overpriced. Professional cleaning fee for 2 people who took an entire day to mop a floor!
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Feb 05,2014
Feb 05,2014
57
people found
this helpful
this helpful
They rented me a property without hot water, central heating and when the electricity went off I moved out.
I used the property as storage while they tried to sort.
After 4 months of living with my SO I moved out (I freelance and there was ...
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What agent could do to change your mind?
See was nice and offered my fees back. But ultimately had no power and should never have letted the property unfinished.Attached Filesnbsp;
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May 31,2011
May 31,2011
7
people found
this helpful
this helpful
We had nothing but problems from the start with Acorn. The girls at the local branch were fine, but any dealings with head office such as when the fridge broke down took weeks of us contacting them again and again to try and resolve the ...
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Feb 08,2011
Feb 08,2011
5
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Utterly incompetent with an attitude problem to boot. Uncontactable when you need them to do anything other than take money from you....
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Mar 02, 2011
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Hello, I am sorry hear that about our staff. We are very well know for our friendly approchable staff, so I am surprised to hear this. Please give me a call on 020 8378 1211 to discuss the matter further. Given that we let over 250 properties a month and manage over 2000 properties, complaints are a rarity, however any type of complaint is taken seriously and I would like the opportunity to discuss these with any of the people on this site. Kind regards, Paul Deveney, Director - The Acorn ...
Aug 03,2010
Aug 03,2010
7
people found
this helpful
this helpful
I'm currently renting my flat with Acorn, thank god it's coming to the end of the lease, I can't wait to leave them as they've been horrendous. I'd never recommend Acorn to anyone else, the service has been beyond terrible....
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Jan 07, 2011
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They have a VERY fast staff turnover, use people to do backlog work then get rid. Phones are constantly ringing so one is unable to carry out job role properly.
Need to start improving staffing issues by......
Employing more staff
Better pay.
An hours lunch break. ...
Jun 11,2010
Jun 11,2010
4
people found
this helpful
this helpful
My initial contact with Acorn was August last year when I needed to find a new one-bed flat for myself only. I gave them my specification with particular emphasis that I wanted a long-term contract, min 3 years. No problem they said. I viewed a nice ...
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Apr 20,2010
Apr 20,2010
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Their attitude is very good and act professionally and promptly. The agent we deal with is experienced and understand our goal well. She managed to acquire the price for seller to put the property off market and we match the offer and secure the offer! ...
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May 15, 2010
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Did an estate agent at the branch write this themself as they are just another rogue estate agent happy to flog properties that are illegal conversions and advertise properties without having a HIP prepared.
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