0% lettings valuation accuracy
50% lettings fee satisfaction
Aug 27,2013
Aug 27,2013
6
people found
this helpful
this helpful
At first, everything seemed to be great. Looking around the property was promising and the agency was very easy to deal with. Moving in was the first sign of trouble. The house was a complete state upon moving in. They had just recently had painters and decorators in, who had left all their own stuff and rubbish in the whole home. There wasn't a room without it!
The kitchen was a state, even inside the cupboards! Blackwells claims to have sent in professional cleaners but that definitely wasn't the case when we moved in. They offered to send out a cleaner, which we accepted, only to have the cleaner cancel on us five minutes before turning up (after the letting agency called for the night). After two days of trying to sort something out, we had to take compensation to clean it ourselves. We did it to the standard that we were happy with and left it in a better standard than that when moving out but Blackwells still tried to take money out of our deposit for cleaning. Luckily the deposit scheme sided in our favour.
There were problems with fixing items in the house. The bathroom door broken at 11pm on a Saturday night and we had no emergency number. My husband had to break the door down (he was trapped in the room) and we reported it as soon as the letting agency opened. That was in the December time and it took until after we moved out for them to fix it! Also, high winds damaged the tiles on the roof with a hole big enough for a blackbird to get stuck in the attic for half a day! We reported that in the November and it wasn't fixed by the time we moved out in the August of the next year! They had the audacity to tell us that tiles come off and they had to get the best time of year to fix it--that would have been during the heatwave in the May of 2012 then, not after August when the weather was starting to close in!
Moving out was a pain and we were charged for extra days. The first day was admittedly our fault but the second one was theirs. Their checkout guy was double booked and couldn't make it to do ours until the next day. Blackwells refused to take any responsibility for that. It then took five months to get the majority of the deposit back. We were emailing and calling on a consistent basis to find out when the deposit would be paid after moving out in August 2012. It was November 2012 that they stated the money was going to be placed into a scheme and we would have to go through that--after a period of 20 days--to get the money back. That money, by law, should have been moved in by the October since it was July when the Scottish law came into affect. They took no responsibility for that delay.
I've had issues with one letting agency before this but nothing as bad as this one. Avoid with a passion. The warning sign should have been when the company has no official website of their own!
The kitchen was a state, even inside the cupboards! Blackwells claims to have sent in professional cleaners but that definitely wasn't the case when we moved in. They offered to send out a cleaner, which we accepted, only to have the cleaner cancel on us five minutes before turning up (after the letting agency called for the night). After two days of trying to sort something out, we had to take compensation to clean it ourselves. We did it to the standard that we were happy with and left it in a better standard than that when moving out but Blackwells still tried to take money out of our deposit for cleaning. Luckily the deposit scheme sided in our favour.
There were problems with fixing items in the house. The bathroom door broken at 11pm on a Saturday night and we had no emergency number. My husband had to break the door down (he was trapped in the room) and we reported it as soon as the letting agency opened. That was in the December time and it took until after we moved out for them to fix it! Also, high winds damaged the tiles on the roof with a hole big enough for a blackbird to get stuck in the attic for half a day! We reported that in the November and it wasn't fixed by the time we moved out in the August of the next year! They had the audacity to tell us that tiles come off and they had to get the best time of year to fix it--that would have been during the heatwave in the May of 2012 then, not after August when the weather was starting to close in!
Moving out was a pain and we were charged for extra days. The first day was admittedly our fault but the second one was theirs. Their checkout guy was double booked and couldn't make it to do ours until the next day. Blackwells refused to take any responsibility for that. It then took five months to get the majority of the deposit back. We were emailing and calling on a consistent basis to find out when the deposit would be paid after moving out in August 2012. It was November 2012 that they stated the money was going to be placed into a scheme and we would have to go through that--after a period of 20 days--to get the money back. That money, by law, should have been moved in by the October since it was July when the Scottish law came into affect. They took no responsibility for that delay.
I've had issues with one letting agency before this but nothing as bad as this one. Avoid with a passion. The warning sign should have been when the company has no official website of their own!
What agent could do to change your mind?
The agency would need to do a LOT to change my mind. Blackwells needs to be more accountable for actions when they do something wrong. It's just a good job that the deposit scheme found in our favour otherwise we would have gone to court for a LOT more.Attached Filesnbsp;
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Latest Reviews
24th Oct 2018
reviewed by 'Helena'
2nd Oct 2018
reviewed by 'Happy'
16th Dec 2014
reviewed by 'ben'
27th Aug 2013
reviewed by 'Alex'
Opening Hours
Address
Blackwells
4 Cadzow Lane
Hamilton
South Lanarkshire
ML3 6AY
01355 267722
Performance statistics
| Services | Valuation Accuracy | Fees Satisfaction | Min Price of property reviewed | Max Price of property reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lettings | 0% | 50% | £295 | £295 |
Review statistics
| From Landlords | From Tenants | From Vendors | From Buyers | Other | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Areas covered
Services offered
- Sales
- Lettings
- Block Management
- Surveys
- Conveyancing
- Mortgage Advice
- Home Builder
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Oct 24,2018
Oct 24,2018
0
people found
this helpful
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This was my first experience renting from a letting agent and I can honestly say it was great. Any issues I had were resolved very quickly whether it was problems with neighbours or something going wrong in the house. They answered my emails immediately and ...
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Oct 24, 2018
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(1)
Thank you so much for your lovely comments Helena. It was a pleasure having you as a tenant. Good luck in your new property! ...
Oct 02,2018
Oct 02,2018
0
people found
this helpful
this helpful
All at Blackwells looked after me the three years I lived at the property I rented. Any repairs reported were dealt with and everyone extremely helpful and pleasant. Would recommend them as an agent....
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Dec 16,2014
Dec 16,2014
4
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Blackwells letting agencies is an absolute joke i wouldnt recomend theese agents to anyone the worst people to let me a flat i had various problems with our flat that we made clear to the agents that never got sorted out ever an absolute joke ...
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Apr 28, 2016
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(1)
The reason £50.00 was deducted was the oven was filthy and the fridge was not left in a clean condition either. We have photographs as proof. To say that we screw you over is clearly not true and I would like this comment removed from All Agents. We expect the property to be cleaned when vacating, this includes the oven and fridge. ...
Aug 27,2013
Aug 27,2013
6
people found
this helpful
this helpful
At first, everything seemed to be great. Looking around the property was promising and the agency was very easy to deal with. Moving in was the first sign of trouble. The house was a complete state upon moving in. They had just recently had painters ...
read full review
read full review
What agent could do to change your mind?
The agency would need to do a LOT to change my mind. Blackwells needs to be more accountable for actions when they do something wrong. It's just a good job that the deposit scheme found in our favour otherwise we would have gone to court for a LOT more.Attached Filesnbsp;
Was this helpful?
Yes
Yes
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
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