100% lettings valuation accuracy
25% lettings fee satisfaction
Apr 11,2014
Apr 11,2014
4
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It pains me to have to spend the time writing this review but I was disgusted, continually shocked and frankly appalled at the level of ¢â‚¬Ëœservice' provided to my partner and I before, during and after our tenancy.
I will start at the beginning. We viewed a property in April 2012 and wished to take it; we were required to put £1,000 down to make an offer, which if accepted we could not get back, if we were to pull out of the deal. This is the highest ¢â‚¬Ëœoffer deposit' I have ever had to put down but we did as we wanted the flat. We did however request items inserted to our AST.
When it came to moving in there were issues with getting the keys and when we eventually did we found that most of the things requested in our AST had not been honoured. Our flat had not been cleaned to the extent that there was cigarette ash everywhere and the carpets had not been cleaned despite us stressing that we would only take the flat if they were to be professionally cleaned (they were stained badly and stank of stale smoke). Moreover the internal door handles were broken, something we requested be fixed, they were not fixed and for the whole duration of our tenancy we could not lock our bathroom door or even close it from the outside. The toilet seat was broken; for about the first 12 months of our tenancy we did not have a toilet seat that we could sit on. We stopped having guests to visit as they could not use the toilet; we only could because we learned to live with it. This was not a cheap flat in my opinion, it was in excess of £1,500 pcm for a 2 bedroom flat.
We spent the first 6 months of our tenancy chasing all of the above problems but it was pointless. We were told we needed to speak to the agents, who told us to speak to maintenance. We would speak to maintenance who would say someone else was dealing with our account. That person would say someone else was dealing with it. We were told that despite us requesting the carpets to be professionally cleaned this would not be honoured unless the money to pay for this came from the previous tenant's deposit. Eventually the money was deducted from the previous tenants deposit and we were then told that the carpets would not be cleaned as the flat had all our belongings in it and ¢â‚¬Ëœlogistically' it was not now feasible to clean the carpets. Can you believe it? The door handles were never fixed meaning we could never close and open internal doors. After 12 months of hounding we eventually had a toilet seat that we could sit on. These items are just the tip of the iceberg, the ones that have stuck in my memory more than most. What is the point of the AST if it is something that we as tenants must honour, but estate agents and landlords do not? A one-way agreement? I asked for clauses to be inserted to our contract, under the ¢â‚¬Ëœindividually negotiated clauses' section. I was categorically told that this could not happen (what then is the point in this section) and that our AST requirements would be honoured. I was lied to. Time and time again I was lied to.
Our mind was made up a couple of weeks after we moved in that we would leave at the end of our tenancy. I did not however expect our 18 month tenancy to be quite so full of such appalling service as it was.
Our tenancy came to and end and we vacated the property, leaving it in an unrecognisable state of cleanliness compared to how we found it. 3 weeks after the end of our tenancy we were informed deductions would be made from our deposit, did I expect anything less? And guess what, deductions were being made for all sorts of things that we had spent 18 months attempting to get fixed. It was another 5 weeks before we had any money returned. So about 8 weeks after we left the property we had 70% of our deposit returned with the remaining 30% still being withheld. I spent more hours calling and emailing the offices of Spicerhaart and FJ Lord. I was fobbed off and told contradicting things from different people on a daily basis. After 10 weeks I became more urgent, aware that we only had 3 months from the end of our tenancy to raise disputes with the TDS. Finally most of our deposit was returned but about 5% was deducted (the deduction being to fix something that was broken when we moved in). In the end we gave up.
I spent 2 years almost constantly calling and sending emails to Spicerhaart and FJ Lord for things that I should not have needed to. I wouldn't have minded if we had been poor tenants. However our rent was always paid in full and on time, we kept the property spotlessly clean and in a far superior state than it had been left for us. I had to continually battle for things that were just simply not honoured and for money that belonged to us and was owed to us.
I have rented in London for 8/9 years now and used 4/5 different agencies, all of the others have good and bad points but I would use them all again except FJ Lord and Spicerhaart.
I would advise anyone to absolutely avoid this company at all costs!!!!
I will start at the beginning. We viewed a property in April 2012 and wished to take it; we were required to put £1,000 down to make an offer, which if accepted we could not get back, if we were to pull out of the deal. This is the highest ¢â‚¬Ëœoffer deposit' I have ever had to put down but we did as we wanted the flat. We did however request items inserted to our AST.
When it came to moving in there were issues with getting the keys and when we eventually did we found that most of the things requested in our AST had not been honoured. Our flat had not been cleaned to the extent that there was cigarette ash everywhere and the carpets had not been cleaned despite us stressing that we would only take the flat if they were to be professionally cleaned (they were stained badly and stank of stale smoke). Moreover the internal door handles were broken, something we requested be fixed, they were not fixed and for the whole duration of our tenancy we could not lock our bathroom door or even close it from the outside. The toilet seat was broken; for about the first 12 months of our tenancy we did not have a toilet seat that we could sit on. We stopped having guests to visit as they could not use the toilet; we only could because we learned to live with it. This was not a cheap flat in my opinion, it was in excess of £1,500 pcm for a 2 bedroom flat.
We spent the first 6 months of our tenancy chasing all of the above problems but it was pointless. We were told we needed to speak to the agents, who told us to speak to maintenance. We would speak to maintenance who would say someone else was dealing with our account. That person would say someone else was dealing with it. We were told that despite us requesting the carpets to be professionally cleaned this would not be honoured unless the money to pay for this came from the previous tenant's deposit. Eventually the money was deducted from the previous tenants deposit and we were then told that the carpets would not be cleaned as the flat had all our belongings in it and ¢â‚¬Ëœlogistically' it was not now feasible to clean the carpets. Can you believe it? The door handles were never fixed meaning we could never close and open internal doors. After 12 months of hounding we eventually had a toilet seat that we could sit on. These items are just the tip of the iceberg, the ones that have stuck in my memory more than most. What is the point of the AST if it is something that we as tenants must honour, but estate agents and landlords do not? A one-way agreement? I asked for clauses to be inserted to our contract, under the ¢â‚¬Ëœindividually negotiated clauses' section. I was categorically told that this could not happen (what then is the point in this section) and that our AST requirements would be honoured. I was lied to. Time and time again I was lied to.
Our mind was made up a couple of weeks after we moved in that we would leave at the end of our tenancy. I did not however expect our 18 month tenancy to be quite so full of such appalling service as it was.
Our tenancy came to and end and we vacated the property, leaving it in an unrecognisable state of cleanliness compared to how we found it. 3 weeks after the end of our tenancy we were informed deductions would be made from our deposit, did I expect anything less? And guess what, deductions were being made for all sorts of things that we had spent 18 months attempting to get fixed. It was another 5 weeks before we had any money returned. So about 8 weeks after we left the property we had 70% of our deposit returned with the remaining 30% still being withheld. I spent more hours calling and emailing the offices of Spicerhaart and FJ Lord. I was fobbed off and told contradicting things from different people on a daily basis. After 10 weeks I became more urgent, aware that we only had 3 months from the end of our tenancy to raise disputes with the TDS. Finally most of our deposit was returned but about 5% was deducted (the deduction being to fix something that was broken when we moved in). In the end we gave up.
I spent 2 years almost constantly calling and sending emails to Spicerhaart and FJ Lord for things that I should not have needed to. I wouldn't have minded if we had been poor tenants. However our rent was always paid in full and on time, we kept the property spotlessly clean and in a far superior state than it had been left for us. I had to continually battle for things that were just simply not honoured and for money that belonged to us and was owed to us.
I have rented in London for 8/9 years now and used 4/5 different agencies, all of the others have good and bad points but I would use them all again except FJ Lord and Spicerhaart.
I would advise anyone to absolutely avoid this company at all costs!!!!
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May 28, 2014
Dear Damien,I am really sorry to hear about your experience and the service you received. Customer care is important to us an Spicerhaart and we would like the opportunity to look in to this. Please could you email your full name and property details to [email protected].
Many thanks,
Melanie Smith, Customer Relations Manager
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Opening Hours
Address
Spicerhaart
Colwyn House Sheepen Place
Colchester
Essex
CO3 3LD
01206 765 599
Performance statistics
| Services | Valuation Accuracy | Fees Satisfaction | Min Price of property reviewed | Max Price of property reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lettings | 100% | 25% | £475 | £1,500 |
Review statistics
| From Landlords | From Tenants | From Vendors | From Buyers | Other | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
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Jan 27,2023
Jan 27,2023
1
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After being told at the beginning how great they were and put landlords first and make sure landlords are happy blah blah blah, they just refuse to answer emails. Tenants left without paying a month, now they will not reply to any emails asking for ...
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Sep 07,2021
Sep 07,2021
1
people found
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Avoid Avoid Avoid
From the awful woman in the fishponds office, the virtually non existent maintenance company to the false accusations of damages to which there were no refund of deposit this rental was dreadful. Door handle falls off, water comes through the ceiling, guess ...
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Oct 01,2020
Oct 01,2020
1
people found
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this helpful
Worse customer service. They take your details and no1 gets back to you. When you call, they even put the phone down. Avoid at all costs...
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Jul 22,2020
Jul 22,2020
4
people found
this helpful
this helpful
I implore you not to use Haarts letting unless you want the worst service available on the market and to incur expenses over and above the rent you receive.
In 7 years I have paid £12,000 for their full management service. This is a non existent myth.
...
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Feb 04,2020
Feb 04,2020
0
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Terrible customer service, constantly deliever
On none of are issues with the property and always having to reminder them how to do there job as they seem to constantly getting things wrong and wasting a lot of paper on sending us information we already know....
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Jul 07,2019
Jul 07,2019
4
people found
this helpful
this helpful
If you're thinking of using HAART estate agency, then based on my experience, I would suggest you seriously think again.
I have had to wait several months before posting this feedback, whilst my complaints about the office at Lowestoft (which surprisingly has since closed) were ...
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Aug 24, 2019
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(1)
Horrible company, failed me completely, gave my numberplate and car to ex with restraining orders on him so put my family at risk, James told me to accept lower price and then pull out later on, lost my buyer with his games(even she complained) arranged a open house as two viewing booked, found out no booking were ever made, had my coffee pot at my main photo slog with car showing my reg! used his own phone so they have no clue what he was doing, now hes been sacked and they wont accept why I ha ...
Mar 21,2017
Mar 21,2017
9
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this helpful
this helpful
I regret the day I ever had any contact with this company.
Every time I have to contact my agent, the person I ask to speak to isn't available and time after time, messages are not delivered with a request for a return call. And ...
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Comment on agent fees
About 2% more than other agents, but I thought I was going to get extra value in lieu.
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Dec 15,2016
Dec 15,2016
7
people found
this helpful
this helpful
In the time that we rented from Haart we were subjected to the worst customer service we ever experienced. Our requests for maintenance were systematically ignored, delayed or handled by incompetent contractors chosen by Haart.
Because of its (true) reputation for not paying their contractors ...
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Aug 23,2016
Aug 23,2016
4
people found
this helpful
this helpful
I let a flat through Felicity J Lord, part of Spicerhart. They employed a contractor to replace a hob and washing machine. I found out that both appliances were old (the washing machine was 11 years old) even though Felicity Lord said they were new and ...
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Sep 01, 2016
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(1)
Thank you for taking the time to leave such lovely feedback for Clare and Don. I will pass this onto the team for you, Thanks for choosing Miller Metcalfe. Regards, Natasha ...
Apr 11,2014
Apr 11,2014
4
people found
this helpful
this helpful
It pains me to have to spend the time writing this review but I was disgusted, continually shocked and frankly appalled at the level of ¢â‚¬Ëœservice' provided to my partner and I before, during and after our tenancy.
I will start at the beginning. We ...
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read full review
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Jun 02, 2014
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Dear Melanie,
I sent a copy of the above to a number of executives at your Head office. I did receive one response, in which there is a partial apology for some of the issues, and excuses and reasons why some of the other issues occurred. In general the response demonstrated a lack of acknowledgement of the poor service inflicted upon us.
Damien ...
Feb 14,2014
Feb 14,2014
0
people found
this helpful
this helpful
These people are simply the worst property managers I've come across. We spent a total of 4 weeks without hot water and eventually discovered some of the lies they had been telling us and the landlord when we got to meet the landlord at the end ...
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What agent could do to change your mind?
Could have done their jobs, communicated with us and not saddled us with large bills at the end of our tenancy.Attached Filesnbsp;
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Sep 21,2013
Sep 21,2013
0
people found
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I advertised my property with the intention of letting it myself but was approached by Darlows. The agent who came round seemed good and said they could easily find me a tenant. I was wary so asked lots of questions including details of fees and ...
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What agent could do to change your mind?
BE UPFRONT AND HONEST WITH MUCH BETTER COMMUNICATION LOCALLY. LOCAL AGENT WAS GOOD BUT AFTER THAT IT WAS DOWNHILL ALL THE WAY.Attached Filesnbsp;
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Nov 15,2012
Nov 15,2012
2
people found
this helpful
this helpful
left without heating and hot water for 3 weeks. Have informd the joke of a management team every day for the last 3 weeks have been told twice it had been fixed only to find it hadnt and they were once again just saying anything to get ...
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Oct 23,2012
Oct 23,2012
3
people found
this helpful
this helpful
I am a first time landlord and didn't realise that once the property was let by the Lincoln office it would be managed by a team in Essex. That was my mistake for not doing my research.
There was inconsistency of contact in that over ...
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What agent could do to change your mind?
Limited the number of people dealing with my property. Been more flexible in terms of using landlords choice of contractors. Explained how they selected their 'approved contractors'.Attached Filesnbsp;
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Jul 16,2012
Jul 16,2012
1
people found
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this helpful
The incapability of Spicer Haart's (and FJL's) property management as well as their contractors is far beyond standard.
We had repair work that was due to be carried out for 5 months! Still the one issue that constitues a health & safety hazard, and has already caused ...
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I sent a copy of the above to a number of executives at your Head office. I did receive one response, in which there is a partial apology for some of the issues, and excuses and reasons why some of the other issues occurred. In general the response demonstrated a lack of acknowledgement of the poor service inflicted upon us.
Damien