When I first came into contact with L&S I couldn't have been happier. They quickly arranged a viewing of an ideally located city centre apartment, which was within walking distance of work and actually worked out cheaper than my last place overall. I was thrilled. During the initial viewing, I noticed that the walls throughout were in very poor condition - there were large black smudges and marks on the walls in every single room. I asked the agent about this and was told this would be sorted before I moved in. There were also a couple of other minor maintenance issues which I was assured would be taken care of. For personal reasons, I had to move my move in date back by 3 weeks; again, L&S accommodated this, didn't charge me anything and overall gave me the impression they were empathetic, attentive and professional. Then I collected the keys, and everything changed. When I moved in, I immediately noticed the walls were in the same poor, dirty condition. I phoned the office straight away and was told this would be looked in to. I went through the apartment on that first day with an inventory which, signed off by an L&S agent, described every room as being in 'very poor condition'. Aside from the dirty walls, there was a cupboard door hanging off, the oven didn't work, the microwave didn't work, the bathroom door didn't close and the living room lights (apart from being incorrectly fitted), flashed and fizzed when switched on. I immediately logged all maintenance issues that I found. It took three visits from the contractor before all issues were resolved - each time he came, something had been missed off his list of jobs by L&S, meaning he could not do anything until the job was approved. After I contacted L&S about a list of maintenance issues, I had to resort to sending an email to the office manager as my emails to the agent I had been dealing with had been ignored for 3 weeks. I did not receive any acknowledgement from the manager, but all of a sudden, the agent was back in contact. As a result of the office's delays and not acting on the maintenance issues promptly, I did not have a working oven for 5 days, I did not have a working microwave for 3 months and even then, I had to go out and buy a microwave because the one fitted could not be fixed. I did this and submitted by receipt for reimbursement. I heard nothing until I chased it, and only then was the money reimbursed. A couple of other, minor, issues were resolved, but I still had several issues outstanding, which were never sorted (cupboard door hanging off, part of shower broken and taped up). The walls remained in the same dirty state. Eventually, I was told by the L&S agent that the landlady had not approved a redecoration so this would not be done. When I made the point that a representative of L&S had told me it would be sorted during the viewing, the answer was 'he would not have told you that, he would have told you...', in other words, they were calling me a liar! Perhaps he should not have told that, but he did and the agent who decided that I was making it up was not present at the viewing so was in no position to tell me what I had and had not heard. Despite never being offered a reduction in rent or a reimbursement (I was paying for a fully furnished apartment, and yet several fixtures and fittings were broken), I had to replace, out of my own pocket, the vacuum cleaner, the ironing board and the iron, all of which were broken (and none of which were noted on the inventory by L&S). The iron was actually a safety hazard - when I tried to use it the first time, it spat blue sparks). I didn't seek reimbursement for these items as, quite frankly, communication was proving to be so poor that i simply couldn't be bothered with the hassle. I did, however, request L&S to confirm that I would not be charged for any of the originals when I left). When I mentioned that I had been forced to replace the items, including mentioning the safety hazard that was the iron, there was no apology. A huge issue throughout the entire tenancy was communication - on several occasions I had sent emails which were totally ignored (I preferred to keep a record of everything, so did not contact the agents by phone). Only when I forwarded the same message on, requesting a follow up, or forwarded the email to someone else in the office, would I receive an answer. Even then, the answer was usually something along the lines of 'I will get back to you' - there was no urgency, and they gave the impression of not caring at all. I am not in the habit of hassling, or being awkward, but considering I paid my rent on time every single month without fail, I expected L&S to be more attentive to me, as their tenant. On one occasion, the agent even offered an apology for her delay responding to me, but since she hadn't heard from me in 3 weeks, she assumed everything was OK - I had emailed her on 3 separate occasions in those 3 weeks, all of which had been ignored, and when I pointed this out, in answer to her, this too was ignored. On more than one occasion, I expressly told L&S, by email, that I was not happy and gave my reasons why - I did not receive any acknowledgement or apology. In other words, as long as they were getting their rent on time, they didn't care. When it came time to end the tenancy, I arranged a check out with another agent, one I had not previously had any contact with, on a day where I could be present. Given the state of the apartment when I moved in, and the general unprofessional way in which L&S had conducted themselves throughout, I did not want to run the risk of having them trying to charge me for issues which were not my fault. THe check out was confirmed. I was then told by my original contact that this date was not possible and when I asked why, it was fobbed off as the other agent making a mistake. The check out would have to be conducted on a day when I was not present. I agreed, on the premise that any issues would be referred to me, and I would take photos of everything as evidence. After the check out, I received an email asking about part of the shower being taped up despite the fact that this was noted on the inventory and was noted in an email I had sent, as part of the list of maintenance issues. In other words, rather than checking all the documented evidence, L&S tried to blame me for something, for which they would have charged me. Part of the tenancy agreement was to have the carpets professionally cleaned upon exit, which I did, using the cleaner recommended by L&S. The fee was �85 - at his suggestion, being the usual cleaner for this agency, I contacted the office to confirm if they were happy to deduct �85 from my deposit. I received a reply that yes, 'any monies for carpet cleaning would be deducted'. I replied back insisting that the exact amount of the deduction be confirmed, and eventually (after chasing) this was confirmed in writing. I thought this was particularly sneaky, without a confirming a figure, I did not want to risk them charging me more than the agreed fee, and their reluctance to confirm the amount added to this suspicion. Overall, Linley and Simpson are fantastic agents, until you sign the tenancy agreement. Once they have 'made the sale', they give the impression of not caring one bit. Ignoring emails was totally unprofessional, and their attitude is one of 'we'll get to you when we feel like it'; this is appalling when, as a tenant, I was paying rent on time, without fail. They came across on more than one occasion as sly (refusing to confirm the amount of deduction, leaving this open and ambiguous, suggesting that I had broken the shower despite documented evidence to the contrary etc) and left me not trusting them, hence why I took photos of every single part of the apartment when I left, in case anything was disputed. The fact that apartment was let to me in 'very poor condition', as signed off by an L&S representative is appalling, especially when there was no offer of rent reduction or reimbursement to reflect this. This gave me the impression that they don't care what the apartment was like, as long as they can get it let out as quickly as possible, to get the rent coming in; in other words, they only care about the money. All I can suggest to anyone using this agent is that you keep all email communication, take photos on arrival and exit of everything, and make sure you follow every single issue up, regardless, as there was no proactivity from them when I dealt with them.

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