I’ve rented through Peter Alan (formerly Roberts & Co) for nearly six years, and the service has been absolutely appalling throughout. In 30 years of living in rented accommodation, I have never dealt with such an unprofessional, incompetent, and disorganised organisation. In my time renting through Peter Alan, I was a dream tenant - a professional, full time employed by the same company for over twenty years – I never missed a single rent payment, and very rarely contacted them for maintenance issues – preferring to tackle minor issues myself. I passed all regular inspections with flying colours, because I treated the property like it was my own. To be nearer my partner, I made the decision to move from the property earlier this year, and this is where Peter Alan showed themselves to be a woefully inept organisation. Having served the required one month’s notice, they advised me that I had to actually give closer to two months’ notice to align with my tenancy agreement. I told them that this was nonsense, but they persisted with this line – even sending me letters dictating when my end date would be. I asked them to show me in my tenancy agreement where this clause was as I could not see it. It was then that I received a very sheepish reply from them to say that they couldn’t find the clause either, and therefore my original notice period of one month was valid. They then arranged an inspection of the property. I had given myself a two week overlap to ensure that I had enough time to thoroughly clean the property, and spent many hours doing this. The property was absolutely spotless, albeit with some minor wear and tear expected after a six month tenancy in which no maintenance or decorating had taken place. They sent in an independent contractor to complete the inspection, and I accompanied the gentleman as he went about his work. He commented throughout on how clean the place was, and I asked him specifically whether he could see anything that would likely lead to deductions from my bond. He replied that the place looked “Spotless” and that he felt I would receive my deposit back in full. It was with some surprise then that I received a check out report from Peter Alan detailing a number of defects that they felt would warrant deductions from my deposit. These included a hair on the toilet (seriously!) and some streaks on the shower door glass - things that would take ten seconds to correct with a wet wipe. They then advised me that a deduction of £95 would be made for these defects!! I asked for the balance of my deposit back, and there then followed a protracted email conversation in which they tried to bully me into accepting the £95 deduction – citing my request for the balance of my deposit as agreement to the deduction. The tone of these email conversations were absolutely deplorable – they have nothing but contempt for the tenants on their books, and are only interested in grabbing as much money off them as possible. I fought this deduction all the way, eventually having to refer the matter to the Tenancy Deposit Scheme Adjudicator who awarded in my favour. I’d also say “Beware” if you’re a landlord looking to place your property in the hands of these incompetent fools. Throughout my tenancy I was seeking to obtain a spare key. As the key I held was a secure key and could not be duplicated, I needed the landlord’s assistance to do this. Peter Alan couldn’t organise this – in nearly six years I went around in circles. When I had served notice and they wanted access to the property to facilitate viewings, it then transpired that they “Misplaced” a number of spare keys provided by the landlord. So to sum up – if I were a tenant, I would avoid Peter Alan – and particular the Newport Branch like the plague. Save yourself the frustration of dealing with staff who frankly would struggle to run a lemonade stand (they would probably misplace the lemons) and find another agent. The staff I dealt with (you know who you are) should be eternally amazed that they are able to earn a wage while performing at such an appallingly low level, and I strongly suggest that senior management put these staff through some extensive training as soon as possible – they are seriously damaging your business. As a Senior Manager in a service organisation myself, these staff would have had their P45 in very short order – as Customer Services is clearly not right for them.