Review of   Belvoir! The Lettings Specialist, Rugby, Warwickshire    Phone: 01788579456     Address: 47 Chapel Street

Having let my properties privately until now, I ran into problems, and was very ably assisted by Belvoir Lettings who helped me get rid of a particularly difficult tenant. This was when others seemed not to want to know. I would highly recommend them to any property owners looking for a sensible, landlord-focussed lettings agent in this town.

Value for money:		Good
Service & support:		Excelent
Quality:		Excelent
Location:		Good

Review of   Devon Sales and Lettings, Crediton, Devon    Phone: 01363 773757     Address: 5 High Street, Crediton, Devon EX17 3AE

Not sure what the other reviewer was on about regarding DS&L.

We found their service second to none, having rented with various agencies throughout the country.

They were completely professional throughout, and didn't attempt to bamboozle us with legal jargon. Instead they were helpful and approachable.

I would recommend this agency to anyone, and actively do so. Now that I am a home owner, I fully expect to look to DS&L when the time comes to sell my home.

Highly recommended. A+.

Value for money:		Excelent - Perfectly acceptable rates.
Service & support:		Excelent - Friendly and approachable.
Quality:		Excelent - No complaints.
Location:		Excelent - Easy access.

Review of   Daniel Henry, Derry, County Londonderry

Do not use this agent!!

Value for money:		Poor - Lost money with them
Service & support:		Poor - No contact, no deposit, rent not paid in full
Quality:		Poor - damaged property
Location:		Poor - irrelevant - AVOID

Review of   Space Lettings, Reading, Berkshire    Phone: 01189666660     Address: 49 Wokingham Road, Reading, Berkshire, RG6 1LG

The administrator, Tara Breen has been helpful and prompt with her email correspondence with matters related to the property that I am renting. She also phones as necessary and this is appreciated.
As I respect and look after the owner's property, it's good to know that there is support when required.

For viewings on the property, Chris notifies me in advance. If I'm unable to take his call, his text message follows and is appreciated.

As I had to find accommodation fairly quickly, I'm therefore unable to comment on the value in relation to other properties.

Value for money:		Not rated
Service & support:		Not rated
Quality:		Not rated
Location:		Not rated

Review of   Jasminelets, Cambridge    Phone: 01223864607     Address: Ely Road

We have used Jasminlets to find us a tenant in our central Cambridge property. Nothing is too much trouble for this company and their costs are very reasonable. They will do any extra awkward jobs that you cannot do if you live out of the area as we do and do not charge the earth. Friendly, honest and hardworking, it is a small family run business, the tenants also appreciate dealing with these agents.

Value for money:		Excelent
Service & support:		Excelent
Quality:		Excelent
Location:		Good - out of Cambridge but doesn't matter as communication via phone email

Review of   Jasminelets, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire    Phone: 01223 864607     Address: jasmine House, Ely Road Waterbeach, CB25 9NW

We have a house in Cambridge and have recently taken on Jasminelets as letting agents. We live in Scotland so it is all long-distance communication. So far we are very impressed indeed. It is a small family business and the service is very personal. I can speak to Marc, the agent, at any time as I have his email and mobile phone number. He consults us about all issues but at the same time is very capable of taking the initiative himself.

He found us suitable tenants within a week and took it upon himself to go looking for bargain bits of furniture to replace pieces which had belonged to previous tenants. He bought new curtains and had his mother alter them to the correct length. Finding the hallway in need of a coat of paint, he spent the weekend painting it himself! Being Scottish, we appreciate value for money! There was a slight hitch with some plumbing when the new tenants moved in but within a day he had found tradesmen to sort it.

We are, so far, totally happy with the service from jasminelets and I am sure our new tenants are too. So different to some big agencies. I have no apprehensions about what is going on in our house in Cambridge knowing that Jasminelets are in charge. Their admin is also very efficient with no hidden costs.

Value for money:		Excelent - they charge a smaller percentage than other agencies.
Service & support:		Excelent - in constant communication when necessary.
Quality:		Excelent - Great
Location:		Excelent - Although based some miles from Cambridge this is not a problem at all.

Review of   Jeremy leaf, East Finchley, North London    Phone: 020 7096 9471     Address: 98 High Road East Finchley London N2 9EB

Good agent but could to better with communication.

Value for money:		Good
Service & support:		Good
Quality:		Average
Location:		Good

Review of   Alex Neil, Surrey Quays, South East London    Phone: 020 7237 6767     Address: 146 Lower Road

I am astounded at how bad these people are. Rude, unprofessional and unqualified. They simply promise the earth but deliver no service whatsoever. All they do is bung the property on a website, sit back and wait. No adverts anywhere else and when challenged reckon its a waste of time - shame they didn't say that when I instructed them. I even had someone knock on the door as they had been unable to arrange an appointment at a convenient time. There are many better agents in the area who do a good job for the same price and who are actually interested in fee paying clients. I complained, but didn't even get the courtesy of an acknowledgment.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Average

Review of   Fieldhouse Residential Ltd, Battersea, South West London    Phone: 020 7924 6992     Address: 284b Battersea Park Road

I come from a slightly unusual position having used Fieldhouse as both a Landlord and a Tenant when last year I used them to let out my flat so that I could move into something bigger.

I can't praise the service highly enough, compared to the run of the mill 'suited and booted' type of sharp practitioners that tend to dominate the marketplace, Fieldhouse are a friendly, caring family firm who get things done with the minimum of fuss. Even when I had a near disaster with a washing machine flood, they just took care of it without me needing to take time off work.

They charge the going rate, so they aren't the cheapest, but I'm happy to pay for a great service, which is definitely what they provide.

Value for money:		Good
Service & support:		Excelent
Quality:		Good
Location:		Average

Review of   RNR Properties,     Phone: 01189571800     Address: 86-88 London Street

I warn you renting or letting a property with this agency is a very bad idea.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Fair

Review of   Sam Alexander Ltd., Finchley, North London    Phone: 02082092665     Address: The Vale

Was meant to move into a property, paid the holding deposit within minutes of ending the phone call, and then was told 2 days before move-in date that the flat "had a leak" and would no longer be available...
Agreed to return my holding deposit, and 2 months later I'm still battling it out with them. Nobody answers the phone, nobody responds to e-mails, when I speak to them they say my deposit will be returned within 30 days (even though I paid it to THEM instantly!?), and yet over 60 days has passed.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Poor

Review of   Premier Lets Ltd, Seaford    Phone: 01323 872221     Address: 4 Sutton Pk Rd

In my time both personally and professionally I have come across some ramshackle organisations but this one really takes the biscuit. I choose my words carefully as I do not wish to be unfair but the majority of the employed staff at Premier Lets are unhelpful, rude, dishonest and above all incompetent. The company's ethos appears to be "lets screw'em all" with no consideration for either one of tennant or landlord. During the course of a two and a half year rental my wife and I contacted the agents maybe 5 or 6 times so would consider ourselves to be very low maintenance tennants and yet were treated like scum. when we lost hot water last December (when it snowed) and had a newborn baby in the house we called but were told "not our problem, try the landlord direct". When the rate of inflation was applied against our rental agreement a miscommunication led to be short paying by J5...

An easy error but one which initiated a torrent of three separate, vicious calls to my heavily pregnant wife in the space of 15 minutes claiming no payment had been made and that we would be evicted if immediate payment was not made - this was one day after due date and I was J5 short!... Evidently the short payment had been put into suspense as an unknown amount but had been ignored by the incompetent staff on the phones. We had dozens of contracts flying back and forth over the years, each one with varying names - none of which were spelled correctly - neither my wife or I have challenging names! If the staff were bored and simply trying to see who could agitate me (and from local opinion every other person on their books) the most then kudos to them. Otherwise they should hang their heads in shame and bolt their doors indefinitely until they learn what customer service actually is.

Value for money:		Poor - Over priced, startling fees
Service & support:		Poor - Non existent
Quality:		Poor - Appalling
Location:		Excelent - Nearby

Review of   Victoria Knight,     Address: Stratford London

Moved into the flat in September and after paying an exorbitant fee I got absolutely no service with respect to a broken boiler and faulty electrical. They said that's how I got it. Pathetic abysmal agency.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Not rated

Review of   Cryers, Southampton, Hampshire

Where to start.
Any issues that you raise with them you have to chase them weekly to get any answers, and then it is generally being fobbed off.
They are unprofessional on the phone, and even in person the staff are inexperienced and inefficient.
Throughout the summer months they entered the property and carried out work, which was fine but there was no prior warning to them entering the house. Then when you actually need a repair they suddenly become unable to do it.
Would never ever use them again and would never ever recommend them to anyone.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Not rated

Review of   Michael Anthony Estate Agents, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire    Phone: 01296 433666     Address: 54 Kingsbury Square

Michael Anthony are the worst letting agents that we have dealt with.
• They insisted on having the rent and deposit five working days (bank transfer) before moving in – the other companies we have used only requested it on the day you signed the lease.
• They insisted we sign the lease in the presence of their agent before we moved into the property; however, it took the landlord over a month to sign it, and have someone witness it.
• The tenant will not get an original copy of the tenancy agreement.
• The tenant will pay for an inventory check; however, your agent will carry it out, but you get paperwork from an inventory company.
• Please be aware that there is no emergency or out-of-hours contact number if Michael Anthony manages the property.
• The staff do not go out of their way to help customers.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Fair

Review of   Select Estate Agents,     Phone: 02081502022     Address: 80-86 St Mary Road, Walthamstow, London, E17 6RE

I cannot stress enough to avoid these agents like the plague.
I appointed them as full management agents on a let property, and the worst case scenario has happened.

The tenant caused damage to the ceiling by obviously putting their foot through by going up into the loft when they shouldn't have, fabricated a story about it being water damage, has caused further damage by pouring water around the hole. This agent not only tried to imply that I had to arrange repair of the damage at my expense, but they failed to arrange proper contractors to assess despite my asking for my own insurances purposes. Sensing the problem coming, and that I would obviously raise a claim with the DPS to deduct from the deposit if I had to arrange repairs, Select withheld the rent from me, even though the tenant has paid them!!

Not only that, but they failed to arrange the Gas Safety Certificate when it expired, leaving me legally vulnerable.

Furthermore when I fired them, they have refused to hand over the keys they're holding, blatantly lying by denying that I gave them a set to hold in the first place, so now I have to have the locks changed too obviously. More expense.

Despite being signed up to the Ombudsmen when I appointed them in August (I checked at the time), they no longer are, and I'm having to being a Small Claim against them.

Avoid them at all costs.

Value for money:		Poor - I would give no stars if possible
Service & support:		Poor - I would give no stars if possible
Quality:		Poor - No Stars really
Location:		Poor - No stars really

Review of   Aspects Property Solutions, Southampton, Hampshire

If you have had problems with this Letting Agent, or are currently renting from them and are having problems PLEASE contact me!!!! Also if you are renting from them you MUST check that you have received a letter from the Deposit Protection Service with all the information about your deposit. If you haven't received this then please contact me. I am in the process of taking them to court and really need to find out if they are treating other tenants badly. When looking online they aren't reviewed anywhere, which in my eyes doesn't look good, if anyone can help please contact me. My email address is: Bexboodles@aol.com

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Not rated

Review of   1-2-Let, Glasgow    Phone: 0141-550 8888     Address: 104 Bellgrove St

I am posting this review to ensure other landlords never allow this company to let their property. They did not reference my tenant and claimed they had, then said they had not and then that if they did the references were not worth the paper they were written on. It hardly encourages faith in their ability to manage your property. My property was let to a tenant who had drink issues and was heavily involved with social care and the police. I was unaware of any of this. My first rent was 3 months late and the tenant did not pay the last month owing to me and wrecked the flat. The agency did not wish to know and made me feel I was being unreasonable even when the police had become involved due to my tenant's extremely anti-social behaviour.

I was kept deliberately misinformed and only found out after tenant had left that my flat doors had been defaced, beading pulled up, fire ripped away from wall, front door broken down with damaged lock, bath had been burnt with cigarettes, all kitchen items stolen even the fuse had been taken from the kettle, holes in my walls, curtains and poles stolen etc. The stress was considerable and the agency just had the motto, ' She could do worse,' and did nothing much although promised to do so but then nothing ever happened due to staff moving abroad/being on lunch/in another call/just popped out. Very unprofessional and incompetent. You may read great reviews of this company elsewhere but they must be submitted by staff or friends of the company. Please go with reputable company and save yourself the stress and worry.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Poor

Review of   Goldcrown Property Services, Bedford, Bedfordshire    Phone: 01234 271 005     Address: 16 Ford End Road Bedford Bedfordshire MK40 4JH

Poor management and service overall. When there were maintenance problems with the property I ended up having to arrange for the workmen to go there myself as I got fed up of waiting for them to deal with the problem. Failure to manage my property properly or take any responsibilities for their actions, continually lied to and led up the garden path. They moved a tenant into the property without perfoming any checks and without taking a deposit or the 1st month's rent from them.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Not rated

Review of   Countrywide Residential Lettings, Leamington, Warwickshire

I would not recommend this company to anyone. The worst letting agency I ever came across. Arrogant and rude are just a couple of words to describe their attitude. Also they are useless at their job.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Fair

Review of   Northwood-Preston, Preston    Phone: 01772882233     Address: 5 Fishergate Row, Butler Street

Fobbed off each and everytime, unprofessional, they lie, not happy not impressed will not use will not recommend they reply to you after 10 days of writing to them they do not return calls.

Value for money:		Average
Service & support:		Poor - Fail to respond to complaints, only admin staff present in office
Quality:		Poor - no managers available at anytime
Location:		Average

Review of   Lloyds Residential Lettings, Bethnal Green, East London    Phone: 0207 033 9888     Address: 435 Bethnal Green Road

Flat in disgusting state. Ongoing problem with washing machine leaking into flat below. Sink will not drain away - after much complaining they sent a plumber who confirms he cannot fix it. Promised to clean flat prior to occupation. Stated there was a gas check in place. The lying agent who promised the flat would be cleaned is called Mike Bacon. One of the directors of this company is an ex-estate agent banned from trading by the Office of Fair Trading. He is called Patrick French.

Photos of flat:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/69822395@N07/

Value for money:		Not rated
Service & support:		Not rated
Quality:		Not rated
Location:		Not rated

Review of   Homes Lettings, Warwickshire    Phone: 02476333434     Address: 43 Stennels Close

Do not use this company, they are amateurs and so rude to tenants.

Inspections are a joke, any works requested are noted and filed.

The only positive thing is that I have the landlords phone number to be able to contact him direct.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Average

Review of   Winchester Letting Agency, Eastleigh, Hampshire

Rude, obnoxious totally unethical this company should not be trading.

Value for money:		Average
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Excelent

Review of   Surelet, Burton upon Trent    Phone: 01283 537120     Address: 53 High St

We used Surelet in Burton on Trent as they are local and the salesman assured us we would experience a painless and easy letting process. However, this was not the case!

Although Surelet completed 1 inspection (even though we were promised 3), they thought it was acceptable for a the tenant to vandalise, keep 2 Rottweilers, smoke inside cause thousands of damage and steal items including a fridge and washing machine and then provide absolutely NO customer service. We were then informed that the cherry on the cake would be a J70 charge PER DAY for any assistance in the court process.

Apparently this is what you get for J800 a year!!

Left thousands out of pocket and would not recommend them to anyone!

DO NOT USE!!!

Value for money:		Poor - Expensive compared to others
Service & support:		Poor - Accused of lying! No Service at all
Quality:		Poor - Terrible
Location:		Poor

Review of   Accommodate, Rochester    Phone: 01634 202422     Address: 153 High St

I used Accommodate for full management of a house in Strood and had charges made for maintenance issues (plumbing, heating, drainage) for 75% of the months of the year. I had drainage problems charged privately which should have been met by the water authority and very exorbitant sink water tap replacements etc. I was able to recover the charges attributable to the water authority despite claims by Accommodate that this was not possible.

When I complained about charges the office in charge said that she could not know if the contractor engaged was fair or overcharging. I have now been managing the property myself for more than 2 years and during that time have had no maintenance charges. Could this be a coincidence - I think not. I found Accommodate to be totally unreliable as a managing agent and I have reason to believe that they at best mishandled thmanagementnt of my property.

Value for money:		Poor - Not good at letting or management.
Service & support:		Poor - At 12% you would expect a good service but not so.
Quality:		Poor - No technical knowledge
Location:		Good - Convenience is all that can be postive

Review of   Hastings International, Southwark, Central London    Phone: 020 7378 1066     Address: 42 Borough High Street, London, SE1 1XW

As with most poor agents, initial contact was good and the agent found and vetted a seemingly good tenant.

Then, despite being paid a management fee they did nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Come the end of the tenancy they didn't even bother to communicate with either landlord or tenants and they had to sort out most of the issues between themselves. Basic stuff like reporting the final gas/electric numbers to the power companies was not done and as I write I am still waiting for my final rent/deposit balance to be transferred to me. The tenantreportingting the same poor service from their side and their basic "couldn't care less" attitude.

Basically they took thousands in fees just for people finding.

Lesson learned from me: never use an agent again and especially this useless bunch.

Value for money:		Poor - laughable !
Service & support:		Poor - Non existent. Had to be prompted to do the most basic stuff
Quality:		Poor - Actually difficult to judge as they did nothing to rate against !
Location:		Average - Close to my flat but hardly mattered in the end

Review of   Capital and Provincial (Netlatch Dundee), West London    Phone: 01382757990/ 0207 2244 888     Address: 12 Blandford Street, London, W1U 4AZ

They will keep the entire deposit even for minor cleaning and marks.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Average

Review of   Circa Residential Property Ltd, East London    Address: South Woodford

Had an awful experience with this company. They put off getting our heating fixed in the middle of winter for 6 days, but are quick to hassle tenants when they need something. Used any excuse to extragate money from our deposit, unhelpful and patronising staff.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Poor

Review of   Black Katz,     Phone: 020 7284 3111 ()     Address: 69 Parkway NW1 7PP

Maintenance phone/hotline is often engaged and email responses slow (none sometimes). Urgent issues are never resolved in a timely manner, in fact we were left without hot water for weeks.

Once you signed the agreement, pretty much left on your own to follow up with anything (reported issues and even the set up of rental payment - if you do not ask what their account details are and missed your rental payment, bad luck and that will cost you extra J35 because it was your responsibility to arrange it - so what do the admin staff do?

Poor management as no inventory list was ever done with the previous tenants.

Would give negative ratings if I had a choice. Unfortuantely it seems I am stuck with them until the end of my tenancy.

Avoid.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Poor

Review of   Victoria Knight,     Address: The Grove Stratford London

This agency offers the worst after service I have ever seen. As soon as they get their fees you can forget about getting them to fix any problems with your accommodation also the rude response you get from their staff is schocking. I was told that that is how I got the flat..with a broken boiler??
They took a month to fix it and when we ask about other problems they were very rude.
I'm now free of this agency and would not wish them on anyone.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Not rated

Review of   A Team Properties,     Address: 1 Station Parde Kirkstall Leeds

Not recommended at all claims to have put in tenant despite that we only asked him to show the property. No references or money received, very rude on the phone, don't use him at any cost there are other bad reviews about him on the net already.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor - Apalling
Quality:		Poor - Rubbish in my view
Location:		Poor

Review of   Victoria Knight, Stratford, East London    Address: stratford london

These agents offer absolutely no service after you sign the contract and pay their fees plus the staff are very rude. Stay well clear of this agency.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Not rated

Review of   Student Living, Nottingham    Phone: 0115-955 3181     Address: 210 North Sherwood Street

I used this company during my final year of university in Nottingham, when we moved in the boiler was broken and it took a month to fix. My lock broke which locked my keys inside my room and they charged me fifteen pounds to come and open it before they realised it wasn't my fault the lock was broken. I never did get a refund. They started working on the property's kitchen during the last month of our tenancy agreement when they thought (without checking) that we had all moved out. As it turned out I was on holiday and when I arrived they had filled the entire living room with kitchen units blocking in my television.

I was unable to physically move the television out of the room and they told me I would be charged for leaving it. I argued that they had no right to begin working on the property without my permission while I was still renting it and went through an extremely long process of fighting my corner not to be charged fifty pounds for being unable to move my television out when really they should have been compensating my loss of property. Wouldn't touch them and wouldn't recommend them. They treat students as if they are children with money to burn instead of young capable adults.

Value for money:		Good - We rented a large property for a decent amount pcm
Service & support:		Poor - Unhelpful and patronising
Quality:		Poor - Badly managed service
Location:		Good - Walkable from the university

Review of   Northeast Letting and Property Management Ltd, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear    Phone: 01912642233     Address: 2 Queens Road, Walbottle,NE1 5 8JB

I have received the worst service from these guys. I was meant to move in 2 weeks before they gave me the key to the property. When we moved in there was no running water and no electricity. The place was filthy and in a state. It was my worst experience as a customer. Plus after we rented for 6 months he asked us an admin fee for another 6 month contract and never send us one. Now that we want to move out he says we must give a months notice. But we had a fixed period but because he didn't send us the contract to sign it we don't have a say. So never rent from these people.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Poor

Review of   Victor Stone, Camden Town, Central London    Phone: 020 7388 5504     Address: 90-93 Plender Street

Victor Stone really disappointed us in the way they handled our departure from the flat. We were told what to do to avoid cleaning fees (e.g. dust the entire flat, including lamps and difficult-to-reach places, vacuum beneath beds that hadn't been moved since long before we'd moved in), and left the flat spotless the day before the next tenants moved in. Somehow, though, we were still charged an exorbitant fee from a 'professional cleaner' (who took 12 hours to clean an immaculate 2-bedroom flat?).

We had to wait for more than one month to receive our deposit (minus the cleaning fee) back, a month during which we emailed, called, and went to the agency in person, only to be directed to other people (conveniently absent from the agency at that point) or to be told they'd call us back (they never did). We had to threaten complaining to official, regulatory bodies before the deposit and a receipt from the so-called professional cleaning agency (no contact information on the Internet!) were sent to us.

Beyond the fact that we were swindled, we were shocked by how rude and dismissive the staff were and how unwilling to respond to basic inquiries they proved themselves until we threatened to complain officially. With the fees we paid, we expected better service! Avoid at all costs!

Value for money:		Poor - What value?
Service & support:		Poor - Inexistent!
Quality:		Poor - Very poor.
Location:		Good - Pretty much the only good aspect

Review of   Prescott Hall,     Phone: 01244 349012     Address: 17 Grosvenor Street, Chester, CH1 2DD

From the first week my girlfriend and I moved into our rented home, we already had trouble from the letting agents. Known as Prescott Hall, they have a gardener that comes around to the house to tend to the gardens. I came home from work one day to find the front and back gardens had been mowed. But to get to the back garden, access to the house is needed to unlock the gate at the side of the house from the back garden itself. I complained about this to the Prescott Hall, and they said that the gardener will be informed, and that it will not happen again. Two weeks later, it happened again. Again I complained, and the letting agents assured me that it will not happen again.

Five months later, I received a confirmation letter through the post, stating that the gardener has been informed. Amongst other things, as well as when the house was put up for sale, and we had people coming to view the house without our prior knowledge - standing there at our front door. Now the house has been sold, and we have moved out, we have the joy of trying to get our deposit back. I am now seeking legal advice due to some constraints put on us to get our deposit back. I have heard similar stories about Prescott Hall, and I implore anyone considering renting from Prescott Hall, to not rent from them.

Use them at your own peril!

Value for money:		Average
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Excelent

Review of   Asset Residential Ltd, Birmingham    Phone: 0121-616 2171     Address: Liberty Place/Sheepcote St

Incredibly slow to respond to emails and calls, if they even bother to get back to you. I would never recommend anyone to rent a property from them - you will be sorely disappointed.

Value for money:		Poor - More expensive than other letting agents in the area
Service & support:		Poor - Shockingly bad
Quality:		Poor - Horrible quality
Location:		Not rated

Review of   Dunpark, Edinburgh    Phone: 0131 557 4466     Address: 1 Abercromby Place, Edinburgh, Midlothian EH3 6JX

I found this company very hard to deal with when trying to find a property. We applied for a property with them and unlike many agents rather than doing a first come first served approach, they get a list of applicants and give it to the landlord to choose who they want. It's an approach that in theory I quite like, however it took them weeks to tell us that we were unsuccessful in our application - and when I say tell us it involved us ringing numerous times trying to get an answer to which it was 'We will call you tomorrow about it'. In the meantime while waiting we obviously kept looking for a flat as we didn't want to put all our hopes on this company.

Based on the calls I made there are 3 receptionists who make appointments etc. and generally they are all quite dismissive and unfriendly. Firstly they often don't call back when they say they will so I was left chasing them up. Secondly they don't seem to communicate with each other very well, which means messages don't get passed on. Thirdly they seem selective in who they offer appointments to - my partner is an overseas mature student (and also in full time employment so the student status wasn't the issue) and he was told there were no viewings of certain properties however when I rang up a short time later I was given times and dates for appointments. We thought this was possibly a mistake so we tested the theory and it happened on a number of occasions.

They seem to be following the trend of the majority of letting agents in Edinburgh who don't really care about their customer service - with the attitude of 'Someone will be desperate enough to take it so we don't need to bother being nice'. Anyone in the property market should know how stressful finding somewhere to live is and as such should offer customer service with the customer in mind! The front of house staff at dunpark give a negative image of the company and as such it casts doubt on how fast they would respond to maintenance requests and the like.

Value for money:		Average
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Not rated - Not really relevant

Review of   Morethanestate, Manchester, Greater Manchester    Phone: 08434733640    

I saw their advert on gum tree and called the number, the man going by the name Joe Sinq, said we could come for viewing but the house is being renovated and would be ready by September 30th. We went and the house was being worked on, he told us it would be available by October 1st as against September 30th as advertised. He kept stressing it may even be ready before then. He collected J200 as initial deposit to take the property off the market. Before then, I kept calling because I had to move out of my former accommodation by Sept. 17th to ask them to do the referencing and others.

That was when I started suspecting that the firm was not a proper estate agent. He later told me that they were only online and had no particular physical location. Because I had already put some money down, I kept hoping that it would turn out well. The rent was meant to be 375 and we finally agreed it should be 490 including all bills. Later, I tried to re-negotiate it to 375 and let me pay my bills but he refused claiming the landlord did not agree. I finally agreed. On trying to pay my rent, he said it would be collected cash at the house in exchange for the keys and the signing of the contract to which I refused. I told him I needed bank details but he refused claiming that their account had been used for fraud before.

I insisted that if he did not trust me not to use the account for fraudulent activities, why should I trust him not to disappear with my money, to which he finally agreed to take me to the landlord. He took me to Ideal Homes in Levenshulme and I found out that the house belonged to another firm. The man wanted cash but I told him I could not give him cash. Finally, he agreed for me to pay half the total sum cash and half through his bank. I kept wondering why until a friend told me he was evading taxes as cash cannot be traced easily.

Anyway, the house was never ready until the 3rd of October after so much quarrelling on the phone. When I got there, the painting was badly done, the house had not been cleaned, the old toilet seat was decaying. I told them I could not take it until these things were rectified. The landlord said if I could not take it and clean the remaining stuff, he was not ready to do it. The agent asked me if I wanted the house to which I said no and he said okay, my initial deposit and rent would be refunded but not the holding deposit. That was how I lost 200 pounds to Joe Sinq.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Fair

Review of   Alex King Estate Agent, Enfield, Greater London    Phone: 02088042222     Address: 442 Hertford Road, London N9 8AB

The courts are powerless to enforce Alex King Estates to pay money they owe to landlords/tenants confirmed a court appointed bailiff I spoke to.

They knowingly abusing landlords/tenants as property rental agents confirmed the court appointed bailiff and only personal pursuance is the only resort.

Due to mis-administration and falsified claims, Alex King Estates failed to adhere to the agreement that they would pass on rental payments from my tenants in my property to me.

They received the rent on my behalf but did not pay the rent to me claiming the tenant had not paid, which was untrue. After seeking a court order for Alex King Estates to pay J4K owed to from rent, the court appointed bailiff said I, and others have little chance of getting our money back.

The bailiff said the courts are well aware of what Alex King Estates are doing but are powerless to enforce them to pay anything. The bailiff said I should chase the owners of Alex King Estates who are father and son conmen Leslie and David Estall.

Value for money:		Poor - Do not give them a penny
Service & support:		Poor - non-existent
Quality:		Poor - non-existent
Location:		Poor

Review of   Red Apple Properties, Gravesend    Phone: 01474 333888     Address: 40 Windmill St

Rent never collected on time deposit not held properly which invalidated rental guarantee - owner was recently arrested. Stay away from this agency!

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Poor

Review of   Key Lettings - Bristol Letting Agency, Bristol    Phone: 0800 043 5022     Address: 21 East Street Bedminster, BS3 4HH

I've been letting with several agents, Key Lettings in Bristol is one of the worst agent i've encountered. They are nice to you but once you signed the contract then when you will see their 'true colours'.

1) There was a big hole on the other side of the mattress (of course it was hidden very well when i viewed the house). I informed the agent about the problem back in May 2010. Nothing has been done over a year and that left me no other choice but to contact the landlord. The landlord responded very well and our problem solved within 2 weeks. I can't believed that i have to wait for over 1 year and 3 months to replace the mattress. Not to mention that i had to endure all the shouting and threats from the agent (who is the director of 3 ppl company)

2) I decided to move out of the property. This is the second time people turn up to my property without any notice. By law i should be informed 24 hours in advance. I was lucky to be at home to discover all this otherwise i have no idea at all! This is how cheap and low they can be.

Please please avoid Key Lettings at all cost. http://www.keyletsonline.co.uk
No one deserve this pathetic service.

Value for money:		Poor - Did not receive service i am 'paying' for.
Service & support:		Poor - Totally awful, unlawful.
Quality:		Poor - Quality of service is poor. Talking to a brick wall.
Location:		Fair

Review of   Harringtons Letting Agents, Brighton    Phone: 01273 724000     Address: 109 Western Rd

Just rented out a flat with Harringtons and I all went smoothly. The flat was nice and clean when I moved in and the staff seems helpfull so all good.

Value for money:		Good
Service & support:		Good
Quality:		Good
Location:		Good

Review of   Lets Live Here, Tyne and Wear

When checking out student accommodation for our 19 year old daughter in Newcastle we came across a very helpful and friendly company called “Lets Live here” I read the reviews online and compared them to the myriad of others, however we decided to give it a try, after the first hurdle of finding a property in the right location we set to task completing the paper work, the whole experience was super and without hitch. When she moved in there were one or two items which needed rectifying however no matter what the issue was nothing was a problem and they really made us long distance parents feel very comfortable and assured our girl was in good hands.

Value for money:		Excelent
Service & support:		Excelent
Quality:		Excelent
Location:		Excelent

Review of   Chappell & Matthews, Bristol    Address: 28 The Mall

We used C&M 'Full Management Service' while abroad. When we came back there was over 10k damage to our home and the rent was 2k in arrears. A Director from C&M stated that they were NOT responsible for :

- collecting the rent owed after the end of the tenancy
- collecting money for the damage to property at the end of the tenancy
- the quality/speed of work carried out by their contractors ( they just arrange repairs not manage them )
- carrying out detailed inspections while we were away ( they just visit the property )
- produce a complete survey of damage on our return ( this is just a summary against the inventory and is therefore not useful if their is a deposit dispute )
- renewing tenancy agreements on time ( and anyway there is an extra cost for this )
- respond to queries about the arrears and damage ( they don’t have to communicate with the landlord after the tenants have moved out!)

Not much of a 'Full Management Service!!

Value for money:		Poor - did not provide the service we paid for
Service & support:		Poor - staff unprofessional and unwilling to help
Quality:		Poor - very poor
Location:		Fair

Review of   Letslivehere Lettings, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear    Phone: 01912652255     Address: 112 Heaton Road

Me and my partner let a 2 bed flat from these guys. After much looking around we finally found a flat that was great for us. The 2 guys on the front desk we're very friendly and helpful and couldn't have helped us more.

Value for money:		Good
Service & support:		Excelent
Quality:		Excelent
Location:		Good

Review of   Choices Estate Agent, Caterham, Surrey    Phone: 01883 330500     Address: 38 Croydon Road, Caterham

Myself and my husband rented with Choices for two and a bit years.

The service is the worst that you can imagine. We had a faulty shower and door entry system for over 4 months and was not fixed when we left. The new tenants are also having problems getting the faults fixed. That is just the start !

I feel sorry for the Landlord who gives permission for work to be carried out but Choices NEVER follow things up and it's up to the tenants to chase every couple of days or move out !!

We have been called liars on 2 occasions when Choices have been at fault.

We had to chase them for references with our new letting agent. They said that we hadn't given notification even though I had 3 emails, from 3 different Choices representatives that said they had received this.

I am now in dispute with our deposit. The fight is never ending !

Do yourself a favour and STAY WELL AWAY !!

If I do not get my full deposit back then i will be going to our local paper. The service is that bad !

Value for money:		Poor - Didn't get any value for money
Service & support:		Poor - What service....what support?
Quality:		Poor - None
Location:		Excelent - Flat was in very good location

Review of   Harcourt Estates Ltd, Leicester, Leicestershire    Address: Kibworth

One of the worst experiences with a Letting Agents ever. Awful attitude toward tenants (they need to realise we pay their wages).

No out of hours maintenance (you are expected to foot the bill of any OOH emergency and to be reimbursed at a later date, yeah right!).

Failed to act on serious gas safety concerns from a PREVIOUS years Gas Safety inspection (a recommendation to install carbon monoxide detectors due to a boiler flue being right next to a bedroom window causing a potential leak of carbon monoxide into the house) - their excuse was, and i quote, "it's not a legal requirement to act upon such a recommendation". How much is a carbon monoxide detector compared to my children's life's?

Their so called property maintenance team failed to fix a simple issue on two occasions over 2 months (I resorted to calling in a professional company myself) and also fixed a broken oven door compartment with glue (guess what happens to glue when it gets hot?)

It would appear no one runs the business when the owners go on holiday (when we had an issue we were told by an administrator that it would be dealt with on their return).

Landlords think carefully, choose a reputable company who look after their tenants (happy tenants = long tenancies).

Tenants - make your own mind up. I think this experience says it all.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Poor

Review of   Imperial Property Services, Cardiff    Phone: 02920303040     Address: 164a Richmond Road, Cardiff

I currently let out an apartment of mine using Imperial. The Managing Director "Jahan" seems to like to hang on to the rent he's collected and you never know when you will get it each month. He will only write you a cheque and as he is in London most days of the month you have it when he's around to sign it which isn't very often. When you have a mortgage that needs paying then i'm sure you will agree you need to know which date every month you will get your payment from the agent, after all that is what we are paying them the management fee for.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Average

Review of   Masons Estates, Ipswich, Suffolk    Address: Upper Orwell street

The sales pitch was amazing, the communication perfect, the deposit taken quickly and then a catastrophic failure in any further service. Severe problems with decoration, leaks, landlord, communication, employees, contractors and a complete inability to provide a service.

My advice is to stick with an accredited, regulated business and steer clear of this company that will not provide a service once they have your money.

Value for money:		Poor - Free wouldn't be good value
Service & support:		Poor - What service & support?
Quality:		Poor - No comprehension of the word
Location:		Not rated

Review of   Relish Residential Limited, Kirkwhelpington, Northumberland    Phone: 01325380380     Address: 5-7 Coniscliffe Road

Never use Relish Estate Agent, who does not abide with the law in supplying landlord's contact address in the contract, nor with the procedures of giving 2 months' notice of evictions of tenants. The agency acted on behalf of landlords, who re travellers or rich gypsies, threatening tenants to move out of the property by letters and by phone calls.

The agent refuse to abide with the UK housing and tenancy acts, even when I pointed this out explicitly to one of the agents. Relish 's excuses were the agent must follow landlord's instructions, even this is unlawful.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor - illegal, unlawful
Quality:		Poor - no principles
Location:		Average

Review of   C A Young Property Services, Prestwich, Greater Manchester    Phone: 01617738323     Address: 2 Dudley House, 21 Prestwich Park Road South, M25 9PF

This company is terrible - they are not registered with ARLA (Association of Residential Lettings Agents), nor with the National Approved Lettings Scheme (NALS), which are both recognised professional industry standards. It's easy to see why: this company has no professional standards. I've had problems with tennants and they bury their heads in the sand, cancelling meetings and ignoring calls and emails. They are rude, inconsistent and frankly just lie to get out of tricky situations. Rather than dealing with the situation for me, they have just ignored me and ignored me - and advised me to sort it out myself. And all this time they are receiving a fee for providing the most diabolical service ever.

From a landlord's point of view, do not use them. If you're a dodgy tennant however, I'd definitely go for it - they'll never be bothered to contact you so you'll have a pretty easy ride.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor - Disgraceful
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Not rated

Review of   PPM Rentals, Lancashire    Address: Hindley, Wigan

Shocking service. Hidden charges everywhere, awful attitudes throughout and staff have very limited communication skills with no concept of empathy or just how to communicate with a fellow human being. Made moving out a chore that blighted our new house purchase and move, which should be a joyous time. All in all one of the worse professional experiences I have ever endured. If I was the boss I would be ashamed to call it a professional service providing business.

Value for money:		Poor - None
Service & support:		Poor - None
Quality:		Poor - None
Location:		Not rated - You don't need to know

Review of   2let2U Ltd, Barnsley    Phone: 01226447150     Address: McLintocks House, Summer Lane

I am absolutely disgusted by the service received by 2let2u in Swindon. I chose to move into a ground floor flat in Swindon Town Centre in March 2011, on a six month contract.

Two months down the line, the extractor fan above my oven breaks. The fence in the garden falls down. The front garden becomes fully overgrown and rubbish was mounting in the front garden, as a result of too many people living at this property. (The house being divided into four flats). Once again, no action taken by 2let2u to rectify these spiralling problems.

I called their maintenance line several times and did not get anything fixed during my time here. Then in May 2011 I get broken into, partly as a result of my bathroom window being fully exposed due to the fallen fence. I get no offer of help from the letting agency to feel secure in my flat. Luckily my dad does windows by trade so was able to seal the bathroom window firmly shut for me. I also invested in my own alarm deterrent stickers. However I have not felt safe living here still.

There is also a strong smell of sewage in the hallway as there is a downpipe on the front of the house, which should not be there. My shower also regularly blocks.

Finally, in August 2011 I get made redundant, with another job made available to me in October. I was a prompt rent payer, when for my final month I struggled slightly. Their manager came down on me like a tonne of bricks, with zero compassion for my stressful circumstances, I even made payment arrangements. I had paid half of my rent at this point. She threatened to charge me interest. I also had to play a communication cat and mouse chase, as the landlady lives in London. I made it explicitly clear in an email and phone call in August I wanted to extend my tenancy agreement by just 12 days, as that's the day I was given to move to a military base. It was all agreed before.

Then I get the most viscious outburst from their management on the phone, denying they weren't aware of these arrangements. (I sent them a copy of the email I originally sent). My flat has already been advertised online now, and I still have about 33 days left to live here, they want to take people round to view the property when all of my items are boxed up ready to go in storage. I am not happy with this company's attitude to customers; a very selfish company, all it wants is rent. You won't get anything fixed with 2let2u, and you won't get any leniency either if you struggle money wise. Even if you agree to pay by a certain date.

I have never paid J425 a month to live in such a shabby flat, to not get things fixed, and be treated so disgustingly, as a member of the armed forces. I deserved a bit more respect and understanding. I do NOT recommend 2let2u whatsoever. Totally incompetent company. Need I say more. I think my testimony above speaks volumes. If you live in Swindon, Wiltshire, consider another letting agency, seriously.

Value for money:		Poor - Constant problems, and got burgled due to lack of security
Service & support:		Poor - Appalling customer attitude
Quality:		Poor - Poorly Maintained properties
Location:		Fair - Walkway beside house made property a target for thieves

Review of   Hurford Salvi Carr, City of London    Phone: 020 7566 9444     Address: 8-11 St. Johns La

Avoid Geraldine Bliss - very unfriendly and unhelpful.

They wouldn't fix numerous problems in the apartment.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Poor

Review of   Alex King Estate Agent, Edmonton, North London    Phone: 02088042222     Address: 442 Hertford Road

Alex King Estate Agent run by Mr Les Estal is family run business they rented out my flat and never gave the rent monies to me kept it fot themselves to pay off their debt they never answered the phone and when they did it was lies after lies.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Poor

Review of   Coastal Management Ltd, Hove    Phone: 01273 723300     Address: 99 Western Rd

Coastal Management are by far the most unprofessional service of any kind that I have ever dealt with in my life. They lie, they cut corners, and they make false claims regarding damages. The flat I lived in was in a constant state of disrepair for the four years I lived there and all workmen sent round to carry out repairs came with the wrong information, wrong parts, or on the wrong day! I am in the process of taking this company to small claims court. They are severely unprofessional and will do anything to get your money!

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Not rated

Review of   Alex King Estate Agent, Edmonton, North London

This Estate Agency in Edmonton, N9 has disappeared with thousands of pounds from Tenants that were meant for the Landlords of properties. I wouldn't Advise anyone to rent a place from them.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Good

Review of   EzeeMove, Swindon    Phone: 01793700913     Address: Queen Elizabeth Drive

Having used several agents in Swindon over the past few years, I discovered Ezeemove, and what a breath of fresh air! They didn't attempt to give us the normal agent patter, but simply listened to what I wanted and gave several options for ensuring I received great value.

For once I felt like I was in the hands of professionals who understood their business well, but more importantly understood what the customer wanted. When it came to completing the documents, they were well laid out and clear. They are offering some really useful services at great value, and without the small print! But not only that, they genuinely wanted to ensure I was happy with everything.

Well done Ezeemove - At last, a company in this industry that understands its customers. I am sure we will see this name more and more, and I for one will be putting all my properties their way.
Steve (Swindon Landlord).

Value for money:		Excelent - Rent Guarantee Insurance - Free!
Service & support:		Excelent - Great service, well done.
Quality:		Excelent - clear and precise
Location:		Excelent

Review of   David Hawkins Estate Agents, Stanley, County Durham    Address: 96c Front Street Stanley DH9 OHU

I can say only the truth that this estate agent is one to avoid. There have been many complaints by people who have used this agent and all of the peoples complaints are the same. David Hawkins estate agents is good at taking your money and thats all. They give all of their tenants the runaround when it comes to repair work/property maintenance. Try getting any repairs done and they ignore you or provide a list of excuses and lies as to why they have not done the repairs. They are currently victims of themselves and their property portfolio is ever decreasing. The only rentals they have now are in their own high crime locality, where only rogue landlords will use this company. Best avoid this company, you would be put in a semi slum and would be wasting your money for nothing.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Not rated

Review of   Space Lettings, Reading, Berkshire    Phone: 01189 66 66 60     Address: 49 Wokingham Road, Early, Reading, RG61LG

We have just reached the end of our tenancy and to be honest it has been infuriating and very unpleasant having to deal with Space Lettings over the last year.

To name but a few problems:
We were promised a professional clean, new carpet etc. before we moved in - no such luck. If you complain they just ignore your e-mail.

I paid J60 for a contract. I never received it. I've spent the last 7 months chasing it up, or asking for a refund. I've just been ignored.

Our fridge broke and it wasn't fixed for 6 WEEKS. We rang Space pretty much every day, they didn't care. Numerous e-mails were ignored. They complained the landlord wasn't getting back to them about the fridge and that's why it was taking so long to get fixed, but after 4 weeks of chasing them to get it fixed i rang one morning to again see what was happening with it to get 'Oh, is it not fixed?'. They obviously hadn't been chasing it up.

They also charge J30 to provide a reference to your new Landlord, even though they took J60 off me for a contract which I was never given.

Still haven't received deposit back. Chased it up, but what a surprise my e-mail has just been ignored.

Value for money:		Poor - They took money for a service they didn't receive!
Service & support:		Poor - Rubbish, never reply to e-mails. Or just ignore problems
Quality:		Poor - Poor at best
Location:		Poor - The flat I rented was in London, they were based in Reading!

Review of   Nicholsons Estates Agents, Epping, Essex    Phone: 01992 572551    

We had Nicholson's managing our property for 10 months. We had a tenant leave without notice, and from this moment we have had nothing but trouble.

There was damage done, goods removed without permission and done payment of rent amounting to approximately J1800.00.

We were told by our agent that the house was left as it was let, in good condition!

Nicholson's have made no attemp to apologies, and throughout the last 6 weeks while trying to recoup our losses, it would seem that they are happier to help the outgoing tenant than us, baring in mind that we have been paying them J175.00 per month to provide us with a management service.

My advice is do not use them, there are far better letting agents in the Epping area.

Value for money:		Poor - Did no do anything
Service & support:		Poor - There was no service
Quality:		Poor - Words fail me!
Location:		Poor

Review of   The Lettings Group,     Phone: 0161 832 1079     Address: Barley

We found mice in the flat from the first day that we moved in and the flat was only 5 years old! After we threatened them they got a pest control, which was completely inefficient. We asked them to seal the holes through which the mice were coming in the flat from the basement but they did not because of the cost. As a result mice were coming in and out from the flat everyday!!! We moved out after 3 months but they made us pay the whole contract and the cleaning of the flat, even though we left it perfectly clean. They were only interested in the money and nothing else and they were proper thieves.

Our experience with them was the worst of our lives.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Poor

Review of   Belvoir Nottingham Central, Nottingham    Phone: 0844 445 7680     Address: 65 Castle Boulevard

I am trying to be a guarantor for someone, I have never been asked so many rude questions in all my life! They live back in 1980's?

I queried why I was having a credit check and an employee reference this is the response I received:

" I am very surprised by your reactions, response and defensiveness in regards to the information we are legally and professionally bound to seek, which in all aspects is pretty general and unassuming.

This is a standard employment reference which is widely used through-out the industry and serves to provide the key information required to successfully pass referencing to be a guarantor."

Wow how rude?

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Poor

Review of   SPACE Lettings, Reading, Berkshire    Phone: 01189 66 66 60     Address: 49 Wokingham Road, Reading, RG6 1LG

From the very beginning this company was useless. The day my housemates and I were due to move into the house, it was filthy. We were told it had been professionally cleaned but there was dust and grease everywhere, clothes in drawers, spiderwebs and spiders in every room, toilets left unflushed....

We cleaned the place ourselves and were given money to cover cleaning supplies but no real compensation.
Most of the furniture was falling apart. This was fixed with glue and shortly fell apart again. All their workmen (of which there may only be two) were awful. No repair work was done well, and when one of the hand rails on the stairs came out of the wall, it was fixed with contact adhesive (not replasted and rescrewed back in as it should have been) and we were warned that if it happened again we would be charged.

The contract itself has to be very carefully read as we had to fully deal with an incident with an exploding toilet, as it was apparently nothing to do with the maintenance of the house, and was instead due to misuse.
Several housemates had rent taken twice within one month, and were often charged when they requested to have it returned.

As I am writing this, it has been almost 2 months since we left the house, and have been given no indication as to when we can expect our deposit back. The staff are very difficult to get in contact with and seem to keep us jumping through hoops to get it.

Also, despite the house being near spotless, and myself having spent 4 hours scrubbing the oven as it appeared to have years of build up within it, we were charged for the professional clean of the oven and extractor, and for professional cleaners. Considering how disgusting the place was when we moved in, we were outraged.

The contract also states that SPACE are required to give you 24 hours notice before visiting, yet brought groups of people for house viewings with either little or no notice (yet always claiming to have let someone know). During these viewings we heard SPACE promise to redecorate the kitchen (which need repainting and the laminate floor was out of place), however this had also been promised to us when we viewed the house a year before. Whether this time they have done this, we do not know.

I would not recommend this company to anyone, especially students. They just want your money.

Value for money:		Poor - Daylight robbery!
Service & support:		Poor - Very hard to get in touch with anyone.
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Fair

Review of   Randalls Property Agents, Tunbridge Wells    Phone: 01892700740     Address: 101 Camden Road

What can i say...
AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE.
The staff have little understanding of the letting business!
2 of the staff have very poor English and are difficult to understand and more to the point they do not undersatand what you are asking them, Not good.
Very happy to get your money but then just forget asking for anything to be done ar fixed, it won't happen

You will be dissapointed, upset and ripped off.

Value for money:		Poor - You wont see anything for your money here
Service & support:		Poor - Just not there
Quality:		Poor - ?
Location:		Poor - Rough area

Review of   Sam Alexander ltd, North West London    Phone: 0208 209 2665     Address: Vale House

Worst company ever- do not use.

Value for money:		Not rated
Service & support:		Not rated
Quality:		Not rated
Location:		Not rated

Review of   Personal Homefinders Ltd, Winchester    Phone: 01962 878887     Address: Relocation House/63 High St

Personal Homefinders have recently acquired Winchester Letting who rely heavily upon DSS / Housing benefit but do not inform landlords. Very unlikely to support a landlord when a dispute arises and cease communication by e-mail or phone even when several other properties are managed. Be careful

Value for money:		Fair - 8% fully managed
Service & support:		Poor - too busy to return calls or e-mail, staff long term sick
Quality:		Poor - very poor
Location:		Excelent - Good office in the middle of a Wealthy Town

Review of   Kings Lettings, Cheshunt, Hertfordshire    Phone: 01992 785000     Address: Crown House, 24-25 Turners Hill

Although warned by a family friend of this companys reputation my wife and I needed to find a tennant quickly to fill a rental property we own so we gave Kings a chance.

THIS WAS THE BIGGEST MISTAKE WE EVER MADE

The problems started from day one, Kings lied to us regarding the tenants situation knowing that we needed to secure tennants quickly they led us to believe the tenants were exactly what we were looking for, which was very far from the truth. In reality the tenants had no stable income fresh out of uni and this would be there first rental. In addition one or other failed the referencing and a guarantor was therefore required. Kings neglected to mention this. Low and behold the tenants first months rent was late, they then fell into arrears and then both lost jobs and moved to housing benefit.

Kings responsible for rent collection effectively washed their hands of this issue, sending letters as required but with no follow up and certainly no concern as to the blatant pack of lies they told us. They'd had there fees and their attitude was simply we don't give a toss!! this culminated in my wife and I taking on rent collection duties and bypassing them altogether even being paid directly, however no refund was forthcoming even though we were doing their job for them.

My advice avoid if you are a landlord and or tenant, they will tell you what you want to hear to get your money. Simply appalling business practice.

Value for money:		Poor - Terrible
Service & support:		Poor - Farcical
Quality:		Poor - 1 star is too much for this company
Location:		Poor

Review of   Red Square lettings, Bury, Greater Manchester

I recently went to view a house with red square and was told to pay a deposit of J200 to take the house of the market then another J250 when I move in as the deposit was J450. After paying the 200 pounds red square said they would start decorating the property and i would be sent a contract in the post. I then received a letter saying if the contract is not filed within 14 days i would loose the property, 1 week later still not heard anything so tryed ringing the company which is impossible to get in contact with. After someone finally rang me back after i left messages i was told i was too young and needed a guarantor when they knew how old i was when i went to view the property and no one told me this or even rang to inform me. I then rang up and left a message with a guarantors details then 4 days later they rang back and said i was to pay another J900 to move in and the house wouldn't be decorated when it was a disgrace.

Value for money:		Poor - NON
Service & support:		Poor - NON
Quality:		Poor - NON
Location:		Not rated

Review of   ABBA Lettings, Portsmouth    Phone: 07771 922450     Address: 51 Carmarthen Av

I have had a business relationship with Abba Lettings for several years. I have always found them to be very efficient, reliable and very quick to arrive at solutions to problems that have arisen. I am very happy with the fair but firm way they treat the various tenants and the insistence on quality accommodation from the landlords. I would have no reservation in recommending Abba Lettings to other landlords or potential tenants.

Value for money:		Excelent - Yes
Service & support:		Excelent - Very efficient & reliable
Quality:		Excelent
Location:		Excelent

Review of   Spicehaart residential lettings, Sutton, Surrey    Phone: 020 8642 6044     Address: 32-34 High Street

Please note: to the best of my ability I will try to make this review fair and impersonal. However, it is bad experience that prompted it.

When we decided to take on Haart (Sutton branch) as lettings managers for our property, it was solely because we bought the property from Haart and the agent assured us that the excellent customer service we received from him (Haart Wimbledon sales), would be continued by his colleagues. Although we had better offers in terms of rate, recommendations are always better and we decided to go with Haart.

Management of rental income.

At the start of the rental period, it took eight emails requesting to know the timing of the monthly rental income into our accounts (five sent before and three after the tenants moved in) before Haart agents replied to our query. This became a very typical approach to dealing with our queries throughout Haart's management.

Work was ordered without our approval, in excess of the agreed upon 'float' amount and regularly. This was done to such an extent by our first agent (we dealt with several people) that we spent months recovering the costs. The work ordered did not always seem to be urgent nor required by our contract (e.g. installation of garden lights).

Within seven months of management, we made no income on the property and in addition to covering our mortgage costs, all the rental income and plus 3000 GBP were spent by the agents. The property was old, but in good condition when purchased as the owner had lived in it. According to the evaluation done at the time of purchase, there were very few urgent repairs and we thought we could spread the cost over a reasonably affordable period of time. [Note that a boiler required replacement, which was the highest cost (2000 GBP).]

Customer service.

We had dealt with five separate people in the management of our property - this resulted in confusion, lack of management continuity and accountability, and repetition of already shared information.

Initially, although explicitly promised that our agent will help with the teething issues of the property right after we bought it, after several problems (The biggest of which was vendors works that were badly done so the property was not ready for moving in, but the agents moved the tenants in anyways. The vendor was recommended by the agent.) We were much later told that they were not paid to manage the property before the first rent was received. Furthermore, the agent recommended a vendor for a kitchen refurb and promised to guarantee the work. The work took longer than promised, and after ten emails sent within one month regarding the guarantee - we were told that they cannot guarantee the work after all.

We were told that our original agent was 'let go' but the change of agent did not help the quality of communications and customer service. Communications were often tardy, and I have several documented emails of following up a few times on various (and often costly issues) before receiving responses. One such time, no monthly invoice was received and after several requests for an update, we had been told that all the income had been spent - leading us to close to a default on our monthly mortgage payment.

When we complained of the nature in which we were dealt with (official complaints were submitted two times), the manager of the branch returned emails in a tardy fashion, was apologetic but took no accountability and did not manage to improve the quality of service.

Our new agents tell us that our tenants had also placed several complaints and were bitterly frustrated and disappointed with the management of the property - and although they liked the apartment, they were thinking of moving as a result of their experience with Haart.

It is hard to believe that in today's economy and with so much competition within London's rental and lettings market, that a branch of a reputable company could behave so unprofessionally and be so careless with their business.

Value for money:		Fair
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Average

Review of   Belvoir Lettings, Colchester    Phone: 01206 364444     Address: 43 Sir Isaacs Walk

First of all, they told us that the insurance was optional, second of all, we agreed to pay them 6 months in advance for the flat and after those 6 months we would start paying them monthly. When we received the contract draft it was something completely different. They "failed" to mention a lot of things that came up to 500 pounds more than we agreed on. First, the insurance (120 pounds) was not optional, and then, we had to start paying the rent after only 4 months and they would take the other 2 months that we already paid as a "bond". Obviously they just "failed" to mention the "bond" and they just lied about the insurance. We ended up paying only for the credits checks but dealing with them was a nightmare. Just avoid them at all costs.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Poor

Review of   The Letting People, Leamington    Phone: 01926 882555     Address: 1ST Floor, 5 Euston Place

WARNING!! I had the misfortune of attempting to rent a property through The Letting People in Leamington Spa. In May 2011 I found a property and paid an administration fee of J199. Once my references had cleared I paid a further J199 deposit and rent for the first month. I signed paperwork stating that I would be moving in to the property on 8 July 2011 and gave the necessary notice on my previous property. Arrangements were made for the move, including removals hire and a day booked off work. At 17.30 on 7 July 2011 I was contacted by Anthony Kempster, the company Director, who advised that I would no longer be moving the following day. There was no apology or explanation given. Mr Kempster could not give an alternative date for the move. When I explained that this would render me homeless, he offered another, considerably more expensive property, which was not available until August. I was forced to find temporary accommodation at considerable expense and have now found a property through a more reputable company. Mr Kempster has retained the J199 and is refusing to refund it. I am currently seeking legal advice and would strongly advise other people to avoid any dealings with this company.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Not rated

Review of   Envisage Letting Agents,     Phone: 02476470440     Address: coventry

This letting agency are fine while taking your money from you but are very unhelpful and extremely rude when problems arise.

Value for money:		Poor - Property filthy
Service & support:		Poor - Rude and unhelpful
Quality:		Poor - Terrible
Location:		Poor

Review of   ABBA Lettings, Portsmouth    Phone: 07771 922450     Address: 51 Carmarthen Av

I've used ABBA letting as my letting agent for over 5 years now. During that time I've been very impressed at both the responsiveness to issues as they arise, and the ease with which they are handled.

I live in Cambridge, and so it's not very easy for me to get back to Portsmouth to attend to matters with my flat. Thankfully, I've never needed to. Problems such as needing a new fridge, or a replacement shower are fixed with just one e-mail. ABBA letting do the rest.

Very highly recommended for peace-of-mind and a hassle free landlord experience!

Reviewed By: Scott Mcarthy
Current Landlord

Value for money:		Excelent
Service & support:		Excelent
Quality:		Excelent
Location:		Excelent

Review of   Northwood York, York    Phone: 01904638999     Address: 67 Micklegate

Northwood York, a sheer embarrassment to the industry.

We had a claim brought against us by a neighbouring flat, completely unfounded. Northwood York were completely disinterested in our side of the story, choosing to discuss matters with the neighbour and our landlady before sending us a bill for over J500. When we queried this we were responded to with a letter almost impossible to understand due to the low intelligence levels of one of their workers, an attribute that we found later to be present throughout the whole company.. They have been a nightmare to get hold of, have lost our original amended inventory and are now calling us liars as well as charging us for damage that was already in the flat when we moved in. We've given them fortunes over the last year, don't make the same mistake. Arrogant, lazy staff.

Value for money:		Poor - Joking aren't you?
Service & support:		Poor - None whatsoever
Quality:		Poor - None.
Location:		Excelent - York, beautiful place. A scar on the landscape.

Review of   Randalls Property Agents, Tunbridge Wells    Phone: 01892700740     Address: 101 Camden Road

The move into the flat was smooth and fairly well executed by Randalls.

However upon moving in in March 2010 we soon discovered a massive problem with large woodland spiders and the largest amout of Ladybirds ever seen, all round the windows.

As we were on the top floor we assumed they were there to shelter over winter, the problem was as they awoke in the warmer weather they started coming in to the flat through the trickle vents or if we open the windows.

The spiders also came in through the open windows, by the dozen, we had to put the yellow greenhouse sticky pads down on the floor to try to catch some of them, this proved very successful, but did not catch them all.

We contacted Randalls more than once to report these critters, they just brushed us off saying there was nothing they could do.

We also had a phone line connected by BT this Randalls said they would pay for as it is in the contract that a working phone line is present, this we did and gave a copy of the bill to them for payment, well that took 5 months+ to get the money out of them, they lost the bill!

As for the saga with the washing machine, we were without it for 4 weeks in total! Not acceptable, and no rush from Randalls to get it sorted.

We put a bill in to Randalls for the Laundry as we ended up using the Laundrette, they then just ignored it until we moved out and i challenged them about it, they then said they wanted proof in the form of receipts?!? from a laundrette!! I think not.

On moving out Randalls came to inspect the flat, it was passed with no issues, except that they would prefer it if the carpets were cleaned, PREFERRED not compulsory, this request we refused as the carpets were not spotless when we moved in, however they just went ahead and had them done, then took the money out of the deposit without our permission! Is that theft?

Randalls also did not contact the Deposit protection people in good time and only after i had called the DPS for the 2nd time was the deposit agreed for return.

We are still waiting for the money for the laundry, and we moved out on the 2nd June 2011, it is now 25th July 2011. Not what i call good service.

I have spoken directly to the owner of Randalls and he seemed appalled at the level of service we had, however this seems to have been lip service as it has gone very quiet from him.

The bill was only J48 for the laundry, for 2 people thats not too bad. J4 a load as it goes.

With interest which i have asked for it is now nearly J100 because of the delay in getting it back to us.

Rounded up the whole experience of moving out was shocking, hence the review on here.

Sorry Randalls but you need to buck your ideas up, brush up on the law regarding letting properties, honour your contracts to your tennants and stop taking money from tennants deposits without permission!

All in all a poor show!

Value for money:		Fair - In line with other properties of this size in the area
Service & support:		Poor - Was there some then?
Quality:		Poor - Not sure Randalls know what this means
Location:		Poor - On the mian train line to London

Review of   Northwood, Brighton, East Sussex

Took Security deposit equivalent to 6 weeks rent - only sent 4 weeks worth to the DPS. After checkout my 'entire' deposit was returned to me via DPS. I noticed the discrepancy via my paperwork, and agent quicky responded by giving me refund for the missing 2 weeks. So 1/3 of my deposit wasn't protected, and also was only returned to me when I noticed the discrepancy....I wonder how often this 'mistake' happens....

Value for money:		Average
Service & support:		Average
Quality:		Average
Location:		Not rated

Review of   1st Choice Property Management West Lothian, Edinburgh    Phone: 08001077361     Address: 158 St Johns Road

Having viewed a property with this agency I decided to make an application for a property in Edinburgh- I was told that if I pay a J200 holding deposit the property would be removed from the market- but over one week later the property was still being advertised and before tackling the situation with them I asked a colleague to call and ask for a viewing- He was told the property was still to let and when would he like to view- he of course did not make a viewing appointment but rushed back to me with his findings. I decided that they were not the kind of landlord I would like to trust my tenancy with and having since been at the receiving end of their wrath and abusive and threatening behavior I am glad I did steer clear- I have started proceedings for the return of the money they took from me under false pretenses and will pursue them to the limit of the law in order to protect others from the experience I had. Why are these types still infecting the property letting market with their sleaze and criminality? Is there no protection for the innocent and unsuspecting public?

Value for money:		Poor - Rip off- I feel sorry for homeowners who trust this shower
Service & support:		Poor - abusive and aggresive
Quality:		Poor - very poor standards and no customer service
Location:		Average - United Kingdom

Review of   Blue Bubble Lettings, Southampton    Phone: 07584499498     Address: Chessel Avenue, Bitterne

I was very nervous about using an agent to rent out my property, as I usually undertake this role myself. However, I felt that when dealing with David I was in very capable and trustworthy hands. My work commitments just did not leave me any time to find a new tenant and David looked after this for me in an excellent manner. He always kept me up to date and nothing was too much trouble for him. Within a very short space of time he had found me the perfect tenant and I couldn't be happier! I would definitely recommend Blue Bubble Lettings to others and I will be more than happy to use this company again and again.

Value for money:		Excelent - The service provided makes this excellent value for money
Service & support:		Excelent - David is very personable and professional
Quality:		Excelent
Location:		Excelent

Review of   Lobster Lettings, Wigan    Phone: 08452570058     Address: Powell Str

My partner went to view a property of there's which was To Let. The property was in need of extensive repair and modernisation but my partner saw the potential in the house and was told the landlord would have it ready in 1 month so on hearing that she paid the admin fee and 1 months rent in advance. After countless phone calls to said company after the month had passed, my partner was eventually told after 7 weeks that the landlord hadn't even started any work. On hearing this she asked for her money back because she wasn't prepared to wait any longer. Since this she has received a letter saying she can't get her money back because she didn't request it in the '7 day cooling off period'. Did a landlord even exist? Are they making money out of people who get fed up of waiting?..obviously now we are going to seek legal advice but i'd strongly recommend NOT using this company!!

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Poor

Review of   Goodchilds Suttoncoldfield, Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands    Phone: 01213234691     Address: 1, belwell lane, Sutton coldfield, B74 4AA

We basically went in to use this letter because the house was good. Right from the day one they looked quite dodgy.
1) very high application fees, which they were very good at
2) they had done the tenancy deposit protection on a wrong address.
3) they would not attend to any problems that we had informed them about.
4) finally they end up holding up all the deposit stating that the house is not in good condition. Though we had given the house back in a better condition than when we had occupied.
5) The attitude of the so called local manager was quite rude and their head office was also very supportive of him.

I have heard similar complaints from a couple of my friends in the same area who have unfortunately had similar experience with this agent.
What more can you expect of a worse letting agent?
I would definitely advice avoiding the use of such letting agent and discourage such people from mushrooming all over.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Good

Review of   Nelsons Lettings, Clapham    Phone: 020 7627 6220     Address: 18-20 Clapham Pk Rd

I can only strongly suggest you don't use them. They are essentially thieves. Unprofessional and once they have your money you have no chance unless you want to take them to court.
If I had known I would never have used.
A joke of a company. Just have to hope they cease trading at some point, before every renter or landlord that uses them loses their hard earned money.
You could do a better job yourself.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor - Non existent
Quality:		Poor - Not one shred
Location:		Poor - Location good but hope they shut down and make space for a decent shop

Review of   LS1, Leeds, West Yorkshire    Phone: 0113 234 4111     Address: 2 Cherry Tree Walk, The Calls LS2 7EB

Lived for 6 months in an overpriced apartment infested with bedbugs. LS1 charge each tenant J115 for a credit check - the first of many 'charges' where they are quick to take your money but slow to give it back. The apartment at Velocity was (and most likely still is) infested with bedbugs. 6 months of hell. Ridiculous deposit of J1500 - LS1 tried to steal over half of it for alleged 'damage'. Luckily they're lax with the inventory and checking-in procedures so we got most of it back after arguing with them for two months (they don't respond to emails).

Advice would be DON'T rent from LS1, but if you do and they try to take money from your deposit (which they will) check every item with the original inventory and challenge everything. For example, they tried to charge us to repaint the whole apartment when the checking-in inventory stated "walls: stained".

I had to pay around J500 to replace all my bedding/clothing/soft furnishings in an attempt to eradicate the bedbugs, I am still scarred from the bites, and haven't even received an apology from LS1 despite making a formal complaint.
Avoid at all costs! Worst customer service I've ever experienced.

Value for money:		Poor - Paid to live in a pest-infested property!
Service & support:		Poor - Don't respond to emails
Quality:		Poor - Furniture dirty and items were poor quality/kept breaking
Location:		Good - City centre location - can't complain

Review of   VICTORIA KNIGHT/ CANI/ RELIANCE, Stratford, East London    Address: Suite 1, 119 The Grove, Stratford, E15

Dealing with Victoria Knight, Stratford has been the most unpleasant experience of my life, and I never want to go through it again. Nor, would I wish it on my worst enemy, so if I can save one person from them with this review, I will be very happy.

The staff are extremely fake and behave like your best mate when they want something or money is involved (very bad actors BTW!!!). If they do not get what they want (i.e. you ask for an appt to be rescheduled for whatever reason), they start getting nasty.

I have witnessed bully boy tactics which I thought had gone out in the 80s!! Very manipulative, so be careful if you are already dealing with them, and don't let them bully you. Remember- you have rights as a tenant/ landlord!

Once you have got past VK, you have to deal with the agency that manages the property- 'Reliance'. Oh dear! what can I say about them!?? Reliance by name, but not by nature! lol. I can probably summarise them as Dumb and Dumber! I don't think I have ever dealt with more unintelligent people in my life. In fact, they were usually quite pleasant, but as everyone knows, it can get very frustrating having to deal with people that do not have a clue what they are doing, especially when it involves your home.

It took Reliance ages to sort out any repairs (some which were quite urgent), during which time they had such a laid back attitude, like it was no big deal (while you sat freezing to death with no heating and hot water for a week). The worst thing is that they employ contractors to do the actual repair/ work, which means more days off work so they can come back and fix the mess they made the first time.

I would urge everyone to stay away from Victoria Knight and Reliance or you will come to regret it (I have spoken to other VK clients who have had the same/ worse experience, so I know it was not a one off with me!!). GOOD LUCK if you are stuck with them!

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Good

Review of   Atlantis Property Services Ltd, Reading    Phone: 0118-959 6464     Address: Atlantis House/122 Castle St

Hidden charges as a tenant and awful customer service when leave. Don't use this company.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Fair

Review of   Red square lettings bury bolton,

I went to view a property left a deposit to do ref checks payed 200 pounds told it be sorted in 5 to 7 days.
The days came and went still no phone call i called red they gave me an application number where you get no reply they post a letter saying money received if they can't contact you they keep it and case closes. I called the agent again she said application is delayed it wont close. 14 days later still no call still the same story there no managers all in meetings but they call. I called taxed emailed nothing then red send a letter telling me i lost the property cause they can't contact me by post email and letter. This is lies as nothing come through to me. Please be careful as they seem to not want you after they got money off you there no staff and the office is a security lock up.

Value for money:		Poor - nothing from them
Service & support:		Poor - no comunication possible
Quality:		Poor - fraud
Location:		Poor - its all locked up and security higher then a bank

Review of   Blue Bubble Lettings, Southampton    Phone: 07584499498     Address: Chessel Avenue, Bitterne

David at Blue Bubble was excellent, probably the first time I have ever felt that the leeting agent was actually working for me rather than his own commission or the landlords benefit.

He only showed me properties that where in my price range and met my criteria and didn't try to convince me that other propoerty was suitable.

He was always professional, polite and extremely helpful and always available on the phone when I needed him.

Blue Bubbles charges were very good reasonable and good value for the level of service I received.

I would highly recommend David and Blue Bubble Lettings to anyone looking for property to rent.

Value for money:		Excelent - Cheapest agency I have ever used but outstanding quality of service
Service & support:		Excelent - Couldn't be faulted. Always available, Always helpful.
Quality:		Excelent - Excellent. Always felt I was important.
Location:		Excelent

Review of   Nelsons Lettings, Clapham    Phone: 020 7627 6220     Address: 18-20 Clapham Pk Rd

Nelsons are unprofessional, unethical, incompetent, rude and lazy. They don't understand the responsibilities of a letting agent, let alone the concept of customer service and it's not surprise they are in liquidation!

When the tenants below me moved out they left the front garden looking like a rubbish dump. However, Nelsons told the owner (who lives abroad) that everything was fine and she returned their deposit. Although they initially told me (and the various other people that complained) they would resolve the problem they didn't, then claimed it wasn't their responsibility.

Eventually, 10 days after they were informed and promised to take action, my neighbour and I spent an evening disposing of a skip's worth of sodden rubbish ourselves. Nelsons are now trying to claim that they removed the rubbish and charge the owner for work they never did. They are without doubt the worst letting agents I have ever come across!

Value for money:		Not rated
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Not rated

Review of   Homelets, Liverpool    Phone: 0151-280 4047     Address: 1 Allerton Rd Mossley Hill

My property has been 'managed' by Homelets twice.. 2 rentals over a period of 5 years.

On both occasions there have been missed rental payments and in my opinion the property not inspected or managed, both confirmed by the condition of it when the renters left!

Homelets have not contacted once when a payment has not been paid and I have had to bring it to their attention on each occasion

Even a drive by the property would have given an indication of the interior condition as the gardens had been allowed to become extremely overgrown and impossible to re-let without alot of money being spent to bring the property back up to an acceptable standard.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Good

Review of   Daniel Henry, Derry, County Londonderry    Address: 201 College View, Strand Road, Cityside

After signing the lease/contract it was as if the agent services were no longer available. When approached regarding safety issues/concerns within the building, staff either did not respond or kept re-directing to contact someone at the Limavady office.

Other estate agents would at least (understandably if there were other vacancies) make an attempt to move you to another flat if there were safety issues or somehow rectify the situation. The safety concerns are abhorrent enough to break the lease and find another flat, however, the agents here only reiterated that the lease should be completed or the deposit would be lost.

There are more than enough properties managed by other estate agents in this area that you'll be better off to simply avoid anything managed by Daniel Henry in Derry.

Value for money:		Average
Service & support:		Poor - The branch staff kept referring any query to the Limavady office.
Quality:		Average - Closed windows muffle traffic on Strand barely enough for some peace
Location:		Excelent - walking distance from campuses, centrally located to stores

Review of   Cani/Victoria Knight,     Phone: 02085227444     Address: Stratford London

Cani aka Victoria Knight and their maintenance division Reliance Property Management.
They held us in a fixed term contract for a year in which they took 8 months to repair a crack tub and never repaired a leak in the ceiling which went into the electrical box. We had to get the council involved. We have a two year old child and was concerned for our safety with the leak on the electrical however when we told them we were leaving they threatened to sue us for the rest of the contract value.
Please avoid this firm run by Belinder Kaur and co.

Value for money:		Not rated
Service & support:		Not rated
Quality:		Not rated
Location:		Not rated

Review of   Docklands and City Estates, East London    Phone: 0207 377 5729     Address: Unit 3 Naylor Building 20 White Church Lane London E1 7QL

A holding deposit is taken for a property and an offer is made to the landlord. The landlord then makes a counter offer which is not accepted.

As a result, the prospective tenants request the return of their deposit and look elsewhere for housing. The landlord then comes back at a later date and states that they will accept the original offer after all.

By this time many prospective tenants will have found alternative housing and no longer be in a position to take up this original offer. At this stage, the agent states that the deposit is forfeit.

Clearly this is another abuse that needs to be challenged. Once the original offer has been rejected, the holding deposit agreement is no longer valid. It is not possible to resurrect an agreement once it has been rejected.

This is a loophole in the system, and the company uses it to their advantage and the potential tenants are at a losing end. Worst of all, it turned out that the landlord is another property letting agent.
Landlord and Agent= Two property letting agents working together to manipulate a poor student.

Something has to be done to protect future unsuspecting victims.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor - Motto "Committed to Customers"
Quality:		Poor - "Customers" only refer to LANDLORDS.
Location:		Poor

Review of   London Living Homes, West London    Phone: 020 7610 7131     Address: 75 Parsons Green Lane, Parons Green, London SW6 4JA

Generally good at communication but have been absolutely mercenary in making money by cutting many corners.

Make sure any amenities or services promised in their adverts are mentioned on the lease before signing, I can't stress this enough.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Fair
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Not rated

Review of   Your Move, Ramsgate, Kent    Address: queen street

I had several reports from this company -
no animals - tenants had 3 cats
decor internal - good - huh! Looked like a child has been let lose with a paint pot - will cost a lot of money to remedy.

Tenant has fitted a new shower and tiling - what? I now have three rows of non matching tiles, and agent did not see fit to tell the tenant that this was not on.

Tenant has fitted a new kitchen unit - again no mention to me that this job, has left me with units that have been moved and not made good, and holes in the flooring, and non matching work tops. This is definitely not on.

All through the tenancy, my trust in this agency has been misplaced. The flat was pretty, newly decorated and very pleasantly fitted for the tenant to move into - they have backed the tenant all the way 'they are just putting their stamp on the property. You put your stamp on with pictures and furnishings, not violet. Sunshine yellow and bright blue (according to agent neutral???) paint work of such a poor standard that I will have to pay for the place to be electrically sanded. According to agent called in to look - 'not that bad.'

How can a landlord enter an unbiased opinion? If you average out the star system in my review, you will get a decent rating - simply because of their location!
In my opinion, never again and will share my views.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Excelent - they are situated in town centre

Review of   Carthew Julian Lettings & Management, Princes Risborough    Phone: 01844 342424     Address: Market Sq

Do not use.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor - Poor coms
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Average

Review of   Ivy Leaf Homes, Brechin, Angus    Phone: 01356 625333     Address: 4 High Street

If you want to make sure that your property is well looked after and you receive your money then DO NOT use this company. This business is owned and run by John Grimes who has been suspended from the NAEA for his operation of his previous rental company AMFS Properties that used the same address, telephone number etc. Dozens of Landlords and tenants lost rental and deposit monies that were meant to be held in secure accounts. This money is nowhere to be seen and John Grimes has never given an explanation let alone an apology. It is always someone elses fault. He charged landlords for repair works never carried out or charged excessively for minor jobs done. AMFS Properties closed one day and Ivy Leaf took over the next - just a bit coincidental!

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Fair

Review of   OxfordShortlets Ltd, Oxford    Phone: 01865 311696     Address: Cranbrook House/287-291 Banbury Rd

OxfordShortlets.co.uk. do not manage the state of their properties well. Mouldy shower rooms/ensuites, broken tumble-drier, immersion boiler prone to failure, dusty/dirty floors, furniture, crockery and kitchen cloths; all this in just one property! Procedures to correct are not swift and can take over 24hrs to correct. To rub it in further there is no way to terminate early to move into a hotel without having to pay the full let. Also there are all sorts of extra charges and liabilities so lesson learnt is: stay in a hotel, its cheaper and the quality is orders of magnitude better! Otherwise be prepared to sacrifice part of your holiday and your peace of mind.

Value for money:		Poor - Better stay at the 4 Pillars or similar
Service & support:		Poor - Will only get going if kicked
Quality:		Poor - Neither in management or customer service; its your fault, not theirs
Location:		Average - Good location for the city but for the traffic noise although expected

Review of   Leaf Lettings, Catford, South East London    Phone: 0208 698 1110    

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Charles Mitten / Leaf Lettings for providing us a very positive rental search ‘experience’ in the Greenwich/London area.

We dealt with all sorts of agents, some good, some ok, some ordinary at best, but Charlie was always a pleasure to deal with and we appreciated his open, honest, patient and proactive approach to the rental process.

We would also like to thank Michael for his excellent, attentive service in reparing the electricals at the house ready for move in.

We happily recommend Charlie/Leaf Lettings as a first and last stop for prospective rental clients.

Value for money:		Excelent
Service & support:		Excelent - Best attribute - great service and attititude.
Quality:		Excelent
Location:		Excelent

Review of   Waterside Properties (UK) Ltd, Brighton    Phone: 01273 622007     Address: 34 Waterfront Brighton Marina Village

Waterside Properties have been my letting agent for over 10 Years. I have always found them to be polite, helpful and co-operative. Although I manage my property myself, they will always help me with any problems I might have. Their tenant selection is excellent and I would recommend them to any landlord.

Value for money:		Good
Service & support:		Excelent
Quality:		Excelent
Location:		Excelent

Review of   Waterside Properties (UK) Ltd, Brighton    Phone: 01273 622007     Address: 34 Waterfront Brighton Marina Village

Waterside Properties have been my letting agent for over 10 Years. I have always found them to be polite, helpful and co-operative. Although I manage my property myself, they will always help me with any problems I might have. Their tenant selection is excellent and I would recommend them to any landlord.

Value for money:		Good
Service & support:		Excelent
Quality:		Excelent
Location:		Excelent

Review of   Thomas & Co,     Address: Northampton

I have also been affected by the closure of Thomas & Co after experiencing similar problems. After calling a number of Agents in Northampton, I found Ashby Lowery who are ARLA registered, very professional and offered me a level of service that I never received from Thomas & Co and made the process of changing agents and taking over the management of my property stress free. Any other Landlord who are experiencing the same problems that myself and many other Landlords are according to this website, do a bit of research and make sure that your next agent is ARLA registered. I have no hesitation in recommending Ashby Lowery to other Landlords.

Value for money:		Excelent
Service & support:		Excelent
Quality:		Excelent
Location:		Good

Review of   Thomas and Co Rentals, Northamptonshire    Phone: 01908 230500     Address: witan court

My partner and I rented a property through Thomas and Co and were due to move in tomorrow. We have just found out that the company has ceased trading. We have paid our fees and only spoke to Simon (member of staff) last week to confirm move in. This has distressed us tremendously as we now face being homeless as from tomorrow. We have spoken to many trading officials and unfortunately there is nothing they can do. We are extremeley upset about this as we fell in love with the property. Unfortunately we have no landlord contact details and have been told he lives abroad. The potential property is located in Kingsthorpe Village and we would love to hear from anyone who has any information on the landlord or how to contact them. This agent will most probably never resume trading, however be warned that if you see or hear of Phill Collins or Louisa Thompson - stay clear.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Average

Review of   Thomas & Co, Northampton    Phone: 01604 716672     Address: 32 Kingsley Pk Ter

Further to my previous review on this company we have recently found that they have ceased trading. Not before time but for those like us who are owed money this is not good news. Hopefully the partners Paul Collings and Louisa Thompson can be pursued through the courts individually. Hopefully an action group can be formed to take this action as mentioned by previous reviewers.

Value for money:		Not rated
Service & support:		Not rated
Quality:		Not rated
Location:		Not rated

Review of   Thomas & co, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire    Phone: 01908 230500     Address: 36 Lakes Lane, Newport Pagnell

Apparently shut down by Trading Standards, failing to pass on rent monies, not covered by any deposit bond scheme since april 2009. If these people have your money as landlord or tenant please check "victims of Thomas & co" on facebook for possible group action.

Value for money:		Not rated
Service & support:		Not rated
Quality:		Not rated
Location:		Not rated

Review of   Let It, Glasgow    Phone: 0141-552 7728     Address: 123 Stockwell St

After emailing with no reply and phoning twice we were invited to a group viewing of a house and on arrival were told that first person back to their office would get the property which meant that no one looked round the property and instead all jumped into their cars so if there were any faults there wasn't time to see them without a thorough look around. There were mothers with prams and small children who didn't have cars and didn't live near to the property which meant they had an unfair disadvantage. I find it disgraceful that they can turn renting a property into a race. As well as this after reading their terms and conditions for letting I found there were lots of hidden charges such as up to an extra J250 for a "reference check" which I have never had to pay before and a J100 charge on top of the deposit! After this fiasco I am very glad that I didn't get their property and would stay well away!

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Poor

Review of   Thomas & Co, Northampton    Phone: 01604 716672     Address: 32 Kingsley Pk Ter

Been a tenant of Thomas and co MK for 6.5 years, landlord just swapped to other agency this month however he'd had no rent from last months payment and now it seems my deposit has gone due to predating bonded scheme. Lovely. Please email NPGHOME@Hotmail.co.uk if you have any further information about them or ways to reclaim money.
Cheers,
Neil

Value for money:		Poor - dirty
Service & support:		Poor - robbing
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Good

Review of   Thomas & Co, Northampton    Phone: 01604 716672     Address: 32 Kingsley Pk Ter

They haven't paid me rent either, and now have seemingly stopped trading in both Northampton & MK. A solicitor who is a family friend advises that as well as lost rent, we landlords may also be liable to our tenants for any lost tenancy deposit.

The solution, as I now understand, is to use an agent who is ARLA registered. All ARLA agents have their bank accounts checked on a regular basis and carry Client Money insurance which pays out to landlords if the agent does run off with the money.

Belvoir Lettings of Northampton (who are ARLA registered) have been very helpful in advising on tenancy issues and how best to manage oursleves out of this situation. I have moved my Northampton property to them, and have immediately noticed a step up in terms of professionalism.
I guess we all learn the hard way.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Poor

Review of   Thomas & Co, Northampton    Phone: 01604 716672     Address: 32 Kingsley Pk Ter

Experienced problems with Thomas & Co. for about 18 months as a landlord, with payments being late, calls not returned etc. etc.

As a result of suspicions that they were on the verge of going bust I did not renew our management agreement at the end of the last contract. I am owed for 2 months rent and the tenant has not yet had his deposit back.

I would not use their services again, even if they remain in business however with staff being laid off and office closures I suspect they won't be in business much longer.

Am happy to team up with other owners to take the Partners to court.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Poor

Review of   Blue Bubble Lettings, Southampton    Phone: 07584499498     Address: Chessel Avenue, Bitterne

Blue Bubble lettings have recently taken over full management of my portfolio of property. Whereas the arrangement of repairs and timely rent payment was a real chore I was delighted that Blue Bubble were able to relieve me of the task. Very competitive on price I am looking forward to a long and fruitful letting experience with the close attention provided by BBL.

Value for money:		Excelent
Service & support:		Excelent
Quality:		Excelent
Location:		Excelent

Review of   Blue Bubble Lettings, Southampton    Phone: 07584499498     Address: Chessel Avenue, Bitterne

I used Blue Bubble to find me a tenant for my flat. Their fees were much lower than the company I had used for the last few years and I was slightly dubious of this. However, I found David to be extremely helpful and he really added the personal touch. We agreed on what type of tenant I was after and how much feedback I wanted from the viewings. Luckily, the first person to view took the property!

I will definitely use this company again and would like to send a huge thank you to David for all his help!

Value for money:		Excelent
Service & support:		Excelent
Quality:		Excelent
Location:		Not rated

Review of   Sutton Estates, Liverpool, Merseyside    Phone: 0151 261 0055     Address: 115 / 117 Oakfield Road, Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside

Since agreeing a tenancy via Sutto Estates their service has become progressively worse. With promises of work on our property being completed weeks before our move in date, I now sit here writing this review three days after our moving date waiting for the all clear to move in.

When we picked up our keys and entered the property it was filthy, builders dust everywhere, and unfinished work. The electricity to the property had not been connected and no shower had been fitted. When they finally connect the electricity they install a metre, when our agreement was an all inclusive one so no metre was necessary.

It ultimately boils down to a complete lack of communication between their five offices. Lettings not informing maintenance of our original move in date so they thought they had over a week to complete the work, Lettings not informing accounts of our agreed fee and all inclusive rent and bill agreement. It has made the whole process a complete nightmare, and they offer very little in terms of compensation and of course everytime you ring you speak to a new person who has no idea about your situation.

Over all Sutton Estates have been very helpful in finding our new property and the deal we have is a very attractive one. However, their customer care and overall service since we agreed our tennancy has been awful.

Value for money:		Average
Service & support:		Poor - An on going circle of being referred and fobbed off.
Quality:		Fair - Lacks professionalism
Location:		Poor - 5 offices with varying roles and availability makes things difficult.

Review of   Thomas & co rentals, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire    Address: Witan Court, and in Northampton

Looks like there are at least 5 Landlords and one tenant on here and there must be lots more who are sick to the back teeth of Paul Collins. I'm wondering if we got together we might have more luck with getting our money? Maybe we can share information? If anyone wants to contact me please email me on janiceyvonne@hotmail.co.uk I am happy to co-ordinate between us but if anyone wants to lead or has any legal experience.
Janice (ex Landlord but T & Co owe me money)

Value for money:		Not rated
Service & support:		Not rated
Quality:		Not rated
Location:		Not rated

Review of   Thomas and Company rentals, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire

Any new landlords should avoid using this company.

They will hold on to rents and not forward them, not return calls, not deal with issues arising, generally mess you about until you are pulling your hair out.

I am in the process of making a website or some focal point for landlords who are dissatisfied with this company, so that perhaps we can take further collective action against the owners of this company. I will update further but in the meantime, if anyone wishes to send me further information about your experiences with this company, then please do, to the following address:

issues_thomasandco@hotmail.co.uk

Thanks

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Poor

Review of   Thomas and Co, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire    Phone: 01908 230500     Address: Witan Court

This agent should be avoided. They do not answer their phones or respond to emails. You have to chase them constantly for rental payments and never inspect the property as agreed. DO NOT USE EITHER IF YOU ARE A TENANT OR LANDLORD.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Poor - United Kingdom

Review of   Penyards, Winchester, Hampshire    Phone: 01962 892809    

Dreadful customer service to tenants. VERY reluctant to organise repairs. Out of hours service useless - arrived home to rented apartment at midnight and unable to unlock front door - out of hours service operative was intoxicated when called, and later admitted to dropping his mobile phone into the toilet.
Forced to call out emergency locksmith and paid J85 call out - still not received refund after 13 weeks.
Fridge broke down - waited 13 days for repair.
Dishwasher broke down - landlord tried to repair himself - failed - had to get repair carried at my own expense.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Fair

Review of   Property Boutique,     Address: Norfield avenue, Ealing, London

I rented a refurbished studio at the top end of the price range for Ealing. It all looked good until they started weeks of construction work with no notice and no consideration for the tenats. We have been experiencing excessive noise from demolition and construction work for over 3 weeks. Dust and construction debris have become habitual. There were a number of water cut-offs, announced and unannounced. Noisy construction continued during the weekends without consideration for the tenants. We were not given notice for the start of this major construction work. After complaining to the letting agency - UK Property Boutique, there has been no action. Repeated complaints were ignored and there was no sign of acommodating action.

These people have no idea what is the meaning of "right of quiet enjoyment" or a "suitable living environment".

So, if you want to pay top money in return for abusive disregard, UK Property Boutique is the right place.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Fair

Review of   Manchester Homes, Manchester, Greater Manchester    Phone: 01613593259    

Manchester homes. Formerly Apartments of Manchester.
I let an apartment through this company in december 2009. By the the following November, one month before my lease was up, I recieved notice that my landlord had not paid the mortgage and the apartment was to be reposessed. I contacted my letting agent to see what was happening and what would be happening to me. They took a good three weeks to get back to me, baring in mind this is the beginning of November and my lease ends in December, only to tell me I would have to leave the apartment. Leaving me with very little time to get organised. Now these sort of things sometimes can not be avoided in the current climate and I accept that, but the letting agent acted as though they couldn't really care less. I then moved out, as quickly as I could as I was concerned about the flat being taken by the bank, and the letting agent not being able to get in to do the final check that would be needed to claim my deposit back.

I handed my keys back in, they checked the place out and they tell me I can get my deposit back in full. This is when the fun starts. I then found out they had gone into liquidation and were trading under a new name. I then found out they no longer had my deposit as they had lost all of their client monies where my deposit was held, as they claimed the bank had taken it all as part of the liquidation. I also discovered that when they went into liquidation, the protection on my deposit ceased also. The deposit scheme could no longer help me. I found all of this out via email despite calling into their office twice. Yet they mentioned nothing. I had to go through a lengthy process to get it back which took 4 months. The problem was that this company really did not seem to care that this had happened. They failed to let any of their tennants know ( I wasn't the only one this happened too). They just washed their hands of all of us. They are very sneaky and I feel for anyone who lets via them, landlord or tennant! I advise anyone thinking of letting through them to look elsewhere. They were totally unprofessional. Showed no compassion or remorse. So please be careful!

Value for money:		Not rated
Service & support:		Poor - See review, says it all!
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Fair

Review of   Accommodation Management Services, Knebworth    Phone: 01438 815002     Address: 141 London Rd

I rang for information on rental properties for my sister. Unfortunately she is DSS as her husband left recently. I realise this causes problems for her, however the woman at Accommodation Services merely disconnected the line as soon as I mentioned DSS with no interest as to the circumstances, references etc. How rude.

Value for money:		Not rated
Service & support:		Not rated
Quality:		Not rated
Location:		Not rated

Review of   XChange Property Services Limited, Ilford, Greater London    Phone: 020 8553 1444     Address: 141 Cranbrook Road, Ilford

The lettings market is completely unregulated at present and agents such as Xchange take full advantage of this situation. They are registered with ARLA but only for the sales aspect of their business.

Used them for one letting. They upset my tenant with their rudeness and unhelpfulness. The tenant left as soon as possible because she was so upset with their treatment of her. I changed agent.

Over the term of one six-month AST I had problems with them agreeing to carry out work but then reneging on verbal commitments, overcharging for minor repairs, losing paperwork (i.e. the lease!), failing to advise of problems raised by the tenant and tardiness with processing rental payments. I actually broached the subject of late payment with the tenant and discovered that she paid on time each and every month. In some months, Xchange had not processed the payment for three weeks and blamed the tenant whenever I rang to find out what was going on!

There are plenty of lettings agents in Ilford. There really is no need to use this one. You have been warned.

Value for money:		Poor - They charge a fee but do nothing to earn it.
Service & support:		Poor - Once you've signed up, they lose interest in you.
Quality:		Poor - -
Location:		Good - Office location is good. Shame about the company.

Review of   Thomas & Company Rentals,     Address: milton keynes

I was a tenant of one of the properties letted out by Thomas & Co. Rentals on behalf of my former landlord.

I would pay the rent on time everytime it was due. My landlord would mention that Thomas & Company would hold on to my rent and not pay it to them for months on end (even for half a year or more at times).
I felt sorry for my landlord because it obviously caused them a lot of emotional stress.

Obviously the company director kept making excuses of not paying the rent and also dodging calls and hiding away from the office when you would go in to just have a chat with them.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Poor

Review of   Dankor Sales and Lettings, Kirkby    Phone: 01515489082     Address: 67 Redwood Way

Had Dankor Sales and Lettings find me a tenant and manage my property for me. I must say i was really impressed. I rang around the local agents who all seemed to offer a similar service and all taked the talk. So the deciding factor came down to fees for me. Dankor sales and lettings were by far the cheapest.

Once we signed up they found us a tenant quickly and they are always very helpful when i need to speak to them. I would never use another agent.

Value for money:		Excelent - cheapest
Service & support:		Excelent - extremeely helpful
Quality:		Excelent - fantastic
Location:		Excelent - good location

Review of   Albion Properties, Northampton    Phone: 01604 636465     Address: 39 York Road

We had looked with many agents for the right house in Northampton and were let down many times by the others.

As we had been abroad for several years, so our references were more complicated, but they over-came every obstacle and did what was needed for the Landlord to be sure that we was ok.

Greatlets really went out of thier way to secure the property for us referencing quickly, doing contracts and having the house ready when we needed it.

Thanks for our help Greatlets!

Value for money:		Excelent - Good!
Service & support:		Excelent - Good and helpful
Quality:		Excelent - Very good
Location:		Excelent - Very Good

Review of   Thomas and Company, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire    Phone: 01908 699940    

This company owned by Paul and Mark Collins along with Louisa Thomas have repeatedly failed to pay rents when due. They are three months in arrears and fail to answer any phone calls and messages left.
Any information on these directors would be helpful. They do not appear to be registered on companies house even though they state they are directors and are limited. All my tenants deposits are probably at risk and we need to stop these directors from trading if they are insolvent.

Value for money:		Not rated
Service & support:		Not rated
Quality:		Not rated
Location:		Not rated

Review of   Albion Properties, Northampton    Phone: 01604 636465     Address: 39 York Road

Were very helpful for finding my family an excellent house at short notice, and have looked after us when even we have needed anything. Would use again and recommend.

Value for money:		Excelent - great!
Service & support:		Excelent - excellent
Quality:		Excelent - very good
Location:		Excelent - just right!

Review of   Hicks Hadley Lettings, Halesowen, West Midlands    Phone: 01215856688     Address: 13, Hagley Road, Halesowen, West Mids. B63 4PU

This agent takes a much higher deposit than other agents and consistently fails to complete repairs that are their responsibility. They inspect properties every three months but fail to act on requests for repairs leaving people to carry out repairs for which the tenant is not responsible.

Value for money:		Poor - Expensive properties - not maintained
Service & support:		Poor - Have to report repairs on numerous occasions before anything is done.
Quality:		Poor - Quality of properties is not checked by this agent prior to taking on
Location:		Not rated

Review of   Urbanised Lettings,     Phone: 0844 54 99 666     Address: Gilbert Wakefield House, 67 Bewsey Street, Warrington WA2 7JQ

I was employed as a Domestic Maintenance Contractor by Urbanised Lettings Ltd. I feel obligated to draw concern to Urbanised’s modus operandi.

TENANTS: Approach with extreme caution and pay close attention to your contract. Read the small print very carefully. Esp. if you ever have need to withhold rent in relation to maintenance issues.

LANDLORDS: Always seek a second opinion (and 3rd party estimates) before accepting invoices for “essential maintenance works”.

CONTRACTORS: Only undertake work if you are paid upfront and in full.

During my period of employment I was instructed to undertake a number of essential maintenance tasks on behalf of Urbanised. Tasks included securing 3rd party contractors. All requests were handled efficiently and professionally, however (to date) neither myself or my appointed contractors have received due payment.

I encountered over 13 tenants with grievance. On average these tenants waited 16 months for simple (& essential) jobs to be completed. Many neglected tasks pose serious consequence & health risks to the occupants; such as mould and mildew (rife in numerous properties) & un-serviced smoke & C02 alarms. Urbanised’s attention the most basic of amenities - such as hot water, cookers, roofing, windows & door locks, showering & bathing facilities - is often lacking.

I found works – previously undertaken by Urbanised contractors – not fit for purpose. Such works include plumbing. On one occasion I investigated a “broken” central heating system. The tenant told me that a contractor (appointed by Urbanised) had called & advised that the “entire central heating system would need an overhaul & re-plumbing”. Another incident saw a family with 2 disabled children left with no bathing facilities for 3 weeks. Another, a pregnant mother with no cooking facilities. Such examples illustrate Urbanised Lettings failure in it’s duty of care to it's tenants. On raising issue, Urbanised dispensed with my services.

Urbanised attribute such dereliction to “inherent management & supply chain issues”. This simply isn’t the case! Be wary!

Without Prejudice: The above express’s my personal opinion and advise only. It is in no way intended as slander or speculation as to the ability of Urbanised Lettings Ltd to fully perform within trade guide lines & any associated legislation.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Poor

Review of   Review of Thomas & Co,, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire    Phone: 01604 716672     Address: 32 Kingsley Pk Ter

We were caught out by this company. Although the tenants paid their rent on time Thomas & Co frequently withheld our payments. We wasted thousands of pounds on solicitors and unretrieved rent and deposit. Our house was thrashed and cost us over ten thousand pounds to refurbish. They have a policy of ignoring all calls and emails. The directors are only interested in themselves and not in providing good service to their clients. If you want a stress free and professionally managed letting agent I suggest you choose someone else.

Value for money:		Not rated
Service & support:		Not rated - Staff try but undermined by the shady dealings of directors
Quality:		Not rated
Location:		Fair

Review of   Masons Estates Ipswich,     Address: Upper Orwell Street Ipswich

I used Masons estates for 3 years (in one property). Work was never achieved - I didn't get the inventory I requested several times. I was disrespected by their staff when the property was being sold, infact I found one member of staff so rude i can't actually believe he hasn't been hit by someone less calm then me. He implied my home wasn't mine as I rented. He was equally rude to people who were home owners seeking tenants. They robbed my deposit in the end despite the fact that i had improved the property, they even used the pictures they took when I lived there 19 months later to re let it. The communication and professional attitude seriously needs to be improved. Considering I complained several times to no avail and explanation I feel I am in my rights to say DO NOT use this company - to let a property or rent one.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Poor

Review of   Jane Wetherop Partnership Ltd., Leeds, West Yorkshire    Phone: 0113 2794040     Address: Leeds

As per usual with letting agents, the problems start after you sign the contract, providing of course you pass the enormously priced checks.

The flat was lovely, but any issues and one had to deal with rude, ignorant staff, their response is always they will call you back, but never do and you have to ring them constantly to make sure anything gets done.

One of the worst maintenance issues was when I informed someone a damp patch had appeared on my bedroom ceiling overnight. Someone of course said they would ring me back. A few days later on a Friday evening, water was gushing down into the room, soiling a lot of my posessions. Of course, they don't work weekends, no emergency phone number, so I left a message asking them to call back as soon as possible, and there was no-one in the flat above. The following Monday I was furious and rung them again, obviously they weren't going to call back. They eventually found the incompetent man (one of many in the company) who had taken my call in the first place, he reckoned he had done everything necessary. To cut a long story short he arranged to meet me in my flat. He explained it was shown to him by an IT technician that he hadn't sent the email he should have, and thus admitted fault, amazing!! He then offered to re-imburse for posessions I had lost, out of his own pocket. This was a nice gesture, but a bit dodgy and unprofessional, and I'd much rather have kept my stuff and him do his job properly.

More problems started when a known violent criminal (no exaggeration) rented a flat with his mother in the same building; played loud music in his car and the flat when his mother was away until early hours of the morning, driving his mummy's car dangerously doing wheelspins etc in the car park. Other residents approached to ask him to stop and they got abuse and threats of violence. Said criminal even got his petty revenge by going to the meter readings room and turning off the residents' electric and gas. Wetherops were informed and nothing was done, what's the point in the ridiculous checks if this can happen? We were all told that nothing could happen legally because it was his mother renting the flat.

One of the final straws for me was when I went away on holiday. After having known they were going to do an inspection, and asking if they could wait until I was present and they refused, I asked if one of the neighbours could be present, they said they would let them know when they did it. They didn't, they did it unsupervised, and left my door unlocked and ajar! I wouldn't have known about this had my neighbour not texted me while I was in Montenegro, to ask if everything was ok and letting me know about my door. She kindly rung Wetherops to tell them. Of course when I got back they denied everything and the inspector said it was unlocked when he went (had this been a normal day I may have thought, perhaps I did leave it unlocked, but as I had gone on holiday for two weeks I specifically remember checking, as you do). He said he didn't lock it behind him because he once got in trouble for this, he was quite rude and angry at me, for accusing him of such a thing, which of course is ludicrous.

I then moved out and trying to get the bond back was a nightmare. I'd double checked before putting things on the walls that it was ok to do so, providing I used picture hooks, which I did. I completely deep cleaned the flat in order to avoid the petty excuse of it being dirty so they could keep my bond. Of course, they told me there was too many picture hooks and the bathroom was filthy. I tried and tried to fight them, but eventually backed down, and they took 100 quid off my bond.

Wetherops are dreadful. Never trust them. They have some nice places but it's completely not worth it, with the amount they do not do and then try to keep your bond.

Value for money:		Poor - Realized I was paying more than a neighbour with an identical flat
Service & support:		Not rated - Dreadful.
Quality:		Poor - Shockingly bad.
Location:		Not rated

Review of   The Bulman Partnership, Carlisle    Phone: 01228 819888     Address: 19 Warwick Rd

My Partner and I approached Bulman Property Rentals Based in Carlisle having seen an apartment available which we liked very much, we made an appointment on a Tuesday for the following Saturday to view the property.

Having viewed the property we decided to make an offer on the Monday morning of J650.00 but were told they already had someone offering J650.00 and the landlord wanted to see if we where going to offer the full asking price!?

We immediately increased our offer to J675.00 and awaited the agent calling back, later that day the agent contacted us to say unfortunately the apartment had been given to the other applicants as they matched our offer, when questioned why they had not come back to us and ask us if we where willing to increase our offer to the asking Price of J695 she was rude and evasive.

I got the distinct impression the agents could simply not be bothered and I got the distinct impression we were being discriminated against.

I would certainly not use these agents again and would not recommend to anyone, rude and unprofessional.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Not rated

Review of   Thomas & Co, Northampton    Phone: 01604 716672     Address: 32 Kingsley Pk Ter

Same as the other reviews there an absolute joke!!! They have not been passing on the rent to us instead keeping for themselves. This has been going on for months i've lost count of how many times i've rang their office in Milton Keynes trying to get hold of Paul Collins. They have been avoiding my calls for months so i've now had to take legal action against them serving a statutory bankruptcy demand to Paul the other partner Louisa is on long term sick with STRESS! LOL!

I meet Paul the other day to serve this notice to him and he was as nice pie quite happily excepted it and couldn't have more apologetic then proceeded to get into his flash merc with personalised plate and zoomed off!

Fingers crossed i'll get the thousands he owes us! I've even explained to him i am letting this house on behalf of my great aunt who is in care home with dementia and the rent pays her care fee's but its made no difference whats so ever i guess he's too busy buying champagne for young blondes in the flash bars in mk with her money!!

Anyone reading never ever go any where this company they are a disgrace and should never be aloud to trade again if i had my way!

Value for money:		Poor - 1 star is to high in my opinion but there is no minus stars!!
Service & support:		Poor - 1 star is to high in my opinion but there is no minus stars!!
Quality:		Poor - 1 star is to high in my opinion but there is no minus stars!!
Location:		Poor - 1 star is to high in my opinion but there is no minus stars!!

Review of   Atkinson McLeod, Aldgate, Central London    Address: Leman Street

Don't ever use!!! Bad experience from start to finish. Staff were absolutely disorganised and generally useless.

Pre-arranged to view a property, was kept waiting for nearly half an hour before an agent was able to show us it. Ok so that's not the end of the world.

We liked the property and put down a holding deposit (no paperwork supplied with this) - again I could probably forgive this, but having now dealt with a much more professional agent, it is a clear indication that these guys have little idea what they are doing.

This went to the landlord for consideration, on more than one occasion I was promised an update on the decision that I never received, and had to chase them. Annoying and unprofessional on their part.

Despite previously making it very clear that we had absolutely maxed out our budget with this offer, the agent pressured us in to raising it, and got us involved in bartering against supposed other offers. Embarrasing and unprofessional.

Eventually the offer was rejected by the landlord, which is obviously not the agents fault, but this was where our problems started.

The agents proved almost impossible to get hold of for the next few days whilst I made enquiries about the return of my (significant) holding deposit. In the meantime we made another offer with a different agent, which was accepted.

Due to the payments now due for that property, I urgently contacted AM to check that the deposit had been refunded. I was assured that it was being processed and would be with me in 3 working days.

When it failed to appear, I was unable to reach the agent I had dealt with, and spoke to another member of staff who assured me that the process was underway and it should be with me by the end of the day.

It was not. I then rang and left a long message with a different team member, who assured me his manager would be in touch the next day to urgently clarify the situation.

The manager never got in touch.

Over the following week, I made about a dozen phonecalls, several emails, and threatened to report them to the lettings ombudsman.

Eventually I was told that due to an internal email error, the request had not yet been processed and had now been actioned, over a week after it should have been.

I explained that I now urgently needed the money to pay a further deposit, and was told that they could not refund it any faster (basically they were not willing to pay for an instant transfer - at the time they fobbed me off with a rationale about money laundering, but I have since spoken to a very good friend who is a corporate lawyer and thoroughly familiar with the laws on money laundering, who has told me that their reasoning was a load of rubbish).

Whilst they were always polite, and pleasant enough, I don't feel that I have ever met such an unprofessional setup. As I fairly pointed out, if I was a tenant who had paid their rent over 2 weeks late, I doubt they would be willing to let me just say "oops it was an internal email error, sorry about that - not much we can really do about it"...

Its a shame, because I don't think that they're crooks, and they're pleasant enough, more so than some of the other very pushy agents (partic Foxtons) that I met. But honest to god, I have never been so frustrated with a service in my life. The increasing urgency with which I needed to pay the new deposit, did not help matters for me, but it was clear that they were not going to pull their finger out and try to correct their mistake with any sense of urgency.

A chap who is presumably one of the founder (Dan McLeod) is very keen to respond to customers with negative experiences on other review sites, asking them to email or call him directly. Taking hope from this, I sent him several emails and voicemails over the two weeks, asking him to please clarify what was going on, and assist me in speeding up the return of my deposit. He failed to respond to any. I never got an out of office response, so I can only assume he chose to ignore me when it became apparent that they owed me money, and not vice versa.

Oh and to add insult to injury, I continued to get flashy "personalised" emails from the same agent I had dealt with, after this had all happened - another clear indicator to me that they had paid minimal attention to my situation and obviously had no idea who I was.

To summarise:
Don't ever use them - they are disorganised and unprofessional.

Value for money:		Not rated - NA
Service & support:		Poor - If there was a 0 star, I would choose that
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Not rated - NA

Review of   LD Property Management, Salisbury, Wiltshire    Address: Winchester St. Salisbury

After handing over our savings to pay the deposit, fees and rent up front the agent dealing with us joked "haha it doesn't feel like real money to us anymore"! They seem to have a very cloudy knowledge of tenancy law. They insist upon regular inspections (so far I have been in my property 6 months and have already had 3, the first one was 2 weeks after we moved in and some sarky comments were made about our lack of furniture). As this is common practice it isn't too much of an issue but they do refuse to arrange a time that suits you and will not rearrange if the date is unsuitable. After challenging them on this once when I was unable to attend and did not wish to have someone in my house without being present the response was "you are lucky we give you notice".

Any issue seems to be dealt with in an amateur way and sometimes I'm not sure if they are stupid or just seeing how much they can get away with, or both.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Not rated

Review of   Brighton Homes, Brighton, East Sussex    Phone: 01273 672333     Address: 3 St Georges Place, Brighton, BN1 4GA

I was on the market with 2 local letting agent for 6 weeks. While I was on my way to a friend's house I saw brighton homes office and popped in. The guys were very professional and friendly. The manager informed me that he could let this house within 24hr, i didn't believe him. He booked a time with me to carry out viewings the next day. One of the guys from the office turned up 10 minutes before the viewings and introduced him self and informed me that he has 6 viewings to do. Once all the viewings were done, He informed that someone has show interest in my property, to cut a long story short. I have a tenant moved into my property, the money was paid into my account promptly within 24hrs and the paper work landed on my door matt the next day morning. If only I came across brighton homes i would have had a tenant 6 weeks ago. Super impressed and will recomend them to all landlords.

Value for money:		Excelent
Service & support:		Excelent
Quality:		Excelent
Location:		Excelent

Review of   Equity London Limited, New Eltham, South East London    Phone: 0208 855 0212     Address: 42 Lower Station Road, Crayford , Kent DA1 3PY

I have been renting my property for approximately one and half years with Equity London Ltd. I could not have done it with out Alex. Alex is extremly proactive and efficient he sorts out all my problems within hours. I cannot thank him enough. He is my little super star. The best I have known to date.

Value for money:		Excelent
Service & support:		Excelent
Quality:		Excelent
Location:		Excelent

Review of   Equity London, Dartford    Phone: 02088550212     Address: 42 lower station road

We have been renting with Equity London for around 6 months now. We travel in and out of the country due to my work and Alex (The manager) has been excellent in taking care of the matters. He is efficient and the company has its own contractors to do most of the small jobs around the house.
To be honest, if I had another property I wanted to let out in the area (Crayford/Dartford) Equity London would be my first call.

Value for money:		Good
Service & support:		Good
Quality:		Good
Location:		Good

Review of   Portland Residential, Newcastle upon Tyne    Phone: 0191-281 2525     Address: 17 Windsor Terr Jesmond

I let my property through them and they didn't bother to pay me the rent! At one stage they had 7 months of rent due to me and kept lying to me that 'the cheque was in the post'- FOR 7 MONTHS! I couldn't leave them as i knew they definitely would not pay the money then. Finally when they paid i left them immediately and am still waiting for 1 months rent from them. It has been 6 months now and they have ignored my letters and phone calls. DO NOT EVER USE THIS LETTING AGENT! They could have bankrupted me.

Value for money:		Poor - they lost me money
Service & support:		Poor - if lying is service...
Quality:		Poor - no quality
Location:		Not rated

Review of   Thomas & co, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire    Phone: 01908 699944     Address: 310 Witan Gate West

I was interested by the comment above. We have also had to fight to get our rent paid over to us for some months. I have phoned so often and no-one ever returns the calls. We are now taking legal action. I am very worried that they may be going under.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor - OK for tenant, awful for landlord
Quality:		Poor - lack of attention to details
Location:		Average

Review of   PLS Wales, Porth, Rhondda Cynon Taff    Phone: 01443 887873     Address: 73 Hannah Street

If you plan on renting a house where nothing will ever go wrong, you will never need to contact your letting agents, never plan on receiving any correspondence (in regard to rent increases, property maintenance, tenancy agreement etc) and want to be informed of any inspections and gas checks on the day that they are due to happen then these guys are for you!

If you actually want a company that will reply to emails, texts and phone calls and fix any problems I would avoid these guys. Back street Rhonnda Boys with crap law degrees who couldn't get a real job.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor - None
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Average

Review of   Holmes & Homes, Dundee    Phone: 07768 152 058     Address: Castlecroft Business Centre

I have used rental agencies over the years (as a tenant and occasionally letting property) but have to say that this company is one of the most unprofessional I have met.

They seldom paid me rent on time even though it was received by the tenant, only did tenancy checks when pressed by us and they cost me several hundreds of pounds in evicting the non rent paying tenant because their paperwork was not legal.

Empty promises meant that 4 months on they are still finding every excuse to refuse to give me money owed to me (excuses range from - it will be in your bank, the book-keeper is writing a cheque etc)

So if you are thinking of renting out your property - do yourself a favour and go to one of the more trusted and professional letting agents in town!

They moved out of their office without telling anyone and now it is impossible to get hold of them. Dodgy dealings going on!

Value for money:		Poor - definitely not
Service & support:		Poor - no service
Quality:		Poor - amateur documentation
Location:		Fair - no office

Review of   Ivy Leaf Homes ltd, Brechin, Angus    Phone: 01356 625333     Address: 4 High Street

If you want a company that is run by an honest and trustworthy person - DO NOT USE THESE PEOPLE!

Ivy Leaf took over the running of AMFS Properties LTD the day after AMFS ceased trading. Surprisingly, not, this company is solely owned by the same person.

AMFS left tenants, landlords & contractors out of pocket to the tune of nearly J100k. They were then put into administration by HMRC and liquidators report shows that no assistance was provided by the sole director - John Grimes. By the way 1 week after the transfer John Grimes disappeared to his holiday home in France for 3 weeks!!

Some people were lucky enough to claim through compensation scheme through NAEA but others not so lucky. NAEA & NFOPP are continuing their investigations into John Grimes to claim back monies paid out!

Amazingly this company has been allowed to continue trading, for now!! and has bluffed some landlords to stay with them despite increasing commission rates and using the increase to pay back some landlords. In summary the landlords are paying themselves back the money they have been swindled out off.

Find any other local agent - there are many honest, reliable and ones that pay you your money.

Value for money:		Poor - you might not get it
Service & support:		Poor - they wont tell you the truth
Quality:		Poor - enough said
Location:		Poor - others around

Review of   King and Chasemore, Brighton, East Sussex    Phone: 0127 360 6303     Address: 20/22 Gloucester Place Brighton BN1 4AA

I am a tenant and am very disappointed by their horrible attitude. Rude arrogant and will not lift a finger to do their job once you have signed.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor - They make you do all the work
Quality:		Poor - zero quality
Location:		Average - What has their locaton got to do with it?

Review of   Ludlow Thompson, Oval, Central London    Phone: 02078204141     Address: 4 Clapham Road, Oval

Ludlow Thompson Oval showed us a property in the beggining of January with the promise that we could move on the 1st February. The house was quite nice but had fallen into disrepair. We agreed to take it on the condition that it would be completely restored. We paid our desposit and fees and waited for the move in date. A few days before we were meant to move they pushed it to the 4th. As the days passed we tried to get a guarentee that we could move on the 4th. Everytime we rang they said it was fine and on schedule. On the 4th we rang and emailed all day and were told to wait until 6pm when we could pick up the keys. At 5.30 I rang again and was told the management company had all gone home so we couldn't move. Being distraught at having nowhere to go we convinced them finally to let us drop some things off the next day as the painters would apparently be working. When I got to the house there was no one to be seen and it hadn't been touched. It was in a worse state than we realised... completely mouldy and in places unsafe.

We immediately went to the Oval office to complain where we were greeted by manager Chris Valentine who just shrugged and said it wasn't his problem. Ludlow Thompson have put four young people out on the street with nowhere to live. Worse they have lied and cheated every step of the way. They assured us everything was being sorted and that the painters were in when it hadn't been touched. Now there is no way they can do the work for at least 10 days - maybe more and we are stranded and confused. Ludlow Thompson have lied to us and caused pain and stress. They have marketted a propery that wasn't ready to be lived in and agreed a contract and move date. Worse still is that they knew we wouldn't be able to move but let us wait and suffer rather than finding other places to stay. The manager of the branch has treated us with sarcasm and rudeness every step of the way. Appalling!

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Poor

Review of   Red Square Residential, Jarrow, Tyne and Wear

They start off wonderful, then once you have a tenant, they don't send you any of your paperwork, don't even know if the tenants deposit is placed in a scheme or if they still have it. Despite them having a few months rent from our tenant have not passed it onto us... won't answer the phone / return our messages / reply to our emails.... even the director hasn't bothered returning messages - so what hope have you got?! Be very cautious! I should have credit checked them first - never seen such a terrible credit rating, if they can't even file thier own accounts on time, I should have know they wouldn't be competent enough to look after our let.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Fair

Review of   Sherlock Homes, Manchester, Greater Manchester    Address: Beech Road, Chorlton

The most exhausting experience of my life, they are rude, disinterested, arrogant and incompetent, not to mention love to charge tenuous fees and ignore repairs.

As a result of dealing with them I am moving out: despite constant chasing from me repairs remain outstanding from when I moved in, I have been unable to use the shower since 2010, the kitchen ceiling is falling down despite being reported a year ago and so on. There tactics seem to be to ignore everything and be as difficult as possible, whilst charging stupid fees for their own errors!

It would actually be funny having to deal with them were it not for the fact I have to live in a mess with seemingly no redress. Their complaints procedure is a joke, they have completely ignored a formal complaint and have spitefully refused to give a reference simply because I complained about the fact that they never get back to me, have mismanaged repairs and have been rude. How do these people still manage to do business.

Value for money:		Poor - Rip off merchants
Service & support:		Poor - Does being rude and 'absent' constitute service?
Quality:		Poor - Like a broken piece of MDF
Location:		Good - Good, but they may as well be anywhere for all the use they are!

Review of   Nest Lettings and Management Company, Leeds, West Yorkshire    Phone: 01132 280656     Address: 1-5 Springfield Mount Leeds, West Yorkshire LS2 9NG

Basically a lettings company which has a very attractive website, and all the lies and deception to lure tenants. Apart from their user friendly website they are just a sham. I moved into one of their properties in central Leeds, in 2008. The apartment was well presented, and well decorated. But that was all. The TV connection was not present, inspite of having TV points. The heating was not working properly. After repeated complaints they tried to first blame my TV ( a brand new Sony), and us that we have broken something that is why its not working. After complaining for almost 6 months we got a Sky engineer to come in and certify that there was no connection present at all. Then I wrote to the landlord directly. After all this they sent a technician, who had to dig into the walls and get a new cable line installed.

This ruined the show of the apartment, but we had TV after all. Then I had to get the heating fixed myself. The boiler started to have problems, and took us another 3 months to get it repaired, but that also after repeated please and complaints. I couldn't leave the property as my wife was pregnant. When my son was born we decided to leave the property. The boiler was making strange noises and once it overflowed hot water into the carpets. I complained to them, and one of their partners visited the property and assured that the carpet has been spoiled and needs replacement. But nothing was done. She was extremely rude and curt while speaking, and tried all the time to pass the buck on us.

One of the dining stools was giving away ( A cheap faux leather one). The seat cover was wearing off. I called their office, and one person took the call and said she would inform the said Lady, who handles these matters.
We left the property in December 2010. Cleaned the property from top to bottom and took photographs and left it spotless. After they had inspected the property this Lady wrote to me saying :' the kitchen was smelling of food, and need s professional cleaning, and the dining stool has been ripped'. I disputed this with DPS, and still waiting on the outcome. I got a legal advice from my insurance company saying that: after repeated use a kitchen will have some food smell, and a cheap stool can have normal wear and tear after 2 and 1/2 years of use.

I would suggest no one who reads this review go for Nest Lettings in case you want to move into Leeds. I had a chance to speak to another tenant in the same building, who had similar experience with Nest lettings. A horrible company.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Poor - Their office is so obscure that you won't find it with a sat nav

Review of   Village Properties, Mortlake    Phone: 020 8392 3996     Address: Mortlake Business Centre/20 Mortlake High St

When we came across this company it was all smiles, I thought wow a small friendly independent company but it was not to last, As soon as we got the keys it was down hill all the way. The property was not made ready for us, the house was dirty including soiled toilet brushes, soap dishes full of old dirty soap along with a weedy garden including a bin full of rubbish and glass. And although items such as the showers & the washing machine were replaced, It has taken an unreasonable amount of time to have other outstanding repairs carried out. It has been nothing but interuptions and hassle from moving into this property. They talk and look the part but actions speak louder than words. Not good administrators, and if any action does happen it is slow slow slow. 5 weeks to get 1 particular simple job done. I would not recommend using this company.

Value for money:		Poor - Overpriced properties.
Service & support:		Fair - Its all promises and shallow apologies.
Quality:		Poor - Why use glue when chewing gum is at hand.
Location:		Fair - They have an office.

Review of   Thomas & Company, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire    Phone: 01908 230500     Address: 310 Witan Court West

Avoid these agents at all cost! You will have to fight every month to get your rent and they will eventually ignore all your phone calls, letters and emails leaving you seriously out of pocket.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Average

Review of   Dave Ricketts, Cardiff    Phone: 02920 611333     Address: 493 Caerphilly Road, Rhiwbina

This man will blatently lie to you and never return your calls. He will also take your agency fee, which is normally used to carry out reference/credit checks, and just pocket the money! He asks you to provide all of these himself.
This agency is highly unprofessional as should be AVOIDED.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Fair

Review of   XCHANGE PROPERTY SERVICES,     Phone: 020 8553 1444     Address: 141 Cranbrook Road, Ilford, Essex IG14PU

Never in million years we will go back to this agent. Very bad service. Only interested in commission. They will do what you have not instructed them to do and will not do what you have asked them to do. Very rude on phone. Once got the commission they do not want to know and will not return calls, even in emergency.

Value for money:		Not rated
Service & support:		Not rated
Quality:		Not rated
Location:		Not rated

Review of   sumnall letting,     Address: lichfield

If you are thinking of going with this company - please don't! They will appear friendly at the start but turn out to be nothing of the sort. Very rude. They get nothing done for you and I have been so stressed out by the way I have been treated by them.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Average

Review of   costello propert management,     Phone: 07968 434525     Address: 404A Ringwood Road, Ferndown, Dorset. BH22 9AU

This company does not pay back and money owed or get back in contact with you. AVOID!!!!!!

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Poor

Review of   ,

We have rented for 15 years and have never come across a company run as poorly as Lets Go. You are charged huge Agency Fees up front yet we had to clean the filthy kitchen ourselves without any discount on our Agency Fees on our moving in day as there was rotten food and grease over every kitchen surface. This was in front of the Agency owner 'Denise Whittington' who arrogantly told us it wasn't her job to make sure a flat was clean for new tenants!

Denise never answers her phone and rarely answers e-mails resulting in very frustrating long periods of waiting. Although we left the flat in immaculate condition she has decided to deduct a large chunk of our deposit money for 'cleaning' but hasn't as yet paid our deposit back to us. It's been just short of 2 months since we moved out and have not received the deposit back yet.

Denise has refused to offer an apology for the delay and does not see the necessity to run her business in a professional manner.

Do not rent with this company........I can assure you you'll regret it.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor - worse than poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Poor

Review of   Keys Letting Centre, Ulverston    Phone: 01229 582891     Address: Market St

They come across very nicely when they look round your house, but the rent from them was always late and I always had to chase them to find out when it was going to be paid and why it was late.

The workmen they sent round didn't convince me that they knew what they were talking about and wanted to charge a lot of money for things that weren't wrong with the house - without actually fixing the problem.

They only charge 10%, but if you go with these people you will end up doing all the work yourself anyway, so you might as well keep the 10% and do it yourself in the first place.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Poor

Review of   Premier Move, Hitchin, Hertfordshire    Address: 5 Brand Street

Do not rent a house through this letting agent! They are terrible. We have been asking for minor repairs for 6 months. Despite calling and leaving messages (the letting agent is never in and neither are any managers) they do not return calls and do not do anything for the tenant (or the landlord who is paying for their service). They are dismissive and condescending, happy to take the money but reluctant to do any work in return.
Awful. Avoid!

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor - Non existant. Rude.
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Fair

Review of   Keys Letting Centre, Ulverston    Phone: 01229 582891     Address: Market St

I chose to use Keys because I was renting out my home after finding a job elsewhere and wanted someone who would take a pride in their job and manage my house well. I couldn't have made a bigger mistake.

1. They don't believe in using the internet or newspapers to advertise, which obviously makes it harder to find prospective tenants. The situation of their office (set back off the main street) is really nice, but again unless you know it's there, a prospective tenant is not going to pass by the window and see what properties are available.

2. They seemed unaware of the existance of standing orders. For the first 4 months the rent was consistently late, for one reason or another. When it was late, Keys didn't notify me that it was going to be late, but it was left up to me to chase them for when the rent would be due. It was only after the 5th month when I insisted on a standing order being set up that the rent came in on time.

3. Where there was a problem with the property they called out tradesmen who either didn't know what the problem was, or decided to try and make money from an absent landlord by saying that the problem was something else. Had I been away from the property for longer I might have believed them, but as I had lived in the house until not long before, it didn't ring true. When I asked for 2nd and 3rd opinions from different workmen, not only were the 2nd and 3rd opinions different to the first (but the same as each other) but Keys became angry that I hadn't taken the word of their workmen. In their opinion if I didn't take the opinion given by their tradesman then it was a breach of trust. I got the impression that they thought that because I was no longer living in the house I was completely out of touch with the condition of it, and that this was something they could take advantage of.

4. They seemed to be on very good terms with the tenant, which while it can definitely be a positive, did not help in getting the tenant to co-operate with tradesmen and meant that they overlooked damage done to the house.

Overall I would avoid these letting agents like the plague.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Poor

Review of   Harrisons, Norwich    Phone: 01603 622224     Address: Meadow View House/191 Queens Rd

I am a young professional female who unfortunatley chose to rent a property from Harissons.This turned out to be one of the worst mistakes of my life so far !! The whole experience has been a nightmare from start to finish. After spending a very cold 3 weeks in a flat with no heating or hot water (the worse weather conditions on record apparently ! ), and having to listen to the most foul language I've ever heard when asking for the boiler to be fixed,im now told that I will not be getting my deposit back as the flat was dirty.I can assure you that it was left 100% cleaner than it was when I moved in ! I actually paid a professional cleaning company to come in the day I was moving out, they left the place spotless.

I had a feeling that this was coming as the" nice" lady that I saw in Harrisons office when I handed over my deposit turned out to be a very different person indeed when I asked for repairs to be done. As a person that deals with the public in my working life I am both shocked and discussed at her behaviour and bad language. I now have the pleasure of building a case against this company so that I can take them to small claims, fortunately I have found a couple of other people that have had similar problems with them who are willing to send written statments to my solicitor. These things must not be allowed to go on. Anyone can contact me on 01493 750257 if they have had problems with Harrisons.

Value for money:		Fair
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Fair
Location:		Good

Review of   Profilewide Estates, Cardiff    Address: Clifton St

As a new person to Cardiff I looked at many available properties prior to the start of my new employment, and settled for one with Profile Wide. I was impressed with the viewing and the way my application was dealt with. After moving in I then saw the error of my ways in being a tenant of a property managed by Profile Wide!

1. Do not be late with your rent....even 1 day, despite a phone call to explain will show the wrath of the two office girls along with very silly admin fees being added to your account!
2. Beware of the office girls especially Uma, it is very hard to establish the truth from them, there is a massive blame culture of everything that occurs is never their fault, the property owner, the workman, the previous tenant or even yourself will be used to protect them from taking any form of responsibility.
3. Get everything in writing or have a reliable witness when dealing with them, this will give you some protection.

My advice is do not even consider using this company but if you do be prepared for an unsettled journey.

Value for money:		Poor - Overpriced properties
Service & support:		Poor - Very superficial
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Not rated

Review of   ,

The best Service I have ever had. I am a landlord from Ireland and the two girls have dealt with every issue I had in a very professional manner.
I spoke to my tenant and she couldn't stop praising Crystal and Uma.

Value for money:		Excelent
Service & support:		Excelent
Quality:		Excelent
Location:		Excelent

Review of   platinum property, Chelmsford, Essex    Phone: 01245 356 039     Address: 245 broomfield rd,cm1 4 dp,chelmsford,essex

Not only i had to wait months to get my copy of the contract but once i moved out everything just wasn't right, they didn't even make an effort to come it, check room and pick up the keys, but what is worse they just simply forgot about me, i called them a week later to ask why i still haven't got my money back and after that they went into property to check if everthing is ok, i was suppose to get an e mail from deposit company the same day but it never happened, so it took me another week to claim my deposit by myself.
Good advice, stay away from this company, service is below any minimum standards.

Value for money:		Average
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Average
Location:		Poor

Review of   Landslets, Warrington, Cheshire

Non stop problems, lack of credit referencing, unresponsive to communication, constant chase.....I am sure there are others out there that are a safer bet in Warrington.

Value for money:		Poor - Does not deserve being paid for doing nothing
Service & support:		Poor - What service and support ?
Quality:		Poor - Unheard of ?
Location:		Poor

Review of   Affitto Residential Letting, Ashby de la Zouch    Phone: 08000437368     Address: 7 Harrow Close

They sell themselves on being your best friend and providing a hassle free and simple service. They are your best friends until you hand over your property to them and the hassle free service means non existent. The staff are trained on autocue to say the managers are not there and when you finally get hold of them, they hang up on you or say fax machine not working, emails are down or paperwork has been misplaced. The inspections are also undertaken purely on memory as nothing is recorded on paper! To try and get your property back is like fighting with archilles in the Trojan war! There contracts are so simple that they are misleading and ambiguous! Real unprofessional service.

Value for money:		Poor - Charge professional fees for a cowboy service
Service & support:		Poor - Non existent
Quality:		Poor - I don't think they know what this means
Location:		Fair

Review of   rose and co, Watford, Hertfordshire

i had a nightmarish experience with Rose&co a few months back. I moved into a house through them and stayed there for around 7months and when the check out was done the person who came was quite fine with everything and i personally was there. We had taken proper care of the house and in fact got it professionally cleaned. The check out clerk commented the same and said the house was in good condition.
But 3 days later Mr Rose wrote to me saying that there have been lot of problems in the house and J500 will be deducted from my deposit. I was out of the country for few months and literally had to fight out a lot with them but they still managed to deduct J250 at the end!!! This was one of the most horrifying and worse experience i have ever had with any letting agenst...so please be careful with them!!

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Poor

Review of   Taylors Lettings, Swindon, Wiltshire    Phone: 01793 882121     Address: 115-118 Commercial Road

Appalling service. The tenancy agreement stated that they would request access 24 hours in advance to show the property but gave as little as 4 hours in some cases.

The roof was falling in, perhaps they didn't know when I rented the property from them but they certainly knew when I was exiting the property and they still attempted to rent it out, not notifying any prospective tenants.

The Landlord tried to steal from the deposit and when I disputed, Taylors Lettings told me to just go and search online for "dispute service". I did this only to find that they are no longer registered with the dispute service and that I should contact the Agent.

Avoid. Taylors Lettings in Swindon are the quintessence of incompetent.

Inside info on the property: http://angleseyclose.blinkweb.com

Value for money:		Average
Service & support:		Poor - Poor is the worst available. Appalling is more accurate
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Average

Review of   chimneys, Wantage, Oxfordshire    Phone: 01235772670     Address: 6a market place

These people are here to help property owners let there house's right? WRONG!!!
Myself and my girlfriend have been looking for a place together and thought as we were local we would give them a try, what a mistake that was! We called asking about one property as it was still avalible and said as we both work away from the area if we could look quickly at it when we got back ( 6o'clock not that late ) all we got back was thats just not possible, even though its literally a 3 minute drive from their office, so asked nicely if a saturday viewing was possible with the answer being ( god do you not understand that we have familys to see we are here all week if you can't understand that you must be stupid!) now this was coming from the OWNER!!!! of this so-called agents! I have to say if your looking to rent somewhere go elsewhere as other agents in town are more than happy to do out of hours viewings and weekends, and if you are thinking of getting them to rent your property for you DON'T you will be waiting for ages with rude arrogant owners like these go with a proper agent.

Value for money:		Poor
Service & support:		Poor
Quality:		Poor
Location:		Average