Liane Hanks Residential Lettings, Bath

The agency were awful. Refused to acknowledge a problem or talk to us until parents got 'militant' and said they'd phone every half an hour until someone spoke to them about resolving the matter. Their suggestions... find other students to rent it (really?!) or take 4 weeks free rent and live there bedroom hopping. Neither acceptable to us, we instructed a lawyer. The agency refused to allow the DPS to return our deposits until nearly 3 months later (despite us returning the keys the following day and having spent not one single night in the property.) They hid behind the saying, 'You've signed a contract.' Really poor communication from this agency which is why the ombudsman made them compensate us. We are now in the process of getting £2,735 from the landlord through the small claims court. 'Rip Off Britain' and the local MP have been involved. Sadly codes of practice for letting agencies are set very low. All they need to do is tell the landlord about a problem then they can wash their hands of you. Incidentally they kept the previous tenants' deposits despite only changing a battery in a smoke alarm before we moved in, we have the old tenants' schedules of condition to prove this. Absolutely appalling agency. You've been warned.

Slow responses, refusal for compensation, hard to contact, out of hours number not given

High fees, slow to act on maintenance issues until council involved. Helpful when left

The agency worked well, and was quick and efficient. However we ended up paying £200+ in Holding Fees and more for Agency fees - in total over £1000 before moving in.