Letting agent reviews for
Fishers, Birmingham
Average agency Rating: 1
★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Number of times reviewed: 1
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Fishers, Birmingham
Reviewed 29 November 2019
★☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
Make sure you are very thorough with the inventories, as the entry inventories tend to be incredibly vague. They attempted to state that I was responsible for damage to the property which was there when I moved in. They also claimed that there were missing items when they were in different rooms, and claimed that parts of the house were 'filthy' when their own photographic evidence did not demonstrate that. I would recommend being very particular when you move in, photographing everything which is even slightly damaged (to the point where they tried to pick me up for a small chip on a wardrobe, about 1cm in circumference which was there when we moved in as the wardrobe was clearly very old)
I would also recommend challenging any cleaning costs if you think that they are unfair - brush up on the legal guidance provided on the DPS website and check if they are following it properly. For example, if there is a non-itemised standard cleaning cost then this isn't generally considered to be acceptable. Brush up on 'reasonable wear and tear' vs damage. Request all of the evidence that you are entitled to: quotes, bills, invoices, pictures and reports. I challenged the cleaning cost and they reduced it significantly. Be very clear about what you feel is acceptable and why, as I found that when I was negotiating the deposit it was very difficult at times to get proper answers to my queries/concerns – I think about 200 emails ended up going back and forth, many of them were not very productive and didn’t directly address the issues.
The contract stated that as a policy they do not use the Alternative Dispute Resolution process, which leaves you with significantly reduced bargaining ability unless you are willing to go to court.
I made requests for maintenance throughout the tenancy, one was followed through (electrical issue) and one was completely ignored (garden issue), so I'd say that the response to maintenance concerns was patchy.
Correspondence was again mixed, there was a member of staff in the office who has a very condescending phone manner, she kept calling me 'honey', but when I was negotiating the deposit the email correspondence was ok.
There are a couple of charges nestled into the charge list on their website too - a renewal charge and a charge for a reference. The deposit is also a lot more than a month's rent.
On a more positive note, it was very easy to move in and things moved along very quickly once we had put the deposit down on the house. There was a member of staff 'Mel' who was very pleasant when we moved in.
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I would also recommend challenging any cleaning costs if you think that they are unfair - brush up on the legal guidance provided on the DPS website and check if they are following it properly. For example, if there is a non-itemised standard cleaning cost then this isn't generally considered to be acceptable. Brush up on 'reasonable wear and tear' vs damage. Request all of the evidence that you are entitled to: quotes, bills, invoices, pictures and reports. I challenged the cleaning cost and they reduced it significantly. Be very clear about what you feel is acceptable and why, as I found that when I was negotiating the deposit it was very difficult at times to get proper answers to my queries/concerns – I think about 200 emails ended up going back and forth, many of them were not very productive and didn’t directly address the issues.
The contract stated that as a policy they do not use the Alternative Dispute Resolution process, which leaves you with significantly reduced bargaining ability unless you are willing to go to court.
I made requests for maintenance throughout the tenancy, one was followed through (electrical issue) and one was completely ignored (garden issue), so I'd say that the response to maintenance concerns was patchy.
Correspondence was again mixed, there was a member of staff in the office who has a very condescending phone manner, she kept calling me 'honey', but when I was negotiating the deposit the email correspondence was ok.
There are a couple of charges nestled into the charge list on their website too - a renewal charge and a charge for a reference. The deposit is also a lot more than a month's rent.
On a more positive note, it was very easy to move in and things moved along very quickly once we had put the deposit down on the house. There was a member of staff 'Mel' who was very pleasant when we moved in.
