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Student accommodation ripping us off!
Pork89
Posts: 56 Forumite
Hello there moneysavingexperts,
I'm seeking a tad of legal advice, or at least to know where I stand with the following situation.
http://www.unite-students.com/student-accommodation/bristol/phoenix-court?
I chose the above property, "Phoenix Court", as my accommodation for my 2nd year at University. I was told it was not possible to view an actual flat, but that I could look at the show flat. During the showing I was led to believe my room would be exactly the same as the show-room and my kitchen would be the same as the show-kitchen. Oh how this was NOT the case.
In comparison, my room is insultingly small, does not have the same quality of furnishings, has a different layout (more boxy and less accommodating) and was a completely shock to the system when I first saw it. Not only that, but our kitchen is also incredibly small and has to be shared between the 5 flatmates - and again, does not have the same furnishings as the show-kitchen.
On Unite's website, the only picture they display of a bedroom is not of an ACTUAL bedroom, but of the showroom, which as mentioned earlier is grossly misleading.
Other problems include the changes and removals to certain services since I started my tenancy. This includes the removal of a parcel collection service by the reception staff, fitting water-saving devices in our bathrooms without our consent and introducing internet-usage-caps when we were told our internet would be unlimited! All of these above have been to the detriment of residents – we have NOT been offered rent reduction or compensation.
I’m absolutely furious about the constant misleading. Do I have a leg to stand on, legally, if I chose to confront Unite? What options do I even have? Is Unite guilty of “false advertising”?
Phoenix Court isn’t the only property that Unite are using misleading images to advertise for either, the same situation is occurring for other properties in Bristol and possibly over the country.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, I’m hoping someone has some advice because I’m at my wits end with this company. Many many thanks.
I'm seeking a tad of legal advice, or at least to know where I stand with the following situation.
http://www.unite-students.com/student-accommodation/bristol/phoenix-court?
I chose the above property, "Phoenix Court", as my accommodation for my 2nd year at University. I was told it was not possible to view an actual flat, but that I could look at the show flat. During the showing I was led to believe my room would be exactly the same as the show-room and my kitchen would be the same as the show-kitchen. Oh how this was NOT the case.
In comparison, my room is insultingly small, does not have the same quality of furnishings, has a different layout (more boxy and less accommodating) and was a completely shock to the system when I first saw it. Not only that, but our kitchen is also incredibly small and has to be shared between the 5 flatmates - and again, does not have the same furnishings as the show-kitchen.
On Unite's website, the only picture they display of a bedroom is not of an ACTUAL bedroom, but of the showroom, which as mentioned earlier is grossly misleading.
Other problems include the changes and removals to certain services since I started my tenancy. This includes the removal of a parcel collection service by the reception staff, fitting water-saving devices in our bathrooms without our consent and introducing internet-usage-caps when we were told our internet would be unlimited! All of these above have been to the detriment of residents – we have NOT been offered rent reduction or compensation.
I’m absolutely furious about the constant misleading. Do I have a leg to stand on, legally, if I chose to confront Unite? What options do I even have? Is Unite guilty of “false advertising”?
Phoenix Court isn’t the only property that Unite are using misleading images to advertise for either, the same situation is occurring for other properties in Bristol and possibly over the country.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, I’m hoping someone has some advice because I’m at my wits end with this company. Many many thanks.
0
Comments
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What type of agreement do you have? Please give dates and details.0
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Thanks for the quick reply
I'm not sure what type of agreement it is? Tenancy agreement?
My tenancy began 01-SEPT-2008 and ends 28-JUN-2009.
I've got the terms and conditions for my tenancy / "licence for occupation" infront of me. I'm reading through it now to see if I can find any other information that might help!
Thank you again0 -
If you have bothered to google opinion of Unite before you took up the offer you would know that they are the worst possible people to ever give your money to and sign an agreement.
They seem to have very strict guidelines and will not give out any monies to anyone for any reason.
They are a scam in themselves.
I suspect the most you can get out of them is false advertising. Take pictures of your room and kitchen. write a formal letter of complaint about the size of the room and you not being able to view the room yourself.
Good luck!0 -
Thanks for the post Lokolo. As I mentioned in the OP a lot of us students are very naive when it comes to this sort of thing! Living with UNITE does have it's advantages, all-inclusive bills, less likely to have your deposit scammed from you, etc. I stayed with UNITE in my 1st year and had FAR less problems. Believe me, I did a lot of research into Phoenix Court before I moved in, as much as I could, but as it had only been built a year ago at the time there wasn't much information to dig up!
N79, if you are interested, the T&C for my tenancy are here. I'm scouring them now to see what I can pick up on.
I know many students that have written to Unite about the aforementioned problems only to have their email bounced around from person to person with no result or to be fobbed off with some pathetic excuse or to receive an email back with an explanation that barely addresses the original complaint.
I've noticed that a mere complaint does nothing. I'm hoping that if I have legal reasoning behind my complaint, perhaps that UNITE are in breach of some sort of regulation then I may receive a better outcome.
Thanks for your time everyone.0 -
tbs624, thanks very much for the information. I did not know that UNITE had signed up to that code with ANUK. I'm looking at the full T&C of the code now and have already found something I could use in my argument!
Section 3 of the code relates to "marketing prior to letting a property to tenants". Section 3.1 requires that "All property details are reported accurately without misrepresentation to prospective tenants, including details provided in prospectuses, brochures and on websites;"
I'm going to keep looking through the code and see what I can find.
Thanks again0 -
If you have bothered to google opinion of Unite before you took up the offer you would know that they are the worst possible people to ever give your money to and sign an agreement.
They seem to have very strict guidelines and will not give out any monies to anyone for any reason.
They are a scam in themselves.
Always be suspicious if they say you can't view the actual flat.
"Do you want to go on a blind date"?
"Er, possibly, can I see a picture?"
"No Way"
"**** that!":pInstigated terrorism the road to dictatorship.0 -
Hehe that made me laugh :P It's a valuable lesson which I've learned ... At least I can say I know for the future now.
I'm off to bed, but I've just finished drafting a letter which I plan to send soon to UNITE. The ANUK code has a guideline for complaints so I'm going to follow that.
In the letter I've highlighted problems with section 3 & also with three subsections of section 4. I'm going to mention how it's made me feel and other areas that they've let me and other students down. I was supposed to get a "discount" this year for applying early, but then got told that I'd applied too late or some rubbish. I'm doubting I'll get any compensation, but if they offered the discount to me that would be great!
Thank you everyone0 -
- Complain to UNITE direct.
- Complain through your NUS representative, student newspaper, whatever
- Complain through your local press
- Contact the advertising standards authority. Retain copies of misleading adverts. They have rapped DFS for showing sofas that were bigger than reality so they would be interested in this.
- Contact the Office of Fair Trading. They will probably also be interested in the misrepresentation.
- A small claims court case is a possibility but you will need to evidence that they lied to you (hard unless you have written statements!) and that you incurred a loss (hard to quantify in this instance, although probably easier to demonstrate). A lawyer's letter might at least make them think.
- Your local MP and/or councillor might be able to write a nasty letter.
- Your university accomodation service may be willing to sanction unite in some way, even if it's just a public statement expressing disappointment.
So there are a few things you can do, but you need to be very clear in your mind what you want to achieve, and make sure you target the right person to do it. The main obstacle you will have with legal routes is evidencing the fact that they lied to you and that what you were promised was a contractual obligation that wasn't fulfilled.0 -
If you dont like your landlord, why not just move. Its what grown ups do.0
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