Do any landlords use Glide?

anandp

I rent property in the student market and Glide has recently come up as an alternative utilities management supplier.

Sounds great to me since offering all-inclusive bills has become a bit of a cash burner.

Anyone used it? Saw this post from students which make it sound very positive: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1158533

anandp

I'm guessing this is very new with the overwhelming lack of response...

Lokolo

Any students that come on here and ask about these companies, the response is always to avoid.

Quite simply, a post in TSR sums it up

If you think about it (as well as listening to the terrible reviews) you're adding an extra company into the mix that need to make a profit, so they're going to add their margin on top of the gas,elec etc. that also need to be paid and make their profit. Paying another company just to do the simple sum of dividing your gas bill between 5, for example, is not worth it!

I am also unsure as to why it is any of your concern how the students run their utility bills? Surely as a LL that is not your responsibility?

thelem

Bills in shared houses are always an issue - I've paid bills that I've not then been able to get the money for from other housemates, and I've had to pay late fees because other housemates haven't paid bills they said they would. Even if you don't lose out financially, it can cause tension between housemates if you're needing to chase for money.

Therefore as a concept it makes sense, but it needs to be transparently priced and good value.

JuicyJesus

Lokolo wrote: »

I am also unsure as to why it is any of your concern how the students run their utility bills? Surely as a LL that is not your responsibility?

The number of students who don't pay their bills is frightening. A service like this ensures that they do so.

That's not to say I necessarily agree with the imposition of such a service but it makes sense to me...

anandp

Lokolo wrote: »

I am also unsure as to why it is any of your concern how the students run their utility bills? Surely as a LL that is not your responsibility?

Agree with the last 2 comments. As an LL who provides all inclusive bills, changing that structure slightly to provide a facility where each is individually responsible for utilities is very attractive.

At the moment, being on monthly DD's myself with utility companies and doing the split 3 ways (as its 3 students), figuring out whether how much I've allowed for in the all-inclusive rental figure, and then notifying tenants if the allowance I've made is breached (its all in their AST's) and therefore they need to pay more: that's just a pain!

Lokolo

anandp wrote: »

Agree with the last 2 comments. As an LL who provides all inclusive bills, changing that structure slightly to provide a facility where each is individually responsible for utilities is very attractive.

At the moment, being on monthly DD's myself with utility companies and doing the split 3 ways (as its 3 students), figuring out whether how much I've allowed for in the all-inclusive rental figure, and then notifying tenants if the allowance I've made is breached (its all in their AST's) and therefore they need to pay more: that's just a pain!

Then why are you asking us on this forum?

It is a waste of money, simple as, if you read the TSR forum you'd see examples where people are paying massively over the odds for the service.

Throughout my 3 years (3 different properties, 3 different housemates) when I was a student we didn't have any problems with bills or collecting money. A spreadsheet takes 10 minutes to make, giving each person responsible a certain bill with their name on it. We then split the money out so each person collects or pays money to different people depending on the bill amounts.

If you think there will be problems then yeh sure go for it, but if the landlord had forced me onto that I would tell them to do one.

anandp

Lokolo wrote: »

Then why are you asking us on this forum?

It is a waste of money, simple as, if you read the TSR forum you'd see examples where people are paying massively over the odds for the service.

Throughout my 3 years (3 different properties, 3 different housemates) when I was a student we didn't have any problems with bills or collecting money. A spreadsheet takes 10 minutes to make, giving each person responsible a certain bill with their name on it. We then split the money out so each person collects or pays money to different people depending on the bill amounts.

If you think there will be problems then yeh sure go for it, but if the landlord had forced me onto that I would tell them to do one.

Because as much as it seems like a good service, I was asking for experiences of actual people that had used it, not simply people's thoughts on it.

Having been a student too, yes it is simple to track and calculate if you are responsible for it. If the LL is responsible, then the task to track and challenge isn't as simple.

Rikki

My son used glide for his last year of University and we had nothing but problems with them especially at the end of the year. Trying to get money back after final readings were submitted was a nightmare.

donal4586

I am a Landlord and my tenants who are students use glide for their bills. They all seem to pay individually and a fixed amount per month it seems like a really good system! I have checked it out and they also do a bills inclusive option for landlords which I might look into.

Hope this helps!