Letting agent woes

pinkduvetdiva

On September 25th, I viewed a flat with a lettings agent rep. Once I got home from the viewings, I decided to submit an application. I went to the agency and completed the necessary paperwork and paid an application fee of £200. I was also asked to complete an online referencing application, which I did within 2 days.
Last Saturday lunchtime, I called the agency to check the progress of the application. The person who had been dealing with me (let's call him Jim) was with a client, but I was told that a message would be passed on and Jim would call me as soon as he was free. Jim never got back to me.
Today was my next day off. I phoned the agency at lunchtime, and Jim had gone to lunch. I asked that Jim call back once he returned. Guess what? Jim never got back to me. (sounds like the hook of a song!)
Now I'm quite peeved. This agency will be managing the flat, and if I can't get hold of them to confirm the status of my application, how will it pan out once I've moved in, if something goes wrong? I'm very tempted to pull out of the rental and cut my losses to preserve my temper and my sanity. Looking at the agent's FB page and on the All Agents site, a recurring theme is the lack of customer service shown by this company.
Has anyone ever pulled out of a home rental at all? I'd love to hear any experiences you may have, and any advice is more than welcome. MTIA.

Blackpool_Saver

Welcome to tenant land, agents ignore/deflect/pass the buck, and LL's are usually worse

Voyager2002

Note that it is against the law to charge an "application fee". The money that you paid should be refunded in full if you decide not to proceed with these people: ask Shelter for details.

anselld

Voyager2002 wrote: »

Note that it is against the law to charge an "application fee". The money that you paid should be refunded in full if you decide not to proceed with these people: ask Shelter for details.

... only in Scotland AFAIK.

Voyager2002

anselld wrote: »

... only in Scotland AFAIK.

OK, my knowledge is out of date (1980s), but at that time agents needed to be creative, charging fees for providing contracts and so on, in order to get round this prohibition on things like "key money". And this relates to England.

pinkduvetdiva

Blackpool_Saver wrote: »

Welcome to tenant land, agents ignore/deflect/pass the buck, and LL's are usually worse

I've got to say, I rented my last flat directly from the landlord, and he was brilliant. An exception to the rule perhaps?
I'm really in a mind just to take the hit and pull out. I'd go absolutely ape if they tried messing me about during my tenancy.

pinkduvetdiva

Quick update - I took the hit and pulled out of the property. All bets are now off.
And because all bets are off, you might like to know that I had the pleasure of dealing with Curtis and Bains, 245 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 4EN. Believe me, I wouldn't touch them again with someone else's bargepole! :mad:

Kazzaroo

pinkduvetdiva wrote: »

Quick update - I took the hit and pulled out of the property. All bets are now off.
And because all bets are off, you might like to know that I had the pleasure of dealing with Curtis and Bains, 245 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 4EN. Believe me, I wouldn't touch them again with someone else's bargepole! :mad:

Could you try and get your fees back ?

dimbo61

Ring them up and ask for the full return of your money, if no joy report them to Manchester city council housing people and Manchester Student Homes, perhaps a letter to the office manager telling them next letter is too Manchester Evening News !

pinkduvetdiva

Kazzaroo wrote: »

Could you try and get your fees back ?

dimbo61 wrote: »

Ring them up and ask for the full return of your money, if no joy report them to Manchester city council housing people and Manchester Student Homes, perhaps a letter to the office manager telling them next letter is too Manchester Evening News !

The fees were non-refundable in any case, but as I told the guy on the phone, they are not getting another penny from me. BTW I'm not a student any more.

Quizzical_Squirrel wrote: »

I'n not sure you did the right thing here (unless you meant to do this anyway).

I'm happy with my decision. Yeah, it's £200 gone, but I should have done my homework before I gave them anything. If it's so difficult for them to quickly call or email about a reference, what would happen if the roof leaked, or a pipe burst?
The best thing I can do now is spread the word where I can...

I have found that almost always, the person who does the viewings and sets up the tenancy is an entirely different person from the one who deals with the day to day maintenance and inspections. Sometimes it's even a different department in a different building. Sometimes even in a different town.

I don't think you can necessarily draw an inference just from the sales side of the business. You'll probably never have any contact with that person again. It's the people in the back office who will really matter to you as a tenant, not the flashy salesman.

The guy who took my reference fees (who was the one that I'd been trying to get hold of) was different to the guy that showed me the flat.