Choices

Reviewed by Disgusted on 29th July 2010

Services: Lettings (as a Tenant)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  No
IP address: 9FB.9CQ.9FR.9QR

Branch: Hove

If I could have rated them any worse than terrible (1 star), I would have.

We went to them in June explicitly stating that we needed a flat by mid July, to meet the end of our previous tenancy. We put a holding deposit on a flat that we were told would be available by 24th July. After a couple of weeks and having not heard from them, we called back for a specific date to be told that it was now 27th. On this basis, we organised to have all of our furniture delivered from storage on 27th and planned to stay in a hotel (in peak season) for a few days. After another couple of weeks, we called and were told 3rd August. They denied that they had ever said 24th or 27th. We had also arranged for 10 friends to visit from all over the country on the weekend of the 31st and could not afford to stay in a hotel any longer; but there was no concern or apology from any of the agents. They said that they would try to get us in for that weekend and promised to call. They never called and when I called back, I was told it would now be 9th of August and I would not be compensated. The agent also hung up on me for being rude (are you surprised).

They are a disgusting bunch of people who will only treat you with courtesy if there is money to be made. Once you have agreed to something, they forget about you and treat you appalingly. Of all the bad experiences I've had with letting agents, Choices is the very worst.

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Reviewed by MrsB on 14th July 2010

Services: Lettings (as a Landlord)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  Yes
IP address: S97.TDT.TGD.UG9

Branch: Sutton/Kingston

I feel Choices have done us proud!

They have always been very helpful and have always found us a tenant very quickly. They do take some time in answering quires, but I have to be fair and say they have got back to me with a good response. I can understand they must be busy!

They work efficiently and I have just given one of my properties to them at the Kingston office and they found me a tenant straight away. I’m happy with the service I am receiving from this office and will hopefully use them in the future, if there standard stays the same.

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Reviewed by rocker21 on 1st July 2010

Services: Lettings (as a Tenant)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  No
IP address: S9U.SZ9.UDG.UZU

Branch: Hove

Disgusting company to deal with, if they could let a dog house, they would, fleas "n" all. I will never let anyone deal with them.

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Reviewed by doyler on 23rd April 2010

Services: Lettings (as a Landlord)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  Yes
IP address: SZT.S7N.SU9.UT7

Branch: Croydon

Surprised to see some of the comments here as I have a number of properties let through their Croydon office and they have generally found them to be efficient. I don’t think any agent I’ve dealt with has been perfect when it comes to things like getting back to you straight away, but they’ve always found me good tenants in a short amount of time. There seems to be a few of them who are really switched on and some that just come and go, so if you do get someone decent I would suggest just dealing with them.

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Reviewed by royboy on 14th April 2010

Services: Lettings (as a Landlord)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  No
IP address: 9QX.9CB.9EB.9FE

Branch: Redhill

When you are using an estate agent, professionalism comes to mind. You know, they deal with many clients and they are trained to a high standard, we hope! It's their job, and they should know it inside out.

And if your like me, the normal man of the street, we think we are going to be looked after whilst using their services. But I was so wrong. And after my ordeal, I found out, that many of us were wrong. And when I mean wrong, I mean using Choices!

I myself am a good tradesman, and if I employ someone else on one of my jobs, and he makes a mistake, I have to correct it in one way or another. I could not tell the customer that it was down to the electrician or the plumber and so on.

You see, the mistake Choices made, was with their unbelievable vetting service. Go into one of their branches, say you are Elvis, and have risen back from the grave. Show them a driving licence that was made and cut from the back of a cereal box , also, give them a wrong date of birth, because you can't remember it. And don't forget to tell them you get paid monthly, then tell them after you have not got a bank account. You can also show them an out of date I. D. Card. Don't worry, they will believe you. They will not ask you any awkward questions! Rent what you like. They are thick as .........

I used their services after listening to all the promising banter they came out with. I could not go wrong I thought. But when it did, they told me it was down to the vetting company they use. Well, frankly, I don't care. What I do care, is that they correct it, after all, they chose to use them. When it did go wrong, I felt like a leper, I had to do all the chasing!

To sum it up - I lost a lot of money, and add the stress factor as well, was caused by the explanation above. Mr XY gave a false date of birth, was that because he has court charges against him at another address? Considering he was paid monthly by his employer, into a bank account, and obviously he drove a car for work and pleasure, And what about the out of date I. D. Card he used? No driving licence or anything else was produced!

Choices did not pursue them avenues to the full extent. What a cock up! One last point. Some of the staff that dealt with my case, have mysteriously disappeared.

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Reviewed by alan7 on 4th February 2010

Services: Lettings (as a Landlord)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  Yes
IP address: S97.TDT.TG7.U9T

I am a multi landlord and have soley used Choices to let my properties for the last 5 years. Choices always find me tenants very quickly and i have to say I am very impressed with they overall service.

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Reviewed by KBolt on 18th January 2010

Services: Lettings (as a Tenant)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  No
IP address: S9U.SZM.UL7.U9T

They missed multiple appointments, as a new client, without any notification. Try to charge for unnecessary services during the tenancy. Do not look after my, or my landlords', legal interests very well. At the end of the tenancy; tried to view the property, immediately, without any notification.

The company appears to have no interest in its role in acting responsibly on the behalf of two clients, but would rather concentrate on making as much money as possible from both.

Some of the staff are rude, but, I suspect this is because they are treated badly by the company that employs them.

I am also a landlord myself with many let properties. I will not tolerate their unprofessional & unethical behaviour, either as a landlord, or as a tenant.

Avoid!

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Reviewed by Steve on 19th December 2009

Services: Lettings (as a Tenant)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  No
IP address: 93F.93Q.ER3.9EQ

Choices are appalling.
We recently moved out of a property after 15 months of renting it. Before moving in we were told that the missing doors to the fitted wardrobe would be fitted soon after, as they were on order. No problem we thought, but it never happened, despite repeated requests.
The property was being refurbished, and we were promised that the carpets which were disgusting would be replaced. This only happened, and the house was cleaned after we threatened to pull out (after unfortunately handing over the deposit an first month's rent at the office before going to the property on move in day).
They refused to give us the landlord's address, despite this being a legal requirement.
They didn't answer our complaints, despite their procedure required by their membership of NALS promising an answer within 21 days.
Unneccesary charges which we disputed during the tenancy were never chased for payment, but were deducted from the deposit.

They also advertise properties as available that have been let.

Don't use them.

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Reviewed by NeverChoices on 15th March 2009

Services: Lettings (as a Tenant)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  No
IP address: SZ7.UZG.TGG.UZL

Very friendly when we first viewed the flat, but horribly mismanaged our referrals/references. The people in their office seemed completely unaware their own contract obligations and were only concerned with cash. We will never let from Choices and/or suggest them to anyone. Avoid this company (at least the Brighton offices) like the plague.

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Reviewed by alex on 4th February 2009

Services: Lettings (as a Landlord)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  No
IP address: EER.EIV.9IX.9BV

Firstly - on the plus side choices did fill my property very quickly and got a very good rate. As a land lord this is very important however the rest of their service is pretty poor.

Our tenants have complained to us that they have been treated badly by Choices. They have sited general rudeness and requested unnecessary documentation at cost to them when the tenants had been with Choices for several years and living just 500 yards from my house.

As the property owner we were keen that Choices maintain an open and clear line of communication with us so we know what is happening, who needs to arrange what and what charges are applicable. If feel that this is very important in building a trusting relationship with a company that is managing such a valuable asset.

Due to the poor communication Choices commissioned additional surveys and gas inspections that we had certificates for. We had discussed this with our account manager and they agreed what we should do with the paperwork. The message was not passed on internally so they duplicated the work and charged us to the tune of £400. We have tried to discuss the issue with them but have been unsuccessful on all occasions. We have not even managed to get through to one person to discuss the issue let alone have an argument about it. All phone calls to the account managers result in someone telling me that they are on the phone and will call back. All e-mails are left unanswered. We have taken to sending written letters and these are still unanswered.

We also had a verbal agreement with our tenant that we would give them some items that were in the property. As such we asked to see the inventory and agree the removal of some items again Choices have failed on all counts to get this issue resolved. I am not even sure that the inventory was completed before the tenant got the keys.

One great concern is that Choices took agent fees for 12 months in advance which would be OK if our tenants had a 12 month lease. They only have a 6 month lease so Choices have charged us for work they have not yet carried out.

I would very much like to get out of my contract with choices but am stuck at the moment as they have a lot of my money and I have little way of getting it off of them.

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Reviewed by choices suck! on 4th October 2008

Services: Lettings (as a Tenant)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  No
IP address: U7Z.TD7.UZT.TU7

We recently used choices and they were awful!
The staff are all school kids with no manners and we found them very rude and unhelpful. They didn't even call us to tell us the landlord had taken the property we was supposed to be moving in to off the market. We rang them on the day of the move only to find out we had no where to go. Would never use this company again if they paid us. Avoid them!!

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Reviewed by Fliss on 25th October 2007

Services: Lettings (Prospective customer)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  No
IP address: HNB.77W.BJB.5H5

Choices advertise properties already let by other agents, and display pictures years out of date. Their properties are dirty, and their staff rude. Avoid like the plague!

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