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Oct 14,2014
Oct 14,2014
9
people found
this helpful
this helpful
I have never experienced such incompetency or downright scamming. They're very careful to operate under the name 'Alder King' rather than Countrywide Residential Lettings, aren't they?! I don't even know where to begin, it was a disaster from the very start.
1) Me and my housemate go to look at a flat. They have "the wrong keys" but oh-so-conveniently there is a flat down the road a liiiittle bit above our max renting price. Would we like to look? As it happens we do, and we like it, so we end up taking it.
2) We pay a deposit. I send an email asking a few qs about moving in in a month's time, and asking for a receipt showing what exactly our deposit covers. No response.
3) It's getting near the time to move in now. We make moving arrangements. I've hired a van to come down from Manchester. At one point Rhiannon leaves me a message saying can I call them back. I do, and am assured there's no problem, she doesn't know why I've been left a message. Am surprised to learn they haven't got our references yet, given we've paid a lot for them to get them, but am assured all is fine.
4) It's now a week to go. I ring up to see if things are still fine. Suddenly things get nasty. They do not have my references. Without my references we cannot move in. They suggest I sort it out myself.
5) They ignore my emails, and I have to go on several unnecessary trips there in person after work. To my face, I am assured things will be fine - but that we won't be able to move in unless they get these references done in time. I mention my housemate won't be around on moving day so will need to sign the documents a day early. Apparently this is NOT possible. More stressful visits where I'm intermittently told it's all fine/ I won't be able to move the day planned.
6) I get my own references, but they still say they cannot get the contract ready in time for my housemate to sign it a day early. At a loss, I get my dad to ring them because I'm too busy at work to deal with them. My dad speaks to Justin, the manager, who tells him that I'VE been impossible to deal with, I'VE been impossible to get hold off, I'VE not returned forms when asked and all manner of lies. Then assures my dad we can definitely move on the moving day planned, even if housemate cannot sign contract in advance.
7) I email him to ask for this in writing. He then goes back on it.
8) By some miracle, we manage to get the contract ready on time and my housemate and me can sign it. As the icing on the cake, just prior to signing, we are told we HAVE to buy contents insurance through them, it's part of the deal. We do this, for lack of any other option (I then immediately cancel it). Later, when I ask my landlord, he says he knows nothing of this. But apparently he had trouble with them too from a landlord's perspective.
Thankfully, my landlord agreed to cut ties with them. So at least something good came out of this unpleasant experience.
In conclusion: NEVER USE ALDER KING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1) Me and my housemate go to look at a flat. They have "the wrong keys" but oh-so-conveniently there is a flat down the road a liiiittle bit above our max renting price. Would we like to look? As it happens we do, and we like it, so we end up taking it.
2) We pay a deposit. I send an email asking a few qs about moving in in a month's time, and asking for a receipt showing what exactly our deposit covers. No response.
3) It's getting near the time to move in now. We make moving arrangements. I've hired a van to come down from Manchester. At one point Rhiannon leaves me a message saying can I call them back. I do, and am assured there's no problem, she doesn't know why I've been left a message. Am surprised to learn they haven't got our references yet, given we've paid a lot for them to get them, but am assured all is fine.
4) It's now a week to go. I ring up to see if things are still fine. Suddenly things get nasty. They do not have my references. Without my references we cannot move in. They suggest I sort it out myself.
5) They ignore my emails, and I have to go on several unnecessary trips there in person after work. To my face, I am assured things will be fine - but that we won't be able to move in unless they get these references done in time. I mention my housemate won't be around on moving day so will need to sign the documents a day early. Apparently this is NOT possible. More stressful visits where I'm intermittently told it's all fine/ I won't be able to move the day planned.
6) I get my own references, but they still say they cannot get the contract ready in time for my housemate to sign it a day early. At a loss, I get my dad to ring them because I'm too busy at work to deal with them. My dad speaks to Justin, the manager, who tells him that I'VE been impossible to deal with, I'VE been impossible to get hold off, I'VE not returned forms when asked and all manner of lies. Then assures my dad we can definitely move on the moving day planned, even if housemate cannot sign contract in advance.
7) I email him to ask for this in writing. He then goes back on it.
8) By some miracle, we manage to get the contract ready on time and my housemate and me can sign it. As the icing on the cake, just prior to signing, we are told we HAVE to buy contents insurance through them, it's part of the deal. We do this, for lack of any other option (I then immediately cancel it). Later, when I ask my landlord, he says he knows nothing of this. But apparently he had trouble with them too from a landlord's perspective.
Thankfully, my landlord agreed to cut ties with them. So at least something good came out of this unpleasant experience.
In conclusion: NEVER USE ALDER KING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What agent could do to change your mind?
Not existedAttached Filesnbsp;
Comment on agent fees
Ridiculous seeing as we ended up doing most of their job for them.
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Opening Hours
Address
Countrywide Residential Lettings
108 Whiteladies Road
Bristol
North Somerset
BS8 2RP
01179 238868
Performance statistics
| Services | Valuation Accuracy | Fees Satisfaction | Min Price of property reviewed | Max Price of property reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lettings | 0% | 0% | £450 | £850 |
Review statistics
| From Landlords | From Tenants | From Vendors | From Buyers | Other | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Areas covered
Services offered
- Sales
- Lettings
- Block Management
- Surveys
- Conveyancing
- Mortgage Advice
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Nov 15,2016
Nov 15,2016
10
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Worst experience of a letting agency ever. Besides charging extortionate fee's upon moving into our property they were the most useless agency throughout our entire 5 year contract. They were rude and dismissive on the phone when we amended our contract to a monthly instead of ...
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Comment on agent fees
Extremely high fees and as soon as you are a tenant with them and they can't squeeze any more money out of you they couldn't care less. Nothing will get fixed, no one will call you back, and if you ever get hold of someone they will be rude.
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Oct 14,2014
Oct 14,2014
9
people found
this helpful
this helpful
I have never experienced such incompetency or downright scamming. They're very careful to operate under the name 'Alder King' rather than Countrywide Residential Lettings, aren't they?! I don't even know where to begin, it was a disaster from the very start.
1) Me and my housemate ...
read full review
read full review
What agent could do to change your mind?
Not existedAttached Filesnbsp;
Comment on agent fees
Ridiculous seeing as we ended up doing most of their job for them.
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Yes
Sep 10,2014
Sep 10,2014
4
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Appalling service and incredibly high fees. Impossible to get through on the phone. I would go out of my way never to rent a property where the landlord was using this agent. Money deducted from deposit for 'fees' which I was never aware of....my ...
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Dec 08,2013
Dec 08,2013
9
people found
this helpful
this helpful
We rented our house out via Countrywide Residential Lettings (CWL) for 5 years while working overseas. We went for the full service, and while the fees were on the high side, we wanted piece of mind that the house would be looked after properly.
During the 5 ...
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Nov 07,2013
Nov 07,2013
5
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Absolutely awful, fees for anything and at ridiculous amounts. Staff are incompetent, rude and completely unhelpful. Have rang them about a 2 box form reference three times today, and been told three different lies about its completion. Despite the fact that they charged me a fee ...
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Oct 29,2012
Oct 29,2012
11
people found
this helpful
this helpful
We have had a terrible experience with this company. They lied to us outright about a number of issues, never paid us the rent on time and often not the correct amount, failed to answer basic emails or critical ones. We had to chase them ...
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What agent could do to change your mind?
See above. A disgraceful, unprofessional, unethical service from beginning to end.Attached Filesnbsp;
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Sep 03,2012
Sep 03,2012
13
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Since we have moved into our property with Countrywide we have been consistently disgusted with the company mainly with their customer service and their hidden costs. The customer service was so appalling it made us frightened to call them up because we always ended up ...
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What agent could do to change your mind?
Cut out the hidden costs, teach their staff people skills and focus on customer service.Attached Filesnbsp;
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Jun 08,2011
Jun 08,2011
8
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Horrible. Everything is really nice until you hand over your money. After they become so greedy. Charging you for things you haven't broken, not providing anything they're supposed to. Takes ages to get the deposit back, with mystical deductions....
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No fees information available
Kindly note that legally, letting agents need to publish information about their tenancy fees, government-approved redress schemes and client money protection schemes on their website and on third party websites (on which agents are listed). For properties to lease/rent in England, agents need to keep this information up to date and precise on allAgents or specify within the property description.
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