0% lettings valuation accuracy
75% lettings fee satisfaction
Sep 19,2011
Sep 19,2011
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
We feel like we have been neglected by Pickerings on numerous occasions (Fiona & Anita have been very helpful though!);
· For the first 4 months of my tenancy agreement I struggled greatly to get into the building due to the front door lock - sometimes late at night after finishing work - often having to stay at my boyfriend's house due to it being summer and no-one else in the flat (where would I have gone if I couldn't go there!?). After weeks of constant phone calls we were given different keys, which still didn't ease access. The lock was then taken off the door allowing anyone into the block, decreasing security levels and voiding insurance policies.
· The downstairs buzzer broke, leading the other tenants to leave their phone numbers visible outside the front door for deliveries.
· In the last month of our contract it was brought to our attention that we had all been paying bills for the wrong flats, as the meter boxes were wrongly linked up! For the majority of our time in the flat there were 3 tenants, one who would only stay in the flat for 3 nights of the week. We had been paying bills for a flat of four full time tenants! We were not refunded any money for the over-paid bills because apparently it was too complicated to work out.
· We had raised concern about the constant all night house parties in the flat below us. They would prop the front door open, which allowed strangers into the building, also voiding insurance policies, smoke in the building which would stick in our flat and set the fire alarm of through-out the night, leave litter lying in around the building, and make unbelievable noise until the late hours of the morning. Numerous times we felt threatened by the volume of people who would enter the property, and after over hearing conversations of not knowing who lived in the building, knowing that there were strangers who had open access to the property. The reply from Pickerings was to contact the police ¢â‚¬â€œ who would tell us to contact our Estate Agents as the tenants were breaching their contract. Due to the flat below, many of us had sleepless nights and those who were able to would stay at an alternative address.
· Pickerings would ask to use our flat for viewings ¢â‚¬â€œ which wasn't a problem as we would only say yes when someone would be in, on one occasion the agent let themselves along with viewers into the flat because we didn't hear them knocking. We were very startled when strangers opened the living room door to view the property. On another occasion I knew there was a viewing of the flat, I had valuable items in my room so I locked my door knowing there would be strangers in the flat. My door was un-opened by the agent and shown to the viewers, not even being locked again after.
These issues are not new to Pickerings and should have been chased up and resolved. We feel like that we have not been able to make the most of our time in the flat due to not being to get into it, or being driven out of it by awful neighbours. A lot of money has been wasted on nights not spent in the property and through paying another flats bills. Due to these reasons, we feel like we are being over charged - taking on board the amount of time and effort wasted on cleaning the property, then to be later charged extortionate prices for an extremely thorough inspection - which was obviously not carried out prior to our arrival.
The General Manager of the company seems to be uncaring and abrupt - we have not received any form of apology for any of the issues from the company! I understand as students we are not the most valued clients, but we paid a high rate for a very poor service. A lot of time and energy wasted on dealing with this company!!
· For the first 4 months of my tenancy agreement I struggled greatly to get into the building due to the front door lock - sometimes late at night after finishing work - often having to stay at my boyfriend's house due to it being summer and no-one else in the flat (where would I have gone if I couldn't go there!?). After weeks of constant phone calls we were given different keys, which still didn't ease access. The lock was then taken off the door allowing anyone into the block, decreasing security levels and voiding insurance policies.
· The downstairs buzzer broke, leading the other tenants to leave their phone numbers visible outside the front door for deliveries.
· In the last month of our contract it was brought to our attention that we had all been paying bills for the wrong flats, as the meter boxes were wrongly linked up! For the majority of our time in the flat there were 3 tenants, one who would only stay in the flat for 3 nights of the week. We had been paying bills for a flat of four full time tenants! We were not refunded any money for the over-paid bills because apparently it was too complicated to work out.
· We had raised concern about the constant all night house parties in the flat below us. They would prop the front door open, which allowed strangers into the building, also voiding insurance policies, smoke in the building which would stick in our flat and set the fire alarm of through-out the night, leave litter lying in around the building, and make unbelievable noise until the late hours of the morning. Numerous times we felt threatened by the volume of people who would enter the property, and after over hearing conversations of not knowing who lived in the building, knowing that there were strangers who had open access to the property. The reply from Pickerings was to contact the police ¢â‚¬â€œ who would tell us to contact our Estate Agents as the tenants were breaching their contract. Due to the flat below, many of us had sleepless nights and those who were able to would stay at an alternative address.
· Pickerings would ask to use our flat for viewings ¢â‚¬â€œ which wasn't a problem as we would only say yes when someone would be in, on one occasion the agent let themselves along with viewers into the flat because we didn't hear them knocking. We were very startled when strangers opened the living room door to view the property. On another occasion I knew there was a viewing of the flat, I had valuable items in my room so I locked my door knowing there would be strangers in the flat. My door was un-opened by the agent and shown to the viewers, not even being locked again after.
These issues are not new to Pickerings and should have been chased up and resolved. We feel like that we have not been able to make the most of our time in the flat due to not being to get into it, or being driven out of it by awful neighbours. A lot of money has been wasted on nights not spent in the property and through paying another flats bills. Due to these reasons, we feel like we are being over charged - taking on board the amount of time and effort wasted on cleaning the property, then to be later charged extortionate prices for an extremely thorough inspection - which was obviously not carried out prior to our arrival.
The General Manager of the company seems to be uncaring and abrupt - we have not received any form of apology for any of the issues from the company! I understand as students we are not the most valued clients, but we paid a high rate for a very poor service. A lot of time and energy wasted on dealing with this company!!
What agent could do to change your mind?
Apologised and acted on all of the issues rather than leaving them to sort themselves out, or for us to do something!Attached Filesnbsp;
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reviewed by 'leanne'
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reviewed by 'Johnno'
8th Dec 2015
reviewed by 'Steph'
10th Nov 2015
reviewed by 'James'
Opening Hours
Address
Pickerings
16 St Annes Road, Headingley
Headingley,Leeds
West Yorkshire
LS6 3NX
0113 274 6746
Performance statistics
| Services | Valuation Accuracy | Fees Satisfaction | Min Price of property reviewed | Max Price of property reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lettings | 0% | 75% | £300 | £1,200 |
Review statistics
| From Landlords | From Tenants | From Vendors | From Buyers | Other | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Areas covered
Services offered
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- Lettings
- Block Management
- Surveys
- Conveyancing
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Aug 13,2016
Aug 13,2016
2
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Been with this company for 2 university years and had nothing but problems. Error after error. Useless, unintelligent and rude staff whether it was over the phone or in person. Spoke to other people who have been with them and they all say the same. Any ...
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What agent could do to change your mind?
BadAttached Filesnbsp;
Comment on agent fees
Bad
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Mar 07,2016
Mar 07,2016
0
people found
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Was a nice house well mantaned if there was any problems all we had to do was call and Pickerings would send someone straight away would recommend. Nice ppl...
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Mar 04,2016
Mar 04,2016
0
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i was pleasantly pleased with the overall experience of renting a property with pickerings, the rent was good for my accommodation and i found my year of renting stress free the perfect student let i would absolutely recommend....
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Comment on agent fees
good?fair
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Jan 20,2016
Jan 20,2016
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Renting a student house from these people was a nightmare from start to finish. Not a single promise to rectify the problems in our house was ever met. Everything they tell you is untrue - they exist only to mislead and to collect rent....
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Comment on agent fees
Being charged anything at all by them is a disgrace.
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Dec 08,2015
Dec 08,2015
0
people found
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Pickerings were awful at responding to our needs. They sent emails weeks after inquest. Our house was filthy, and they took money from us to clean it after we left even though we left it cleaner than they gave it to us. Do not let ...
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Nov 10,2015
Nov 10,2015
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Pickerings are by far the WORST letting agent I have dealt with in my 5 years living in Leeds. 5 months on from moving out of my tenancy, I still have not received my deposit back. The property was a disgrace from the moment we moved in, ...
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What agent could do to change your mind?
Cleaned the property sufficiently. Carried out a proper inspection of the property first hand. Been prompt in replying to our emails and agreed a suitable Deduction amountAttached Filesnbsp;
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Aug 27,2015
Aug 27,2015
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Started off well. Eventually the landlords and agents would let themselves in the property I was renting without notifying me first (whether I was in the property at the time or not), sometimes during times where I had family and visitors around. If you want ...
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Nov 13,2014
Nov 13,2014
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Do not go anywhere near this letting agent!
Property still not habitable after four months of tenancy!
Pickerings do not care just interested in collecting your rent!
Never met such an unprofessional bunch of people!
We are students who care about where we live and ...
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Oct 21,2014
Oct 21,2014
0
people found
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I have rented property across the UK and in Leeds for many years. Pickerings are amongst the best agents I ever rented through. Reading some of the reviews I guess they probably make a rod for their own back as they rent a lot of ...
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Comment on agent fees
About average
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Sep 19,2014
Sep 19,2014
2
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Where to begin with them... fire alarm system left unrepaired, cooker oven unrepaired for months, inclusive bills not paid until services are disconnected and PLEASE make sure you keep an eye on anything you store around the place because you may find that it disappears ...
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What agent could do to change your mind?
Learn housing lawAttached Filesnbsp;
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Aug 18,2014
Aug 18,2014
0
people found
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I don't normally write reviews, but I felt the experience I have had to date with Pickerings needs recognising. Over the course of my one year tenancy, I have experienced the odd maintenance issue, but only to be expected in a 150 year old house! I ...
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Jul 31,2014
Jul 31,2014
0
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We were given a house by them which had many faults and it took months to fix them. The heating system was broken for over four months - it was constantly on - causing us a massive amount with the gas bill, which they did ...
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Nov 07,2013
Nov 07,2013
0
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I had a pretty terrible experience with Pickerings in Leeds. The landlord put every effort into trying to ensure I signed a 6 month contract, and then once signed ignored all correspondence (emails, texts & phone calls), even when serious matters cropped up. I can honestly say ...
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Feb 04,2013
Feb 04,2013
0
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Tenants, landlord beware.
I would never use this estate agents as they would take as much money from the deposits and use excuses from bills cleaning that would never nene done.
After the academic year ending not one single person to inspect the property. When ...
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Sep 19,2011
Sep 19,2011
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
We feel like we have been neglected by Pickerings on numerous occasions (Fiona & Anita have been very helpful though!);
· For the first 4 months of my tenancy agreement I struggled greatly to get into the building due to the front door lock - sometimes late at ...
read full review
read full review
What agent could do to change your mind?
Apologised and acted on all of the issues rather than leaving them to sort themselves out, or for us to do something!Attached Filesnbsp;
Was this helpful?
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Yes
Jul 31, 2013
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(1)
We are just at the stage of getting our deposits back, and have been scammed into being charged £250 for 25 hours of cleaning. We left the place as we found it.
The place was clean enough for us when we moved in, yet cleaners still came but we sent them away saying the place was fine. Yet when a previous tenant came for some post a few days later, he said he'd been charged for cleaning...
There is no way 25 hours of cleaning was required. I can no doubt imagine this company is doing dodgy d ...
Aug 27,2011
Aug 27,2011
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
terrible!! when we entered the house it was a state, rubbish was all over the drive and the house was dirty and had obviously not been cleaned! After leaving the property it took two months to retrieve our bond back with them constantly making excuses ...
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Jul 21,2011
Jul 21,2011
2
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this helpful
TENANTS LANDLORDS BEWARE! DO NOT USE THEM! YOU WILL LOSE MONEY OR YOUR PROPERTY WILL BE DAMAGED, GUARANTEED!
My property was being looked after by them but they don't do any inspections to the property. When there are problems recieved from the tenants they will ...
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Complaints Procedure
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The place was clean enough for us when we moved in, yet cleaners still came but we sent them away saying the place was fine. Yet when a previous tenant came for some post a few days later, he said he'd been charged for cleaning...
There is no way 25 hours of cleaning was required. I can no doubt imagine this company is doing dodgy dealings with cleaning invoices and rip people off. Thank goodness for the deposit scheme, we will be taking it to court!!!