Granite Lettings

Absolute epitome of why estate agents are the most hated profession. A shoddy 2 man band in the back waters of Manchester. Urge you to read other negative comments about this agent; the same theme runs throughout. Wesley Hopwood of is an arrogant individual who tries to be too clever by half and leaves a bitter taste in your mouth with his untruths. As two professionals, a Consultant and Barrister, it is a different world when your dealing with estate agents who do not require any qualifications to set up nor regulated by the Government. Even our local MP's hands were tied and unable to assist in dealing with this rogue agent. It is optional for agents to be part of a redress scheme funded by agents themselves which brings into question their independence. As our complaint with The Property Ombudsman was made at the start of our tenancy, they stated that they cannot perform the role of a Court/Judge and would not look at one person's word against the other if there is not enough independent evidence and could not find against the agent under their rules. This is what happened in our case. The only way was for us to pursue a separate legal claim. Every complaint which arose through the duration of our tenancy had to be registered as a new complaint which we just didn't have time to waste doing. As you can imagine, we had busy lives to get on with, unlike Wesley Hopwood who had the time to respond to our complaint with a 14,000 word dissertation. Shame he couldn't invest that time in doing what he's paid to do, effectively manage properties. Granite Lettings are determined to throw names around, let's be clear who's who! Agent: Granite Lettings Directors: Wesley Hopwood and Collin Currie Landlord: Dr Kiki Lam 1. Within 24 hours of moving in, we found furnishings agreed on the inventory had been removed and others left behind that we did not require. Paid a higher rent for fully furnished to find no vacuum cleaner or tv provided in the kitchen amongst other pre agreed items. Took 10 days to remove unwanted items but inventorised e.g. huge tv stand couldn't set up our own mounted tv 2. No inventory ever signed off because Granite Lettings refused to attend the property to go through together despite repeated requests. Wanted inventory returned within 24 hours of us signing the contract on a Sunday at their offices 20 miles away when the contract stated 48 hours. Even though their offices are closed on Sunday and have no physical postbox as covered with metal shutters! 3. Property not cleaned adequately as confirmed by an independent company. Bathrooms, kitchen, cupboards, bedroom draws, windows inside and out all required a thorough clean. Our guess, the agent makes a profit from the landlord by organising the cleaning. Granite Lettings organises a quick half baked job then ensures the tenant is forced to leave the property sparkling as per the contract. If they do not, monies deducted from deposit. 4. Granite Lettings provided a false spare key to the garage so landlord could access to remove stuff. We were clear we required a full sets of keys for our move in. 5. No instruction manuals for central heating/water provided on our move in, had to repeatedly request. Made false claims had left in a folder in the kitchen. Nothing of the sort. Disaster on first night when leaking water tank came crashing off the wall. 6. Misled to believe emails checked hourly throughout the night in case of emergencies. 7. No deposit information provided. Had no clue which scheme our deposit was under nor did we receive any accompanying information 8. Complete breakdown in relationship between Granite Lettings and ourselves after first week, thus only ever communicated via email thereafter. Landlady refused to get involved. Wesley Hopwood attempted to report us to the police for "harassment" in reference to an online review posted on this very site "all agents". The police laughed and said they explained to Wesley Hopwood, an online review was a civil matter not criminal. In a word, stop wasting police time. Why he would think the police would be interested in his tall stories of verbal attacks, harassment and threats beggars belief!!! These are serious accusations which if any remote truth, the police would initiate a criminal investigation. He also contacted my professional body, the Bar Standards Board to try and disprove my status as a Barrister! Unfortunately for Wesley Hopwood, he had missed the fact that I'm a Barrister in our tenancy application as I was on mat leave and he couldn't stomach the fact that I was able to challenge him. He will go to any lengths. 9. Granite Lettings were unable to conduct property checks in a reasonable manner. Used bullying tactics claiming they could enter with 24 hrs notice. Clueless about the law; the role of the agent and rights of the tenant. Spineless Wesley Hopwood sent Colin Currie who simply didn't bother turning up for a pre arranged property inspection on the agreed date/time under the guise that he didn't have confirmation whether every room was accessible. When he finally attended, attempted to take pictures of every room in the property, which I refused to allow. They will try every trick under the sun so be warned. 10. Granite Lettings charged a fee of £60 to bad reference us with no reason given. Effectively tried to make us homeless and wrote to us stating they had started "accelerated possession proceedings". 11. Tenancy terminated due to landlady's early return from Honk Kong despite being told she would be abroad for 2 years. A tactic used to get tenants in. Gladdened to see the back of an indifferent landlord and a rogue agent. 12. Overpaid rent never repaid to date despite promises it would be returned by the landlord. Emails just ignored