Incompetent chancers. My girlfriend and I rented 2 bedroom terraced house through the Leaders branch on St Georges street in March 2019. We filled out the application form, and offered money as a holding deposit( something we were told WAS refundable) as lots of people have applied - that old chestnut. Naturally, I was rushed into paying up immediately. I paid; £750 holding deposit £750 for the first month's rent (obviously) £36 ''Residence Membership fee'' - whatever that is £126 prepaid ''checkout charge'' - now illegal to charge tenant £120  Guarantor Fee - now illegal to charge tenant Yes, we agreed to these fees and yes, we were stupid for doing it, but considering the lettings agents can't charge these extortionate fees any more, it really makes you wonder what is simply profit for the company and what is actually used to complete the process. Up until they'd received payment they were very responsive to emails, would pick the phone up straight away etc etc but the second I'd removed my card from the chip and pin machine, they couldn't rush us out the door quick enough. Any shred of friendliness and responsiveness had disappeared entirely along with our souls. A couple of days short of a month later, the day comes to go and pick up the keys. Only once we get there as arranged, we're told we can't pick the keys up, as my girlfriend had made a mistake on the application form. She'd ticked the wrong box regarding her residential status. She made this mistake 1 month ago, but Leaders decided to process the application the day we were due to pick the keys up, and made us feel as though the delay was entirely our fault, when after speaking to the company that do the credit checks, they confirmed that they'd only received our application this day too, and that it should have been done pretty much right away. Weeks ago. So that was an outright lie. We'd already made arrangements with a removal man as well as taking time off work to come and do this.   After all this grief, we finally move in. Soon after, we realised that the only two double glazed windows in the property did not shut correctly or securly, leaving cold drafts in the up and downstairs rooms. I could fit my hand through the bottom left corner of both windows while they were technically locked just by lifting the corner, and I'm not exaggerating.  Not only this, the downstairs window could be opened from the outside just by pushing it. Easily. Therefore we never felt entirely comfortable leaving the house for more than one night because of this.  When we called E.M. in the Cringleford office and reported this issue, she said words to the effect of 'Is it really that much of an issue?' Imagine if we'd had young children, not to mention all valuable items in our house! Our landlord told us via Leaders that there was a 'knack' to it, and eventually we managed to secure the downstairs window a little more than it was, but would still have gaps at the bottom of both them big enough for my hand, it could still be opened from the outside, (these windows opened inwards and were very large)  It was still noticeably drafty and a lot of condensation. A LOT. We had to dry window sills regularly.  A few weeks in, this holding deposit thing is still on my mind. I'm certain I didn't need to give them all that money for nothing, and I'm certain I was told I'd get it back. After back and forth emails with Leaders insisting that the holding deposit was NOT refundable and I wasn't owed any money, they finally realised they'd made a mistake and refunded it to me. Had I not challenged them about this, I'd have been well and truly robbed and they'd still be sitting on hundreds of pounds of my money. What about the people out there who wouldn't have put up a fight about this?  On TWO occasions leaders phoned me to say that they hadn't received my rent. On both occasions, they had. An apparent ''glitch'' in their system caused the rent not to be ''allocated''. Again, somebody more vulnerable than me could have easily just paid again, and I wouldn't trust leaders for a second to let them know if they'd paid twice, especially if it was a struggle to claw back money which was rightfully mine!  Bang on one year after moving in, I'm told by Leaders that the landlord would now like the contract to be on a month by month basis, but he had no intention of wanting the house back any time soon. I knew this was a lie straight away, then a couple of months down the line (once lockdown ends) the landlord wants to the property back. It's a shame as overall we loved living at that house, and had we known we'd only be living there for a year we'd never have signed - but that's the way it goes. I mention to E.M. that there's a few marks on the walls here and there, and ask her if she can ask the landlord which shades of paint were used so we can make good on this. We're told that the landlord says not to worry about them (written proof).  After the checkout process is complete,  I receive an email from Leaders asking for £65 for extra cleaning in the kitchen, £40 for marks on the walls, (despite what we'd be told about the marks) and £60 for the broken chiminea. We had hired a professional cleaner, and in all fairness she hadn't done a fantastic job in the kitchen as it turns out. The overall rating on the house was good, but there were a few little areas here and there that needed extra wipe down. £65 worth apparently. It's still daylight robbery.  Obviously I told them I'm not paying for some marks on the wall, and ''reminded'' them that they had already agreed I didn't need to - and to my surprise these charges were taken off. After everything that's gone on, I'm certain that this wasn't a mistake and that Leaders will chance it wherever they can for more money, even if it's just to give to the landlord. Does wear and tear not apply with Leaders? How nice. Furthermore, our neighbours were also very friendly with our landlord before he moved out of the house, and I'd passed the message on through them that I'd broken the chiminea and that I'd replace it. Our neighbours told us the landlord said not to worry about the chiminea, but when leaders catch wind of this, all of a sudden I DO owe money for that as well as the marks on the wall. I never had a problem paying for the chiminea, but why do I hear one thing from the landlord and another from Leaders? Has the landlord just changed his mind on these two things or are Leaders suggesting to the landlord that I should be charged? I think the latter.   It's very clear that the only service being provided is to the landlord. Tenants don't matter. Since then, we've now moved to a different property through Pymm and Co which really was a breath of fresh air. No hassle at all.  For the sake of your sanity, DO NOT USE LEADERS. They have been unbelievably incompetent at every turn. The brain donors in the St Georges Street office AND Cringleford are constantly making mistakes, lying, dodging emails and phone calls and it took E.M. in Cringleford a whole year to spell my 3 letter name correctly, despite it being written on dozens of emails. Lettings agents are notoriously cheeky anyway, but having dealt with 3 different companies now, I can assure you that Leaders are by far the worst.  I've been eagerly awaiting the day to write this review, and if I can make just one person avoid using them and go through the sh**storm we've been through, then I'd be delighted. UPDATE 26/10/20 - 3 months on from moving out of this house, I am STILL waiting for a refund of over £100 which is sitting on my tenants ledger. I have been told a few times that my money is in the process of being refunded to me. How can the company be THIS incompetent???