0% lettings valuation accuracy
36% lettings fee satisfaction
Sep 10,2020
Sep 10,2020
3
people found
this helpful
this helpful
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.
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.
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Opening Hours
Address
Leaders
14 St. Georges Street
Norwich
NR3 1BA
01603950263
Performance statistics
| Services | Valuation Accuracy | Fees Satisfaction | Min Price of property reviewed | Max Price of property reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lettings | 0% | 36% | £400 | £970 |
Review statistics
| From Landlords | From Tenants | From Vendors | From Buyers | Other | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Areas covered
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- Lettings
- Block Management
- Surveys
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Latest Properties
Sep 10,2020
Sep 10,2020
3
people found
this helpful
this helpful
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 ...
read full review
read full review
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Aug 28,2020
Aug 28,2020
3
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Unbelievably bad service in all aspects. Properties are not checked or maintained and staff are rude and unhelpful. The rent increases with frightening regularity and by quite a substantial amount. Most of the staff are young females with no clue as to their responsibilities or ...
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Aug 31, 2020
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(1)
I’m glad I’m not the only one who had an awful experience with them, awfully incompetent at St. George’s street! ...
Feb 22,2020
Feb 22,2020
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Why did we not see the warning signs? They didn't get back to us when we enquired about the property and we had to do the chasing. After travelling 140 miles to view an apartment for my daughter, we were told just minutes before the appointment ...
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Dec 17,2019
Dec 17,2019
0
people found
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Right from our first meeting at the property Leaders have been most helpful and supportive. When there has been a problem (which there have been few) it has been attended too very quickly and efficiently. We can't recommend them more highly....
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Oct 11,2019
Oct 11,2019
7
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Since Leaders took over City Lettings in Norwich, their service standards have steadily fallen and all you ever get as a landlord is another apology for failing to act or communicate. Unfortunately, you cannot terminate your contract with them until the end of a tenancy. ...
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Feb 15,2019
Feb 15,2019
7
people found
this helpful
this helpful
I wouldn't normally go to the effort to write a review but I wouldn't want anybody else to experience the same stess and upset we did.
Mid-tenancy our property was taken over by Leaders, whom immediately (for no good reason) put the rent up. During ...
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Comment on agent fees
Increased our rent for no apparent reason
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Apr 04, 2019
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(3)
I had almost identical circumstances, I moved in a very old shabby property, I was only there for 8 months and left the property in a great condiition very confident I would be getting all of my deposit back (although i thought thery may try it on woth a couple of things as agents usually do). To my total shock they were asking for £1400 to cover things that just were not there. They encouranged me to just leave the keys with them and they would do the exiting inspection on their own, and now ...
Feb 11,2019
Feb 11,2019
0
people found
this helpful
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Alex was extremely professional when showing me around the property. He was informative, considerate and patient, allowing me to take my time when viewing the property. He provided me with a list of the associated fees, as well as other properties of interest....
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Oct 08,2018
Oct 08,2018
8
people found
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this helpful
I've dealt with several letting agents and these are by far the worst! Once these people have your money they do not care about you. They do not respond to emails or telephone calls/messages and will fob you off saying they never received them. ...
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Comment on agent fees
Extortionate
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Oct 08,2018
Oct 08,2018
9
people found
this helpful
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Moved into a very dirty house, was told to leave as we found it. Made it much cleaner on exit. Was charged cleaning fee, grass cutting and painting 4 marks that were on a wall that had not been painted for 3 years. £355 for the pleasure.... No ...
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Aug 29,2018
Aug 29,2018
6
people found
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this helpful
2 months ago my partner and I viewed a property, just off Dereham Road, with leaders letting agency in Norwich. The following multiple errors occurred caused much anguish and distress:
- property was advertised and had the let condition to be a furnished property. On move ...
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Aug 06,2018
Aug 06,2018
11
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Contacted Leaders in Norwich to arrange viewings of flats to rent for my son, they never returned calls despite saying they would that is when you weren't put through to the Braintree branch (this is a regular occurrence according to staff there). At no time ...
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Comment on agent fees
Thankfully never got to this stage.
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Jul 12,2018
Jul 12,2018
10
people found
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this helpful
From the moment we applied for the property to the day we FINALLY received our deposit back our experience of Leaders has been dreadful.
Firstly our application process was long and drawn out with no communication whatsoever so we had no idea what was happening ...
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Comment on agent fees
Ridiculous
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May 02,2018
May 02,2018
11
people found
this helpful
this helpful
This Esate agent must be possibly the most disgusting office in the country if i could give them less than one star i would.
I have jist rented my first place through this branch with my girlfriend and we were hoping to have such a ...
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Comment on agent fees
Bad
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Apr 10,2018
Apr 10,2018
4
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Never been so mistreated buy a company in my entire life and they created an endless amount of stress for me whilst I'm pregnant!
First viewed the property and thought it was fine, then after we paid the applications fees it was endless chasing by ...
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Comment on agent fees
Disgusting, expensive, once they take your money they don’t care about you after that. They will never give you a fair amount of deposit back.
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Apr 06,2018
Apr 06,2018
3
people found
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Since ending our tenancy Leaders have been horrible to do business with. We're still waiting for meter reading which the they need to gain access for. This was originally said to be done on checkout. Very poor correspondence to my emails and unprofessional attitude - ...
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Mar 06,2018
Mar 06,2018
3
people found
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I had a 15 months tenancy at 3 Cutters Row, Norwich which was let and managed by Leaders.
I can state with conviction that both the Landlord and the agent who manages the property *were out to swindle the most money from *me with the least amount ...
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Comment on agent fees
Exorbitant.
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