ludlowthompson - Finsbury Park, London, N4

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1 Star Review

Feb 09,2010

By: 'AJ'

Feb 09,2010

Branch: London, 8 Blackstock Road
Services: Lettings (as a Landlord)
Would you recommend?: No
Postcode:

Branch: London, 8 Blackstock Road
Lettings (as a Landlord)
Postcode:

5 people found
this helpful

I would strongly urge any landlords in the Finsbury Park area not to use Ludlow Thompson. They will find you tenants quickly but from that point on their eyes are on the commission and they seemingly have no interest in checking the tenants\' references or listening to your instructions.

In my case, they found tenants quickly and told me that the references had all come back absolutely fine. I am a first time landlord so I did not know I had a right to see the references and they did not provide me with a copy. It transpired that they had uploaded a reference report onto their online portal but no-one bothered to tell me about this portal or send me login details so I didn\'t even know it existed until a week before the tenancy was due to begin - helpful.

When I eventually saw the reference report I realised that the tenants\' previous landlord references all said \"N/A\" - hardly comforting! One of the tenants had rented before so I was concerned that all the references came up as N/A and they had also failed the rent ratio (LT\'s affordability test). So the assurances I had been given that the references were \"absolutely fine\" was a load of cobblers - I had no positive references from any previous landlords and by their own standards, one of the tenants couldn\'t afford the rent.

Did LT understand my concerns? Of course not! At this late stage I tried to at least insert a break clause into the tenancy agreement to give me some protection - in response I was told it was too late as LT had already signed a copy on my behalf! I had asked to see the agreement myself and I believe they had no right to sign it on my behalf before showing me a copy - I have since discovered that very few agents do this.

When I asked the agent dealing with the letting to speak to the tenants and ask if they would be willing to add a break clause, he flatly refused, even though he is supposed to act on my instructions and not vice versa. If you complain they just get aggressive and act like you\'re being a pain. In fact, when I asked twice for a copy of their complaints procedure they refused to provide it - a breach of the ARLA and Property Ombudsman Codes of Practice and a good indication of the bullying tactics they employ.

The director who reviewed my complaint sent me a response which suggested he either hadn\'t read my complaint or had decided to respond selectively. I have never complained about a service in my life but I feel very strongly about being lied to and fobbed off when my property is at stake. They have offered to reimburse 25% of my fees but I am at a loss as to why I should pay anything at all for such an abysmal service and no apology. I\'d have been better handing over my keys to a random punter on the street - I\'d have known just as much about the tenants\' credentials and I could have saved myself a fortune.

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By: AJ

Mar 16, 2010

I am also now writing to ARLA and TPOS as I think Ludlow Thompson are clearly in breach of both Codes of Practice and even when I point this out they don't care. I originally received a so-called response to my complaint from C**** V********. As I say, the response showed he hadn't even read my complaint let alone thought about it. So I emailed customer services and asked for the decision to be reviewed. Another director contacted me and told me I would receive a response within 7 working days in accordance with their complaints procedure. After 19 working days (and several chasing emails) I finally received a response today. From C**** V********! Amazingly he was satisfied that his own previous decision had been completely fair! Not only is it procedurally improper for someone to review their own decision in this way, he hadn't even pretended to reconsider his decision. In fact he regurgitated the original decision word for word even though the reason I asked for a review was because the original decision was inadequate.

This company are just unbelievably awful. I understand that ARLA and TPOS are interested in hearing about dodgy practices like this so I completely agree - write to them because complaining to Ludlow Thompson gets you nowhere.

Hopefully word of mouth will also make a difference - I know for certain none of my friends or colleagues would go near Ludlow Thompson after hearing about how little regard they have for their customers.

ADMIN NOTE: Person's name has been removed.

By: stillwaiting

Mar 09, 2010

AJ, you couldn't be more right. I have been dealing with a complaint against Ludlow Thompson since June 2009, and cannot get an email response from them despite the internal complaints procedure. But when I post something here, they respond quickly, asking me to email. Very annoying!!

I've been dealing with the manager in the Oval branch as well, and he has been rude and demeaning to me every time we've spoken. I'm a tenant with ludlow thompson, and I am convinced that my landlords don't know how badly I've been treated, but they refuse to give me their contact details (again, in breach of numerous laws and the TPOS code). I moved into a flat with them in June, and am still waiting to resolve issues that were agreed to be dealt with in the tenancy agreement.

I've taken my complaint to the property ombudsman, and suggest you do the same. Maybe if we all complain they can do something about ludlow thompson's behaviour.

By: AJ

Feb 28, 2010

Why are Ludlow Thompson using their resources to put posts on this site telling people to email customer services rather than employing people who might actually read the emails sent to customer services and perhaps even reply?! At the first stage, the manager of Oval office sent an insulting response betraying the fact he hadn\'t spent a single minute thinking about my complaint. So I did as LT always suggest in response to these posts and sent another email to customer services. I was told I would receive a response within 7 working days in accordance with their complaints procedure. Guess what, that was more than 7 working days ago and I\'ve heard nothing! This company is a shambles.

By: ludlowthompson Customer Services - HQ

Feb 18, 2010

Dear AJ

We are sorry to read your comments and that the communication to resolve your issue has failed to meet your expectations. We invite you to reply to the letter you mention so that we can deal with it. The correct channel for complaints is customerservices@ludlowthompson.com
We regret we are unable to identify individuals from this forum and can only deal with issues if directed to us.

By: Momo

Feb 15, 2010

I am in the process dealing with ludlow thomson at the and they are exactly like you described. I thought I was being sensitive but they use these bullying tatics and was very rude on the phone when things doesn't go their way. But they were all really nice to start with. Now that I have realize I don't want to do business with them it is too late I have lost my reservation fee and they are trying to make me pay another 500 pounds to cancel my application, something I was made aware of at all! After I resolve this problem I will never deal with them again.

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