1 Star Review
Aug 11,2022
By:
'fraulein_bunt'
Aug 11,2022
Branch: London, 566 Chiswick High Road
Services: Lettings (as a Tenant)
Rent PCM: £1400
Would you recommend?: No
Postcode: KT7
Branch: London, 566 Chiswick High Road
Lettings (as a Tenant)
Rent PCM: £1400
Postcode: KT7
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people found
this helpful
These people are criminals – plain and simple. After renting in London for 15 years, I had the misfortune of dealing with Foxtons – an experience which turned out to be the worst renting experience of my life.
My main gripe has to be the incompetence and unpleasantness of those working within their property management 'service' which was soul-destroying to deal with. One incident epitomises the company; my washing machine broke and I reported the issue to the property management 'service' expecting that someone would be sent out to repair the machine. After repeated failures of plumbers to turn up and, after repeated calls to Foxtons, eventually someone turned up (who failed to repair the machine). It would take two further visits by engineers for the machine to be repaired and operational. In total it took three weeks for the broken machine to be repaired and therefore I needed find an alternative way of laundering my clothes (and those of my partner). Foxtons property management had given me assurances that I could send my clothes out to be laundered and that they would remunerate me for the bills incurred. Living in a semi-rural area in Surrey (where the flat was) and without a car, I had little choice but to send my clothes out to be cleaned, costing £185 over three weeks. Intuitive readers will see where this is going – they reneged on their promise. First they cited the expense of the laundry costs; I explained that I had no car, and that there was no launderette within walking distance and therefore had no choice but to use a collection-based laundry service which I concede was not cheap. They then started to intimate (and then state) that they wouldn't repay me the money as it was my fault that the washing machine was broken and that I could have simply reset the machine to have solved the problem. This was completely erroneous. The first plumber and myself had attempted numerous factory resets on the machine, but in the end the only thing that got it working was an appliance engineer opening the machine up and running an electrical diagnostic using complex hardware. Foxtons at this stage owe me £185 which they refuse to pay.
Fast forward a few months to May of 2022 and my partner and I have decided to move out (in part due to the incompetence and perniciousness of the property management team) and inform Foxtons of that fact. They are delighted; rather than having to wait until October (the dead season for property marketing) they can ride the wave of the summer letting season and not only that – but rents are skyrocketing in London and the surrounding areas as demand (for rental properties) greatly outstrips supply. I speak to the head of lettings at the branch and he assures me that I will only be on the hook (financially) for the time difference between moving out and the new tenants moving in. After all, the property will be quickly let – and for a greater sum than it is currently being let for – a win-win for all parties (or so I thought). Again, the shysters stiffed me and despite the fact that I only should have paid ten days rent in punitive charges, they end up screwing me out of almost a month's rent (citing marketing charges), despite the gentleman's agreement I had with the lettings team. Foxtons now owe me £953.
In an era where the London renter is facing more adversity than ever before, predatory organisations like Foxtons should be called out for their transgressions and I urge anyone reading this to not use them for letting a flat, or indeed renting one.
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