Regent 2000 Properties

We let a flat out from them in Camden in August 2013 and have had constant issues since. To begin with, part of the contract conditions was to add a wardrobe, replace the fridge and cooker (both things that the agent said would happen when we viewed the flat), and cleaning of the house. We initially stated that we wanted everything to be done before we moved in, but they said that someone needs to answer the door to accept the deliveries of the various items so only the cleaning could be done before, which we naively agreed to. When we moved in we noticed that the gas and electricity (both of which are meter based) were negative, meaning we couldn't do anything in the flat, and that the place wasn't cleaned very well at all (if at all!!). Their response was that the cleaners "couldn't vacuum due to the electricity not being on", which clearly isn't our fault if the previous tenants hadn't payed their bills, but didn't explain why the kitchen drawers and cupboards were dirty! Whilst they did compensate us for the unpaid gas/electric balance they never cleaned what wasn't cleaned, and we decided to just bottle it up and enjoy the house. Only, our fridge and cooker hadn't arrived, nor the wardrobe. The cooker came in a few days but the fridge took over a week, and even then it was the wrong size! I ended up removing the door to the cupboard myself so that the fridge half-fit inside it because I was fed up with waiting, especially since they took my measurements, then send someone else around to take measurements, then brought something 5cm taller than the measurements! Such incompetency. The wardrobe arrived almost 3 weeks later. After these hurdles we were generally living fine for about 8 months, until the spark on the gas cooker stopped working. They sent someone around who fixed it for all of 2 hours where it stopped working again. When I complained, they simply said "the component that's broken is so expensive to replace that it's almost worth buying a new cooker, which the landlord's not prepared to do. I suggest you just use matches to light the gas." If the cooker's broken you bloody replace it!! The cost is not our problem, that's why we're renting. Besides, surely it should be under warranty given that it was less than a year old? After they insisted on not doing anything we decided to let it go since we could at least still use the cooker with matches, but were annoyed nonetheless. A few weeks later I lost my keys. Fair enough, it was my fault so I bought a new lock, fitted it myself and gave the agents a cut of the new keys. A month or so later the hot water went, so we appropriately complained asking that they send someone urgently to fix it. 2 days later they send someone while we are out, so we gave permission for them to enter, only to later find out that they couldn't get into the flat. The agents gave them the old keys! After explaining that I changed the locks and gave Maja the keys they simply said they couldn't find them, could we please stay at home to open the door, given that we were working 9-6 far from home. I told them to find the keys and ask Maja where they were, they said she's abroad. They eventually sent someone around that evening instead, which they insisted before was impossible, who, just like the cooker (same engineer actually), fixed it for all of 30 mins before it broke again, but because they came after office closing hours I couldn't complain till the morning. The next day I phoned in and guess who answered the call? Maja! She got back from abroad rather conveniently. They then agreed to send a different person that evening who actually fixed it and gave us hot water for the first time in what was now 6 days. The worst part about all of this was that no one in the office seems to communicate. The day Maja "returned" I phoned in, to which she answered, explaining how it was broken and that we needed it to be seen again. She emailed back an hour later saying that the guy would come at 6, which was impossible for us since the earliest I could get home from work is 6.30. I phoned in to ask for a reschedule, to which someone else picked up the phone (can't remember his name). He said he'd look into it and rearrange the technician. Meanwhile, Maja emails me back confirming that the guy would come at 7 (he actually came at 9 in the end), but a few hours later the guy who answered the phone said that he couldn't get through to the technician and couldn't change the time. No communication at all. Now we are moving out, Mark and Diane are contacting us regarding permission to show tenants around, however neither of them seem to realise that they lost the keys to the house and, since the viewings are during our working hours, only now do they decide to test all their spare keys on our house! Terrible terrible agents. Nice when you're looking and poisonous when you're staying. No communication at all between each other, let alone with their clients. I have a friend who also let from them around the same time as me and had similar issues with his flat, so I'm not the only one. On top of all of that, they charge you if you want to extend your contract! Avoid.