I paid a holding deposit and up until that point they were great. From the moment I paid their service dropped drastically. The following is what happened They insisted that my guarantor who lives outside London must come to ondon to sign the form in front of them and I couldn't get it signed before a witness. I even offered to do it via Skype, instead my 70 y/o guarantor had to go down to their office so the cow boys there could see him sign a piece of paper. A multi million pound mortgage offer goes through less red tape! I was threatened that if he did not go down to their office I would loose my holding deposit and it also could only bo done at time that suited them i.,e. not a weekend but during a working day, meaning he had to take a day off work. When I went to review (and potentially sign) the contract they came up with the most extortionate fees which were never originally mentioned discussed or agreed, they totalled about £600 in total (they charge £150 to do a land reg check on the guarantor), this in actual fact costs £3 online to do. And then they tried charging a whole list of other fees, and since there were 2 of us moving in it was all x by 2. Had I known any of this beforehand I would never have paid the holding deposit. Since I then refused to pay the fees which I simply couldnt afford tand they* withheld my money.