I would like to express my disappointment and frustration on how we have been treated by Sure let in Burton Upon Trent. We had to wait 3 weeks for a viewing on a property. In which we had to constantly ring and chase for this viewing as no one ever got back to us. We got told on a numerous of occasions that they did not yet have the keys as Martin and Co were the previous letting agent for this property and they were in fact handing this over to Sure let. Papers were signed at the shop before the viewing as we wanted to secure the house and we were told we could choose a date to move in. I expressed that we had our previous house until 29 July so had no need to move early. Claire put down 15 July and ensured that this could be changed at a later date if we were not happy with this as we would have time to decorate and move over furniture, which seemed reasonable to me. There was no mention of paying any extra money at this point. Finally after a 3 week wait we had a viewing at 12pm on Saturday, 27 June 2015. A lady called Claire was supposed to be meeting us at 12pm at the property in which my partner had taken his lunch break at work. I had to ring Sure let as at 10 past 12 there was no one at the house and I was told that Claire was stuck in traffic, no apology. Claire then arrived 5 minutes later with no hello, no sorry I am late. She just walked up to the door and couldn't find which key it was. Very professional. We then entered the property, no lights were turned on to welcome us and as we went upstairs in the property the bath was on bricks and did not have a cover on, the third bedroom had a makeshift bunk bed nailed onto the wall, the carpets were in an unclean state and the wardrobes were slung open with hangers all over the floor. Not welcoming at all. When I went downstairs to express my concerns for the bath i.e. had there been a leak? Claire told me that she had not been upstairs so she was unsure as to the state. Again very professional as this is supposed to be their job! I explained that I wanted the bath covering and what ever happened i.e. leak was fixed, the makeshift bunk bed to be taken out and for the carpets to be cleaned professionally or taken out and new ones fitted. My partner was emailed a week after viewing the property explaining that we would have to pay a further £239 for moving in on the 15 July as we didn't want our rent coming out until 24 July due to payment dates. We explained that we would move in on the 24 July as we still have our previous house until 29 July as we wasn't planning on moving in just having time to move furniture and decorate. We were then told that we had no choice and this is what the landlord had requested and we couldn't move in any later otherwise we would lose the house. Reluctantly we agreed as there was only a few weeks left until we had to move, I am currently 21 weeks pregnant and also have a 16 month old so being homeless isn't the best option. But however we did check on right move to see if anything else was available. Unfortunately there wasn't. This changed our payments to £240 admin fee, £1350 1 months' rent and deposit and then the further £239 for moving in 9 days early from our payment date. Total: £1829. I rang Sure let Monday, 6 July to chase on the work being done at the house to make sure before I send the money 48 hours prior to getting the keys and I spoke to a gentleman called Matthew. He explained that he hadn't had any involvement in the property but he would find out and get back to me. I had no call back. I then rang again Tuesday, 7 July (am) and spoke to Matthew again and told him I was waiting for the call back. Conveniently he told me that the gentleman was at the property doing the inventory and as soon as he was back he would let me know. No call back again. I then rang Tuesday, 7 July (pm) and conveniently again Matthew told me that the gentleman had just got back from the viewing and all the work had been carried out. I expressed my concerns and told him that I wanted to make sure 100% before I sent over all of the money on the following Monday, 13 July. I was assured this had been done. On Monday the money was transferred over and my partner then rang to make sure it had all gone through ok when he was then asked by Matthew why we had paid an extra £239 and that we had paid too much anyway but he would get back to us and let us know how much. I yet again did not have a phone call back as usual, and thought I would wait until the Wednesday and talk to them when we pick up the keys. On Wednesday, 15 July me and my partner went down to Sure let to pick up the keys at 10am. My partner had taken his lunch break for this. We got to Sure let and signed the Tenant agreement all excited and then I was handed the inventory which was a booklet of job lists. As I went through the inventory the pictures reflected the house as we viewed it, so the bath was exposed, the carpets uncleaned and the makeshift bunk bed still up. I asked Claire when the inventory was done before the work and she told me that no work had been taken out in the property. I explained to her that I had spoken to Matthew 3 times the week before and he assured me that the work had been done but she then explained she had spoken to Matthew that morning and nothing had been done in the property. I then handed everything back and refused to move in as the jobs hadn't been done that I had asked for 3 weeks before moving in. She then called her manager, I think her name was Anya? And she told Claire that they could not get a contractor in for another week. So I refused point blank to move in and demanded the money up until we could move in to be refunded. In all of this time the Manager at Sure let Burton was there, Kash, and he didn't once ask if he could help he just sat there. We left with no keys, paying too much and also paying the extra £239 for no work to be carried out. Very frustrating, we were both very angry, we had hired vans and family members had taken days off work to help with the decorating. I then rang Sure let with my card details so that I could be refunded the money and the phone was answered by the Manager Kash and I quote he answered the phone which the following telephone manner: Hello, hello Sure let good morning I mean afternoon Kash speaking? Very professional. I asked to speak to Claire regarding us refusing to move into the property and he said he knew nothing about it and she was on the other line, very professional again. An hour later I had Matthew call me apologising for the confusion on the house and the work carried out and that he had read the information from another house. I explained we were very frustrated and I just wanted a refund on the money and he said he could get the contractors in that day to take down the bunk bed and the same people would come out on the Friday to cover the bath. Very convenient that because they were having to refund us and lose out on money even though they had 3 weeks to carry out this work at the property. I reluctantly agreed to move in and he told me to call back around 4:30 to ensure the work had been carried out and to go back down to get the keys. I rang back and was told the work had been done and the contractors would keep hold of the spare keys and come back on Friday at a time that suited us to cover the bath. I went down to collect the keys and Kash the manager was there. I explained how unhappy I was and he tried to blame it all on the previous letting agency. I had no apology from him for any of the inconvenience caused to ourselves, no apology for the over payment just that it wasn't his department so I would have to call back for my refund. When I then went through the inventory I pointed out a number of things to him i.e. every page for each room had needs cleaning, I explained that both front and back gardens were not maintained and needed a lot of work and as I understood the people previous put down a bond and if it isn't left in a good condition the money would be taken out of that and put towards fixing the house. I was then told by Kash that it is up to the landlords specifications. Which I then went onto explain that when I had signed the Tenant agreement that morning it stated in there that gardens must be maintained? Very confusing. I then met my partner at the property at 5:30pm that day and this is how we viewed the house on entry: - The ceiling in the kitchen had been plastered and left unpainted - The ceiling in the living room had a big crack and when my partner touched it, it seemed unstable - Every single room needed cleaning - The back door patio was unsecure even when locked – just opened when pulled - The bath was uncovered and on inspection the jets of the bath were still leaking – so they had plastered the kitchen ceiling but not fixed the leak? - The bunk bed had been ripped out, not cleaned after and the holes not sealed/filled - The extractor fan over the cooker does not work - The back door sensor light does not work - bulbs do not work - Carpets in all 3 bedrooms were placed on top of cheap laminate and not even fitted - Lampshades, curtains and a dresser were left in the property - A dummy cupboard in the kitchen is not fitted correctly - Back garden and front garden left overgrown - Light in bedroom was buzzing and seemed unsafe – needs inspection My partner and I were very angry as they had 3 weeks to carry out any work that needed doing but it had just been handed over to us in a state. We both agreed that if we had purchased this house it wold have been a great renovation project but as we were renting we believe these things should have been fixed, cleaned, replaced and pruned. We have tended to the gardens, painted every wall and ceiling in the house and have got a quote for all of the carpets. My partner went down to Sure let the next day Thursday, 16 July to express our disappointment and anger and he was told by the manager, Kash that we did view the property!!! I am sorry, but I did not realise that we needed to check that the bath did not leak, that the work wouldn't be carried out even though we asked, that we should check light bulbs, that we should pull on a closed locked door to check it and finally check that all carpets are correctly fitted! Correct me if I am wrong. I expect some form of action to be made towards the staff in Burton upon Trent and I would appreciate some sort of compensation and a full apology from Sure let. We are still no further forward with any jobs that have been pointed out to Sure let i.e. the back door being unsecure when locked, the bath leaking and the extractor fan being fixed. I will be contacting them again today.