Rennie & Co

Landlords may enjoy.. Tenants will suffer. AVOID BY ALL MEANS ! Rennie and Co appears to be one of these real estate companies who do property letting « on the side » whereas having its focus on property selling… The outcome of that is that if you're a tenant looking for a place to live, you really should just go on your way. As another clue, you should consider the apalling and barely respectful feedbacks they are giving on Google review only to complaining former tenants… So, here begins our despicable epic (yes it is… Sit cosy and knowledge the extend of their revolting incompetence) with Rennie and Co. Back in September 2016, we found a 1 bedroom flat for rent on Upton Road in Watford, in what appeared to have been office premises at a time. As usual we viewed the property on 20th of September and it retained our interest. The day after, we got in touch with Mr. James White, confirming our will to take the tenancy and asking for bank details to pay the holding deposit. We were a bit in a hurry at the time as our tenancy agreement would end soon and as we were relocating for professional reason. So, when Mr. White advised that the policy of the agency was to accept only cash payment for holding deposit, that didn't ring any bell, sadly (he added that the remaining fees could be paid by bank transfer later on). On the 22nd of September 2016, I had to ride from South East London to Watford in order to pay £150 as a holding deposit and, as the application wouldn't be processed without paying the admin fees, I had to top this up with £400 for that purpose. At least a receipt was issued by Mr. White… They got that right. You don't kill a goose that lays golden eggs, right ? Then a so called reference checking process began (a real joke, but one of those, you know… not funny AT ALL) and on the 23rd of September, we received a communication from the mandated agency asking for an additional element. At the time, I was relocating in Watford for a new job, as I said. Therefore, the confirmation that I would « still be employed by this company at the end of the standard tenancy agreement (one year) » appeared to be required. Anyway, I manage to get this « confirmation » document out for the reference checking process to continue on the 26th of September. So on the 28th of September I was a bit worried because of a whole radio silence from the agency regarding our new flat. Called Mr. White who advise that the phone number of my manager was required in order for the reference checking agent to have an chat with him… I told you it was a joke ! FUNNY FACT, they would my manager but couldn't reach out because… You know he's got a job to do when he's there. SO.. the guys who are paid to collect information within the framework of of a process some other people are waiting on to put a roof over their head, they just leave a message and waiting for the person to call back… EVEN my new manager, a fifty something man with lots of experience hiring people and helping them to relocate, was speechless with that. By the way the reference checking company is RENTAL SHIELD… If you hear this name when you're looking for a house, RUN AWAY. In the end, although we paid for 400 POUNDS for administrative, I STILL HAD TO CHASE the agent for my own application to be processed. I kindly asked Mr. White to get back to their business partner for them to pick up the phone and get their bloody job done ! Unbelievable, right ?! Wait, there's more ! As asked so, that fellow of Mr. White clearly refused to chase up RENTAL SHIELD to, I repeat, just make that phone call. I had to call them myself in order for the job to get done. That is not poor service, IT IS PATHETIC ! These guys are an insult to any client facing profession and I guess mankind as a whole still suffers from the evolution of such specimens… So , after we did almost all the job liaising with employer and reference agency, our application was finally cleared from reference checking but the fun would end ! On the 3rd of October, we still had to get the contract. Obviously Mr. White from Rennie & Co didn't care so much about that and instructed us to pay a full month rent plus security deposit IN CASH (again!) prior to move in… This time we asked to get a bank account to pay to and we advised that we would still need to see the contract prior to pay anymore (fair enough, I guess) and we got threatened that the full payment would have to be cleared on the agency's bank account or we would not be allowed to move in… Now I don't know how you guys call this but for me, where I come from, THIS IS HUSTLE and it's punishable by law ! The next day we received something vaguely similar to a contract although we could read in which condition we could end the agreement as tenants and what would happen if the landlord or the agency decided to recover the property. No clause about that at all. This time, as we were fed up with all of this, feeling really rubbed and mislead all the way, seriously doubting of the integrity of this so called business… We just wrote an email to Mr Write advising we wouldn't sign anything for Rennie and Co and withdrawn our application for the flat. Funny enough, as I've been working in Watford for more than a year now, I've been passing by the 14 Upton Road every day until November 2017 and guess what, these apartments have always been advertised as to be let… I have never seen in 13 months one of these windows without a sign on it. Draw your own conclusion… As a conclusion you will guess that I strongly recommend you to STAY AWAY FROM RENNIE & CO, plenty more respectable businesses in Watford area.