THE most appalling letting agency I have ever dealt with in my life. I cannot stipulate how much they should be avoided. We rented a 4-bedroom property from them as we we relocated and wished to consider where we wanted to buy before doing so in a rush; having just sold our home in Harrogate. The property was let to us in a poor condition which we photographed and submitted to the agent for their consideration upon our move into the property. Needless to say there was no feedback, bar from the agent who came out at the three month period when I stated that we had had no response from the agency. Her answer was simply that she would pass our feedback onto the contract cleaner (who clearly hadn't entered the property!). There was a 121-page itinerary of faults with the property which greeted us when we moved in; detailing every mark, scratch and snagging issue which we understand is necessary however; surely would have made the company realise that the property required a substantial clean before reletting? The property was let at £900pcm with a required deposit of £1245.00. I state this only to be clear that this was not a dilapidated £300pcm rental in a block of flats. While we resided there (for a period of 7 months); we did a great deal of work on the garden over the summer; and landscaped the large grassed area at the back of the property (with landlord consent); given we were uncertain when we would find our new home to buy. Alas, we did just a few months after moving in and gave our required notice. We left the property, having repainted all of the internal walls to ensure that they were better than when we had arrived; we arranged for contract cleaners (who actually attended), as well as someone to steam clean the carpets and window cleaners at a cost to us of over £150; yet lo and behold we receive a deposit proposal back via Safe Deposits Scotland stating that the letting agent wishes to retain £50 due to a faulty external lightbulb (which didn't work when we arrived!) and a sun bleach mark on the back of one of the bedroom curtains. Sadly there are no middle of the road options to enable a discussion around deposit return, other than via the Safe Deposits site; which although an understandable and necessary safety net; is farcical in there being no forum to discuss. We read numerous reviews of Safe Deposits which impressed the negativity surrounding declining a proposal from an agent in terms of the timescale for repayment. A previous tenant who purchased a beautiful 5-bed property across the road stated that Aberdein Considine stated to us that some of their deposit was going to be retained by the letting agent, who were quick to return it after the previous tenant requested it be taken to a small claims court. All in all the worst experience we have had with housing and I would implore everyone, given the poor service we received to avoid this company like the plague.