Imperial Services

Liars, cheaters, scammers, dishonest. I rented with Imperial from May 2016 to January 2018. Firstly I should add that I intended to avoid Imperial based on negative google reviews - so when I decided on a flat and initially dropped the £300 letting agency fee with a company called Letting Angels - I was pretty happy to have dodged a bullet. Then shortly after I received an e-mail from Imperial informing me I was renting with them. I don't know what kind of business relationship they had, but I felt pretty set up to say the least, the Letting Angel employee never informed me this would be the case. Irregardless of the above, the property was conveniently located and I simply couldn't loose £300, so I proceeded with the rental agreement. After the £300 was paid they present you a contract that says you have to give £50 of your deposit as an inventory check, which straight away tells you what kind of company you are dealing with (I have no idea if they can even legally do this but once you've payed the £300 you are locked in, so they can get away with it regardless). Throughout the next year or so they were a pleasant company to deal with (as I didn't have any problems with the flat) and I was starting to think they weren't a bad company and the negative reviews were unjustified. The amount of times they come in to 'inspect' the property is borderline ridiculous, probably twice a month on average, but if that's part of ensuring everything is working OK/tenants aren't being horrendous then fair enough. Interestingly, the flat I rented was adjacent to their office and my central heating was actually responsible for their radiators, so I had to keep my heating on all the time for their office to be habitable (seems dodge but didn't really impact me, aside from when they would come in to set the heating to full, leave it 'on' (not on timer) and be surprised when it broke-down on several occasions). After about a year I started to see the true nature of the company with first hand evidence of the prevalence of the ridiculous charges and deposit scamming which characterise many of the google reviews. When I extended my contract (before their truly appalling nature was unearthed) they presented an initial contract with different terms (without energy bills included - so I would have had to pay much more than my initial contract with bills included) in what I can only surmise to be either a purposeful or incompetent move. To illustrate a typical interaction with Imperial. My washing machine was not working and they have tried to charge me a £50 callout charge as 'there was no problem with it'. The next time I tried to use it after it was 'fixed' - it didn't work - so I was stuck with a broken washing machine and felt trapped in that I couldn't call their maintenance department without them trying to charge me another £50. I asked them to revoke the charge but their reply was 'the landlord is on holiday' - so I don't know what it is they actually do but it certainly isn't looking after their tenants. I managed to argue this charge away and get the washing machine fixed, but not without the significant amount of stress it induced……or so I thought, as this 'charge' they tried to take out of my deposit! Move out day - I provided evidence of my council tax being payed and accounts closed. A copy of the move-in inventory check - everything they needed to process my deposit. “No problem we'll process that straight away”…..I thought I'd get my deposit back pretty quick, but they say on their website it takes two weeks (why it takes this long to repeat an inventory check they spent two minutes on the first time and send out an e-mail, i'll never know). After a gentle reminder from which I got a dismissive response, they finally sent this e-mail out at 2 in the morning of the 14th day, where I received my first 'damage report' (read: attempt at daylight robbery). Here is where they try to shaft you left, right and centre. You know this is the game the play when their opening e-mail is full of dismissive remarks like 'if we don't reply, trust in technology it is amazing” (they stay silent for weeks at a time and require constant reminders to actually do their jobs), “you can request a face to face meeting to discuss the deposit but we won't reduce any charges”, and “We know that your first reaction will be shock or anger “ (verbatim). No imperial, replace 'first reaction', with 'constant feeling towards your dishonest company' and you'd be spot on. I left the flat in spotless condition (orders of magnitudes cleaner condition than when I moved in). I was unable to clean the interior of the glass oven door (without I felt breaking it), so I was willing to be dropped a few quid off my deposit for this, otherwise the flat was spotless. They'll try to hit you with phantom damages and charges which you have to argue away and they have a two week turnaround time for responding to simple e-mails during this process....., probably in an attempt to delay the tenant if they need to use the deposit mediator which has a three months deadline after leaving a property to start a dispute!. I was able to get an original charge of £450 for a spotless flat (criminal) down to the £50 inventory charge, which I still consider to be my money that they have stolen. Looking back, I feel somewhat naive but also I was incredibly time and money limited in choosing a place to live. Don't make my mistake - rent elsewhere. I strongly advise any prospective tenants to avoid this unpleasant company if at all possible. I must add that my quarrel is not with any individuals, but the company as a whole. Individual staff members were usually polite and courteous, but aside from that, you are literally just a resource from which the most money will try to be extracted/extorted from. Probably a good company to work with if you are a landlord. To Imperial - you make a ridiculous amount from your properties each month, yet you try to screw over individuals out of hundreds of points at the end of the tenancy. Is that really your only viable business model/margin? I could have forgiven the generalised incompetence, outright lies, horrendous customer service and left a positive review if it wasn't for the deposit debacle. Don't try to screw the little guy all the time and maybe your company ratings might improve. Anyone currently renting with them, remember the deposit is your money, not theirs, fight them tooth and nail. I extend a gracious thank you to Nigel, without him I would not have received my deposit back. This whole industry needs regulating. AVOID.