Ace Property Management Ltd

I used ACE property for a 16-month period after finding this HMO flat which was ideal for myself and three other student who were also in the joint tenancy agreement. From the start to finish of this tenancy I was appalled by the staff's behaviours. On viewing the flat it was explained to us that the pervious tenants had basically mistreated the property and it was in very very poor condition, we were reassured that the property would undergo a professional clean and new furnishings would be added before our tenancy began. On move in day we attended the branch on Bruntsfield place where we were handed the keys, there was no one to take us round the property to give us any information. I understand this is normal procedure for ACE properties but after experiencing other letting agencies in the Edinburgh area I was shocked at the lack of care and information that was given to myself and my flatmates. At this point we arrived at the property with 3 keys each having to figure out how to access the property on our own. It was horrific on entre to the property the smell and state of the flat was just horrendous as we all had no were else to go we had to make the best of the situation and do a deep clean ourselves where we found full ashtray's, dirty glasses, plates with mould on them, the bathroom needed to be bleached several times before using it, the bedroom mattresses were unusable and bright yellow in colour, there was no new furniture in the flat. The sofa in the living room was wet with damp it had stains all over it which was were the main smell was coming from. The bed in bedroom 4 which was mine was unusable and top right leg was broken. ACE informed me a new bed frame would be delivered in 2/3 days which I would need to wait in for and assemble, making it unable for me to stay there the first few nights. When we contacted ACE to express our concerns, they would not agree to do anything else to the property explaining they had done a deep clean and they thought the flat was at a good standard. After persistence they agreed to replace all 4 mattresses in the property which was much appreciated, they arrange the delivery but unfortunately did not arrange the collection of the old once we put all 4 old once in the living room and contacted them regarding this after numerous phone calls, 2 MONTHS later they had still not sorted this. At this point we noticed the mattresses had bed bugs I furiously called to inform ACE that I could not have these old mattresses in the flat anymore, that I would arrange for them to be disposed and they agreed to cover the cost of this, they also agreed that we could purchase new sofas for the property which we did and could dispose of the one that was damp and foul smelling. This cost a total of £50 for the disposal. I requested a £30 refund for the mattresses which took ACE 12 MONTHS to give me after constantly chasing them up for it. Any maintenance repairs that needed to be done took far too long. I understand contractors have a heavy work load, but it took 4 months to replace a oven which was not working and 3 months to fix a window that would not close (during winter). Due to the state of the flat on moving in it had a ton of mice living in the property ACE were not apologetic, understanding or helpful given the living conditions we faced. There was a constant strong smell of cannabis from the flat below which we reported but ACE were unable to do anything as they did not own this property which was understandable until one night when a (unknown to any of us male) an employee of ACE turned up to our door. The gentalman offered no form of ID, he spoke to us in a very aggressive manner using inappropriate language thinking the smell was coming from our flat during the conversation he informed us he was going to 'tell our parents' referring to our guarantor's which we had to provide as we are all student. Being a 20 year old female I was disgusted by the disrespectful manner he approached us with, we were the tenancy paying the rent on time every month there was no need to talk to us as if we were children, it was humiliating, making us all very uncomfortable and anxious, we reported this to ACE but nothing came of the matter. Finally, I had decided I wanted to leave the property earlier than planned in the November 2018, I approached ACE to see if this was possible if I was able to find a new tenant to replace myself as the rest of the flat needed to stay longer, one of my main concerns was I did not want to jeopardise or disrupt my flatmates tenancy. ACE informed me it would be an easy process that they would help me do this, ensuring all legal paper work was done another tenant would be able to move in straight away. I was up front and honest with them as I had found another property that I would not be able to afford to pay both rents and they assured me that we would have all the legal paperwork completed before the 1st of December (this was when the rent was due) which they later denied informing me. After putting my deposit down for my new flat and finding a new fourth flatmate ready to move in immediately, ACE property informed be about a 28 day notice period which was in the lease agreement which prevented the change over to happen. I was previously informed that this would not apply as we were not all moving out it was just a change over which they later went back on leaving me in a very hard situation paying for two flats. The two members of staff I dealt with were very unprofessional throughout, they delayed the process, never responded to myself or the new tenant, who ended up having to stay in a hotel because she had no were to stay wait for the change over. The attitude and disrespect was infuriating. I really have not received customer service like this from any company before. When asking about each stage of the process they would not share this information to myself being very vage and unhelpful. They complained about the number of phone calls they were receiving from myself and the new tenant as we had to constantly chance up the progress or nothing would be done. I continued being polite even through my frustration as I needed them to get this sorted for me. When informing them I was considering complaining about the sitiation the property manage informed me I was still a tenant with them which I felt very uneasy about, this is when she became very rude and aggressive. The finally straw was during a phone call with the property manger, when she laughed in a heated conversation when I was explaining about my financial situation, at this point I was unable to speak to her calmly so I requested to be past on to a manager which she refused to do. I attended the branch the following day where I sat down with Allan Nash (Director) and Ian Grey (head of estate agency), who had no idea about any of the situations that occurred. They informed me that something would be done about this and they pushed the move in date for the new tenant forward finally allowing me to no longer have to deal with the company. I have had no further correspondences with Allan who assured me he would get back to me after investigating what occurred and it is now a month since handing over my keys to the property. I have not even been offered an apology for the way I was treated. I would not recommend ACE property to anyone. I am also in the process of contacting the owners of the flat so they are able to see what has happened as they are paying for ACE to manage the flat for them and this is they way they have been treating tenants!