Kirby Property Management

We have been looking to rent a property in new built town in Cambridgeshire, Cambourne and came across of some nice houses on the market managed by Kirby property management. We have viewed 2 houses in the town, (we have been asked to get our own car from the car park and follow the agent in her car? I didn't get that... we were not offered lift?) and made an offer on the 3 bed house that has been on the market for over a month. We have requested £20 off the asking price, replacement of the carpets in the toilets and white goods to be put in the kitchen, as the property has been advertised with them, however they were none when we viewed the house. In return we offered 12 month tenancy rather than default 6 months and great references. We have waited over 3 days to get response from Kirby, the agents blamed the landlord not getting back to them. When the landlord finally got back to us, he refused lower rent and demanded 12 months contract, which we saw as not being very flexible (Kirby did not act at all, did not speak to landlord or ourselves to make the deal smoother - something that you can expect from decent agents), so we decided to accept under the condition that the garden fence will be risen on the neighbor side, as there was pretty much no partition at all. That would cost landlord somewhere around £100 including the labor. Kirby has passed the message to the landlord and took their time once again getting back to us. Because the reason for our move was my relocation, I have slowly started running out of time, so after couple of days I called Kirby again and told them that I will take landlords counter offer so we can proceed. To my ultimate surprise Kirby refused and said that they now want to wait for landlord to react to our counter offer, despite me trying to explain that I am willing to accept landlords last offer - they were adamant and kept waiting. Cut the long story short, a week after our initial offer I received stroppy email saying that landlord refused, being worried that there were too many requests before tenancy - What a joke!!! At no point during the whole process Kirby did any agent work, just acted as a middle man with no real interest. They wished us 'good luck in property search' without offering alternative lettings of which they have had plenty at the time. Just a note to potential customers: They advertised reduced letting fees for application before November 2013 (we applied in October) which has been immediately declined as expired offer?? - They will most definitely be trying to rob you blind. If you need property to let in Cambridgeshire and need it fast, look elsewhere as you will waste a lot of time