By : 'Sarah' Services : Letting( As a Tenant ) Would you recommend ? : No Postcode : RG2
22 Nov 2014
People found this helpful4
After renting for the past 18 years across the UK I have never encountered a more absurd estate agent as Ashley Charles. From beginning to end the experience was... Read Full Review
Sarah Denis said about Ashley Charles Estate Agents
Services : Letting( As a Tenant )Date: 22nd Nov 2014
After renting for the past 18 years across the UK I have never encountered a more absurd estate agent as Ashley Charles. From beginning to end the experience was horrific.
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Avoid this company at all ...
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1 Star Review
AJ
By : 'Unhappy' Services : Letting( As a Tenant ) Would you recommend ? : No Postcode : RG1
20 Mar 2014
People found this helpful0
Avoid this company at all costs, having lived in a property managed by Ashley Charles for many years their approach to customer service continues to astound me.
The core issue has always been around inspections, which happen quarterly without fail despite me being a long term tenant at the... Read Full Review
Unhappy customer said about Ashley Charles Estate Agents
Services : Letting( As a Tenant )Date: 20th Mar 2014
Avoid this company at all costs, having lived in a property managed by Ashley Charles for many years their approach to customer service continues to astound me.
The core issue has always been around inspections, which happen quarterly without fail despite me being a long term tenant at the property. They have treated me like a second rate citizen from the day I moved in, making completely unreasonable demands during inspections such as 'don't leave clothes out (neatly folded I might add) in a bedroom'. Naturally they are always happy to invoice me £75+VAT to reinspect. This has caused me so much anxiety over the years that I've taken to using up four days of annual leave a year to be here in person for the inspections. Surprisingly enough there's never anything to complain about when I'm here to escort the inspector around the property..
Whenever I attempt to strike up a dialogue to discuss the issues I'm told in no uncertain terms that I'm in the wrong, in a rude and abrupt fashion. Honestly this is the worst customer service experience I've ever had in the UK and I look forward to the day I never have to speak with this truly awful outfit again. Avoid at all costs, terrible isn't a low enough rating.
This may sound like a rant, and quite clearly it is. All I can say is I know plenty of people who rent property without any of the problems I've experienced from other letting agents in the area.
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Please see below comments from the landlord re this issue
Hi Robert,
I currently have no time to be spending on this, and this is why I said to AJ I would have to leave this up to him. I did...
Advoid Advoid ...
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1 Star Review
By : 'Wet' Services : Letting( As a Tenant ) Would you recommend ? : No Postcode : RG1
28 Jan 2014
People found this helpful1
Advoid Advoid Advoid!!!!!!!!!! I wish I read the reviews first before dealing with Ashley Charles. Got hardly any of my deposit back after paying over £30,000 in rent. We had a burst water main in the court yard garden which took 12 WEEKS to sort out!! The boiler broke down in the death of winter... Read Full Review
Wet and cold said about Ashley Charles Estate Agents
Services : Letting( As a Tenant )Date: 28th Jan 2014
Advoid Advoid Advoid!!!!!!!!!! I wish I read the reviews first before dealing with Ashley Charles. Got hardly any of my deposit back after paying over £30,000 in rent. We had a burst water main in the court yard garden which took 12 WEEKS to sort out!! The boiler broke down in the death of winter and we had no heating or hot water for 4 days!!! Before they got it fixed and then tried to blame it on us and wanted us to pay the repair bill. Luckily we had family near by so we could wash and warm up. I could list a number of other issues, but I don't have all day. Stay well away !!
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Very rude and slow service, ...
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1 Star Review
By : 'frogs' Services : Letting( As a Tenant ) Would you recommend ? : No Postcode : RG6
8 Oct 2013
People found this helpful1
Very rude and slow service, no respect shown to us as tenants. Took months to do work that was needed in the house, one of the maintanence guys they got was a bit pervish and was exceptionaly incapable of doing the job, even a simple job! They have needlessly caused alot of upset and stress. I... Read Full Review
frogs of mars said about Ashley Charles Estate Agents
Services : Letting( As a Tenant )Date: 8th Oct 2013
Very rude and slow service, no respect shown to us as tenants. Took months to do work that was needed in the house, one of the maintanence guys they got was a bit pervish and was exceptionaly incapable of doing the job, even a simple job! They have needlessly caused alot of upset and stress. I wouldnt recomend them to landlord of tenant. AJ's comments on this forum show a low grasp of reality and that he is not learning. Glad to have left them long behind.
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Ashley Charles are a ...
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1 Star Review
By : 'Jan' Services : Letting( As a Tenant ) Would you recommend ? : No Postcode : SL6
11 May 2013
People found this helpful1
Ashley Charles are a disgrace. Right from the beginning when I was searching for a rental property, they were impossible to get in contact with. I had to hound them in order to get a viewing. Lettings agents should be making it easy for prospective tenants, not hard! As a landlord I would be very... Read Full Review
Services : Letting( As a Tenant )Date: 11th May 2013
Ashley Charles are a disgrace. Right from the beginning when I was searching for a rental property, they were impossible to get in contact with. I had to hound them in order to get a viewing. Lettings agents should be making it easy for prospective tenants, not hard! As a landlord I would be very disappointed to hear this if I had asked them to market my property.
The inspections are not so bad. Except one time AJ came into the property despite me telling him over the entry phone that I would like him to wait. I had just got out of the shower and this was very intrusive and I was quite shocked.
If I ever have any questions about the property or any problems, they do their best to avoid having to help out at all, which is ridiculous for a fully managed property. More often than not I have had to get things done myself. They always try to refer the problem elsewhere because they are lazy.
When they actually do acknowledge there is a problem they try to blame it on the tenants! We were told by their contractor that they always try to get someone else to pay so they don't have to. It was very stressful and when I spoke to my landlord about it, it turns out she didn't know what was going on at all. I have not received an apology for being accused of damaging the property with no grounds for them doing so. If I didn't love living at the property and have such a nice landlord I would seek alternative accommodation so I didn't have to deal with these people again.
Just look at their comments back on any other posts raising concerns over their competence - they just argue and try to blame their clients instead of apologising and trying to get things resolved. I find them very rude and an embarrassment. As a landlord or a tenant - steer clear at all costs!
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Terrible Estate Agents - AJ ...
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1 Star Review
By : 'Tom' Services : Letting( As a Tenant ) Would you recommend ? : No Postcode : RG1
23 Apr 2013
People found this helpful1
Terrible Estate Agents - AJ was very pleasant at the beginning, but became increasingly aloof and rude as the tenancy went on. Ridiculous standards for house inspections - we were pulled up over an unmade bed. We were offered just 1% of our deposit back at the end of the tenancy, but got back... Read Full Review
Services : Letting( As a Tenant )Date: 22nd Apr 2013
Terrible Estate Agents - AJ was very pleasant at the beginning, but became increasingly aloof and rude as the tenancy went on. Ridiculous standards for house inspections - we were pulled up over an unmade bed. We were offered just 1% of our deposit back at the end of the tenancy, but got back approximately 50% after we went through arbitration. AVOID if possible.
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Beware! Truly a terrible ...
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1 Star Review
Hilary
By : 'Al' Services : Letting( As a Tenant ) Would you recommend ? : No Postcode : RG2
11 Apr 2013
People found this helpful1
Beware! Truly a terrible service from start to finish. From threats to reinspect at a cost of £75 because we hadn't washed up the bowls from our breakfast before leaving for work (which is none of their business, but AJ fails to understand what an inspection is actually for), through failing to... Read Full Review
What agent could do to change your mind?
Being honest and actually discussing issues, and avoiding the bad attitude.
Al in Reading 79 said about Ashley Charles Estate Agents
Services : Letting( As a Tenant )Date: 10th Apr 2013
Beware! Truly a terrible service from start to finish. From threats to reinspect at a cost of £75 because we hadn't washed up the bowls from our breakfast before leaving for work (which is none of their business, but AJ fails to understand what an inspection is actually for), through failing to fix broken items to finally attempting to justify giving us only £16 of our deposit back - we went to adjudication and got £620 (we probably could have had more but we didn't challenge everything in the hope of negotiating and being reasonable - pretty futile really!). If you are signed up with them please always challenge the deposit via the adjudicator - they are flat out dishonest. for anyone thinking of signing with them, please go elsewhere - I promise you will regret dealing with them.
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[[EDIT ORIGINAL START]]
One ...
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1 Star Review
By : 'Keith' Services : Letting( As a Tenant ) Would you recommend ? : No Postcode : RG2
28 Jan 2013
People found this helpful0
[[EDIT ORIGINAL START]]
One of the worst estate agents I have ever had the misfortune to deal with.
Useless at maintaining a property - we had to carry out all works ourself.
Intrusive inspections with ridiculous standards (they expect the property to be in better order than when we moved... Read Full Review
I too can vouch for the outrageous inspection standards and slow response on maintenance...
Ashley Charles is by far the ...
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1 Star Review
By : 'AD' Services : Letting( As a Tenant ) Would you recommend ? : No
19 Apr 2012
People found this helpful2
Ashley Charles is by far the worst letting agent I have ever had the misfortune of dealing with. When I first viewed the house AJ informed me that there was work to be carried out to fix issues, such as damp, decoration and non-functioning fixtures and fittings prior to me moving in. When the day... Read Full Review
Services : Letting( As a Tenant )Date: 19th Apr 2012
Ashley Charles is by far the worst letting agent I have ever had the misfortune of dealing with. When I first viewed the house AJ informed me that there was work to be carried out to fix issues, such as damp, decoration and non-functioning fixtures and fittings prior to me moving in. When the day of signing contracts came, he assured us all work was completed. Having got to the house nothing had been done. The house was filthy and the check in agent ignored all points we asked to be included, skipping through as quickly as possible. It was less than a month until the problems started. Appliances in the house broke, were reported to Hillary and never fixed. Our boiler broke and was not fixed, despite repeated phone calls and emails, for over a month. When the time came for our first inspection we were given 36 hours notice, and despite informing AJ that it was not a convienient time, he refused to change, and then arrived over 90 minutes late, forcing me to take a full day off work. After "inspecting" the house for less than 2 minutes he informed me it was not up to scratch and he would be charging we double to come back next week, this happened 3 times, with the end charge being over £250 for less than 2 minutes work. When I phoned him to complain at these proceedings I was treated like a child and shouted at on the phone. This continued for several months. When the date finally arrived for my check out the property had been professionally. Cleaned and the property had been empty for 2 months, due to travel for work. The check out agent told me to leave part way through the check out as "it is going to take a while" when. Refused she informed me that it was no longer my property and I was technically trespassing. A week later I received a claim for several thousand pound of "damages" (which I had asked to be included in the check in report) after several months of debate, with a lawyer on my side, and over half a year of AJ ignoring our requests for the landlady to be included directly in talks and to view the improvements to the property (both of which were ignored or refused), we finally settled loosing my full deposit plus substantial monies on top. I cannot claim to be innocent, we were not the best tenants, however the house was left in the state it was given to us, and AJ and his company attempted to, and partially succeeded in fleecing us for as much as they could get. Also, the manner in which AJ went around his business makes me believe that he was acting without the knowledge of the landlady and lining his own pockets
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This tallies with my experience of Ashley Charles. They will go out of their way to screw you out of every penny they can and have the audacity to call their daylight robbery 'admin...
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