Tag: deposit scam

Kingstons

Sorry, that spider wasn’t paying rent so you have to cover it

We’ve had an update from the poor folks who were having to live with Kingstons mould, poison, flooding and mice house!

Just a follow up from my last submission regarding the deposit.
They tried to take over £100 from each of our deposits (there was 6 of us) for completely unjustified reasons such as stains on mattress and cracks in bathroom tiles (which were there when we moved in and luckily had proof of). They sent us an inventory with ridiculous arguments such as the kitchen wasn’t clean as there was a spider in the sink.

We managed to dispute their claims and ended up getting the majority of the deposit back but not all of it as they claimed they ‘couldn’t reduce the cleaning charge’ implying there was always going to be a cleaning charge regardless of it we had cleaned the property. Surely this should have been in the contract or they should have given us the option to hire our own cleaners which would have cost us less. They are such scammers and try their best to take advantage of students but we were lucky as we took pictures of every room when we moved in. If you sign with them TAKE PICTURES OF EVERY ITEM IN EVERY ROOM. It’s the only way you’ll get the majority of your deposit back from them, and don’t be afraid to dispute everything they say.

Rent: £310

Deposit Returned?: Partially

Orinoco

Drugs, Mould and Rock and Roll

We rented with Orinoco. When we moved in the fridge was full of maggots (initially they denied all responsibility and refused to clean), there were rats inside the house, mould on the walls, chewing gum on the floors, drug residue in the draws (burnt spoons, ripped foil, needles) and the whole house was dirty and had a musky smell. Throughout the tenancy we transformed the house, we deep cleaned it ourselves on move in, then again when Orinoco wanted to take photos for their website, for all their viewings and finally on move out (the place was spotless). During one of the deep cleans we took off the extractor fan chimneys to find that they weren’t connected to an external source, instead the smoke and steam was pumped straight back into the room. Not to mention the fact that throughout lockdown I transformed the garden from an overgrown skip to clean, tidy, presentable garden.

On move out the agent attended the property and commented on how clean it was and stated they would only charge for a burnt window sill in one of the rooms (fair enough). I was then shocked to receive a list of charges (mainly cleaning) worth £340. To top off the negligence and disgraceful nature of this company when trying to dispute their charges they took days to respond to every email. After numerous emails I managed to get the charges down to £140 (still £110 too much). At this point they said to accept it or consult a deposit agency where they threatened to charge the full £340. Not happy, will not rent with them again and would not recommend them to anyone! Avoid at all costs!!

Rent: £340

Deposit Returned?: Partially

CPS

Oh CPS, Your Eagles preying on the vulnerable!

Rooms in the house with good mattresses and others with springs that literally poked through and made noises. When this issue was raised the landlord, who claimed the bed was fine. Windows with the glass blown in the middle which was quoted for but never sorted as it was ‘too expensive’. Landlord turned up unannounced on multiple occasions. [Editors note: Very illegal! If this ever happens, threaten to call the police.]

We took some things to the house to store between summer and September (we were told this was fine) & the landlord threw out our ironing board, which she did replace in the end. [Yikes]

When we moved into the house there was around 10 bulbs out – multiple tenants sent emails about this and it took a very long time to get a proper response. When we finally were sent new bulbs but we were sent the incorrect bulbs. When we informed her of this she came to the house to check they were wrong as she did not believe us. She then promised to send us the correct bulbs, which did not turn up for months. We had been in contact with both the landlord and CPS on multiple occasions about these bulbs. At our final CPS inspection, CPS promised we would not be charged for replacement lights at the end of tenancy due to all the problems we had faced (e.g. not having bulbs for at least 3 months, never having them when we moved in).

This never happened – we were charged to replace all the lights – I doubt they were replaced based on our experience moving into the property (10 bulbs out, kitchen cabinet half attached, left items from previous tenants). They also tried to charge us for things that were broken prior to us moving in the property, luckily we had photo proof of this, and were able to fight those charges.

As we had trouble with getting our deposits back before, we made a huge effort to clean the house to avoid cleaning charges. However, the day the last tenant was leaving (before the final inspection) the landlord turned up with a builder, who proceeded to create dust and mess in the house, despite our efforts to clean. When we were then changed for cleaning which we had to fight. The whole tenancy felt stressful, the landlord and CPS did not act responsibly, and did not care about our welfare.

Rent: £330

Deposit Returned?: Partially

Keylet

🎵 5 Taps leaking, and 4 fucked radiators, 3 unhappy tenants, 2 toilets leaking and a Completely broken bed!!! 🎵

Keylet’s motto is ‘let’s open doors together’ but what they don’t tell you is, they’ll also slam them right back in your face and jam your fingers in them while they’re at it.

We moved into our property with the sofa having rips in it, marks on the walls and carpet, but overall the flat seemed lovely..for now.

5 taps a leaking, 4 fucked radiators, 3 unhappy tennants, 2 toilets leaking and one completely broken beeeeeeeed ( as well as the door dropping from the hatch). And we’d had enough. Called them up, only to be told you absolutely HAD to send it through fixflo ( oh but don’t forget, you can ONLY submit once otherwise the staff get confused…you have to question their intelligence level if THAT confuses them)

When we moved out, these problems still were not fixed and we actually now ALSO had a broken window. You love to see it.

The place was SPOTLESS. And I mean there was not a sign of dust anywhere…so with a spotless flat but multiple problems reported to Keylet that they did not fix. We didn’t expect the whole deposit back knowing their track record.

Please enlighten me as to how we got charged for none of these problems, despite them not being fixed. But had over £500 removed from our deposit in ‘general cleaning’ and ‘paint retouching’ when we provided proof the wall markings were there when we moved in? £300 to paint tiny marks? Are you hiring someone to paint one stroke a day? Will they be flying from Antarctica to do this paint job? Are you reincarnating Van Gogh for this? The marks were barely noticeable!!!!

In addition to this, we didn’t even see our deposit for 2 months and were repeatedly ignored in emails and rudely spoken to when we called to chase up on it.

For your own sanity, don’t rent with Keylet.

P.S. They walked into our flat unannounced on numerous occasions and once we were all asleep in our rooms and they still came in x

[Editors note: Creepy and illegal by Keylet]

Rent: £370

Deposit Returned?: Partially

2let2

2let2, not 2 bad, not 2 good.

Wasn’t too bad all year, bar the landlord shoddily fixing the damaged fence between our property and another with ropes, until it was time to get our deposit back. Took at least a month from what I recall and had ridiculous charges like £70 for Blu-tack marks in one room and £30 for a mattress that was already stained when we moved in. This is alongside £70 to have the house “professionally cleaned” despite us having left the house clean. Classic letting agent deposit scamming, wish I’d kicked up more of a fuss now (was my second year house and I’m now at the end of third year). All round though 2let2 were not that bad, a couple of ignored complaints here or there but if you’re persistent I’m sure you’ll be fine! Not the worst of all the letting agencies

Rent: £315

Deposit Returned?: Partially