Expecting Royal treatment from Kingstons? Remember your place, peasant
‘Brand new fridge’. This beautiful fridge ‘only a few weeks old’ just got hand delivered to our house by our wonderful estate agents Kingstons. Will go to the highest bidder!!
Tag: 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
Signing up with 👑 Kingstons? You’ll be their peasant
Genuinely the worst company I have ever had to deal with. When it came to move-in day, I was unable to get into my room as no-body in the office had a key for my locked bedroom. I had to wait 3 hours with my Dad in the car outside until the landlord could arrange for a handyman to come and change the lock on the door and let me in. My Dad then had to dive back to my hometown 3 hours delayed- no apology from the office about the wait or the fact they had lost the key to the bedroom.
When the door was finally opened it was clear they had not made any of the changes they had agreed to in the contract signing. It had been agreed that the single bed in my room would be upgraded to a 3/4 bed and a desk and chair would be provided for my housemate. They had been warned several times of when we would be moving in. Throughout the year we had several issues that were either not solved or took months for them to get round to. This included my housemates’ desk collapsing in her hands and an incredibly moldy fridge which was not hygienic enough to keep food it when we arrived. My bedroom was very small and had no insulation so got very moldy after a few months of living there, it also gave me a bad chest from sleeping in the room overnight. After complaining to Kingstons someone from the landlords’ office came to clean it which was great until she happily told me that if the mold returned she would be charging me and that I needed to keep my window open. It was February and I could see my breath in my room as it was.
When moving out of the house in June we cleaned it thoroughly but had to fight for 2 months to get our deposit back as they would not accept the fact that we had closed our water account when returning home during the pandemic. When finally receiving the list of ‘damages’ we were shocked to be charged a whopping £158 each (there are 4 of us) including £100 for cleaning, £28 for each de-weeding the garden and £46 each for an inch stain on the worktop. When we queried the damages we felt completely unjust, including the stain, some of the charges were dropped but we were told that the landlord was going to have to replace the whole unit. I do not doubt in my mind this will not be replaced. We have ended the year losing £120 of our £350 deposit each for a house we really looked after. A disappointing and difficult company to deal with needless to say we did not sign with them for the third year.
Rent: £305
Deposit Returned: Partially
Go with Kingston if your looking for Mould, Poison, Flooding and Mice!
First problem: Mice
We had multiple sightings of a mouse running through the kitchen and living room. When we emailed Kingston’s about this they sent out a pest controller. They said there was already poison under the kitchen counters which meant that this was an existing problem that the agency was aware of but did not inform us.
Second problem: Drains
The shower drain was constantly blocked despite using cleaning supplies. This led to the bathroom being flooded and caused water to run down the walls into the living room and flooding that room too. Also, the drain the back garden was constantly getting blocked which caused an awful smell to go into the house.
Third problem: Attic Bedroom
Upon moving in there were already water marks on the bedroom wall (which I took pictures of). Throughout the storms the water marks got bigger and rain water actually started to leak from the roof into my room. I emailed Kingston’s who sent out a worker who ‘fixed’ it but then another storm happened and the same thing happened again. This time more workers were sent out and the problem seems to have been resolved, but the water marks are still all over the wall and mould has grown on them. When emailed about this they said they’ll send someone out to repaint (this never happened despite me informing them I have asthma)
Would not recommend.
Rent: £310
Deposit returned?: Still living at the hole in question