“Very Poor Experience...”
1 Star Review
Jan 04,2021
By:
'Rebecca'
Jan 04,2021
Branch: Newbury, 118 Bartholomew Street
Services: Lettings (as a Landlord)
Rent PCM: £875
Would you recommend?: No
Postcode: RG17
Branch: Newbury, 118 Bartholomew Street
Lettings (as a Landlord)
Rent PCM: £875
Postcode: RG17
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We decided to use Jones Robinson Lettings because we had a very good (if initially unsuccessful) experience with Jones Robinson Estate sales; the estate agents were (and remain) helpful, kind, professional, prompt, and honest. It is unfortunate that none of these words can be used to describe the lettings side of Jones Robinson. The issues started before our tenants moved in, as the person in charge of preparing and finalising the documents neither was easily available nor finished them (for us to sign) before leaving on a Friday afternoon when the tenants were due to move in over the weekend. Thankfully, another member of staff stayed late on Friday to rectify the issue; when this was raised with senior management, we were assured this level of customer care would never happen again.
Over the course of the next year and a half of having them 'manage' our property, the service declined. Issues included:
• Not being sent the initial inventory (and having it accepted in our absence).
• Not being able to get in contact with our letting agent, despite leaving email and phone messages repeatedly.
• Not getting multiple quotes for large jobs until explicitly requested.
• Having work completed and charged to our account without being notified (we had to check our statements to be informed of what had been charged).
• Overcharging us for work being done.
• Not being aware that the tenants were breaching the terms of their letting agreement (despite visits).
We paid over £100month for the property to be managed by Jones Robinson even though we spent hours trying to get in contact with them and sort the issues which were not correctly handled by them (over £2000 in total over the course of the rental). We raised two formal complaints over the course of sixteen months; after the second complaint, we were offered a reduction in price of £8.25month for three months (~£25). We felt insulted. On both occasions Jones Robinson were not interested in listening to us. Instead, on one occasion we received a phone call where were subject to a 20-minute stream of platitudes and half-hearted promises without any attempt to engage or understand the nature of our grievance.
After we exchanged contracts to sell the house and agreed with the new owners that it would be cleaned prior to their arrival, the lettings department called us to tell us that we would likely not get our deposit back but must pay for the cleaning ourselves (£400+). In order to meet the timeframes, they gave us one hour to 'decide.' When we complained that this was unreasonable, we were again insulted by the caller who told us that we chose to be landlords. Upon complaining again, they offered to decrease the fee by £25 and refund us the money immediately. It took two months for that refund to come through.
It is disappointing that despite the Sales arm of Jones Robinson being so competent, the Lettings arm have caused us much anguish over this period. The communication, attention to detail, value for money, and personal service was shockingly poor from every individual bar one (the lady who stayed late on Friday to sort the contract). We would strongly caution any potential landlord against their use.
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