Don't flash them a smile, they'll take your teeth and your deposit.
The initial experience when you go to view and then sign the lease is the total opposite to how you will be treated when you are in residence; in hindsight it feels that they would say whatever it takes to get you to sign the lease. Horts will tell you before signing the lease, that they are a new type of agent, who acts in the interests of their tenants as well as the landlord….. When you are in though, it is a totally different soul crushing experience.
We brought up a few small things about the house we were viewing and was told that not only would that work be done, but additional work would also be completed, things that they had picked up on previous inspections that needed to be sorted. We moved in and they were not completed, we asked and asked and asked again and it became blatantly clear to us that we were being ignored.
If something does go wrong, it doesn’t matter what it is … bug infestations, carpet so old and frayed that it no longer attaches at the edges, warped windows not fitting, unsafe decking, substantial shower leak leading to damp and stained ceilings, woodwork paint peeling so badly that it is down to the bare wood, under sink leak from previous tenants, laminate lifting, burglar alarm not being up to date and safe and my personal favourite a extractor fan to nowhere that just vents on the ceiling… you will be told they are “passing the request onto the landlord”. You will need to chase at least twice to get them to remember to do this and longer to hear back, with an answer from the landlord so Rachmanist they will only do the bare minimum, while acting like they are doing you a favour.
Finally, when you cannot take anymore and decide to move in line with contracted terms. they will become very hostile and will fault you for practically everything that they think they can get away with, with regards to your deposit, and you will be so desperate to get out of there, you will agree despite leaving your last 4 house rents with 100% deposit returns and glowing references.
Also, beware of your personal data, as they have a laisse fair attitude towards data protection, they do not seem to care if they address you by the wrong name, or send personal contract discussions to a person with a similar name. They will not apologise for doing this, blaming “system errors”. This was subsequently raised with the ICO (Information Commissioner's Office) as a breach of GDPR and has been upheld in my favour.
If you are reading this to decide if you would use Horts to rent through, AVOID for your sanity and your wallet.
1 luglio 2022
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