1/5
GoogleIf you are looking for a rental, or an estate agent to manage your property, please read this review. This is an honest report of our experience with Stones Estate agents. The process to applying for a rental with Stones was straightforward, and it was lovely to see that it is based on a first come first serve, only looking at one application at a time, rather than who has a rental history or highest offer. It’s a fair way of giving a chance to first time renters. The process was quick and communication always excellent. During tenancy we never had any problem or issues with Stones, emails were responded to promptly and inspections were not intrusive, we were always allowed to be present due to the cat and dog being there. We were told we would have an inspection every 6 months, however we had only 1 inspection within the first year there. The inspections never lasted more than 10 minutes and Nicola was always very chatty and polite and praised us on how well the house looked and it was lovely to see it being loved. Nicola never took photos of the condition of the house during inspections. We had some maintenance issues which were dealt with during tenancy. Towards the end of our tenancy, we felt we needed to leave due to some circumstances with the house out of our control which made living there not feel like our home. Nothing to do with how the house was managed or to do with us. We gave our one months notice and were offered a cheaper rental price to see if we would stay. We wanted to move to a bigger house and with an additional parking space anyway and this was respected. At check out, Nicola’s attitude took a 180, politeness and professional communication was non existent, rude emails with issues raised which we already had notified about during tenancy. Things which should have been picked up on during inspections that were suddenly a problem, and issues to the property which were caused by fair wear and tear and damages which were not caused by us. We had initial charges of over £600 wanting to be deducted from our deposit. When questioned and asked for proof from the inventory for before and after photos, she could not prove these and straight away took away the charges. They claimed the property needed 2 full days of 2 cleaners at £300 to bring back to the same standard. I confronted Nicola on her unprofessional approach and complete change of character. I felt like this was a personal attack on us deciding to leave the property, knowing that they would not be able to charge the property for new renters at the price we had been paying due to the circumstances with the house. I gained a cleaning quote myself for end of tenancy which came out at £180, so this in itself was a complete overcharge. They let me go back to do the cleaning myself which took me 2.5 hours on my own. Imagine if I had just agreed to the charges! This estate agent knows what they are doing to try and scam back as much money as they can at the end of tenancy. I fought and argued for evidence and I will say it was good of them to let us go back to address issues which we were at fault of, however if you are not on top of everything and ask for proof, they would have taken a lot more money from us. If I was a home owner and this estate agent managed my house, I would be disappointed at the inspection quality, and it has been a shame to end the tenancy not wanting anything to do with a house we once loved and called home.
