We were almost left on the street. I would recommend avoiding this agency that has an amount of liars working within the company, however most of London estate agents are the same.
Me and 3 of my friends were about to rent their property. We had put an offer on the property which was accepted. They were dealing with us for about a week and a half and everything was going smoothly, we also signed a pre-contract. We passed the referencing and were instructed on how much we had to pay to move in. Everyone was confident about everything and started already packing their things. One day before moving in I felt suspicious that no one contacted me anymore. I sent an e-mail to my letting agent and it was ignored. Then I gave a phone call and was promised to get a call back, which was done only late in the evening when the agency was about to close. It was Robert who called me and said that we are not able to move into the property however it should have happened the next day and we were already ready for that, made all the plans etc. He said that the property had two landlords (Mr and Mrs, probably divorced) and that the landlady was happy to rent the property to us however the landlord secretly advertised the property with another letting agent and had let the property to someone else with another agency on the day when we were about to get instructions about moving in. Stating that those tenants offered more than we did, so the landlady ignored us and the letting agency and doesn't respond to our agent's phone calls anymore. She apologized in case "we were not having a roof for tomorrow".
This was extremely disappointing because one of us was about to move out in two days, and the rest of us in less than a week. We are in trouble. At firstly I believed the story I was told, however I called the second letting agency the next day and they said the property was still available, which means they haven't actually let it to anyone. Finally we just understood that Townends just dropped us off because some potential tenants offered 100-200 pounds more than we did on a last minute when we were about to move in. That flat wasn't even worth the £2300 we were about to pay, as we live in a 3 bedroom flat for £1800 in Fulham (Central London). We were promised by Feisal (one of the letting agents at Townends) that our offer is confident and if it's accepted, it's accepted. What was also suspicious, is that Townends were saying that they didn't know that another letting agency was advertising the flat, however my friends went to see the property without myself about 3 days after I saw it for the first time, and they mentioned that while they were viewing it, someone from another agency was taking the pictures about the property (Because when I went there 3 days before, there already was someone taking pictures from Townends). Basically it came out that Townends knew the fact that they weren't the only ones advertising the property.
We are ripped off and deposit wasn't paid back yet. Only apologies in words were received, nothing else.
I was looking for a perfect home for 2 years in London where I could live like a human. This property was the first perfect house that corresponded to all my needs, and again, I missed it, a day before I was about to move in, after being annoyed by everyday calls to myself, my employer and landlord about referencing.
I just can't stand London with the same agents everywhere, with their methods of scamming and lying to the people.
I'm happy that it's just one year I have to stay in this city (because of my studies), I dislike London and every day I am dreaming about getting out of here and feel valued for being a human and for what I do. This city is a trap, full of liars that only want money and nothing else. You will never benefit from anything until you start lying as they do. I am kind to people and will never follow their steps.
Anyway, stay away from Townends, and stay away from London, if you can. read more
