Thanks for the response (: I was never given a physical copy of the tenancy agreement (though I was sure I should have been?), I only have a draft agreement that they emailed to me, wherein I found this quote: "The landlord reserves the right to charge interest (calculated from day to day) at 4% over the base rate of Barclays Bank plc on late payments." The, further down it states: "[Tenant is obligated] To pay, or be liable to pay any costs of the landlord or the agent apart from those defined in clause 2.25 above which the landlord or the agent is entitled to charge under this agreement at a rate of £35.25 per hour inclusive of VAT if applicable together with any reasonable associated expenses." Clause 2.25 states that the admin fee covers: Viewings, offerings, negotiations and queries The preperation and completion of all documents relating to the tenancy The exchange and copies of all documents relating to the tenancy The preperation and completion of a guarantor agreement The aquisition and checking of all references and status enquiries I don't understand why they are stated seperately, or what exactly is justifying this hourly charge as they have no expenditure as a result and it is absurdly expensive proportional to the amount owed. Are they contradicting themselves here? Or have I been misled into believing that the first quote is what I should be paying by how they've worded it? I'm quite new to renting, and I really can't afford this

Hi all, I'm having trouble with my letting agency and wondered if anyone here could tell me if I'm being ripped off. Its a bit long but I'd like to give as much detail as possible I have a shorthold tenancy with an agent (Walton Robinson) which started on August 20th. I've had a multitude of problems from the word go. First of all, a window frame is broken and it is held closed with some duct tape and a piece of wood. I asked the agency about it and they said they had were unable to find the manufacturer of the frames and that they were still trying, and would keep me posted. They never kept me informed on any of their actions (because they'd done nothing). If I'd known that it was going to be like this I wouldn't have taken the property in the first place. The flat had other problems. In the first week the blind fixtures fell off, the radiator fell off the wall, the shower fixture fell off, and the toilet was leaking. I visited the agent to let them know and nothing happened for weeks. I had to go in again and complain about it. They finally sent out some cowboy contractors who only bothered to attempt fixing the radiator and shower. They'd done such a bad job that the radiator fell off again. The shower was poorly done. I ended up fixing all of these problems myself (despite the property management being included in the rent). Within the next few weeks our dishwasher broke and the kitchen ceiling started leaking heavily out of a spotlight fixture. We visited the agent again, were told that it would be sorted, and heard nothing back for 3 weeks. We also asked again about the window and were fobbed off with 'we've not found anything out yet'. So we went again, and our complaint hadn't even been passed on to the property manager. They finally sent someone to fix the dishwasher and replaced it after a few weeks but the leak was never seen to, despite them promising to send someone out. We had asked again about the window to hear the same excuse. In late October I went back specifically to ask about the window and the leak again. I didn't want my heating bills racked up because of the window and was sick of the leak coming and going. I was getting annoyed now after months of being messed about. They still insisted they couldn't find the manufacturer. I asked about negociating the rent because this was ridiculous. The manager advised me to send an email with a figure and why. I asked for a measly £15 PCM reduction (on a £550PCM flat), due to the heating costs it would incur, and the fact the property basically was not being managed. I heard nothing back at all despite and sent a complaint. They didn't respond, but when I went back in person asking if they got it, they said they had. They didn't even give me a reponse while I was in front of them and didn't answer my questions. Mid November I decided to look for the manufacturer myself. It took 2 minutes and one email, simply by typing the building name into google. Furious, I forwarded the details to them. I told them that if I heard nothing back from them I would simply withold £15 per month of my rent until the window was fixed. Even acknowledging my email would have sufficed, but they didn't even do that after almost 2 months. So I lowered my rent accordingly on Dec 22nd, in the hopes that they would do something. I still heard absolutely nothing On Jan 3rd (today), I received an automated text message stating that I was in arrears and to call x to pay it. Just a few hours ago (at about 6pm) I found an email that was sent in the morning, stating that I was not being charged £36 per HOUR for as long as I was in arrears. They have not made any effort to do their jobs, and now they are charging me presumably over £600 per day for being £30 in arrears. I went to the agency but missed it (as it does not have an opening hours table anywhere on the window or the site). I'm furious that they would ignore all of the defects I complained about for half a year, and then conveniently get back to me just to charge me an absolutely crippling fee that has arisen purely out of their maladministration. They are a member of TPOS, which they hide very well despite whats in their code of conduct. I'm furious that they started charging said crippling fee and slyly slunk an email into my inbox. Its disgusting that they found this sufficient notice and made no effort at all to make me aware of it. I had absolutely no chance of avoiding this fee because they could not be bothered to give me a phonecall and confirm that I knew about it. Has anyone been in a similar situation before, and does anyone have any advice regarding my rights, etc? Trading Standards states that a defect in the product is a violation - Is the state of my flat and the lack of management that I'm paying for out of my rent enough to report them? Thanks very much for your time.