Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward (KFH) - Lots of problems renting a property

[essjaydee]

Hi all,

 

Firstly, this is actually a problem from the past and HAS been resolved (as you will see below), but I really wanted to post it here, including all the gory details, in the hope that it would assist someone in the future.

 

We found a 'furnished' property that we liked through KFH - saw it on their website, quite a few images of the interior and a decent description, with the bonus of an 'underground, secure parking space', so we promptly arranged a viewing. Met the agent, was shown around, again very happy with everything - interior matched what we saw on the website... Same furniture etc - (mostly!) to our liking. We asked if the landlord would be happy to remove the existing sofa (which was tiny) so that we could purchase our own and to also remove the current mattress, so again, we could use our own. He replied to say this was fine and they would be removed by time we moved in. My partner arranged a second viewing, so that she could double check everything and also measure the lounge for our new sofa. Again, everything matched what we had expected and so we happily proceeded with the rental. Throughout this period KFH couldn't have been better to deal with (surprise surprise) and we had no complaints at all.

 

Then the first problem - as soon as we had paid the initial fees (which, after doing a lot of research, we discovered were extremely high) and deposit etc, they became unbelievably hard to get hold of and it took at least 5 phonecalls each time to speak to someone.

 

Then the BIG problem - the moving in day arrived... We met the landlord outside the flat, he took us upstairs to the flat and... it was completely bare. Our hearts sank and the battle began. The furniture that we had seen (and been told was included) with the flat and that had now been removed was:

 

Bedroom

Bed, Chest of draws, Bedside tables

 

Lounge

Sofa, Desk, Desk chair, Dining table, Four chairs, TV stand, Coffee table, Bookcase, Curtains, Rug

 

Hall

Sidetable/unit

 

In it's place, we had a very old and tatty, two seater Ikea sofa, a tiny table - covered in marks and paint stains and another table in the kitchen - again, covered in marks. On top of this the "underground, secure parking space" was actually just a marked space outside on the street. Which, while acceptable, was still nothing in comparison to what we were initially told.

 

From this point onwards the nightmare began as both the landlord and KFH pointed fingers at one another to say that each had lied in the setup of the rental. The first night we ended up having to go back to our families houses to sleep because otherwise (as KFH helpfully told us), "you will have to sleep on the floor tonight." The landlord eventually (after about 30 phonecalls from us) agreed to purchase a new bedframe and coffee table - which we would have to collect and assemble. The agency washed their hands of it at this point and basically said "tough" to us.

 

On top of this, the whole flat was really filthy and needed a huge clean before we felt happy to live there.

 

Luckily for me, my work noticed that my stress levels went through the roof over the course of 7 days and also saw that I had asked for several extra days off at the last minute so I could attempt to deal with everything. They were so concerned (and annoyed) at how I was being treated, that the CEO and legal team stepped up to assist me and went to war with KFH. At first KFH denied they had done anything wrong, but after we took copies of their web advert for the flat - including all furnishings, and then picked through the contract - which included no inventory - they started to flap a little. Eventually I spoke to someone on their side that agreed to replace ALL furniture if we would go to collect and install it - which we agreed to, and also extra compensation for LOE and inconvenience. All in all this came to approx £2000 - which is money we couldn't have afforded to shell out, after paying a big deposit and fees!

 

Hope this helps anyone else in the future who is going to rent a 'furnished' property with KFH (or another agency)... Make sure you get in writing what is/isn't included with the flat BEFORE you sign anything!

 

Cheers.

Edited May 23, 2012 by essjaydee

[freakyleaky]

Thanks for sharing. I'm sure it will be of use to others in the future.