Still owed a weeks rent and I doubt I’ll ever see it
This is going to be a long one, bear with me, I’m starting right from the beginning up to present day of an almost two year ordeal with this company.
I moved into a rental flat run by Gibson gammon roughly two years ago with no issue, I paid six months rent up front so did not need any checks or finance statements etc which worked for me. Very quickly we had damp issues with condensation on the walls around the windows which required the heating to be on full all day whilst having all the windows open. We soon realised that running an industrial dehumidifier 24hrs a day was cheaper than running the heating with the windows open…next the boiler started playing up, leaking water in the cupboard. This was quickly resolved by Natalie coming round with the plumber but I was told it’s an ongoing issue and would require more work another day. When the day was approaching I was asked if the plumber could come by alone, I obviously said no as I won’t be home, but if he would be supervised by the estate agent then I would leave my keys with them. After a bit of back and forth it became obvious he would be alone so I said no, I won’t be leaving a key under the mat and that it’ll have to be arranged for another day.
It never was… but I didn’t have any further issues with the boiler so I left it alone.
When the first six months was up, I was informed that I could pay another six months rent, or have the rent price go up by £100 a month, so I figured just pay it, I’ll be here longer than six months anyways.
Another quiet five months go by and I’m told it’s time to pay again, which is odd as I paid for six months and had to remind them of the date I moved in that actually I’ve got another month before I need to pay anything… also that I’m not sure I’m going to be staying a full six months so I’d like to just pay on a monthly basis for the time I’m going to be in.. Natalie sounded very understanding and assured me that as soon as I move out and they can get new tenants in, I would be refunded for the time I had overpaid. So again I went along with this and paid the next six months.
Roughly three months later I informed Natalie that I would be moving out and would have the flat ready by a set date. But I would be out and getting it cleaned and painted etc ready for the check out inspection a couple of weeks before. Also that any viewings that need to be done could be during that time if they wanted to.
Now I assume they had viewings but I never had any notification of these viewings just told that it would be really good if I could be out a day before the set date so the new tenants could move in that evening.
Now the real issues start, I asked how long it would be to get the deposit and overpaid rent to be returned to me, and was told “within 28 days” by Natalie.
So I waited around 34 days before asking again, I need this money to pay my new mortgage. The response was that she is on holiday and will sort it on her return.
I obviously continued chasing as this was impacting my finances, I don’t have a spare £1875 laying around.
It took weeks of chasing and suggesting legal action, followed by the owner of the company accusing me of harassment due to my messages (which were obviously sent in frustration and showing just how frustrated I was) before the deposit was returned to me. But no sign of the six weeks rent.
So i start chasing again, it’s becoming a joke, the “within 28 days” has already turned into two months and no sign of the overpaid rent, text messages and emails are consistently ignored or fobbed off. I’m told “I’ll chase this up for you” and then left to wait days before I message again to be told “you’re harassing me”
All I wanted was the money I am owed.
Eventually after roughly three months I received most of the overpaid rent, I am still owed a weeks rent which still needs to be paid. I’m told it takes a week to turn around a property which I understand may usually be the case, but I know from messages from the company owner that the new tenants were moved in the day after I confirmed everything was ready.
The company either wants to hold back money due to financial issues, or they just try this with everybody. I don’t know what the real issue is, but the effort it takes to make them pay their debts is amazing!
I am still owed a weeks rent and I very much doubt I will ever see it.
July 20, 2024
Unprompted review