Leaders - Aylesbury Reviews 23

Melanie Humphreys our Estate agent was very efficient.We were unsure of paperwork all was explained things went through, now we are in our temporary accommodation the rental we can get back to normal. B O'Neill.

Barbara is our property manager at leaders in Aylesbury. She has been amazing throughout our tenancy and we hope to keep renting under her management ☺️

I went to view a room to rent (smaller one of two) in a private landlords house in Aylesbury on 6 November, advertised by Leaders as “immediately available” in the header also "available from 31 October 2023" further down the page. It was the smaller of 2 rooms being let by the landlord both with Leaders. En route I had a call from James advising the landlord was running late and could we delay the appointment by 30 mins.
James Morton and I arrived at the revised time and the landlord showed us the room but not the room I had arranged to view as it wasn’t ready to let. The landlord showed us the bigger room at higher rent, which also WASN’T immediately available as advertised as more work was required on it.
The landlord said with both James and me present that she had advised a female colleague of James a few days earlier that neither was immediately available but nobody had told me, neither James by the sound of it. James was going to speak to the landlord after I left and agree when the rooms could be ready and he said he would call me later that day – I didn’t get any call.
2 days later and still no call from James so I raised a formal complaint via the formal process on the Leaders website.
It was promptly responded to by Collette Stevens but I wasn’t satisfied with the explanation given so asked for escalation, I was also asking for compensation for my petrol, it was 104 mile round trip, so £15 was I felt reasonable for the wasted trip, as I still hadn’t been told when either room would be available. Further emails followed and my complaint was escalated to Matthew Westlake-Tritton, Senior Branch Manager, Milton Keynes on 9 December, a month after the viewing.
Matthew’s response via email on 13 Dec, he clarified the amount of compensation would resolve the issue, he asked if £20 would resolve the complaint but I confirmed £15 on 17 Dec via email being courteous, feeling a tad sorry for James (the junior) working with such incompetent colleagues and as I was a former tenant of Leaders.
12 January I emailed Matthew as I had not received any further communication, good or bad.
21 January I emailed Matthew again clarifying the above, even offering a good review on Trustpilot if he could get it approved.
28 February : nearly 3.5 months since I raised the complaint an email response from Shaun Barnett refusing compensation of any amount but offering factually incorrect information in response instead.
“Unfortunately in the nature of our work and with the Letting market being highly competitive presently we are finding we ave multiple applications for most advertised properties”.
“I appreciate in this instance the viewing was booked on a unit that was no longer available but as I have said the market is very face paced and it is hard to ensure we do not have applicants miss out. I do know that the branch did offer alternatives that you did view so it wasn’t a completely wasted journey” - this is factually incorrect as the unit had not been available at all – it was still being finished and had never been available let alone “immediately available”. It is still being advertised today 31 MARCH 2024 as "available from 31 October 2023" which is a week before I visited it and nobody has been back to me to advise it is "now available" as James said he would – another failing.
I DID NOT VIEW ALTERNATIVES as Shaun has stated as none were offered. I was expecting an update from James when I departed the property and none came only when I complained so it was very much a completely wasted journey – they can’t even get their facts right when responding to a formal complaint - another failing!
Basically if you see a property advertised as ”immediately available” with Leaders of Aylesbury don’t believe it as on this evidence they don’t mean it and there is no excuse for misrepresenting such basic information.
I had been a tenant with Leaders in Gosport and E Grinstead in the past so was shocked by the poor service from Aylesbury by comparison.
The Hall of Sham, collective responsibility: James Morton, Collette Stevens, Matthew Westlake-Tritton, Shaun Barnett
Despite being affiliated and accredited to The Property Ombudsman, Trading Standards (TSI),
Arla Property Mark protected, NRLA (National Landlords Residential Information there appears to be little or no regulation to try and prevent such sub-standard performance within the lettings industry which unsurprisingly has a reputation for bad practice and gross misrepresentation such as the property is “immediately available” when it so very clearly isn’t. In such cases compensation is not unreasonable, it is more likely to facilitate corrective action and prevent recurrence as it is financially penalising them but that's the lettings industry.

Honestly i really appreciate the services of Leader's Trusted and reliable. I will recommend friends and family to rents through Leaders.

Thank you Barbara Karwala the property's manager.

Quite possibly the worst experience of my 30 year renting experience.

Dismissive, demanding, no standards, uncompromising, Barbara karmala, please find an alternative career, as you fail utterly in this one. Zero communication, until it's something they want. Ignores requests, emails, does nothing and acts as if the conversation never existed and continues on its course. Tries to come to inspect 2 months early! Sends useless advocates to you, early on a Sunday! Gives you a property, eventually, which is substandard, partially decorated, with the remainders of the decorator's rubbish, paint, brushes, smeared across the uncut grass. In short, they play God, and demand the Earth. Taking advantage of people in a difficult position. Avoid!!!

Just want to say a huge to Jemma at leaders aylesbury for all her support during our move. Could not have asked for a better agent to have dealt with! If you are looking to rent in the aylesbury area, would highly recommend Leaders.

A really great property service, especially Barbara, who went out of her way to make sure issues were dealt with, quickly and efficiently. Also thanks to Cal who repaired and replaced the items out of hours, many thanks

From the initial enquiry Macey has been really helpful, keeping us informed with how the rental checks are coming along and she has answered any questions straight away. So far so good and would highly recommend

Jemma and the team have been great at helping me secure a new tenant for my property. She has kept me updated throughout and has gone above and beyond to ensure everything went smoothly. Jemma and her team are an asset to the company and I can't thank them enough.

Staff was friendly, their communicated was effective. Additionally, very accommodating in assisting me to ensure I meet my appointment.
I would recommend Leaders to others when looking for a place to rent.

A professional team. Macey and Ella helped us a lot. They have answers to any problem. I strongly recommend this agency in Aylesbury to everyone. Thank you ladys

Very helpful and efficient
Fantastic communication from our agent Macey.
Super friendly and helpful experience

The team at leaders were very helpful when I called. I spoke to Macey and she helped refer me to the Mortgage advisors. Very good communication and would recommend.

Macey was amazing and referred us for a mortgage scout very promptly and efficiently!! She was very helpful, knowledgeable; she has great customer service skills and followed GDPR guidelines.
Highly recommend Macey and the team @ Leaders!!

I have been dealing with Jemma Oakley at the Aylesbury branch from my initial enquiry for a flat. It has been an absolute pleasure dealing with Jemma and I'm very grateful for all her help on securing me a great property.
From my initial meeting at the property to completion of paperwork Jemma has been so patient and very helpful. Thanks again Jemma! X

THE WORST EVER!! STAY AWAY
They are stealing your money, sending you emails that everything is going well with the property and then after 3 weeks they change their minds.They informed me one day before moving out from my current property; ive got a child as well.
DISGUSTING, DISGRACEFUL

what can i say, gemma from the aylesbury branch, a shinning example of a dedicated professional . leaders will be my first choice on my next move.

I needed some help, and Jemma have been amazing with everything I asked. If you need something,she is the one .

Ella and Jemma are both angels showing their professional skills in all areas .
They both certainly showed patience with helping me 👍👌😀

I've had a great experience with Jemma at Leaders, she has taken great care into answering all my questions and queries and made a very new and stressful situation a whole lot easier! I had lots of questions and anxieties with this being my first flat and she made sure to answer everything I needed to know and has been a wonderful communicator all throughout this process. She has been great with answering my albeit bombarding emails and I've been so grateful for all of her help.