Focus entirely on sales not looking after their tenants (Foxtons)

Member Name: 1234monkey

Product:	Foxtons
Date:	11/10/05 (742 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good website and range of properties

Disadvantages: Expensive, pushy, lots of hassle

Foxtons clearly spend a lot of time and effort in selling/renting their properties - they have a great website and there's always an agent to speak to you and show you properties. Until they've got your signature on the contract they provide a good service. However, they are very expensive, charging £300 in "admin" fees just to sign a rental contract for a two bed flat! And once they've got that signature they provide minimal customer service.

A couple of years ago I moved into a rented flat that wasn't to the standard that I had been promised by them. Their inventory check was laughable and almost seemed designed so that they could charge me vast sums when I moved out of the property. But despite my efforts and calls I could not speak to anybody about this.

Two months before we moved out of the property we were continually harassed by their agents to arrange times to show people round the flat. They called giving just a few hours notice that they were coming over and we were even told that we had to let the agent in and then go out "for an hour or two" while viewers were shown round. On more than one occasion I was told in a very patronising manner that the house should be in a "presentable condition", even though it was always kept clean. For the last month of my tenancy it didn't even feel that the flat was my home. I think that the cause of these problems is Foxton's willingness to show people as many properties as possible without really listening to the viewer's requirements. In other properties that I have rented far fewer people have been shown round and the agents have always been polite and given 48 hours notice.

In summary I would only use Foxtons if they had a perfect property, and then you need to be aware of the expense and possible hassle when leaving the property.

Summary: Be very wary of the cost and hassle of using Foxtons