Countrywide Avis 

I am very disappointed because I had a hard time getting my deposit back. I rented a house and handed it back in impeccable condition, yet they wanted to withhold more than half the deposit basically for nothing; there was nothing concrete to justify it. If they hadn't decided to give me my money back, I wouldn't have given up; I would have taken legal action as far as possible, just to stop them from taking people for a ride over money. even the owners and agencies that pull such stunts on people who have done nothing wrong and have taken care of the place as if it were their own home. I do not recommend them, because at the end of the rental period you will have trouble getting your money back; they find all sorts of faults even though everything is subject to wear and tear and nothing stays brand new.

Liars. Took over 4 months to get deposit back. Wanted to charge me for repainting every room when they hadn't painted anything. Had to take it to an adjudicator who got my deposit back. They are rubbish at getting repairs done. Never respond to calls or emails and do not understand the law when it comes to carbon monoxide detectors, I had to tell them. Don't rent a property from them ever. Totally unprofessional.

One star is a mercy, the incompetence I faced dealing with this company stretches to the degree that I almost wonder if it’s a circus performance organised purely to punish me for some kind of past life grievance.

I had to take on the mantle of detective, seeking out just who to even politely email with the most simple of requests. Mistakenly I thought the idea of a deposit would be that I get it back, granted my faeces aren’t left on the floor and the skirting boards are clinically clean. Maybe it’s my youthful naivety, but upon moving out getting my money back was the least of my concerns. This quickly became the set up to a joke I wasn’t privy to.

After a lengthy email conversation to ascertain just how much money it would cost me to repay my sins of an only slightly clean skirting board, one you would only eat off if you’d skipped breakfast, I still remained largely positive. Despite what I felt was an unfair amount for taking a duster to a bannister, they were reasonably quick to respond.

Once an amount was agreed upon, hands shaken, grovelling seemingly at its end, my bank details in their greasy waggling hands……radio silence. The gentle goodnight of a Gmail reminder that it might be worth following up. Email after email I felt my knees buckle and hands reach out, like Oliver begging for more. Why now? From immediate response to the whisper of an echo from a chasm called the deposit specialist.

One week of emails sent into that chasm, i convinced myself it had never spoken back,

Is my gmail full?
Am i receiving emails at all?
I’ll delete some family photos to clear the space this is more important.

The misguided actions of the jester finding himself in the bad favour of the king.

I called, it now having been a week and a half of lost time and declining stability. The phone answered and I grovelled, broken. Apparently our deposit had already been attempted to be released, news to me. It had bounced around departments and been declined, the chasm didn’t know why.

It was alright though the chasm would get back to me that afternoon.

Then…..
Radio silence.
A weekend passed.

I called again.

Attempted but failed release….
Bounced around departments…..
The chasm would get back to me.

Everything I thought I was had been ground down to a fine powder. I sent a very frustrated message into the chasm and felt nothing.

When I found out finally what was actually happening and when I’d get my scraps back, there’d been a mistake and they’d somehow registered that I actually owe them money. But it’s all good because they noticed it and didn’t tell me about it at all so it’s all okay no worries all happy go lucky nice and nice.

Still no money.

Still no deposit back.

Another week passed.

When I finally got my money back I felt absolutely nothing but a burning hatred and passionate nothing.

If I could put my experience into a word it would be: bad.

I don’t know, I’m out of words and out of energy.

Poor communication with the property management team. We moved in to our rented property within months as the colder weather came in mould and damp started appearing, contacted countrywide on several occasions via phone and email to have little to no response. In the end i contacted the council as this had got so bad and my child had been ill on so many occasions. when the council had come out we then got a lot of abuse from the landlord. And he came to our property unannounced. And then it has taken 3 months for us to get our deposit back. Which we were deducted funds which whould have not happened. Very poor service and not much support from agents and the landlord wasnt approchable and should definantly not be renting propertys if he cannot manage the repairs and speak to people with a bit of respect

I would give 0 stars! I have never left a negative review before, but this is by far the worst agency I have ever had to deal with. Ensure you take pictures of the property you rent and keep records of conversations with them as they will try to take money from your deposit! Despite leaving the flat in perfect condition they tried to claim money for issues that were clearly present in the inventory at check in and I had to dispute this with the deposit team who in turn decided I owe them £0.

They knew what both the check in and check out inventories showed, but still backed the landlord in making false claims. I was lucky I had pictures and emails for everything. Funnily enough after the deposit dispute they stopped responding to my emails. Not even an apology.

They are also incompetent at managing a property. They do not coordinate maintenance issues, you have to call and email multiple times and they will do everything to try and avoid fixing issues. They barely know how to write emails (they must hire anyone there)! The property I rented got flooded from a property above and no one came to even look at the damage. They even lied to say the property was safe when it was not and lied about repairs (only found out when the maintenance team said nothing was fixed before them). You have to arrange everything maintenance related and they randomly pass your contact details without asking. They only act on requests when you mention complaints and in my case the housing enforcement.

There is a reason they average 1 star on trustpilot. I am surprised they are still in business as they are not far away from scamming people. I would honestly be ashamed to work there.

Would give zero stars. They have managed my property in Chelmsford since December and i have had countless issues with them particularly their disgraceful customer service and lack of communication. We live in Australia and pay the highest management fee for them to fully manage the house and this hasn’t happened, we are doing all the chasing and even had to highlight issues with our inspection. Have gone to management who make fake promises that are never kept. Do not use

Ongoing delays in returning deposit which is now overdue by more than two weeks. Excuses about not having details followed by confirming they have the details. Confirming it's being 'processed' but no sign of the outputs of that 'processing'. Ignoring my queries. Maybe I should feel sorry for them ... if hanging onto the fairly insignificant amount of money they owe me is what's keeping them afloat, perhaps I should be sending them care packages

Would have given no stars. Untrustworthy, dishonest, liars. Offices have been closed with no communication. Difficulty to get hold of, don’t return calls, Don’t inspect property, don’t tell you when tenants haven’t paid, didn’t chase tenants for rent when there about to hand keys in. Totally unprofessional company with incompetent staff who pass you on to other departments. Nothing is ever resolved. PLEASE DON’T USE THIS COMPANY UNLESS YOU WANT TO MANAGE YOUR PROPERTY YOURSELF & STILL PAY MANAGEMENT FEES.

Disgusted at their customer service skills or their communication. Accused of not paying my rent when I had proof I have. I have no choice but to deal as that's who my landlord uses but I shall be very wary from hereon in

The whole process with Countrywide Surveying Services was a breeze, from start to finish. Upon requesting a Help to Buy repayment valuation, I was contacted by Keegan Flowers to book this in. Keegan was more than helpful through the whole experience, sorting everything out quickly and answering any queries I had. The survey was booked in quickly, as we did need it doing fairly soon, and carried out by the surveyor with no issues. We were informed that we would receive the report same day, but unfortunately there was a slight issue with only one name being on it, when there needed to be two. Keegan was again very helpful with this, passing me the details for the team I needed to contact to chase this up, and they were then able to get the report sent to us the next day. Would happily recommend Countrywide Surveying Services!

Takes them weeks to write a response to your emails, their staff are completely uneducated and extremely unhelpful.

Over 2 years since i moved out still have not seen a penny of my deposit. Absolute thieves being incredibly rude over email, anyone working there should be ashamed at what they do to people. I will be taking legal action for far more than the original amount owed.

I rented a property managed by Countrywide for two years and would not recommend them to anyone. When dealing with maintenance, renewals, or the deposit team, the staff were consistently unresponsive and quick to shift blame to the landlord or elsewhere. I never felt they were on my side as a tenant. The move-out process was particularly stressful, as they attempted to make unjustified deductions for pre-existing issues. We had to take the dispute to the independent adjudicator to finally secure the return of our funds. My advice to future tenants is to take lots of photos and keep a paper trail of absolutely everything.

I was contacted by Gemma in Chelmsford, to arrange a survey on my home and I have never spoken to such a rude individual, she told me I was being difficult and unhelpful, as I was only available on a Friday afternoon (any Friday afternoon, I may add). She said they have to write up their reports and wouldn't have time on a Friday afternoon and said she'd get back to me and promptly put the phone down. I complained to my mortgage providers and after also checking the reviews, asked for a different company to come survey my home. I wouldn't even give them one star if that was an option.

Absolutely disgusted with the level of service I have received - conned me out of a life time fee for saying they will help me for a year to having no communication from them. To think I have a full explanation to then add more stuff into the equation that’s has me overwhelmed! Email after email I have been sending to them to be ignored and have no further help. I am so upset as this was money I had been saving and I spent it on this company to have nothing in return. Will be going higher than this and demanding my money back! Furious isn’t the word.. do not go with these they rob your money and leave you dry!

After having moved out since the end of March (natural end to the tenancy with notice) they are now trying to say I am on the hook for 4 months rent purely based on the face they don't have the keys without addressing the points previously mentioned.

Absolutely a scam, do not use this lettings agency genuinely have some of the poorest communication, service and ethics I have every experienced.

This review is for the mortgage service. Awesome all around, helpful and professional.

I am writing to share my experience as a tenant in a property managed by Frank Innes in Leicester, under the landlord Shilpa.

From the outset, my experience was extremely unsatisfactory. On the day I moved in, I was given the wrong keys by Lottie at the office, which left me waiting outside the property for several hours before I could gain access. When I finally entered the property, the cleanliness was far below an acceptable standard, and I had to clean it myself. While moving the sofa, I discovered a dead rat, which was very concerning. Despite this, it took over two weeks for pest control to be arranged.

Additionally, although the landlord later provided a mattress, this came with an unexpected increase of £30 to my monthly rent. After living in the property for 12 months, I was informed by the landlord of planned heating installation works that would cause significant disruption. I was also told that any damage to my personal belongings during these works would not be her responsibility, which I formally disputed. Shortly after raising this concern, I was served a Section 21 notice and required to vacate the property within two months, despite asking for consideration as I had made the apartment my home.

The landlord stated that the property would be uninhabitable during the works and would require cleaning afterwards. Despite this, I still made the effort to leave the property clean and tidy upon exiting.

Overall, the way this situation was handled left me feeling that I was treated unfairly and without consideration. In my opinion, this experience reflects poorly on both Frank Innes and the landlord. This is a clear path of exploitation by Shilpa.

I have now moved on, but I feel it is important for others to be aware of what they may encounter when dealing with this agency and landlord.

3 months into our tenancy we've experience the following with Bridgfords/Countrywide/Entwistle Green (no, I have no idea why they all take turns to email me or why they have different names if they're basically all the same company):

* being told I had incorrectly logged repair reports online, despite following the printed handout we were given upon arrival to the letter. when I explained this, all I was met with was "the name of the person who gave you this information". I didn't really care about that, I just wanted the repairs done. This employee then ghosted us and never messaged back.

*several issues we reported in our first week STILL have not been addressed, it's a joke.

*it took around a month of emails and phone calls with various other employees just to get somebody to sort our broken boiler and thermostat out; we had no heating all that time and this was when it was still freezing every day.

*we were instructed to order a bin from the local council and pay for the bin ourselves, then minus that fee from our next rent payment. despite being told to do this, Countrywide/Bridgfords sent us a threatening email saying we were in arrears. I replied back saying this was rubbish, only to be ignored for two days. I only got a reply when I sent a follow up saying I would message literally every day until they backed off and apologised. Funnily enough, 5 minutes later, they finally replied.

*it for some reason took a month for them to remove the 'for rent' sign outside. again, as soon as I complained, it magically disappeared shortly after.

*I had to fix a broken kitchen drawer myself within the first month myself because they refused to acknowledge the issue which had been present since day 1.

*customer service is woefully slow. if you want to communicate via email, you get whinged at and pushed towards phone calls, which you then get dumped onto hold for and have patchy reception anyway.

*during those phone calls, I'd be told 'this will happen, the landlord is sorting this', but nothing ever happens.

*we've had 3 - soon to be 4 - visits from a contractor with regards to our bath/shower. how it takes this many call outs to repair one tap is beyond me.

*this latest instance of the contractor coming around has now broken the bath tap, no hot water, the seal is leaking, he's caused some damage to the kitchen and even our front door doesn't shut properly due to some equipment he'd had resting against the door for an hour. What does Bridgfords/Countrywide have to say about this? 'You should have pointed it out due avoid another unnecessary visit to the property'. Yeah okay, i'm so sorry for beinga dumb tenant who refused to let the contractor leave until i'd magically detected various issues around the house and bullied him into fixing them. if we'd arranged for this to take place when out of the house anyway, what would this 'Emily' have said to me then, "you should have stayed at home and not gone to work to prevent another home visit". what nonsense. this woman is on another planet. I have filed a formal report against her because she shouldn't be offering her own opinions. for a supposed professional, her entire email was nasty and sneering.

all in all, incredibly useless company. but I will be happy to update my review with positives if they actually prove they can deliver from now on. We shall see...

Water damage from home above, Lack of communication, was told by a customer service rep "I don't know what else you expect me to do" and "I can give you the number to contact them yourself". No urgency to resolve the matter, vague information on resolution had to really push for a full spec of work to be completed.
Ended up doing their job for them and finding a solution to a problem not of my making.
Awful level of customer service..avoid if possible.