0 stars - avoid like the plague
Simply Lettings - Simply Awful…
Avoid like the plague. If I could give 0 stars I would. Incompetence, rudeness, severe lack of responsibility and accountability, painfully slow response time and combative and accusatory responses.
Genuinely a painful experience throughout our 2 year tenancy. We were made to feel bad for reporting genuine safety issues and we were utterly baffled at this completely lack of accountability and responsibility. We would send detailed and clear emails that politely outlined the issue, Ellie would often (either deliberately or due to a lack of competence) reply to one issue and fail to address the other 3 or 4 included in the email.
We had a leak in the spotlight of the bathroom ceiling that went through the electrics (tripping the whole house power on one occasion), we raised it directly to Ellie via countless calls and emails (over 25 separate occasions) and remained unresolved for around a whole year. We were told people came to look at it, they often didn't show (one time they did unannounced at 7:45 AM), we had written confirmation from Ellie that it was completed. It leaked again and was then deemed a safety hazard by maintenance but Ellie's response was that it was 'out of their [Simply Lettings] control if the roofer didn't fix it' and that it was only a 'minor issue' as 'it did not flood the property', despite it leaking through an electrical spotlight and causing a layer of water on the bathroom floor every time it rained somewhat hard overnight. In a bizarre move, Ellie informed us that she too had experienced an unresolved leaky bathroom ceiling in her own property building for a prolonged period, to which the maintenance team did nothing about it - this confused us as she can (as a letting agent) quite literally do something about it - whether this was the truth or her failed attempts for us to sympathise with her - we will never know.
Granted, some issues did eventually get fixed, but overall we raised 10 different issues — including the leaky bathroom ceiling, mould/damp, slug infestation, broken lights, extractor fan, radiators, the kitchen tap (which was fixed but with the temperature gauge the wrong way round), and the shower not being grouted (which caused clothes to be ruined due to the damp and mould). Due to the severe lack of response and efficiency in addressing these problems, we raised issues on 57 (yes, 57) separate occasions - on average once every 12 days for 2 years.
After our first year tenancy ended, we were told rent would be raised by £300 (£100 each). Naturally, due to the plethora of past and ongoing issues, we disputed this increase. Ellie's reaction - 'if you don't like it, you can leave', whilst the sentiment is somewhat understandable the delivery to a paying customer was yet again poor.
As we exited the property, Ellie accused us of 'clearly wanting to be difficult' and choosing not to agree to an unlawful flat £434 clearly fee without providing any further evidence aside from what we had agreed on, and that we were 'just going by the Tenancy Fees Act 2019' (quite literally the law). We fought this issue with clear evidence, cited the legislation and repeatedly followed up and we know that they were deliberately being difficult in attempts to get us just to accept the fee. We found a £90 quote for the 3 bathrooms which is what was eventually deducted from our deposit.
It was telling that when house viewings happened at our house, Simply Lettings own employees were in agreement in our feelings and complaints over Ellie. It is not surprising that this is a common theme amongst other Google Reviews - some dating back 7 years, so we take some relief in that we are not alone. This is just another case of Simply Lettings displaying their awful customer services, property management and solidifies their reputation as a 0 star letting agent in London - which takes some doing.
Once again, save yourself the headache and avoid like the plague.