If I could have given this company no stars at all it would not have been enough for the distress…read moreand traumatic experience I had with them and am still suffering as a result of their unprofessional behavior. I completed an application form to rent the above house on the 23rd of May and returned the application form with an admin fee of £264 to a Keys Estate Agent who supplied me with a receipt. I was informed on the 28th May 2012 that my application had been successful and all checks had been completed and the Rental was mine. I then viewed the place twice in June to check the lay out for furniture and appliances. On the 5th of July I paid £1290 which was inclusive of £595.00 Rental for one month and a deposit of £695 and signed a contract which I was told the land lord had already signed. On Friday the 6th of July I arranged to take a day off of work to travel to London to pick up some pieces of furniture. I was on my way back when I received a call from a gentleman who identified himself as the land lord of the property I was due to move into. He informed said that both he and his partner owned the property and had not been paid rent by Keys Estate Agency for the last couple of months and thought I needed to know. I then called Keys who informed me that there was some dispute they were trying to sort out On Saturday 7th July (Move in Day )I attended the Keys office to find out what was going on and was met by the letting agent who did his best to try and sort it all out. I informed him at this point I needed to know what was happening and when I would get the keys as I had services about to start in the new house, and several deliveries of my appliances and over the course of the weekend and it put me in a bad situation as I would need to cancel and as a result incur dept, plus would have no where to go. I relieved a call about 2 pm informing me that the landlady was still unhappy about preceding as she had not been paid by them and thought that to let me in to rent would result in a 3rd month of non payment for her. I was then told they would contact the owner a Paul Moate to see about a refund on Monday 9th of July. In the meanwhile my current landlord had re- let my room and the new person was to move in on the weekend of the 3rd of August. As a result of the way that the whole situation has been handled I was left in the following situation at the end of Sat 7th of July 2012 1. Not having anywhere to live as my accommodation had been re rented for the 3rd of August. 2. Furniture that I bought from the outgoing tenant still in the house that now needed to store, which I would never have bought in the first place if I had not been moving into the house 3. Cancellation charged and delivery charges to possibly meet due to last minute cancellations. 4. Out of pocket a total of £1554 + with no place to live!! All due to the negligence of Keys Estate Agency. All the above should have been resolved prior to taking my admin fee, rent and deposit. I was left with less than 15 days to find alternative accommodation before being homeless and had booked to take my older parents away to my brothers wedding for 9 days within that time which I was unable to cancel. On Monday 9th July my month rent and deposit was returned but NOT the admin fee or compensation for costs incurred due to their negligence. They did however offer me in the event of extreme emergency use of their finished flat on top of their office for a week free with no mention of storage of my furniture etc. I put in a second complaint and on several occasions have called, emailed and visited Keys Estate Agents leaving messages for the owner Paul Moate to contact me and he has not responded up until today. The previous tenant who moved out informed me that she had to write to her local MP 4 times along side numerous phone calls before she finally received her deposit and a weeks rent over-payment. As a result of the above I have put in a complaint to the property ombudsman, and made contact with 2 TV consumer shows and 1 newspaper in the hope that this never happens to anyone again. Rather then advise you to steer clear of Keys Estate Agency in Bridgwater Somerset I would just say learn from my story and make your own mind up. I am pleased to say that I found alternative accommodation with the assistance of Ivy Letting Agents who completed all the checks promptly and professionally.

I too have had a terrible experience with keys estate agents but the company is in stoke on trent…read more Myself and family have lived in the most terrible house that is full of damp the walls upstairs are black! My son has developed asthma we had to buy a dehumidifier. That costs a fortune in electricity we have fungus growing in the downstairs toilet. No running hot water upstairs and the oven does not work. We have complained about these things numerous times and nothing was done so we stopped a rent payment they were very quick to contact me then they threatened to send the bailiffs around so I payed. When I contacted the person in smallthorne to sort it out he put the phone down on me because I had said that I would not recommend keys estate agents to anyone. I would appreciate if you could give me any advice on what you did to raise a formal complaint. The one star is not in anyway a good reflection on this company it is because it will not allow a zero star rating

Reading the property reviews in the window of The Ralph Bending Estate Agents is like hitting…read moreyourself in the face with a freezing water-sodden sponge. You have to see this guy to believe him and appreciate the ability he has to cut the crap from Estate Agenting, or whatever the hell you call it, and get right to the brass-tacks. If the place he's selling you is a dump that's exactly what he'll call it, but on the other hand his humour, honesty and utterly un-PC approach will have you buying it anyway before you realize what's happening. RB's website has to be experienced - not just visited! Oh no you have to sit down for this one, and make sure you have a drink in your hand, cos you'll need it! You can bet that Ralph had a few before he wrote it too the scamp! Who else on Earth could get away with describing a place as 'Smooth as a bishop's ball-bag' or 'Characterful as a vegetarian's fart'? No-one that's who no-one at all! Another recent sales pitch goes like this: 'Heavily used two bedroom terrace house just off the centre of town. Classically designed and then royally rodgered!' Unbelievable! P.S. Ralph gave me a Ralph Bending Extate Agents pen when I last visited yep you guessed it it revealed a nudie Ralph when you turned it upside down! The guy just isn't right in the head! But he's the only estate agent you can shake hands with and not imagine yourself throwing him through a window!

A honest estate agent at last but I do wonder how he sells anything…read more I have read the window display and laughed to myself many times as a pass Ralph Bending. There was a cottage that looked a little dul and dingy it read Home for Shrek and Fiona A perfect little cave for some newly weds You have to laugh but if i owned that house I would be very worried about Ralp Banding selling it!! There is also a property section in the local paper and the adverts are the same as in the shop window very very honest! I haven't actualy been inside and asked for details on a property but i would like to just to see if they give you a sales talk or just joke around!

Bristol Res Lets, as they could be abbreviated, are one of the larger lettings agent in Bristol,…read moreoperating mostly in the affluent north Bristol areas of Clifton, Cotham, Redland etc. They run a pretty large scale operation, and you're likely to see some of their cars milling around the roads when you've been here long enough (or care to look out for those type of things). Their staff are all pretty friendly, and work hard to ensure viewings are useful, and should it get to the next stage, that the official documentation goes ahead smoothly. Their offices are situated near the bottom of Whiteladies Road, in a big glass fronted premises that holds the ads of their available places. It's quite a swanky looking office, so they've clearly made efforts to look presentable, which isn't the case for some other lettings agents in the city. If you go down the road of Lettings Agents, fees are inevitable, but theirs are quite reasonable compared to market. They have a number of the high quality type places you'd expect to find in the expensive areas in which they operate, so if you have a large budget you'd do worse than giving them a go.

To find this place look out for ashop front is smart in black with a stylish green logo. The theme…read moreis continued inside with big leather chairs and everyone talking calmly and confidently into their phones. I've always thought estate agency was a bit of a confidence trick (how else do they get away with such exorbitant prices?) and they've done their best to keep up their charade here. Right, now I'm finished with that slightly bitter description of what they look like I should give an assessment of the service they deliver. First I should highlight that they're an lettings agent, rather than sales. Things are done on time and phones are answered, which is more than a lot of the colleagues can manage. They do charge a lot, but then so does everyone else so I shouldn't hold that against them. Another plus is that they actually manage to say a few words when they're showing you around the place, again something a lot of other estate agents don't manage. Bristol Residential Letterings do a bad job well, if that makes sense.