After my experience with ERA Downey Mc Carthy, I can say that you should not trust these people. It…read morestarts with the fact that ERA Downey Mc Carthy collects a fee of 500(!) euros to allow you to apply for a flat. The small print says that ERA Downey Mc Carthy will withhold the fee if all the required documents such as tenant references and certificates from the employer have not been received after three days. The fee will be withheld if you withdraw your application.
It is a shame that this practice is legal in Ireland. Yet, some agencies refrain from such unethical and exploitative practices - ERA Downey MC Carthy is undoubtedly not one of them, as their business model is designed precisely for this form of exploitation.
ERA Downey Mc Carthy misled us from the beginning by putting not the real flat online. We only had chosen the flat since it was still an improvement for us.
On the day they handed over the keys, I found a flat with broken windows and the plastic bathtub had cracks on the floor and was therefore leaking. The window in the bathroom and the bedroom window almost fell out of the frame when I opened them because the hinges were broken. I then sent K. an email asking her to postpone the move-in date, as the flat still had defects. Not insignificantly, they had not repaired the day before moving in, even though it was put online two months before.
K. from ERA Downey McCarthy disliked my objection at all. She replied that I should not open the windows for three weeks - after that, they will repair the windows. I told her that it was January and that we need to ventilate the bathroom to prevent mould.
K. reaction to this was a furious phone call. She literally screamed through the phone that the broken windows were no reason at all to complain and that I was only creating problems that didn't exist. In a calm voice, I pointed out that broken windows were not a non-issue and that she had plenty of time to replace the windows and fix the heating before the lockdown. K. now became even more indignant and shouted at me not to explain her job because after all the flat is fine, and I have no right to complain. But that was not the end of it; she asked me in a sharp tone if we wanted to move in. I replied, yes, the contract is signed, and of course, we want to move in, we only insist that the windows and heating will be repaired when we move in. Now K. was saying in all seriousness that she knew so many people out there who wanted the flat and that I should be grateful that we got it. Besides, the neighbours downstairs also had the problem, and yet they wouldn't complain.
She repeatedly asked me if I wanted to move in, and I gave her the same answer by referring to the mutually signed contract, but for her, the contract, which she had signed, seemed to be only a one-sided obligation. After all, she told me, ERA Downey Mc Carthy can unilaterally terminate it at any time (it means a contract in force is a one-way street for ERA Downey Mc Carthy with no obligations of its own). "David," she said, "this is not a good start, do you want your money back?
I was shocked at this unprofessional attitude and her understanding of the law with which she suddenly put us under considerable pressure. I thought about it for a moment, as there was a lot at stake for my wife and me:
We had just given the notice to leave our flat and had already moved some things over. After all, it was not a question of repairing a television or a camera. Still, something quite existential like a house, and suddenly, someone was threatening to put us in such a precarious position for pure viciousness.
Not wanting to jump to conclusions, I said we would move in and ended the conversation. My wife had overheard the conversation; after all, she could not ignore her screaming. However, after a moment's consideration, we decided to withdraw our notice for our current flat and not move to Cobh for the time being. Luckily, our landlord played along, and the foul-mouthed lady from ERA Mc Carthy immediately agreed to our request and assured us they would transfer the money back.
ERA Downey MC Carthy advertises with the slogan "People you can trust".
On the other hand, I say ERA Downey Mc Carthy are the least people you must trust. ERA Downey Mc Carthy's business model is designed to exploit tenants, the broken and barely regulated Housing Market, unfortunately, allows ERA Downey Mc Carthy to continue their unethical actions unchecked.
