DO NOT USE FOXTONS!! I came to London from California for nine weeks in last summer. When I arrived, nothing was as it was in the photos I'd been shown went I agreed to rent the place. We were doing it long distance. When we got there the terrace was overrun with weeds nearly up to our knees, the furniture in the apartment had pee stains, pieces of molding from cupboards were lying on the floor, no internet or phone or television access. They NEVER bothered to mention any of it. One bedroom had carpet bugs. The kitchen was stocked as though I was a college student who didn't know how to cook. In other words, there were proper utensils or cookware. The building was under construction and we were awakened every morning at 8 am by the sound of jackhammering, literally above our heads. Four weeks into the building put scaffolding in our "private" terrace, with pounding and sanding going on all day. We were no longer able to use the terrace because it was filled with debris. We paid extra so our two small dogs could use the terrace, but with chunks of plaster falling off the building all day, we couldn't let them out in terrace either. Foxtons FINALLY agreed to find someone to put in Internet access two weeks AFTER we got there and paid for it. They thought they were being generous and constantly reminded me of that. I could go on and on. Before we back to the States I managed to find a corporate exec who apologized and gave us a "voucher" for a 150 pound dinner. That was very nice, but the truth is they should've 1) MOVED US to another apartment OR 2) Refunded us some of our money.
I have rented and traveled around the world. I've been to London dozens of times. I've never had an experience anywhere near as bad as this one. I'm a writer and I've sat on all this for nearly a year. But I still haven't gotten over the sting financially and mentally, so I decided to post to warn others away from Foxtons, particularly if you're coming from another country. You have absolutely ZERO recourse when things go wrong. read more