Opal Estates
Complaint 138225 Details

To whom it may concern,

I am looking for someone who can help me as I have had some unfortunate dealings with your Fallowfield branch whilst they have been arranging for me to move into Mayfair Court so I can do my PhD over the next four years. A young lady named Amber showed us around the property and the only thing I wanted to change was the furniture as I have my own and I wanted to make this place my home for a few years, so I asked her if there was anything that could be done about it. When I spoke to her the next day she said that she had spoken to her manager and that everything except the beds and the desks could go to other apartments which I thought was quite fair. I then came down to have one more look around before paying the agency fee and the TV even had a sticker on saying 'sold £60' and she assured me that rest of the furniture would be removed before I moved in, except the beds and desks, so I went ahead and paid the agency fee as the removal of the furniture seemed as if it was a small matter to her. I have since been requesting more detailed information about what will actually be in the apartment, e.g. refrigerator, so I could be prepared on the day I move in, which should be the 1st August 2012. However, the responses to my emails have simply omitted this information, and the response to every phone call I make to the office is that Amber is busy and will call back soon. It has now been four days and she has failed to contact me in any way, which I find highly unprofessional. This has obviously aroused my suspicions, as if everything was as we agreed then I couldn’t see the problem in giving me the list which was promised over two weeks ago.

My suspicions were confirmed yesterday when I spoke to another member of staff who I think could see what was happening and tried to help me out. This lady had shown me around a property at Old Lansdown Road which I loved, but which also had a lot of furniture in which wasn’t to my taste and so she tried to get it removed but couldn’t, which immediately put me off moving in, which is why she thought it was very strange (she told me) that I had agreed to move in to Mayfair Court as she knew that the only things being taken out would be the table and sofas. This lady is the only one who has been any help in the Fallowfield branch as she seems to genuinely want to help people find the right property to make their home.

I am simply attempting to find a solution, but as neither Amber nor the manager will call me back or speak to me then I do not know how to go about this. I do still want to move in there for the next 4 years, but I would just like it to be under the terms stated by Amber, which seemed such a small matter when discussing this with her. I have since also found out that the ‘sold TV’ is also still there which makes me highly suspicious that the sticker was put on as a prop to sway me into paying the fee and I now see that I have been lied to from the start, even about small matters such as TV connections! When we asked her if SKY or Virgin TV was available she said that both are available, but when I contacted Virgin to book them in to install a box, they informed us that you cannot get Virgin TV in this building.

I am mostly struggling to understand why they no longer appear to be ensuring that we move in as I will be very busy doing my PhD and my boyfriend also works very hard as a refrigeration engineer so we just want to come home at the end of these long days and relax in the comfort of our apartment which I would find difficult with other peoples furniture which have been used by countless other people before me. To me we would be the perfect tenants!

At this point I would still be happy to move in if the furniture is removed, but if this is not possible then I think it is reasonable to expect my agency fee back as it was all based on lies and I will need it to help me find somewhere else to live in the next week. Any help or advice you can give would be much appreciated,

Yours faithfully,

Victoria Lee Coyne