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We took son No1 up to uni last Friday. He's going early to 'look for work', and also be there ready for the resit he's got to take. He and 2 mates had signed a contract on a student house, but the other 2 aren't going up until later. As its quite a drive, and they could fit me among the boxes, I went as well, to see what he's getting, and spend a bit of time looking around up there.
He picked up the key and was asked to do a main inventory of the communal areas. The other 2 bedrooms are locked until his mates get there.
I didn't expect a palace, but walking into the kitchen my shoes stuck to the floor, the grill pan hadn't been washed since it was last used, and there were food spots on the sides and shelves of the fridge. The toilet upstairs was a disgrace, hair in the plugholes and the handle part of the hot tap in the bathroom was missing! We went back and told them about it. Supposedly professional cleaners had been in to clean, and then their staff had been in to check it out! Yeah, right!
The cleaner came back, and tried to tell me things were a lot better than in most student houses once they had moved in a few weeks. I ask you, how can you expect them to keep the place clean if it's dirty in the first place? Definitely sends the wrong message, AND it was his job to clean it properly anyway.
Then we found there was no modem/router in the bedroom for the Internet connection. We were told he'd have to buy one from them for £20, despite the welcome pack stating clearly there should be one in the room. The chap in the office said all new tenants had received a notification to the contrary. My son did not remember seeing it, but he might have forgot. Anyway, as this was the 3rd person we'd seen, I came the heavy parent bit, complained again about the cleanliness of the house, the misleading wording etc, and he gave us the bit of kit for free.
Another point that irritated me was the fact that they had obviously given some parts a lick of paint, but no care had been taken to go around such things as toilet roll holders and towel rails. They were smeared and splashed with paint, paint spots on the floor, and in the bath!
For approx £900 a month they get all bills and furnishings, such as they are. (Double bed that was 4ft
me and OH were very snug for 4 nights, while son slept on the settee.) An unfurnished 3 bed is in the region of £400, so for the extra £500 per month it doesn't seem unreasonable to expect some degree of professionalism.
On the plus side, we fitted in a visit to Harlow Carr but the rain put paid to some other planned garden visits. Then it took us 12 hours to get home yesterday because of problems on the M25 at the Dartford crossing!.
He picked up the key and was asked to do a main inventory of the communal areas. The other 2 bedrooms are locked until his mates get there.
I didn't expect a palace, but walking into the kitchen my shoes stuck to the floor, the grill pan hadn't been washed since it was last used, and there were food spots on the sides and shelves of the fridge. The toilet upstairs was a disgrace, hair in the plugholes and the handle part of the hot tap in the bathroom was missing! We went back and told them about it. Supposedly professional cleaners had been in to clean, and then their staff had been in to check it out! Yeah, right!
The cleaner came back, and tried to tell me things were a lot better than in most student houses once they had moved in a few weeks. I ask you, how can you expect them to keep the place clean if it's dirty in the first place? Definitely sends the wrong message, AND it was his job to clean it properly anyway.
Then we found there was no modem/router in the bedroom for the Internet connection. We were told he'd have to buy one from them for £20, despite the welcome pack stating clearly there should be one in the room. The chap in the office said all new tenants had received a notification to the contrary. My son did not remember seeing it, but he might have forgot. Anyway, as this was the 3rd person we'd seen, I came the heavy parent bit, complained again about the cleanliness of the house, the misleading wording etc, and he gave us the bit of kit for free.
Another point that irritated me was the fact that they had obviously given some parts a lick of paint, but no care had been taken to go around such things as toilet roll holders and towel rails. They were smeared and splashed with paint, paint spots on the floor, and in the bath!
For approx £900 a month they get all bills and furnishings, such as they are. (Double bed that was 4ft
me and OH were very snug for 4 nights, while son slept on the settee.) An unfurnished 3 bed is in the region of £400, so for the extra £500 per month it doesn't seem unreasonable to expect some degree of professionalism.On the plus side, we fitted in a visit to Harlow Carr but the rain put paid to some other planned garden visits. Then it took us 12 hours to get home yesterday because of problems on the M25 at the Dartford crossing!.
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