"Absolutely dire level of service."

Absolutely dire level of service.
Well, I never knew that darlows of Caerphilly had a 'preferred' buyers list, did you?
Apparently an open day for a house, which we were booked in for, and that in their words, no one was allowed to see before said open house.
Only to be called today to say that the house has bee seen and sold by someone on their 'preferred' list. Disgraceful.
Obviously some buyers are more equal than others in Caerphilly especially if buying through Darlows.
Fair enough this happens, but please stop the lying.

"I’m currently buying a house "

I’m currently buying a house through Darlows Tonypandy, my first point of contact was Christine Jones. I so far have only positive things to say, I’d recommend this estate agent to anyone they’re excellent 😀

"The emails containing typos no replies to anything for days! "

The emails containing typos plus being contacted by a reference company formerly linked to them asking for money was very annoying and concerning. Constant tries to get hold of someone from the office for days before our move really stressed my wife and i out when weve got serious stress with other matters at the moment . I was starting to think nothing would be done we wanted furniture moved that was agreed before hand in writing but it was only done the morning of the move. They slightly redeemed themselves by sending a welcome pack with a few small gifts so all is well thats ends well.

"This company is absolutely useless !"

This company is absolutely useless !! We have been renting with darlows for just under a year when we originally put the offer in on the property it was on the grounds that it would be painted cleaned and all the nails and holes in the wall would be replaced/ repaired BEFORE WE MOVED IN as it was in a pretty bad state from the people before. instead of them getting this sorted before we moved in the day we picked up the keys we was told it had not been done yet, a year later they are asking us to sign for another year which there’s not a chance in hell I would do! It’s been a year and I have asked for an inventory several times as it is a legal document required for liability, every time I have tried to ask I have been ignored and they had the cheek to tell me next years rent will be going up the way this place is managed is horrific as soon as you have put ur deposit down and paid first month rent you will be ignored and left to your own devices. Wouldn’t recommend to anyone honestly

"Promt and efficient service"

In the time that we had contacted Iestyn- he was very friendly and efficient. He emailed us when he said he would and sent information very promptly. Sorry we can't go ahead yet with buying a property. We will certainly ask for you in the future.

"Avoid if you can"

Avoid if you can. Terrible service with no communication.

"Louise made me feel reassured that…"

Louise made me feel reassured that problems at my rented house would get fixed so that’s ongoing but sounded very positive, today she helped me while taking a charge for my rent, very helpful whatever the problem is , thankyou🤞🏻

"General information"

Excellent customet service from Hollie, very informative & helpfull.
I will be back in touch in the future.

"AVOID - DO NOT RENT WITH DARLOWS"

AVOID - DO NOT RENT WITH DARLOWS
Darlows are a truly shambolic agency, and would never recommend anyone buying or renting through this agency. The way that this agency treats its clients is appalling - DO NOT RENT WITH THEM

Moving out/Deposit money
-> Huge delay in returning deposit money
-> Huge delay in writing reference for our new tenancy in Manchester which caused major delays on the other end (We moved in 3 weeks later than expected due to your agency not completing this reference, meaning I moved in the night before starting my new job).
-> Nobody ever answers the phone, even after people have left voicemails saying that it's urgent we speak to someone
-> It shouldn't have to take me saying I am happy to take them to a small claims court to finally get a response (in 2 minutes) from them
-> The moving out information was sent to us at 6pm the night before our tenancy was due to end
-> The deposit deductions were suspiciously 1/3 of the initial money

Communication with the team
-> Under 24 hours notice when contacted for viewings the next day, usually the morning of
-> Any phone calls we would get from the team would always be at the end of the day so we couldn't contact them that day, and then no one would pick up the following day
-> Maintenance issues - had to wait ages for anyone to respond to issues, eventually we started reporting all of our maintenance issues privately through the flat's contractor - a lot of people don't have this luxury so would have to deal with absolutely shocking service (When the agency did respond, it was never with a maintenance person coming out to look at it themselves, but normally "Have you tried turning it off and on again?")
-> The service is absolutely shocking, the team are rude and blunt and spoke to me like I was a child on the phone
-> I've noticed that even though you don't answer the phone or reply to emails, you are very quick to negate any negative reviews online
-> When your agents came around to show people around the flat for viewings, they knew NOTHING about the property and were claiming that our furniture was part of the flat and wanted to give it away

Issues with the property itself
This property should NOT have been advertised as ready to move in when myself and my partner moved in.
-> The electricity meter (for the entire property, not just the flat) is downstairs in a building site - this is a health and safety issue due to uneven flooring, machinery, and harmful dust/chemicals, this was also locked/boarded up on a number of occasions, leaving us without electricity and no way to top it up
-> There is no internet port for the property - luckily we hadn't signed up for a minimum 18 month broadband contract at the time
-> There are holes in the floorboards in the bedroom and kitchen - sometimes dust from the downstairs building site would come through, they felt very flimsy and unsafe
-> The locks for the front door, and flat door, each broke a couple of times, leaving us trapped inside the property (we managed to luckily fix this issue ourselves, but can only imagine how this affect a vulnerable person)
-> The curtain pole fell off entirely on its own accord, leaving cracks in the wall - could have been dangerous if someone was underneath it
-> When there was heavy rain, we could see leaks in the walls/ceilings
-> Due to the nature of the building site downstairs, there were a number of holes leading to the kitchen from cracks in the floorboards and gaps in the wall downstairs - This led to a mice infestation, when this was brought up with the agency (and a rent discount/refund was requested) there was no response from the team, and when they finally got back to us we were treated like it was entirely our fault with no mention of financial compensation
-> This also impacted my mental health and led me to have several panic attacks due to the mice in the kitchen
-> The bedroom in unbelievably tiny, and I think it is appalling that you feel like you can advertise it as a 2 bed flat for over £1000 pcm

Myself and my partner have been nothing short of disappointed and appalled with our year spent with Darlows. What should have been a wonderful first living experience with my boyfriend ran in parallel to nightmare after nightmare with the property itself and with the agency.

"Louise was so professional…"

Louise was so professional she has dealt was any problems I had we so much ease. Thank you for all your help.