Regus - West Malling, Kings Hill Avis 9

Staff very helpful

Mia and Ani are great front of house staff. They are friendly and efficient and always willing to be helpful. Mark is also a very reliable support. Thank you.

Still to date worst experience I've ever had. Do not use Regus for office space.

I've already wrote a review about them and there responce was a lie about abusive and threatening behaviour.

They over charged me, also charged me a moving out fee regardless of leaving 15 days into the rental with them. The service and office space was appalling. Do not trust this company, it will be a regret for you with 100% certainty.

Took my disabled sister to an NHS appt at this address Regus Kings Hill, parked in disabled bay, got her into the waiting room, was there for half an hour - but sadly didn’t take into account the time it took to get her to and from my car. £100 parking fine followed (discounted if paid within 5 days of receipt although stated 14 days of issue-didn’t allow for slow post!) couldn’t phone parking company to discuss. No address to write to. What do older people with no up to date mobile phones do, or technology to deal with this, or for disabled people allowing to get to and from a car! Absolutely disgusting!

Emailed as requested for possible help with the issue, and days later, still no reply. Further disappointment.

THIEVES. Shocking experience. After MONTHS still trying to get back over £4,000 in deposit that is due to be returned. Sent over a dozen emails, no answers and no money. Asked to escalate to a compliant and no response! Criminal behaviour. DO NOT USE REGUS

The team in West Malling are amazing - sadly your out of contract emails, even when asked to be forgotten, stink!

Please remove me from any further emails!

Signed a contract to hire an office after a lot of back and forth with one of their representatives. I decided to go ahead with the arrangement and then after I asked when I get the keys they say I have to pay £70+VAT to park my car in their carpark. No mention of this prior to me signing the contract. I asked to come out of the contract as I do not start renting the office until next month, they told me I cannot cancel as there is no 'cooling off period'. There is nothing in my contract that states that I need to pay for parking. Dishonest business practices at this company, please avoid

There is precious little transparency, respect or honesty in this company's business model, which exploits busy, trusting people more likely to believe the jolly, charismatic salesperson before them than scrutinise their contract details (well, I was anyway - and I will happily admit my naïve gullibility to help others avoid the same mistake!).

You will be fine if you read and fully understand every detail of your contract. If not, prepare for some unpleasant surprises. Once hooked into their system, you're a powerless Regus cash cow: they'll milk you till you're a desiccated business husk (remember the Indiana Jones character who sips from the false Holy Grail? Yep, that's how I felt! ;)

The main issue is that the salespeople work on commission and don't face the consequences of any misinformation/underhand sales tactics (you never see them again). So they may - quite understandably - omit to mention certain contractual costs (additional VAT on the quoted price, parking fees, an unexpected second deposit after three months, office restoration costs, annual rent increases and automatic coffee charges - make sure to opt out before you move in!) to maximise the chance of a sale, and thus their income.

I understand this; I'm more surprised that Regus continues this exploitative business model despite its high customer turnover and many dreadful reviews/customer experiences. The salesperson I dealt with lied outright to me, but I take full responsibility for believing him and not scouring the contract. However, I don't want to continue paying money to a company that operates in this way and prioritises profits over people, hence leaving.

Sadly, the lovely local staff must deal with the fallout, of which there is a great deal. The staff in the building where I rented my little room were absolutely wonderful (thank you both, you know who you are and you were fabulous!), and I was very happy with the office itself. Nevertheless, unexpected charges kept arising, and I couldn't afford them. Regus's gleaming marketing jewels might be tempting, but they're possibly fatal too; the simple wooden cup (a little garden-shed office, maybe?!) might be a better choice than Regus's shiny poisoned chalice...

The room itself definitely met my needs, but the billing was chaotic and unpredictable - each month brought a deeply unpleasant financial surprise. In my four months there, only one payment was taken at the agreed time: the first came out of my account three months early and the third a month late (even though my Regus account showed that it had been successfully paid, which totally baffled my budgeting!) In short, I felt financially unsafe with them. They even tried to charge me rent the month AFTER my contract ended and I'd moved out (my bank voided the payment, thankfully; their system confirmed I'd cancelled my direct debit with Regus a few weeks earlier).

Personally, I will never consider using Regus again and am grateful I only signed up for a monthly contract rather than an annual one. However, their service may work well for some people - as long as they know exactly what they are signing up for and are clear about the contractual details!

REPLY TO REGUS (1st Aug 2023):

Many thanks for your reply. Yes, as I clearly stated in my review, I take full responsibility for not having checked the contract details fully 😊 I also appreciated the discounted rate, but it was not specific to me: it was part of an overall business strategy to fill the empty offices, not a personal favour.

It’s interesting how much more time and effort is spent contesting bad reviews than addressing the recurrent issues that lead people to write them. It’s also interesting that Regus specifically raised a complaint with Trustpilot requesting that I remove the names of the two local Regus staff I acknowledged as having been brilliant (even though I only used first names). I’ve complied, though I feel it’s a great shame. Why on earth would a company actively request that their staff’s excellent work NOT be publicly acknowledged and celebrated?!?!?!