Dickins Edinburgh Avis 4

I had a very disappointing experience with this company during and after my stay at their Kings Stable Road property in Edinburgh.

After my stay, deductions were made from my £300 deposit based on claims that the apartment was left unclean and that items were damaged. When I requested evidence, the photos provided raised serious concerns. Some images clearly did not match the apartment I stayed in (different layout, tiles, and surroundings), and one photo was later confirmed by the company to have been taken in their office, despite initially stating that all photos were taken immediately after my departure.

Despite raising these issues clearly, I did not receive a proper or satisfactory response.

It is also worth noting that I had already paid £90 for cleaning in advance, which makes the additional deductions difficult to justify.

Overall, the lack of transparency, contradictory information, and poor communication made this a very frustrating experience. I would not recommend booking with this company and would advise others to consider alternative options, even at a higher price, for better reliability and value for money.

I am wondering if this business is in the process of closing but not letting clients know. I've booked flats with Dickins twice in the past -- in 2022 for a month-long stay and again in 2025 for a week. I had no complaints, although they were a little disorganized about collecting the balance I owed.

I wanted to book again for the 2026 Fringe Festival. In Sept 2025 I filled out the form on their website. I didn't hear anything back. A few days later I sent emails to 3 different Dickins email addresses I had from previous contacts. I got auto-replies from two of them saying they were away from the office, one of them giving a return date in the past. The next day, Sep 26, I received an email from a person at Dickins saying that in the "next few weeks" they will confirm with the flat's owner and give me a quote and to "rest assured" the flat I requested is reserved for me.

By Nov 9, I still had not heard anything back. I was anxious to confirm the dates because I'm coordinating a trip with two friends and it's an international flight. I emailed again, explaining this. Again, no reply. I followed up a month later on Dec 17. I got back auto-replies saying they are closed for the day. It is now 10 days later and I still have not received a response. Phoning is a hassle because I'm in a different time zone, 8 hours difference.

I'm giving up on Dickins now. Too bad, they had some nice flats. But they are not communicating at all with potential clients.

After a enquiry call with Dickins I was advised to email over my details and assured someone would be in touch the next day or day after. After not hearing anything back I called for an update, I was told that someone was on the case and would be in touch that afternoon or the next day, again nothing. I called again, left a voicemail, nothing. After calling again today I was informed that they are no longer taking on new business. I made it very clear that I needed to move quickly and so incredibly disappointed to have had my time wasted dealing with Dickins, I am now over a week behind letting my property and to further add to my annoyance there was little accountability for the poor response and certainly no apology for me having to chase my enquiry, they had no intention of contacting me and when I asked to speak with a manager I was quickly hung up on! I feel I was strung along and my time wasted.

My husband and I rented a superb property in Doune Terrace, Edinburgh, from 14 - 19 March 2024, through Dickins Edinburgh Ltd. It was ideal for our family reunion, we were able to get in at an earlier time than initially arranged which was good news and the "meet and greet" service was helpful.
We vacated the property on 19th March, leaving it in excellent condition, we have photographs as proof, and I handed the keys personally into the office. Unfortunately since then we have not heard anything from the office about our deposit being refunded. We are left wondering why, if this has happened to anyone else and also, whether we are ever going to get our deposit back. We are hoping this will just be an oversight and we won't have to proceed through the Small Claims Court.