haart - Estate and Lettings Agents Rayleigh Avis 

I found Emma at Rayleigh to be really helpful when I was securing a new tenancy. She was very reliable and communicated with me through the whole process and made it run so smoothly. I would highly recommend her as an agent

I had a viewing arranged today. Unfortunately, I had difficulty finding the property because the entrance was not obvious. I called the office for assistance, but instead of trying to help, the person on the phone was rude and repeatedly insisted that Google Maps could not be wrong and that I was making a mistake.

In the end, the property was actually about 50 yards away on the other side of the road, with the entrance through an alley, so my confusion was understandable. A little patience and better customer service would have made a big difference. I hope they treat future customers with more courtesy and understanding.

I am extremely disappointed with the service I received from Amy Cherry at Haart Rayleigh. I contacted the branch regarding an overpayment of rent and repeatedly asked for my money to be refunded, as I need it to cover moving costs. Despite several emails, I have felt ignored and left chasing for responses.
I was also told that my overpayment would effectively be held until I returned the keys, which felt unfair and very concerning as I am in a no deposit scheme so they should not be holding my overpayment ransom or as a deposit.
In addition, when I requested a reasonable alternative for returning the keys to a closer branch due to the property being in Shoeburyness, I again have not had any response. Hence this review is a last resort as to hopefully getting a response.
Overall, the customer service and communication is poor, stressful, and disappointing during what is already a difficult moving process after being Served a section 21 at no fault of my own.
I would expect much better professionalism and responsiveness from a lettings agency.

Lilli at HAART Rayleigh was amazing, she made the whole process from the beginning to the completion less stressful. She was professional and always available even out of hours. We were pleased with her guidance. An incredible amount of paperwork is needed which can be overwhelming however Lilli was reachable and always returned my calls and emails. I wish her well for her future.

Very disappointed with our treatment Went to view property and got a message saying it was cancelled when we arrived there early NO PHONE CALL with explanation and apology VERY BAD SERVICE ALSO VERY DISTRESSING

This estate agent constantly hounds people including our solicitor that we pay for. We was buying Westbourne close bungalow but it had defects on roofs and windows on the survey, we paid to have. nothing was addressed correctly via the solicitor by the vendor through Haart. As for Haart It was as if they could not wait to tell our buyers that purchased our property that we pulled out. Fuming 😡 they seem to think they can constantly ring all the people involved telling them old news. As our solicitor, we pay, Let’s us know before you. Honestly Drama is not the word you need to stop harassing people. Then the guy (manager) rung my husband to tell him I had been rude to him. Really not acceptable.

Excellent service from start to finish from Lilli-Mai Abaatu and Steven cannot fault the whole process they have answered all our queries and concerns and have been very professional. Would not hesitate to recommend them to friends and family in the future.

Good service from Taylor and the team. Much appreciated and will always recommend haart Grays.

Just had a conversation with Evie who was so helpful and was great at relieving the stress that we are currently under by giving me all the information I asked for, and more, and then also offering to speak to the landlord on our behalf. Absolutely amazing.

Haart is a great estate agent, always happy to help we have been dealing with Lilly-mai in Rayleigh. She is always on hand to help and returns calls when needed. Fingers crossed we can get our property over the line and it will all be down to her!

Good and professional advice.

I was subject to poor, insensitive and bullying behavior over the course of my sale. It was only after the sale had completed that I learned that there was a commercial relationship between themselves and the buyers conveyancers - something they failed to disclose to me as they should by law but i hindsight explains some of their actions. I went through their complaint system (3 tiers) without them recognising any shortcomings or making any apology. I therefore escalated my complaint to the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman upheld all 3 of my complaints (progression of the sale, conflict of interest and poor complaints handling) and awarded a significant sum in compensation. But Haart still refused to make any kind of apology or recognize where they had caused me distress.
Would you like to deal with this company?

Updated after Haart’s response

I took care with my review above and did not intend to elaborate any further but I cannot allow Haart’s response to go unchallenged.

I felt bullied. The Ombudsman referred to occasions where conduct come across as “somewhat
overbearing” and “to some extent, consistent with the manner described by the Complainant”. They said they “could have approached the matter in a less forceful manner”. They highlighted that on 3 separate occasions Haart fell short of their obligations.

The Ombudsman agreed Haart had withheld from me that they had offered related services to the buyer. And that during their complaint process they had failed to follow their obligations under their own Code of Practice despite me pointing this out.

The ombudsman upheld, partially or fully, all 3 areas of my complaint, awarding 3 separate amounts of compensation in order to recognize “avoidable aggravation, distress and inconvenience”. In total this was £300. I don’t consider such an amount small and is in fact well over the average compensation of £100 to £200 reportedly awarded in upheld cases.

At the end of the process I invited them to finally apologise to me since they had accepted the Ombudsman’s report in full. They declined to do so.

BE AWARE!!!
THIS COMPANY TOOK MY WHOLE TENANTS RENT WHEN I DECIDED TO LEAVE THEM. That's THEIR POLICY. This is their way to discourage you to LEAVE. so they can keep receiving money from you. The whole rent is taken and you have nothing!! The worst decision I made to have this company manage my property. The experience with The female manager (2022) was very shocking as she denied to her manager what she had told me over the Phone and they tried to make it seem that there was a misunderstanding!!! I knew then that I could not stay with someone like that to manage my home. Very shocked when it all happened. I made an official complaint. As a landlady, they prioritised the interest of the contractors sent to my home rather than me. The manager herself told me that the contractor would have to be paid to see what's wrong in my house. They don't want to send more than 1 contractor because each contractor will have to be paid by myself so you only have 1 quote and you're stuck with that one assessment!! I argued that point and it was a gaslighting situation from them. Prior to the female manager, my property was managed by a male manager and he had no problem sending 2 or 3 quotes so I could decide who to send to my house to fix issues. NOT WITH THAT FEMALE MANAGER DURING 2022.It was honestly a awful experience!!!
I subsequently Managed my home myself for a year to recover what they took from me. There are other management companies out there who only take 2 months notice and charge you the normal rate so if the monthly fee is £100 a month that you've been paying to the agency, when you leave the agency, you give them 2 months notice and pay £200 and you're done. NOT WITH HAART RAYLEIGH. THEIR EXIT FEE IS THE ENTIRE RENT FOR THEM TO KEEP !!!! They will keep your entire money!!! PLEASE BE AWARE!!!

AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!
I’ve been in this rental property since February and I’ve had so much stuff go wrong and they do not rush on getting anything repaired. I have a leak and damp in my sons room that I reported over a month ago and it’s still not been sorted. They don’t respond to emails and avoid my phone calls. That’s the problem with these big chains they don’t care about people just money grabbing! Very unprofessional staff I have made 2 complaints to higher team that resolve nothing it’s useless. I will never ever use this estate agents again.

If I could score zero I would. never known an agency to drag their feet with any minor decisions. Tenant in a brand new build for 3 years and they don’t answer their phones, respond to emails- unless you leave numerous messages with their concierge team. Requested deposit back from 5/3/23 up until now still awaiting!

Amazing experience from everyone at Haart Rayleigh.
A big thank you for all your hard work and great service.
Your an amazing team of people and a big shout out to Steven Kelly!!
Thank you and we will definitely use you again & again!

Spoke to Lenny today - was able to provide me with all info needed , polite & assisted me where needed.

Awful lettings team. Rude and unhelpful. Even their maintenance company agreed how awful they are

The worst agency I have ever dealt with. Since I have taken a contract with them there has been constant issues with my flat and my contract is with them. I have had to chase them several times in order to get a response. There is now a huge leak in our building and we paid extra money to them to get viewings so we could move out of our flat and now they are saying there is nothing we can do and need to speak to building management even though our contract is with them. No willing to help. My advice would be never go with them.

Regards,

Larissa

The staff at Haart in Rayleigh were very helpful, professional and dealt with my purchase very well. Would highly recommend them. Also Aaron the Mortgage broker was superb. Lorraine S