***Writing a review in terms of Student Tenant point of view** THIS IS A REVIEW BASED ON A SINGLE PROPERTY AND MAY NOT WHOLLY REPRESENT ZEST. TL/DR: Zest shown glimpses of promise but ultimately we were disappointed with the service provided. Whilst the problems may not be solely be attributed to Zest, we feel an adequate review is required from our experience which may not be replicated to other Zest services. Firstly we would like to say that clearly we understand they are a sustainable business and their customer service was good, but unfortunately we feel the procedures and tactics employed by Zest let the company down. Although the initial stages of contact with Zest were difficult due to staff members leaving, on the whole the customer service improved throughout the year. We were able to access the staff easily through the phone and problems were recorded and eventually fixed. Unfortunately some prompting was necessary for the business to react, but then again this could be due to them being busy. Further, it is understandable to an extent on how the business treated us as tenants as we did have many problems throughout the year. Zest tried to cater for our problems as best as they could by giving us extra time to sort them and in a business perspective we understand that ultimately they have to draw a line somewhere. They also let some problems slip under the net to help us out as tenants – so on the front of it Zest offered a good service to help students. However, we were charged in excess of £744 (based on holding fee & checkout fee) on top of the cost of renting and without the cleaning fee etc. These two costs incurred were to take the property off the market (at which point a housemate dropped out of university so we had to rush to sign a new person – whilst in the meantime we feel Zest pressured us to fork out the outstanding money or risk losing it all). Whilst the second payment, the checkout fee, was based on a flat rate room check of £15 p/room (from what we recall) - quite a high cost for someone to walk around the property and regard it as clean. Further a phone conversation with Zest, we understand to an extent to why the cost is incurred (for future tenants) – however, it is a shame this was not discussed prior to signing contracts, nor discussed until we questioned it. Further to this, within a few weeks of moving into the property 7 lightbulbs had blown. Whilst we understand this was within the contract to replace lightbulbs which are relatively inexpensive in the grand scheme of things, a high volume of bulbs blowing in the property would most likely be due to the lifespan of the light when they were first installed. Per a conversation with a staff member, we were instructed to replace them out of our own pockets, yet barely having any use of them. Another example potentially excessive charging on Zests part was at the end of the tenancy whereby several personal items left at the property. Whilst I believe this was the case and around 7 items were left at the property (two shower mats, three towels and two bed sheets to our knowledge), we believe there shouldn't be any cost incurred to dispose them. An email stating this and that the products could be put in a black bin-sack and the potential charge was dropped. It is unfortunate that it required an email telling Zest that we would not pay for a couple items accidentally left at the property to stop them from possibly charging us. Ultimately we understand Zest is a running business and an intermediary for landlords and tenants and offer a good service to an extent. The business shown promise in customer service but was let down when dealing with problems through using a monetary pressure tactic. As an ex-student, solving problems with monetary charges was not going to help as we didn't have a sustainable income – although 4 of us were working part-time jobs.