"Supporting racist..."

To begin with, we had no issues. We put our offer forward for renting a house and we got accepted. The referencing process was lengthy but everything came back clean. Then, one week before moving in, and just before receiving the contract to sign, the landlord decided to pull our offer. We thought that they changed their mind about renting out the house, but they refused to give any reason. The agency offered to help us find a replacement, but I had to do most of the chasing and barely got one set of houses. Silence afterwards. A couple of days later, we found out the house is reposted with CJ Hole. This made no sense. We are two guys trying to rent a house so we can continue our work in Bristol. I am not a British citizen, but I've been in the UK for the past 6 years. The landlord decided not to go with us without wanting to give any reason. That's when we realised they are either sexist, racist or homophobic. We've challenged the agency about it and they are still refusing to ask the landlord for a reason. They said these problems are very important for them but they continue to support the landlord by reposting their house. What about our expenses for prolonging our stay away from Bristol and the time lost in re-starting the search for a different house? How is this fair?

Facilitated an overpriced house in a dangerous area and were difficult in the booking process often threatening to ensure the house got sold to us, even saying that we'd loose the house unless we agreed to the landlords terms to pay £50 for wifi a month when previously wifi/broadband was listed as not included. No faith in this company to not oversell low value.NegativeValue

Be aware of what you're told on viewings. I was told that as part of the sale a fixture would be left at the property and to wait for the F&F form to come through to confirm that I wanted to keep it. I've since been told that the fixture has been removed and I should have made sure that it was stated on the sales memo. And of course they are now not taking any responsibility for the misinformation and have advised that a verbal agreement means nothing!

They accepted our deposit, had us sign a contract stating if they changed their mind through no fault of ours before the move in date, the deposit would be returned. They then changed their mind and attempted to keep our deposit. After a firm dispute, they agreed to return it as a 'good will gesture'. They then took 2+ weeks to return it, after several follow up calls and emails. Just what you need when you're moving house. What a joke.

After submitting an initial offer on a property we sat and waited more than a day to begin negotiations or to be told that the sale would enter best and final offers and to submit our best offer. I was eventually contacted and told that my best offer had been declined. I had not made a best offer. The prospective buyer had already been informed that their offer had been accepted. We were willing to spend significantly more to secure the property but were not given the chance to negotiate or submit a final offer. Rather than try to submit our best offer at this point, which would gazump the prospective buyer and ruin their day through no fault of their own, I opted to walk away and hopefully not have to cross paths with CJ Hole Bishopston again. Avoid if you are serious about securing a property.

They accepted our deposit, had us sign a contract stating if they changed their mind through no fault of ours before the move in date, the deposit would be returned. They then changed their mind and attempted to keep our deposit. After a firm dispute, they agreed to return it as a 'good will gesture'. They then took 2+ weeks to return it, after several follow up calls and emails. Just what you need when you're moving house. What a joke.

Stood me up and then double booked me on a flat viewing; agent couldn’t answer basic questions like “what is the ground rent.” Not a flying start to a business relationship that’s meant to end with them trousering two hundred of my thousand pounds, especially as I ended up seeing two overpriced damp-ridden shoeboxes.

Lazy staff

Do not allow CJ Hole to manage your property- The year I spent letting from CJ Hole was terrible. Our bathroom ceiling fell in, and they took over 2 months and countless emails and phone calls to give us any kind of compensation. When our property manager left, we were left without any kind of support or indeed any reason why our emails were suddenly going unanswered. At every possible opportunity they attempted to make us liable for faults with the property- when the key got stuck or the fact that the heating, water etc. didn't work. I was told point blank if any of my actions had caused it I would be charged at great expense. To add insult to injury on moving out of the property, I was charged £288 for the cleaning of the bathroom. The ceiling had fallen in only 3 months earlier, and while I was assured money would not be taken off my deposit for issues like discolouration or the inevitable mould that comes with a bathroom filled with water for a week and a half, here we are. Overall, I've found the experience entirely dehumanising, to them I am nothing but a way to get more money.