Dear Sarah, First and foremost, we are very sorry to hear that you are disappointed by your dealings with us. As a company we set out and continue to aim to provide the highest standards of service, which we hope sets us apart from other agents. The fact that you feel we haven’t supplied this is disappointing to read. In response to your specific case, I feel it is important to clarify several important details that you didn’t mention. Neither your tenancy agreement, nor The Home Club stipulate a professional clean is mandatory… What your contract does state, is that the property needs to be returned in the same standard, less any provisions for fair wear & tear or reported issues, as it was presented to you. This standard was documented by a professionally accredited, independent third party, as part of your move-in inventory. After your check-in, you were supplied said inventory and asked to raise any questions or observations regarding discrepancies. You did so and points regarding the kitchen were noted. In the lead up to your move-out, a specifically designed ‘Check-out E-mail’ was sent, urging you to revert to said inventory’s condition summaries. You cleaning the property yourself, contrary to your statement, is also not an issue at all - as long as the aforementioned, independent third party determines it to be of the same standard as that of the move-in, less the usual provisions. In your case, the inventory highlighted that the property was returned in a different state of cleanliness, including numerous cleaning oversights. This was communicated to you and a quote was obtained to rectify these oversights, in order to offer the incoming tenants the same standards as you were. Kindly note, The Home Club does not take any commission from third party contractors, nor do we charge our landlords commission – costs are forwarded 1:1 – we therefore have zero financial gain from this. As the discrepancy in condition was established and your landlord sought to be reimbursed for their costs of rectifying this, they proposed these to you as deposit deductions. When you stated that you did not agree with the costs, we responded by asking whether there was an amount you were willing to offer the landlord. This was done in an attempt mediate between you and the landlord. We then sent three separate communications, seeking your instructions on this topic but never received a response. Given the lack of replies, we informed you that we would raise this with MyDeposits, so that you could inform them of what you agreed and/or disagreed with. MyDeposits, as a custodial scheme will now employ their powers of independently arbitrating over this case. To summarise, we tried to transparently guide you before your move out, we attempted to assist you by forwarding evidence and/or negotiating with your landlord on your behalf and helped by facilitating the dispute to be presided over by a third party. We understand that you are disappointed but sincerely feel that your frustrations are somewhat misdirected. As an agency we act as bridge between tenants and their landlords, at no point have we financially benefited from this disagreement, nor have we acted in any way, contrary to the contractual terms you read prior to willingly signing. I do hope that the arbitration process brings you satisfactory closure and genuinely wish you all the best for the future. If we can be of further help, please don’t hesitate to call or e-mail me – James and the team