"No Stars for Northwood South..."

We would like to give our feedback and honest opinion about Northwood South Manchester Office (Sale Branch), which is as follows: Taking advantage and hiding behind Northwood Estate Agents' good reputation, the South Manchester Office (Sale Branch) is inefficient and unprofessional. We have rented a property through this branch for more than three and a half years paying ca. £55,000 overall. For this substantial amount of rent and money, the services we received from the South Manchester Office (Sale Branch) were poor and sub-standard. Just as examples here: we were left without hot water and heating when the boiler was broken for a long amount of time, we had no washing machine for nearly a month having to take all our clothes to the Launderette and were left waiting with a broken pipe, not being able to use the water (which inconvenienced both our neighbours and ourselves), for nearly two weeks. Always blaming the others, this Office damages the relationships between Landlord and Tenant. Fortunately, we got on very well with our Landlord who always expresses his thanks for the excellent care we took of his property and we were grateful for being able to live in his well-structured, very nice house. And maybe, just one more example: in the middle of Covid lockdown, when everything was at a standstill and we were all stuck in our houses not knowing what do best to get out of the pandemic, the South Manchester Office (Sale Branch) increased our rent by £100/month: if you don't like then move (!?) ..type of thing. Personally, I would feel ashamed to work for such an office. Lastly, we've moved out of the rented property one day earlier than stated in the Tenancy Contract, leaving the house in very good conditions and providing sets of spare keys (worth ca.£70). An independent body, who recommended that our deposit be returned in full, checked the property. Despite all this, our deposit was not returned. Following endless e-mails and nearly two months later, since our deposit had not been returned, we had to take legal action. Then, a part of our deposit was returned. To this day, we are still disputing the sum of £164 with South Manchester over a technicality. This amount was retained as “pay of arrears” from our deposit. We are constantly, still receiving unpleasant e-mails from this Office. Knowing what we know now, be it a Landlord or a Tennant, we would walk away from Estate Agent: it is not worth the aggravation. Hopefully this feedback would help with making an informed decision when choosing to have Northwood South Manchester (Sale Branch) represent you or get indeed, get involved in any way with this office.