Dear Mandy, our job involves lots of outside valuations, appointments, property visits and so on. We have a very very high volume of calls per house (30-40 enquiries) when only one person can rent or buy the house. It’s impossible for the staff to catch every call but if you leave a message we will get back to you. We also have an expensive software that allows you to book viewings when you make an online enquiry. You get an email and text asking you to book onto a viewing yourself. On Saturday, we are open till 1pm on appointment only due to most of the day spent at viewings and actually selling or renting the houses for our clients the sellers or landlords. If your call was just a general enquiry, then I’m sorry we couldn’t get to you. This week was half term holidays so we had some staff holidays and the rest of the staff sacrificed lunchtimes and worked extra to pick up the unending calls. I also called back every message to find many callers didn’t pick up their phones.

Dear Phil, sorry you feel this way. However, our system shows you had booked yourself onto a viewing using our online appointment system and then you turned up a week earlier, despite text reminders with correct date. You’ve admitted (via email to us) that you didn’t check the date on the text reminders. Secondly, the house you mentioned, that was let, is not one of Belvoir Stoke’s houses. You’ve admitted that yourself in writing by email to our office that the house was in Shrewsbury. We’ve contacted you to investigate this matter as we continually look to improve our service. We wish you all the best in your house search.

Dear Mr Walley, so lovely to hear your kind words. It's not common to hear good reviews from tenants as we as lettings agents have to follow all laws and regulations and stick with the terms of tenancy agreements to protect the landlord's house. Often, some tenants are unhappy when we do our jobs. We try to be fair and professional to everyone, so it's really really nice to read a positive review. My staff are absolutely delighted. Amendment (further to your changing of review) Dear Mr Walley, a decision to deduct from a tenant’s deposit is a landlord’s decision, not an agent’s decision. Our staff have always been polite and helpful to you, as you praised them in a 5 star google review years ago. It’s a shame you wish to tarnish our reputation when there is a fair and just system with the Deposit Protection Service, where their independent adjudicators decide whether what the landlord wants to deduct is fair and allowed. If the DPS award the deduction, that means the landlord is entitled to the money, meaning the house was not better when you left. If the DPS reject the claim, then you are right and the landlord isn’t entitled to the money. We are under a contractual obligation with the landlord (who is our client) to follow their instructions regarding submitting a deposit deduction claim. We have no right nor means to deduct your money ourselves. You make out as though we have some sort of personal interest in your money, and are two faced about it. That’s not true. We apply all laws fairly for landlords and tenants. You will have received by email full instructions on how to dispute a claim and go to the DPS adjudication, which is completely free for you. The DPS decides what to do with the deposit, not us. Please read guidance on this and follow the procedure. We only follow procedure and facilitate both landlords and tenants through the process, for a just outcome. One party will inevitably be unhappy and it’s a pity you are choosing to shoot the messenger. If you don’t understand your tenants rights, kindly seek advice from the Citizens Advice Bureau, the DPS website or contact our Property Manager for guidance through the deposit deduction process.

Would you mind telling us what the problem is? You’re not one of our customers, landlords, vendors, tenants, buyers nor contractors. If you have had any business dealings with us, why not actually call us to let us know the reason for your unhappiness and we will try to find a solution to it? Thank you.

Dear Mr Moore, which property are you talking about? There are no viewings booked in your name. All our viewings today are taking place as arranged. We haven’t cancelled viewings today. So what day are you talking about? Generally speaking many properties we advertise are popular with people and many viewings take place and multiple offers and applications are received. Unfortunately only one person can get the property. Our service is to the homeowner to get their home sold or rented out. I’m curious why you didn’t take the opportunity to finish your journey and visit agents in town to see other available houses? I get drop ins and I’ve jumped in the car and driven them to houses to help their relocation. How about contacting us Monday on 01782 478444 so we can establish who you are and what property you’re talking about.

It is common that tenants will dispute damage or deposit deductions, but the review is false. The tenant gave notice to leave his property on 4 September 2017. My staff sent him the usual communications regarding check out procedures and an appointment for them to attend the property. My staff attended the property that day and the tenant WAS NOT AT THE PROPERTY. My staff made a wasted trip due to the discourtesy of the tenant. Tenant then informed our office that he needed extra days at the house. We then agreed the extra days with the landlord with tenant paying the extra rent. Tenant failed to pay his rent as promised on time (citing bank transfer issues) and he kept moving the "move out date". The landlord agreed to his constant moving of check out date. Since no new tenant had been found yet for the property, the landlord did not mind letting the tenant stay extra weeks. In the end, this went on for 2 - 3 weeks of the tenant messing us around on his moving out date. He was therefore informed that he should return the keys to our office when he had moved out so we could carry out the check out inspection. There is no legal requirement for agents to accompany someone's moving out. In fact, when there is damage to the house, the presence of a potentially aggressive tenant hinders the staff's job to take photographs and record any damage. TENANT WAS OFFERED THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE PRESENT AT CHECK OUT. He did not take up that opportunity. As a top national brand of letting agency, we take FULL PHOTOGRAPHIC INVENTORIES of the condition of the house upon move in and again upon check out. The contents of the 2 documents are compared and any damage caused to the house by the tenant is then recorded and communicated to the landlord. Proper quotes are then obtained by contractors to repair the damage. Comparing the 2 reports, and taking into account fair wear and tear and the condition of the house upon move in, only the further damage caused by tenant was noted down as needing a deposit deduction. My staff put that proposal to tenant by email and also explained in the same letter that he should respond with his proposal so any deductions can be deducted. He failed to respond. As reputable agents, all our deposits are protected by the Deposit Protection Service and there is a time limit for deposits to be returned at the end of the tenancy. As that time limit was coming up, the correct legal procedure that my staff followed was to submit our claim for deposit deduction to the DPS. The tenant was informed by email that he should follow the procedure of the Deposit Protection Service to dispute any deductions. He was also given the DPS guidance leaflets. Rather than use the correct procedure, the tenant and his wife have chosen to use Google, falsely claiming the deposit had been wiped, to tarnish our reputation. We do not take deposit deductions lightly as the money is the client's and we only follow correct legal procedures. Tenant has also called our office this morning to agree some "damage" and put forward some proposals for the landlord. He also claims he put this review "not against us" but to show the landlord as a "tramp". This landlord is one of the nicest landlords we know; a trustworthy, honest man who is agreeable to any repairs to his rental property. This review is false. Tenant has threatened to put duplicate reviews should his deposit not be returned in full. He isn't following correct procedures, that he has repeatedly been advised to do, and is using Google as a means of putting pressure to escape paying to put right the items damaged in the house. We are only carrying out our jobs to a high professional standard. Ramona Hirschi Managing Director

We are sorry you experienced a drop in service. Our staff have a through viewing appointments calendar but on this rare occasion did make a mistake by attending a similarly named property 10 minutes away. When she realised her error, she did contact the office to notify you and the noise of people in the background was her calling from her car. We take our viewing appointments very seriously and have a high success rate of renting out properties. We can only apologise for this human error.

Very sorry you feel you have had an unprofessional service. We ensure that all staff are trained to answer all calls and deal with all issues (and communicate to other staff) so tenants are not left waiting. We are sorry you feel like speaking to a different person is a bad thing. Property viewings are routinely carried out whilst tenants are still in properties, due to the demand from tenants to move in quickly. In your case, our staff and the tenant worked together to move him out so you could move in on the day requested. It was agreed by you and our staff that cleaning and maintenance would have to be done after you had moved in, due to your tight timescales. Please we assured that our staff have a thorough maintenance checklist on your property and are still in communications with your landlord to get those issues sorted. We believe many maintenance issues have been sorted and the rest are still being dealt with. Please feel free to call us at the office to report any further maintenance matters. We deal with all maintenance "complaints" within 24 hours and expect our tradesmen to attend within 2-3 days, provided the landlords consent to the repairs. Thank you.

We are glad to announce that Belvoir Stoke on Trent is under new ownership and management and Alejandra Garcia is no longer in the business. The new management has streamlined many processes and are making constant improvements. We have hundreds of satisfied customers and it's a shame the previous owner did not see fit to respond to this review to put forward her explanation.