Simpson Brebner - what nightmares are made of

In two words I would describe Simpson Brebner as dishonest and unprofessional. When you hear of nightmare agents - Simpson Brebner would be at the top of the list. A company like Simpson Brebner should not operate in this day and age. They are not regulated in any way so they think they can get away with anything. The sales person (who has now left the company) did a great job lulling us into picking them as our property agents. After that initial meeting everything went downhill. You no longer dealt with the sales person and had to deal with the unprofessional staff. Before the first tenants moved in we were charged over £170 for 11 hours of cleaning without prior notice. We had just finished redecorating the property and had cleaned the property top to bottom. Our neighbour had seen cleaners go into the property, but only briefly. The cleaners spent the rest of the time smoking cigarettes outside. After arguing with Simpson Brebner they eventually refunded the charges. Additional plumbing charges appeared on our account without notice or prior warning. Simpson Brebner couldn't provide us with a receipt or an engineers report when asked. We never received any reports about property inspections - the staff were always very vague and said everything was fine. Quite the contrary when the tenants moved out. The person showing the property around to prospective tenants did not act in an exemplary way. She wiped her feet on the neighbours plant, which is apparently acceptable behaviour if you step on someone's dog poop. Simpson Brebner's finance department kept hold of the last months rent saying that they would use it for any repairs when the tenants moved out. We had not authorised them to do this and strictly advised them that we would need prior notice if any work was to be carried out on the property. They already held £200 as a reserve for any emergency work. When Simpson Brebner found prospective tenants to move in we were disappointed to find out that the property would be lying empty for three weeks. There was still almost two months time until the tenants could move in so we asked Simpson Brebner to readvertise the property in the hope that we could find tenants sooner. I kept in regular contact with the agency asking for updates, but each time I was advised that there had been no interest in the property. I found this very surprising so I got a friend to call as a prospective tenant and she was immediately advised that the property had already been let out. We were wanting an explanation for this dishonest behaviour as it could have caused a loss of earnings for us and leaving the property empty during the winter is always a worry. When they could not provide us with a good reason we decided to terminate the agency contract after the tenant moved out. Instead, Simpson Brebner decided to terminate the contract with us with immediate effect, which is in breach of contract. Please stay clear of this company. If they deal this badly with the people that essentially give them business, I dread to think how they treat tenants. We have already had a much better experience with a new agent.

Ellie - 22/02/2013 | report this review