Here’s a couple of reviews from thebestof.co.uk/aberystwyth, an odd franchise website that promotes the best businesses in your area, if they’re willing to pay, of course. Because you pay to be on it, they certainly feel obligated to please you, so you won’t find any bad reviews here!
There are some rather more interesting reviews of Alexanders on Google and Qype.
Oddly though, someone appears to have been up to something. The screen shot below, from the 21st of October 2011, shows two reviews of Alexanders estate agents on thebestof – the first appears to be from Kayleigh Whittaker, lettings negotiator at Alexanders.
I mentioned this to Jill Cahill, who runs thebestof Aberystwyth franchise, so that she might consider removing Kayleigh’s testimonial – consumer protection regulations prevent businesses masquerading as a consumer.
She got back to me several days later, and told me to check again. Weirdly though, Kayleigh’s testimonial is still there, and Jill has removed the review underneath, from a Carlie B.
I’d love to know what’s going on there.
After so long without any traffic wardens, parking enforcement will finally be transferred to Ceredigion Council Council in the summer, with six permanent and two seasonal traffic wardens to cover Ceredigion. Plans are still subject to Welsh Government approval, but will presumably go ahead without issue.
Put the 4th of June in your diary, as we’re pretty sure the first week or so will be hilarious.
Tickets issued will include two levels – £50 and £70, depending on the severity of the offence. A 50% reduction is offered if paid within 14 days, while a 50% increase may be due if not paid within 28 days.
We recently moved house, after having lived at the marina for two and a half years. We didn’t have any choice, as Alexanders estate agents had decided not to renew our tenancy, despite us only due to live in Aberystwyth for another six months. As they would have known, with a large student population in the area, this would end our tenancy in the middle of my girlfriend’s final year exams.
We’d had problems throughout the tenancy, and as they refused to provide any other reason, we can only assume they didn’t appreciate the many phone calls that I had to make, to try and have maintenance carried out. This is the entire email from Layla Mangan, Lettings Manager at Alexanders, regarding why they don’t wish to renew:
Mr Johnston
We do not wish to renew your tenancy.
Layla Mangan
As we’d put it behind us, I wasn’t going to write anything save for a couple of online reviews. But my curiosity got the better of me, and I found the following. Layla Mangan said this on Twitter, on the evening of our tenancy ending.
I really hope that’s not about us.
When me moved in
With a bathroom that clearly hadn’t been cleaned, carpets that were dirty throughout, there wasn’t even a vacuum cleaner, and that the previous tenants had left behind rusty kitchen utensils, the flat naturally required maintenance. Unfortunately, some of this took months, and I was repeatedly told to expect a call back, but this rarely happened.
The inventory provided was strange, with odd mistakes – it described a glass lamp shade as being in perfect condition, but it was in fact broken and held together with tape. It didn’t mention the damp bathroom, or the mouldy curtains.
Fairly early on, we received a “negative inspection report,” for issues that were pre-existing when we moved in. We then had two inspections of the property without notice, one while I was asleep – it’s very unsettling to wake to the noise of someone walking around your home, when you know it should be empty.
On looking for another place to live for our final six months in Aberystwyth, Alexanders ignored every request to provide a reference, making our move as difficult as possible.
When I emailed Derek Ross, senior partner at Alexanders, regarding the poor experience that we’d had with his company, he copied his response to a lawyer, and warned me about talking about his business online.
That seems quite an excessive reaction, particularly as we’d never spoken before. The email just went on to criticise me for apparently being rude to his staff, and ignored my comments on maintenance taking months and, unfortunately, when I replied, he didn’t respond.
Derek Ross did mention that a landlord or letting agent can end a tenancy at the end of a fixed term, without reason, but that’s not my complaint. Alexanders chose to end our tenancy for some unknown reason, after living there for 30 months, in the middle of my girlfriend’s final year exams, six months before we were due to leave anyway.
There are a range of interesting reviews about Alexanders on Google and Qype.
We’re back online with some new plans after a cheeky holiday!
Much more to come soon.
