Metropolitan & Crown, Plaistow

Their branch in Plaistow let my flat in December 2006. They collected one months rent and six weeks deposit from the tenant. The agreement was for them to prepare a statement, deduct their charges and give me the balance, including the tenants deposit. They have not given me the money. They are also holding 6 weeks rent from the previous tenant. I have called the office several times, and the colleagues of the lady who deals with my flat always say she will get back to me, but she never does. I have sent letters by ordinary post, recorded delivery and also dropped a letter in by hand, and I never receive any response from Metropolitan & Crown Estate Agents.

I was interested in Bulgarian properties advertised by Metropolitan & Crown. I contacted the company, and the information I received was sketchy (they were not too sure of what specification of apartments were available and at what price). More worryingly, the woman I spoke to (she said it was her company) quoted a very inaccurate euro conversion rate, and when I called a second time the prices quoted were higher (again that could have been for a different spec apartment. This was unclear).

I felt pressurised to pay a deposit before a certain date as "the prices were going up", though it was not clear why. Things that worried me included the fact the apartments had NO kitchen (apparently nothing, just an empty room. I would assume plumbing, but who knows). Plus, I was told the development was not overlooked, but I later found out there was a new development being constructed right next door, and was also quoted a suspiciously high rental yield of 15-16%. When I queried this with the person on the phone she insisted this was correct, though my own experience of holiday lets in Bulgaria or other European countries is nowhere near this. Maybe in the short term, but this is severely diluted by void periods, such as in Bulgaria's cold winters (and I do mean cold!)

Interestingly, I was called by a contact of theirs who gave financial advice regarding the development, and he seemed to be an extremely knowledgeable person. He obviously had an interest himself as he owned apartments there (he told me). Maybe he was the developer, though he told me he was just an investor. His position with Metropolitan And Crown was not really clear to me, though his acuity was in a different league to the woman at the office, who I felt liked the sound of her own voice too much. He was also rather more polite and I would say honest, perhaps too honest for the good of that company (I don't actually think he was employed by them. Again I was not clear about what his connection was). He actually quoted me rental returns of around 5-6% and told me about (hidden) charges that I was not told about by their office.

I was introduced by friends who had seen the ad, but they also "cut and ran" from this company, as they also had bad feelings about their apparent concern with taking a deposit quickly. I may ask them to post here also.

I have rented property from Metropolitan & Crown Estate Agents for over a year. The property we lived in had a lot of problems, and every time I called - no-one phoned back. It took ages to sort out a problem; for example - the washing machine broke and it took over 4 months to be replaced with a cold water one only. They are very slack in everything except money, and they were definitely quick to increase our rent, even though our basic amenities weren't working. When we spoke to the landlord he knew of none of these problems as they never informed him, then when we handed our notice in 6 weeks prior to leaving, the landlord was only informed the same week we were moving out. We're still yet to get our deposit back and we moved out in December 2005.