IMS Lettings

They seem proffessional as a company but its all pretend. When you have a problem they take their time to respond IF they respond. They lie about the area so they get the sale. They never told me that the property next door is rehab center that houses the patients there. So in the end as a young single lady living on her own there was always a group of men next door who came in and out all the time everyday at all hours of the day. I felt very unsecure and uncomfortable. We also shared an enterence as my front door was at the back, on the side, of the property- a dark alley way at night. Found out the hardway coming back one night with 15gus casually standing outside the rehab center. After exhausting the idea to leave the property a month after finding this out along with other faults the flat had that were not disclosed they said am in a contract so l cant leave. The flat had so many faults, boiler not working because it was an old boiler which you could hear from the kitchen when its turned on.No heating, or hot water and lights at least twice a week. The electricity was always tripping out even when you are making a simple cup of tea. After a year of complaining the landlord finaly came round to only realise the fuse that was used was only for lights, not cooking or other appliances. This was a 2 minute job that took them a year to respond to. I got burgled twice and the landlord and agency refused to add cameras, even fake ones for safety. They said its an extra cost we dont have to make. For "the number one agency in Derby" They should be crowned "The Worst, Money hungry,Disgusting Agency in Derby" They dont really care about you they only see you as a money making machine to them. Once they have you they will hide behind Terms and conditions, Its up to the Landlord, Its not our fault, Its in your contract. Dont think because you have children or because you are sick they will help you. I came from the hospital to find l had no heating, hot water in December when it was snowing for them to say "we checked the boiler and it was fine. It will cost us money to have another engineer to come again" The way they operate hey must be working for Satan himself.

NEVER AGAIN!!!!

Ims is the worse lettings agency I've been with. 1st of all, the house was messy and dirty when I moved in. The day before leaving they went in my property with out consent!! I called them up to question which they denied. Then when I got the police involved they said they had gone in but because I left the back door open. I said why didn't you call me?! If my back door was open and it was that urgent you had to go in, why did you never call so I can check my belongings?! Which they never answered. When ims came in to the property jewellery had actually been took, which also the police dealt with. The owners of the house was going in the property which I actually caught them. There full of excuses. In the end they kept my whole deposit of 700£ refused to give any back. I had to take it to a tribunal and managed to get it back. Worse agency I have been through, I will never go with them again. I completely avoid ims. No privacy. Can not trust them. Unreliable. I tell everyone I talk to about renting about ims and can assure you they completely avoid also! Don't no how there still in business to be honest.

I rented from ims since August 2014 until now they do things top standard check the property regular I havnt had no problems as long as you keep the property clean no damage you don't get any problems I got my 1600 bond back in days if ever I needed another property I wouldnt hesitate to go back to ims thank you to all at ims

Where to start. I rented a property for 6 months during which time I went without hot water and heating for 2 weeks due to IMS failing to contact the landlord. After my tenancy ended I had to wait 3 months to hear about my deposit. Which was via email and informing me it was not the full amount. A further email was received with a list of issues with the property which were frankly laughable. I seriously doubt whether the property was ever inspected as the staff had left all the lights on during a unaccompanied visit using the remaining electrify. After 30 phone calls, 20 emails I have still not spoken to anyone about the deposit. Every phone call is ended with a promise of a same day call back echoing down the line. In every industry, in every country I have ever visited IMS have been the most unprofessional, unproductive company I have ever dealt with. Avoid at all costs. You WILL lose money and you will never speak to anyone why. The Worst mistake you will make toady is going with IMS.

Me and my partner moved into a property let by IMS in October 2011 and for the first few weeks, all was well. However, soon after this, small problems and issues with the house started to creep up. Having gained the contact number for our Landlady, who herself gave us her number on the day we moved in - we contacted her directly about these “small” issues and was pleased when she promptly sent her partner, who was a builder by trade, round to sort these out.

Shortly after these problems were sorted, we noticed that the same problems were beginning to re-occur a short time after they had supposedly been fixed. We then proceeded to contact IMS Lettings’ repair department on several occasions but each time we were told that they were unable to do anything with regards to repairing the property without the permission of the Landlady. We then sent IMS a letter outlining the issues we had with the property which included;

Living Room

•Front door - keeps dropping down, especially during hot weather, lock is stiff and at times we are unable to lock it

•Curtain rail - came down, bracket found to have been stuck in with "No More Nails" right next to wiring, very dangerous

•Top of door frame - wood coming loose

Dining Room

•Skirting board - large chunk of wood coming away from wall

•Curtain rail - came down, found to be just screwed in, looks like wall cannot support the weight of the rail

Kitchen

•Oven - the handle has come away from the door

Passage

•Back door - no lock, just using deadbolts to secure it since last year

Bathroom

•Radiator - left side is coming away from the wall

•Toilet - cannot flush toilet properly, the only way to flush it is to lift the lid of the toilet and pull the chain manually, have been doing this since last year

•Hot water tap in sink - unable to get any hot water to come out of the tap

Front Bedroom

•Window - lock is broken and the window is very difficult, and on occasion impossible to open once it has been shut. Have to go back to it later to see if it has loosened enough to be able to open it. The handle is very loose and looks as though it could easily break off

Back Bedroom

•Window - lock is jammed shut and it is impossible to open the window, been unable to open it since last year

•Boiler - kicks out gas when it first fires up to the extent that other people living in the surrounding area have noticed it. Have to regularly re-pressure the boiler as it will not work

IMS received this letter and admittedly, shortly after this the Landlady and her partner came round and again “fixed” the problems. I am almost certain that the only reason this happened was due to me writing in the letter that the window not opening, the door not opening on occasion etc. was a huge fire risk if ever there was one.

Fortunately, the issues which had been fixed seemed to be sorted once and for all, until December 2012 when the boiler began leaking water and as a consequence, ruined all of the bedding which was in there with it. To cut a long story short we were left without a boiler for almost a week when it was snowing – not fun! Again, IMS said they were unable to do anything without the Landlady’s permission (who was on holiday at the time).

We remained in the property for another year which was relatively uneventful, apart from the flush on the toilet breaking a few further times (we gave up with this in the end as it was obviously the work of a bad builder to keep breaking the way it did – although hand sanitiser was a must for us due to having to put our hands inside the cistern to manually flush it every time – embarrassing when guests were visiting!), the water that was used to run baths remained tepid at most.

In October 2013 we finally had enough when the shower broke and began leaking everywhere – but guess what? You guessed it! Nothing could be done without the Landlady’s permission! The option of a bath which was a quick paddle like when visiting Skeggy beach was an option, granted, but this quickly tested our patience.

We informed IMS that we were giving them 4 weeks notice and that we would be vacating the property by 1st December 2013 – This time there was no delay whatsoever in them replying to us – in fact, I even forgot to put a stamp on the envelope due to being in that much of a hurry to jam the damn thing in the letterbox – but they still received it and kindly informed us that unless we signed a “Leaving Early Agreement” and paid a fee to do so then we would continue to be charged rent until March 2014 as we were in a contract and this would protect the Landlady from any losses due to the property being unavailable to rent.

Obviously, at this point I cancelled my direct debit so they were unable to take anymore money from me, and we proceeded to move out of the property.

Needless to say, due to me and my partner having caused so much damage to the property and the Landlady having to pay out over £1000 in repairs to the property, not to mention that it would be a significant amount of time before the property was able to be let again – we did not see a single penny of the £860 deposit we put down prior to moving in to the property.

Just over a week later, a new tenant was living in the property.

So overall, think twice before dealing with IMS, I have spoken to people who have similar stories to this – they don’t want to know while you are bothering them with requests for repairs but tell them your moving out and they will think of every trick in the book to keep hold of your deposit!

The one thing I must say I did learn from this experience is that I am by no means a scruffy person I funded the cost of having brand new blinds put in to replace the mould coated ones which were there when we moved in, and I replaced the carpets throughout due to them not laying correctly and becoming a trip hazard – oh and I cleaned the bathroom myself upon moving into the property after seeing the hairs in the bathroom sink (what kind of hairs these were I don’ even want to think about). In essence, I would ask IMS if they have any job vacancies on their cleaning team at present, but I don’t think they would live up to my standard :)

I had a terrible experience with IMS lettings and I feel I must make others aware.

I rented with them for just over four years and I must say they were excellent, however the problems began when leaving in that they seem to try any little trick in the book for them to hold onto your deposit.

After spending a few days thoroughly cleaning the property, it was immaculate (I know everyone says that but it really was), the young man turned up to do the inspection. He had a thorough look around and commented that I should have no problem getting all my deposit back, in fact he couldn’t believe I had lived there for over 4 years as the place looked new etc… however this was where the mistake was made, my mother (bless her) made a harmless comment that I always kept the place in good condition even re-painting the gloss & walls so it remains fresh – he pounced on this bit of information and quickly asked if that is in my contract and did I have the landlords permission. I stress I was just repainting the same colour (as it fades after a few years so I was keeping up with the maintenance). I pointed out that without me repainting the gloss it would yellow over time but he was more concerned with what the contract states rather than common sense and me maintaining the property so no work would be needed when I moved out!

I got letter saying they wanted to keep £250 pounds back to ‘repaint’ and also take down two curtain poles I had put up in the bedroom – the bedroom was a ground floor flat with cheap wooden slat blinds – of course you would want curtains up in a bedroom! stupidly it was my mistake I should have taken them down but I thought the next tenant would like them (a necessity in my thinking). They tried to charge me for repainting and taking the poles down, I refused to pay and the guy phoned up and asked me directly how much am I willing to pay!! Why should I negotiate!

What insulted me even more is they are liars! As soon as the property was put on the market it was taken by the first person who saw it (no doubt owing to me keeping the property in pristine condition) and they moved in straight after I left, I went round and looked through the windows to find nothing had been repainted and the curtain poles were still up and the new person had moved in – so there is the proof that they are just money making liars, out to try and wring as much money out the tenant as possible.

I feel like they try to find any excuse to keep your deposit back, no matter if the property is in A1 condition, it’s a money making scheme for them.

I would never rent a house from these crooks ever again and have made sure all my friends and colleagues also know the tail.

Brilliant service! Thanks IMS, you replied quickly to a dishwasher repair and were professional from first contact to completion.

Brilliant service! Thanks IMS, you replied quickly to a dishwasher repair and were professional from first contact to completion.

I've been waiting 3 months for repairs to be done. I have phoned, emailed numerous times. They took 2 months to get the first quote.

They frequently ignore emails and take no action after phone calls.

I am looking to report them to their trade association.

20years of renting and I've had more problems with them in 6 months.

Avoid.

Now trapped knowing they will try and take my deposit if I leave, on a fair wear and tear issue and a structural problem.

Other issues have included them not contacting me to confirm if the contract is now a rolling one month contract after the six months is over.

Inital refusal by the Long Eaton office to give a receipt for the application fee and a demand for a last sum of money without any written backing information.

Fantastic service received. I was updated at every possible stage and felt the staff I dealt with really did value me as an individual and not just a number.