SHERLOCK HOMES 4 U LIMITED Reviews 8

These people should be investigated again by the police.

Avoid at all costs now trading as LA Properties Discovery

Despite not being a penny short or a day late with my rent in 7 years they refuse to return my deposit claiming they are waiting to hear from the landlord.

Very unprofessional

AVOID SHERLOCK SHAMBLES!

Wish we had read reviews of this company beforehand.

These people are not fit to run an estate agents. They are liars, thieves and charlatans. I truly hope people do not use this company and hope to hear about this companies closure in the not too distant future. Here is our experience…

The people behind this company are true shysters. At the top is Helen Sherlock, the managing director (you only have to google her name to find out what she’s been up to). Below her are the incompetent minions, don’t think I spoke to the same one twice, they have a huge turnover of staff. The minions have no power or authority and have to ask for the leaders permission for the slightest thing, there’s no point in dealing with these, they are all clueless. We rented a property with Sherlock Homes for 18 months. We were told when viewing the property that the managing director of Sherlock Homes, Helen Armstrong, was also the landlady to the property, this appealed to us as we thought if ever there’s a problem, we can go directly to her. When we handed in our notice to end the tenancy the problems started. First of all, a months notice wasn’t enough, it had to be a calendar month notice so we ended up giving 6 weeks notice. During this notice period there were viewings, on one occasion the person conducting the viewing turned up without keys and I received a phone call asking if I could return to the property to let him in, which I did. This company conduct two checkout inspections, one is a pre exit inspection, the other is a final exit inspection. We ensured we attended both inspections. This was done by one of the minions, Sam Mansoor. During the inspection he asked about a series of water marks on the exterior bedroom wall. I explained that a weed had been growing up the side of the house and the landlady had arranged its removal back in Sept 2019. Removing the weed also removed some cement from the brickwork causing water to gain entry and marking the wall. We reported this to the landlady and took pictures for our benefit. Helen’s husband and son came to repoint the brickwork, gave us a dehumidifier and told us they be back to paint the wall when it had dried. The repaint never happened. Sam Mansoor informed us that he would take his findings to Helen Armstrong, create a report and get back to us in due course. We the received an email informing us that due to ‘condensation from drying clothes in the bedroom’ we would be charged £100 to redecorate the bedroom. £100 isn’t a lot of money but its the principle, we were not at fault here and they were trying it on. We had to explain again what the cause of the damage and it was beyond our control. Sam Mansoor and Helen Armstrong were adamant it was our fault and to take our dispute further with the deposit protection scheme. We spent hours opening a dispute with the deposit scheme, and uploaded all our evidence. Several weeks had passed so I called the deposit scheme asking for an update. I was informed that our deposit was held under an insurance policy, meaning Sherlock Homes had our money but there was an insurance policy took out against it. I was under the illusion the deposit scheme held our money as Sherlock Homes informed us that our money was held by the deposit scheme and they did not have access to it. We had been lied to by Sam Mansoor. After finding this out I rang Sam Mansoor and started to demand our money back, 2 months had passed by this point, our patience had worn thin. I threatened that I’d visit the office and the managing director and wouldn’t leave until I had our money back. It took threats to start to be heard. I was ringing on an hourly basis asking for updates, shouting matches on the phone, I pestered them to death until they eventually decided to refund our deposit, in full and without going through the deposit scheme. Please use a different company if you can. if you can’t then my advice would be to take pictures of everything, report any faults and keep all evidence for the duration of your tenancy.

Stop lying because i have all your emails !! Want to see a proof when you sent me the email( forward again to me, and i am gonna see what date is was) You did not sent me any invoice at all and we agreed to pay that leak since beginning ( this is more that 1 year) but you were "too busy" to unswer your emails and deal with it.

DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THESE PEOPLE!

Firstly, read all the reviews here and on other sites. Then google 'Helen Armstrong Sherlock Homes' and see that the proprietor has poor reputation. Note that the only positive reviews are for the sales department. Do not deal with the lettings department at any cost.

They are completely unresponsive and will try and keep your deposit for no reason. In the end, I had to call the office *every hour* for a week and visit in person to get my money back. Helen Armstrong is the only person able to make financial transactions and she ignored all phone calls and hid in the basement of their shop when I called from outside and she answered the phone pretending to be someone else and claiming she wasn't there! When I went in she wouldnt answer and slammed the door in my face!

They don't keep appointments. I was waiting outside for over half an hour after booking time off work and when someone in the office finally picked up the phone, they told me that the person due to come out was 'off sick' and that therefore nobody was coming. No phone call, no email and no apology. They knew somebody was waiting but didn't think to tell them. That sums them up.

Staff being 'off sick' is a favourite excuse of Helen's. I suspect some of the staff she referred to didn't actually exist and also find it curious that her excuses including having to consult with such fictitious staff members which is odd considering that she is supposed to be the boss. I guess they have a high turnover of staff in the lettings department and a reliance on agency staff since I would imagine only the desperate would want to work in that sinking ship. The atmosphere must be awful.

Her own staff, obviously sick of constantly dealing with this issue told me in code on the phone that she was there and advised that I should go to the shop and sit it out without leaving until I got my money back. Another staff member told me that I wouldnt get my money directly and the only option would be to go via the deposit scheme and that they would be unlikely to reply in the timeframe.

Also notice that they try and enforce a policy that you must provide receipted zero balance bills for council tax and all utilities before they will refund your money. They also try and make you sign an agreement for them to take very large fees for spurious activities including calling up utility companies on your behalf. This is completely unenforceable and the TDS guidance is clear on this matter. Helen is well aware of this but persists with this scam. When she acknowledges that your money is due back she lies about non-existent cheques in the post and ultimately just ignores you and makes you hound the company like a dog.

The irony is that when I moved into the flat I rented through them, it was unclean and also there was debt on the electricity which meant the supply was cut off. So for all their talk of holding deposits to prevent this situation - they just trouser the deposit money as 'fees' and don't actually resolve any issues.

The flat I rented off them had a rat infestation in the communal areas which they werent interested in resolving. The problem was bad enough that I didn't cook in the property for fear of rats entering. I then paid for professional oven cleaning to clean an oven I hadn't used as well as a professional clean of the flat as I had neglected to take photos inside the oven when I moved in and didn't want there to be an argument about the deposit. The flat was in much superior condition to when I had moved in (I had also completed several minor repairs) and there wasnt an argument about that- the only problem is that they just won't pay. They are famous for it.

I have rented properties through agencies for nearly 20 years and this is the worst and most unprofessional I have come across.

Please save yourself the heartache and look elsewhere. This applies also to landlords - leave your property in the hands of more capable and professional lettings agencies of which there are plenty.

I've had a really positive experience with the agency. Everyone I have spoken with has been really nice, even from the first phone call. I was a little nervous anxious about the whole process of finding a flat since the market moves really quickly. James was was patient with me and went along to 2 viewings so I was sure I was making the right decision. He also encouraged me not to rush the decision if I wasn't sure - there was no pressure at all. All the paperwork and processes have been transparent and both James and Hamza clarified all the questions I had prior to signing any paperwork. I'm looking forward to enjoying my new flat and getting settled.

The estate agent was helpful and efficient, we were really pleased with this service. A few things were missed off the original inventory but he rectified it and revisited the property immediately. We would use this service again. Thank you