17th Jun 2024 (20 weeks ago)
This afternoon I Rang Oswicks halstead office to see if our application had been accepted for a 3 bedroom property with two double rooms and a third described as a small double that we viewed, liked and applied for. It was to my suprise that I was met by no prior knowledge that I had even registered interest and not on the list of people to contact, the covering staff called her colleague Vicky who dealt with us and called me back.
At this point the story changed a number of times during the conversation , when I asked about how I would have even found out if I was successful or not (because my details wernt passed over) , apparently there was no list in front of her at the time of my first call (convienient). The outcome was that I was told that we were declined due to having three young children and that the house would be too small…..initially I was told this view was both of vicky and the landlord, however was quickly backpeddled and the landlord was thrown under the bus when I expressed my dissapointment in their business. For context The house was larger than the property I am in now and all of my children are doing great and much like many other people in this climate we can’t afford a four bedroom property.
The whole process stunk of incompetence and unfair ways of determining who is right for the property or not, unlike most other estate angents where the applicant gets to offer a cover letter to suggest why they would be the right tenant for the property, in oswicks it is all completed by the estate agent visiually making an assumption of your character during your very short window to view the property, they then decide without any further input. Not that it was an issue with my application but most likely considering how much you earn as a deciding factor. My advise is to steer well clear of this company, however if you do attend a viewing then put a suit on, make sure you don’t have any children as they are discriminated against and talk in the poshest accent, either that or bribe the estate agent as the process is left completely open to corruption and nothing would suprise me.
Usually I’m an advocate of supporting a smaller business, but not in these circumstances I would sooner live on the streets then know that a percentage of my rent is going into their business account, stick with the big names for professionalism and fairness.... Read more