Acorn Properties Durham

Please be careful, most reviews here are fake. I really wish I could give them 0 stars. I am an international student who have rented more than 5 apartments from different agencies during my stay at the UK. By far this agency is the most unethical and unprofessional agency I have dealt with. I have used their service for 2 years. During the first year I had no troubles at all, however, since the beginning of COVID, even after the lockdown when all shops reopened it took them forever to replay to emails and they never picked the phone. The only time they responded fast was when I had to renew my tenancy, it showed me that all they care about is money, not the customer satisfaction. You might be questionable as to why I have renewed the tenancy if I am saying they are unethical and unprofessional. It is because I wasn’t in UK at the time and I had my personal belongings in the apartment (tv, clothes, kitchen appliances, etc) so I had to renew, I didn’t have an option.

As an international student, I really enjoy my stay in the UK. I love the people, food and culture. Yet, the very first time I felt unwelcome in this country was when I received a call from the manager of this agency called John. Here’s why and what happened: the agency once sent plumbers to fix tiles/shower issues due to leaking, and apparently the plumbers told John the apartment was not in best condition and it was not very clean even though I made sure to keep my place clean all the time (never been told that by any of the agencies I have used in the past). Relying on what the plumbers have told him, without any proof or evidence, John called me and told me that he is going to send a cleaning service to clean my place and I have to pay for it, I refused that as it did not sound right to me. My apartment was very clean, even if it was dirty I think it would be more logical/lawful to ask me to clean it otherwise they will deduct from my deposit if it is dirty when my tenancy ends. John’s replay was very surprising and insulting to me, he told me that he knows Sheikhs in the GCC region (where I come from) and if I did not pay for the cleaning service he will call the Sheikhs and tell them, this really surprised me because what brings this in a matter between an agency and a tenant. He said it as if he is threatening me with the Elite relations he had in the GCC region. I came to the UK to educate myself and live peacefully not to be threatened with Elite members in my country/ neighbour countries, this was the very first time I felt unwelcome in the UK. It was very disappointing and insulting.

The second issue I faced with the agency was when I asked for my deposit. My tenancy ends on 10/08/2021, few weeks before that I called the agency many times to inform them that I have cleaned the apartment and took all my stuff and I will be leaving, however, they did not pick the phone and they never called back. I decided to leave on 09/08/2021 one day before my tenancy ended and I left the keys in the postbox and sent an email stating it. I also asked them to give me my deposit back through DPS, and now they are asking me to give them all my deposit lying to the DPS that my tenancy ends on 10/09/2021 instead of 10/08/2021, they say they want a fee of 1 month rent that I did not pay (it is funny because all my rents are paid upfront and they still want more money). It’s been about a week since I rejected to give them my deposit and I’m still waiting for their response to my dispute.

Thanks for reading through, as a tenant who had experience with many agencies I promise you that any other agency you will use will be better than this agency in terms of professionalism and customer satisfaction. Acorn Properties are greedy and they will try anything to get money off you so be careful! More...

I'm a landlord who has used Acorn for the past few years & have always had a great service. I have an excellent point of contact in the Jesmond Office (Olivia) who always goes the extra mile to sort out any problems that crop up which is important for me as i now live in Somerset. Would highly recommend Acorn Properties. More...

Reviewed on Google Maps

Having dealt with 100s of letting and estate agents, Acorn have been a breath of fresh air! The way they look after their properties and tenants is far superior to what I'm used to seeing. I will continue to enjoy working with Acorn Properties! More...

Reviewed on Google Maps

been doing business with Acorn Properties for years now always found them no problem to work with, lovely friendly staff always willing to help you

Reviewed on Google Maps

Overall received brilliant service and achieved a higher selling price than other estate agents advised. Roger kept us up to date with the process and was pleasant to deal with. Would definitely use again.

Reviewed on Google Maps