ludlow thompson rip off?? advice please!

[buttercupSE11]

Hi all,

In need of some advice. Last night me and my partner put in an offer on a 2 bed flat rental with ludlow thompson. We paid a ?500 reservation fee to do this. Today I got confirmation that our offer has been accepted by the landlord and that we should pay a further ?500 which will be deducted from the total amount due. My partner seems to think it is a rip off. Having calculated everything included in the total amount due which includes the admin fee, this ?500 seems to be coming from thin air. We haven't proceeded further as yet because we are going to discuss things etc.

Are we being ripped off by ludlow?

Comments/suggestions welcome. Thanks!

[EJack]

Is that definitely not the holding deposit? In which case it would definitely count towards security deposit and first months rent? Went through Ludlow about five years ago and the admin fee, as far as I remember, was about ?160ish, but that was a four bed, and included four credit checks, referencing etc... If it is ?500 just reservation fee and not refundable, that is a rip off imo

[LinziS]

I was quoted ?474 admin and referencing fee about a month ago for a let only 1 bed property and I'm on my own. This covered my admin fee and reference checks only. Despite them not finding me the property I found it in the window and it only went in the day before. Contracts are also pretty strict with 18 months no break clause as standard.

The landlady told me they were charging her ?1500 finders fee also, so effectively not much work.

There is another thread in here about them forcing you to use a specific rather expensive power company, if you need to use them as am estate agent I would double check the fine print

Hope this is helpful

[Polmoche]

O.M.G. That is a complete rip off! If that does not include your holding deposit (which as the name applies should be refunded back to you) then yes, it is a huge rip off. Tenant referencing--for a complete reference--costs a private landlord about 35 + vat, for an estate agent paying in bulk it's probably a lot less. You should report them! It probably won't get you your money back, but be a voice of dissent and maybe just maybe the govt will start regulating the estate agency industry as they've been considering for some time now...

[polla2256]

It's not a scam they are just a bunch of bastards - I'm renting through them. They take ?500 in fees and ?500 because they are a bunch of wankers. Don't worry as it does come off your total monies (deposit and first months rent). However - I paid nearly ?3000 upfront (within 3 weeks) with these clowns.

Also you must read the contract and get it amended - Delete the part that mentions spark energy, Delete the part about tenents insurance, Delete the part about telecommunications. I will never ever ever use these people again. Whats worse is an MP "owns" the company. When you sign the contract cross out any sections you do not agree to, attend the inventory with them and try and contact your landlord - tell him you aren't happy. I found my Lnadlords hates them as much as I do.

[reddulwich]

This is disgraceful the holding deposit should either be given back to you, or used toward the deposit etc.

These fees are just over the top.

I had a similar thing a few years ago (Not Ludlow), where they told us, "You'll get the ?500 back when you move out" as we pointed out, why would our Landlord give us it back as they weren't passing that on to the Landlord. Eventually my flatmate asked for that to be put in writing (they didn't seem like they7 wanted to), and he said we are happy with it, as long as you put it in writing, then I can get my boss who is a barrister to check it. We then discovered they had 'made a mistake' and it was only if they were managing the property - in otherword they were trying it on.

POLLA2256 - do you know which MP owns Ludlow Thompson?

[Roz12]

I also rented with LT and found it to be the most infuriating experience... We were tricked into putting down this holding deposit with the threat of another group of peoople bring interested and willing to pay higher rent, only to find that after we had paid the non refundable holding deposit, we would need to pay more fees. We moved in to find work still being done on the bathroom, rubbish from previous tenants piled in front of the house (unacceptable since they make you pay a cleaning fee/take it from your deposit). There was moldy clothing in the washing machine and really dirty floors. We had ongoing problems with a leak in the bathroom which they didn't fix (but charged the landlady for), we had weeks without a shower... The list is endless. When you try and resolve maintenance issues, you are directed to their office in the midlands who are useless and rarely return calls/emails. They will con money from you for anything. I would never ever deal with them again, and strongly urge anyone else not to. As a company they are despicable.

When I tried to exchange names on the contract after i found I was pregnant, (which we were told was an option at any time for a ?200 or so fee) they firstly said it was fine, and then the landlady inexplicably rebuked her permission. When i wrote to the landlady via LT to explain my situation-the need to move out of a shared house and in with my partner they failed to pass on my communication and I was forced to remain Living in the house, consequently having to move at 7mths pregnant (when the contract ended). Despite endless conversations / emails over several months, nothing i did enabled me to avoid this. If you do decide to go ahead (it's hard to let go of that initial payment, I know), ensure you get every communication in written form, they are totally immoral and basically con men.

I'm now renting with Roy Brooks, they are excellent!

[Bouncy]

I totally agree with Roz12. It is worth the hassle of giving up a flat you really want and looking for something else to avoid dealing with Ludlow Thompson.

Their management / maintainance office people are horrendously rude and incompetent and having to deal with them is incredibly stressful.

Our story of renting with them for three years is long and actually still quite painful to recount, but highlights include having no hot water for six weeks (and being asked by the person who eventually came and fixed it [after a nightmarish amount of wangling with the central office] why they had sent the original person who a number of weeks earlier had made it all worse, as '*John*'s not a plumber.' LT took money from us for extras (with the promise of refunds which never came); they refused to repair the broken lock on our door (which meant it had to be bolted from inside / left open); and a million other bigger and smaller things.

In the end, my partner phoned the landlord, who said he had no idea any of this was going on, and said he'd move to another company to rent through after we left.

We subsequently moved, and rented through a different company and then through a private landlord - and both were fine; it doesn't have to be like it was with Ludlow Thompson. I really recommend avoiding them.

[Jessie]

Absolutely appalling to read these messages. I rent through Dulwich Village Residential and have had absolutely no problems with them and in fact the opposite, they couldn't be more friendly or helpful.

[polla2256]

Im so glad to read these posts as much as im horrified - I thought I was being to aggresive with them. We need to do something about this.

[INMCD]

Don't get me started on Ludlow Thompson. They were a nightmare to deal with. We rented our flat through them and its just ongoing drama. They found our tenants, said they had 6 months rent up front as they'd just sold a property, the tenants moved in & it transpired LT had never agreed they'd give us 6 months (we never asked for it!). They didn't do adequate background checks & we've just found out they've been sending bailiffs round to our old house about a fee we owe them of ?2,000! We don't. I wished we'd just found our own tenants as it would've saved us a lot of aggravation over the last 2 years. They really do confirm everyone's views of estate agents! x

[ondined]

I don't know if their fees for us were much worse that other agents would have been, but had absolutely awful experience with Ludlow Thompson generally. Worse thing was that they lost their set of keys to the property. We were in unfortunate position that they also managed the property so we had to deal with them from time to time over two years. Even up to moving out, not telling us when they had viewings (I would arrive home and they would be in the house) and then other times arranging viewings but not bothering to tell us they had cancelled. (I agreed they could have a set of keys to do viewings when I was not in as long as they had phoned ahead and it was agreed, but they didn't even bother to notify).

I really don't know why they treat their tenants so badly. We are going to be buying property shortly and I would not touch anything that was for sale with them.

At one point I was finding them totally infuriating I googled to see if I could find any other reviews. There are some VERY suspicious reviews on www.reviewcentre.com (how they can get away with this, or who actually believes them I don't know!).

Would be interested to know who the MP is.

[Bouncy]

There is no way those reviews are real! I love the little tricks they've used to try to make them seem authentic (providing detail, naming agents) - it's so false and obvious!

[reddulwich]

From looking online - some people seem to think Ludlows Company director Susan Colledge is an MP. Well unless shes changed her name is an MP in another country, I can find no mention of a UK MP so-named.

[polla2256]

I saw a thread on the alleged MP a few months ago. God knows where. I didn't investigate it fully so it may be an error. either way Ludlow suck.

[Tom Burke]

My name is Tom, I'm the lettings manager for ludlowthompson in East Dulwich

I'm a regular forum reader and I've noticed a bit of bad feeling towards ludlowthompson in recent weeks. It's a real concern for me and the team - providing efficient and friendly service has always been a top priority for us, especially so in the 18 months since I've been in charge here.

We deal with over 250 lettings and more than 1000 customers per year in Dulwich, and we hope that for the vast majority of our tenants and landlords the experience is a positive one. Inevitably though, there will occasionally be problems and misunderstandings, and we are very keen to put these right as soon as they arise. With that in mind I'd encourage anyone with concerns or queries to get in touch with me - I am happy to explain and clarify anything you'd like to know about the company or the lettings process, clear up any misconceptions (we aren't owned by an MP for a start) as well as of course deal with any specific issues directly. Feedback is important to help keep us on our toes and we are keen to keep on improving. You can get in touch with me on 02082998777 or come and visit the office if you happen to be passing.

I look forward to hearing from you

Thanks

Tom Burke

[EJack]

Sorry, but these reviews, I'm pretty sure are real. When I rented through them a few years ago, near the end of our tenancy, they would give the keys to our house to random people. I walked out of my bedroom one day to find a random man in my house. As a woman, this was pretty unnerving. He told me he was a surveyor and Ludlow had given him the keys, and he had simply let himself in. When I rang Ludlow to complain, I insisted they provide a guarantee that this would never happen again (we should have banned them or their associates from visiting at all, but didn't want the Landlord to lose out, as he was a decent guy). Ludlow's response was, "We can't guarantee anything".

[neilson99]

Tom,

Kudos for stepping up. The obvious question is do you in fact charge such large amounts for reserving properties? And if so, why? What's the typical amount that you charge for a tennat reserving a property in East Dulwich? Of course one wouldn't expect you to comment on specific customers arrangements but perhaps you could set out average charges say, for a 1, 2 or 3 bed property?

You might also want to comment on the thread that is also discussing Ludlow Thompson's relationship and contractual arrangements with Spark energy, and tennants rights under these contracts to terminate the energy supply agreement and move to other suppliers.

You'd do a great service to your company's and your own office's reputation by answering.

Not sure why there should be concern if you were owned by an MP - many MPs have private business interests and are very successful business people in their own right outside of politics. Perhaps though, local MPs - and indeed media would be interested to get answers to their constituents concerns and questions regarding your service and charges.

Thanks in advance for engaging on this.

[Bouncy]

Tom - our biggest issues were due to the central management / maintainance office. They made our life hellish. This wasn't down to "misunderstandings." I presume that they are beyond your control - whatever the truth of the remainder of your statements. Therefore I would still recommend strongly that people avoid renting throught Ludlow Thompson.

[Bouncy]

EJack - not sure if you were responding to me - but think if so we are at cross purposes! I was talking about the positive reviews - there is no way a lot of them are genuine! Any negative ones - maybe so...

[EJack]

Beg your pardon Bouncy. I misread your comment. My mistake :)

[polla2256]

Tom Burke Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> My name is Tom, I'm the lettings manager for

> ludlowthompson in East Dulwich

>

> I'm a regular forum reader and I've noticed a bit

> of bad feeling towards ludlowthompson in recent

> weeks. It's a real concern for me and the team -

> providing efficient and friendly service has

> always been a top priority for us, especially so

> in the 18 months since I've been in charge here.

>

> We deal with over 250 lettings and more than 1000

> customers per year in Dulwich, and we hope that

> for the vast majority of our tenants and landlords

> the experience is a positive one. Inevitably

> though, there will occasionally be problems and

> misunderstandings, and we are very keen to put

> these right as soon as they arise. With that in

> mind I'd encourage anyone with concerns or queries

> to get in touch with me - I am happy to explain

> and clarify anything you'd like to know about the

> company or the lettings process, clear up any

> misconceptions (we aren't owned by an MP for a

> start) as well as of course deal with any specific

> issues directly. Feedback is important to help

> keep us on our toes and we are keen to keep on

> improving. You can get in touch with me on

> 02082998777 or come and visit the office if you

> happen to be passing.

>

> I look forward to hearing from you

>

> Thanks

> Tom Burke

You can start by revewing your tenancy contracts with the spark energy rubbish, tenants insurance, telecoms agencies and the other unfair terms (watch out for watch dog on this one). Then you can reduce your horrendous admin fees. Then you can stop using multiple points of contacts for tenants arranging a new property, then you can be very very clear about ALL costs from the word go (before the deposit), then you can give a proper inventory, then you can show people properties they want rather than starting at the bottom of the pile, then you can actually arrange the referencing rather than me (admin fee?), then you can treat the referees with respect and not be so dishonest and misunderstanding. Then you may start to get somewhere. USELESS !!!

[LouiseC]

I don't know if it's changed but I gave up a potential rental property I loved about 18months ago because of the exorbitant admin fees and them trying to change the terms and price of the property after I'd paid a holding fee so pulled out. Would not recommend unless they have made a huge improvement!

[TheLaneMonster]

I know a friend that had to completely gut their house in ED due to tenants that ludlow had provided.

When you think that both landlords and tenants are being charged ridiculous fees by these cowboys, and then innocent landlords have to re-fit their entire property for damage caused by tenants they provided - just seems a complete con.

Is a company as large as this not regulated in some way??!

[Bouncy]

polla2256 - like your post, would be fascinated to see a response that addressed its specifics, as well as neilson99's. Seems like that's not going to happen now..........Tom?

Ejack - no problem, thought that must be it! :-)