Tenancy review for Pulse Stretford in Clifford, Manchester rented via Ascend

Agency rating: 1

Had multiple problems with them throughout the tenancy. They took more than 3 months of my 12 month tenancy just to give me the keys to open the parking gate.

At the end of the tenancy took almost 1 month to give me the estimate of deposit deductions. Most of the deductions to the deposit were not genuine such as - charging £50 for oven cleaning when their own checkout report says the oven is clean. It took me a month of emailing them back and forth to get these charges removed and for us to come to a mutually agreeable deposit deduction. Following that I sent them my bank details and I was told I would get the money in 5 working days. 10 days later, with no money received, I emailed them asking where it was. They said that they wanted me to actually pay more so they didn't send the money.

Following this, I was forced to raise a dispute with the Tenancy Deposit Scheme and this took another 2 months. During the dispute with TDS, this agent actually added additional charges into the dispute which they didn't raise before as well, doubling their claim amount to double that of the initial claim (to 90% of my deposit amount). Finally, today, after almost 6 months of my tenancy ending, I have managed to get my deposit money back.

This is not a case of a person writing a bad review based on a singular experience. This is a 6 month long ordeal with both the property manager at Ascend and their senior management who have constantly tried to extract as much money as they can by coming up with new charges every time a deal was agreed. The kind of treatment I have received from them is something I expect from online scammers, not people having a large office in Deansgate.

My advice to you is that please don't fall into the same trap I did. I am sure there are other letting agencies out there that are more honest and don't negotiate in bad faith like Ascend do. Or even try looking at properties on websites where you can deal directly with the landlord.

Property rating: 7

The property itself was quite nice. Although the insulation was not very good and bills were high in winter.

Area rating: 8

Old Trafford is a decent area to live in. There is a nice chinese takeaway shop and convenience store right next to the flats.