Forum Topic

Goodmans Estate Agents / Capital House Lettings

Anyone used this company? Any thoughts? We are renting a flat through them (my daughter is the tenant) and we're having a few problems.Thanks

Penny Crocker ● 5714d23 Comments

Never dealt with Goodmans, but in my experience all Estate Agents are hard work. I have managed to avoid estate agents in all of my rented flats in West London, preferring to deal directly with the landlords. Who also can be hard work, but generally don't charge you a fortune for a few A4 bits of paper and some signatures. Seems to work for me.

Guy Campbell ● 5714d

I agree - problem is 2 young girls desperate to find a flat on their own - had signed up before I got involved !! Never mind.

Penny Crocker ● 5714d

I have bumped up an old thread for you.

Ellie Rose ● 5714d

Oh no ! I thought as mu h from the few dealings we've had with them. Thanks for the warning.

Penny Crocker ● 5714d

Penny my advice to you would be not to let yourself be bullied or to be made to feel intimidated by them.Do get professional legal advice too on your problems with them !!!Good luck !!

Ellie Rose ● 5714d

Thanks Ellie, it's more a question of pinning them down at this stage. I have made them aware that complaints have been made about them in the past and I will get in touch with trading standards I think initially. Forewarned is forearmed though and as ever, this site is so helpful.

Penny Crocker ● 5714d

This from a timid neighbour/former colleague who lurks on this site but is too inhibited to post - so I said I would do it for her. She is wholly honest and reliable:"Goodmans/Capital House I would never recommend this Estate Agent to anyone however desperate they were in looking to rent or buy. They are not registered with any association and both Daniel Goodman and his wife (who does the inventory) are not very pleasant individuals to deal with. I rented a place from them and was charged for the inventory without me being present as they don’t like the tenant there.  I know now why! The inventory did not arrive within two weeks of my moving into the place.  Had to remind them that the inventory had not arrived, and was told it had been posted.  Never arrived and had to ask for another one.  When the inventory arrived there were lots of things in there which did not exist in the house.  Took the signed copy back to them with comments and told them there were things in the inventory which were not in the property.  They were not happy with my comments and told me that I should not have commented. On leaving the place I had to keep reminding them for the refund and point out that their contract stated that I would receive the deposit back  within a certain time limit. Even after getting my deposit back they were still contacting me for things which had never been in the accommodation and I had to point them to my comments on the inventory. They had never cleaned the place before I moved in but expected me to have it cleaned professionally so they could immediately rent it out to others who probably have no idea that they will be accused of things which are not included in the accommodation.  I had hardly left the place before the new tenants moved in. They don’t even provide certificates for electrical or gas checks. The worst agents I have come across and the way they treat some of their staff in front of customers unbelievable.  The young lady who is one of the staff (sits at the far back of the office is as rude as the bosses (an electrical item was not working in the accommodation and her response was you can live without it!)."

Sara Nathan ● 5713d

And this is the agent/outfit selling the Shakespeare Road development site !!

Ellie Rose ● 5713d

Thanks  ......  at least I know the name of the boss there now. I was told there is no boss ! I am really unhappy now and worried about my daughter and her friend being there. We will do everything in writing and let them know we are aware of their normal way of working. I am not hopeful of good service.

Penny Crocker ● 5712d

Further advice from my timid friend:"What she should do is look at the contract and find the name of the owner of the property.  As I used to make sure that all correspondence posted (by recorded delivery/emailed was copied to the property owner to make them aware of the service that is/was being provided by the Estate Agents and also for them to know what the tenants were being accused off (eg. washing maching in working order which was not, net curtains which did not exist, vacuum cleaner did not exist).  They keep a copy of the tenants passport and payslip and demand to get these before letting the property out and said that they keep it on their file for yrs. (even when the tenants ends a contract with them).  Which scared me but I had to do this and not sure if all Estate Agents do this."All sounds rather hard work and no way to have a business relationship.

Sara Nathan ● 5712d

I rented my last flat through Capital House, and they were the first agents in my 10 years in London who asked for a whole bunch of extra ID when I signed up, they were particularly keen on my passport & refused to proceed without it.  As I recall my tenancy was fairly easy, but when I left, I actually had to go so far as to threaten legal action (in writing of course), before they would return my (full) deposit.  I would not use them again.

Cas Baker ● 5712d

Any joy with them yet Penny ?

Ellie Rose ● 5705d

i have used capital house/goodmans many times over the years and am suprised about this thread. in my dealings with them, things have gone pretty smoothly, the staff friendly and as a local small business i've found the continuity means they seem to have a good knowledge of current property trends in our area.

peter savick ● 5705d

Good to hear someone having a fair experience - you wouldn't think people could stay in business unless there were an adequate number of satisfied customers.

Sara Nathan ● 5705d

We haven't yet but we are battling on and taking note of everything in writing etc.  Good to hear one positive statement though ! Thanks all

Penny Crocker ● 5703d

Penny. Was just wondering if you had any success with this outfit. Did you go to Trading Standards and if so what was the outcome ?

Ellie Rose ● 5600d

You need to make sure your deposit is registered with a government aproved deposit taker within 14 days of signing.

Chris Lucy ● 5600d

So is it still just the one satisfied customer and lots of worried/unhappy ones with this agent?

Sara Nathan ● 5581d

We have used goodmans to rent through for the last six years. we moved four weeks ago and recieved our full deposit back within two weeks. i have never found them to be anything other than professional and helpful.

Thea Buchan ● 5580d

If there were to be a trophy for the 'Rogue Trader of Acton', Daniel Goodman, of Goodmans Estate Agents/Capital House (property management) would certainly be the winner in my books. **He ignores and fails to reply to solicitors letters.**He refuses to give receipts for vast sums of money paid to him for rent and insurance after repeated requests to do so.........All paid by business cheque thank goodness but that's not the point.**Fails to reply to emails.In my opinion, his trading practices are appaling. He comes across as an intimidating bully. This, i may add is the man/company that is managing the Development site in Shakespeare Road. As far as i know, neither he or either of his companies belong to any regulatory body. Oh, and don't bother asking him for a business card, he claims he dosen't carry any !! Maybe an investigation by the media ( 'Watchdog' springs to mind' ) is warranted here............

Ellie Rose ● 5580d

We  are having  mixed responses to stuff from them at the moment. They have fixed all outstanding problems with the flat but won't reply to anything in writing and it doesn't bode well for the return of the deposit at the end of the term but we'll have to wait and see. I won't hesitate to take it as far as I can if there are problems. but, to be fair, he has fixed the boiler, the loo and replaced the washing machine so we'll see. I agree, his style is intimidating but he won't intimidate me........I am too long in the tooth for that. And forewarned is forearmed so thank you all for all your pointers and suggestions. I will complain loudly to everyone if I have to and stand outside the shop while they're busy too.

Penny Crocker ● 5580d

I can't say anything about Goodman's as far as their letting agency is concerned, but they sold my flat 13 years ago and sold me the house I moved into (and still live in). We had our ups and downs, but in general, everything went OK and they were certainly cheaper than the other estate agents. Daniel Goodman was then a bit of a ducker and diver but perfectly pleasant - and when my purchase of the house was complete, he arrived at the front door with a bunch of flowers for me!

Nancy Duin ● 5580d

They do seem to be members of the Property Ombudsman Service - at least as Capital lettings - so there is a process that can be followed if they do not respond to letters and/or behave unprofessionally.

Sara Nathan ● 5580d