Unprofessional letting agents

[El123]

Hello,

I would appreciate some advice on my letting agent.
I moved into rented accommodation approx six weeks ago and have had nothing but problems.
They charged me and my boyfriend £200 in fees to move in and tried to charge an extra £100 just to release the keys on a staurday (despite the fact that the office is fully staffed on a staurday).
When we moved in we were given a DVD inventory, which didn't work. We were told that the DVD did work and it was our problem, despite it not working on three different machines. I eventually went to the office and watched the inventory there, which was very poor quality (shaky footage and due to lighting very unclear). I filled out an A4 sheet of other observations of the state of the flat but haven't had a copy back acknowledging these further damages.
We also had problems with the toilet and waste disposal unit being blocked on arrival at the flat and were left without a toilet for 36 hours.
We have compained about these problems and have since heard directly from our landlord that we are being called problem tennants.
The latest saga is that they claimed 14 days after our rent was due that we hadn't paid. I contacted my bank and was assured it was paid and I sent the letting agent a copy of my statement showing the money leaving my account. Only after I sent this did they backdown and say the money showed up in their account the day after I sent the statement (which is rubbish - it would have been paid on time).
Despite this they told the landlord that we hadn't paid.
Where do we stand with this? Luckily we have spoken to our landlord ourselves and they have said they trust us and not to worry, but it is causing us stress. Where do we stand with the letting agents acting in this way?

(sorry for the long rant.....)

[waterbottle]

It is difficult because you have a contract with the LL, not the letting agent.

I am in a similar situation with terrible letting agents.

Is it a big company?

You may be able to get them on non compliance with Tenancy Deposit Scheme requirements. Have you heard if your deposit is protected yet? It may be better not to mention this to them yet. Let them dig themselves deeper.

With regards to the disrepair: Keep accurate records and put everything in writing. Contact the council about getting problems sorted. They should have some sort of private tenancy officer.

Don't assume the LLs are trustworthy. It seems that some play the good cop bad cop routine.

Good luck and re post to keep the thread up to date.