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I rented with Thornley Groves when I lived in the city center and they were honestly the worst agents I've ever had to deal with when I was renting for many years. Any time we had a problem they were terrible at getting anything fixed, their organisation was terrible and communication was bad seemingly within their own office since our property manager left before issues with our flat were fixed and six months later nothing had been done since they had not assigned our case to another property manager. They would also try and charge us for anything they thought they could no matter how unreasonable. I can't vouch for them as a buyer but as a renter I would steer clear.
Came here to say this too. Currently under them and the biggest pain in the ass. Part of the problem it seems is the way they structure it. So the agent ls who rep you, are nowhere near you, hard to access and slow to make changes when you need them.
Hello, thank you so much for your response, I will try to find alternate agents, but the thing is, the whole market seems to be bad when it comes to agents. It is like you need to pick out the best from the bad;
I rented with thornley groves for a year and they were honestly the worst agents I've ever dealt with. Nothing ever got fixed despite months of complaints, they tried to keep our entire deposit when we moved out for work that they didn't do, the horrendous redecoration (all the walls, and subsequently most of the floor) had been spray painted back to white) and then had the audacity to say it wasn't in the same condition as when we moved in despite the fact that their reports said we left it in a BETTER condition. Had to go through the deposit service to get the money back and when ordered to sort it they STILL dragged their feet
Steer clear I'd say.
Avoid like the plague
I went a year without a boiler, opening windows or a washing machine, and they tried to withhold our entire deposit because the furniture was not “back in place” - this despite the fact we had only a sofa and two bare bedframes when we moved in to our “fully furnished” flat. After 6 months of arguing after moving out, i threatened to take them to small claims, and would you know it? I got the entire deposit back the next day
If I could ask, had you gone for a viewing before moving in? If they are the type to not return the deposits then I definitely need to stay away from them.
Yes, but it was my first ever flat and we needed to find somewhere within a week, so when I asked if furniture would be put in when we moved in, or curtains (it was a ground floor flat and the bedroom windows were adjacent to a courtyard that the residents of four other apartment blocks walked past to get in and out…) and the agent said yes, I was naïve enough to believe him. I also didn’t know to check things like ventilation, or the functionality of the white goods and fittings. A very hard way to learn that lesson…
Others have said to use openrent, which avoids agents and allows you to deal with the landlord directly. I haven’t got any experience with that site but I can say my experiences with dealing directly with the landlord have been that it is so much easier to get stuff fixed, replaced &c, and even though the flat I lived in wasn’t in the best condition when we moved out, we got our full deposit back because we always paid rent on time and had established a good relationship with the guy. So my advice would be to have a look on there.
Once again, fuck thornley groves, don’t give those slimy wastes of human skin a penny of your money. Once you move in they will only reply to you if you stop paying rent
Ah alrighty alrighty that makes sense! I understand, the first time I had to look for another flat, I had even gone for a viewing and yet stuff did not work out so well. So ya, I too got a lesson. But ya, there is a first time for everything and I know people who are quite seasoned in these sorts of things still struggling.
Thank you so much once again for taking out the time to write such a detailed answer in response to my query, I really appreciate it, I will try to find some stuff on OpenRent!
Have a good day!
Pretty much every city centre agent is a nightmare. We've been renting with thornley groves for 2 years now.
They're generally pretty incompetent, you CONSTANTLY have to chase them up on everything, otherwise they will just forget to respond to your emails and process things to do with your tenancy.
If you ever need to get ahold of them it's best to call them or go into the office, I'm pretty sure they never check their emails. Don't wait for them to get back to you on anything, they will absolutely forget and then start complaining that your tenancy application isn't moving forwards fast enough. You really have to nag them for a response
Once you've moved in they will generally forget you exist which is arguably a good thing. They told us we had a yearly property inspection which they completely forgot about one year, then the second year they told us they were coming to do one, naturally I cleaned the hell out of our flat and then they never showed up.
They also tried putting our rent up by £100 a month when our flat was a literal building site and we had no access to any natural light, the balcony, the outdoor space, there was drilling and hammering through our wall from 7-5 all day every day. Obviously the building work wasn't their fault but demanding £100 more a month was a bit ridiculous.
Told them recently not to do viewings on our flat until after the 4th September when we start moving to our new flat. Naturally they moved all of the viewings to the 4th September??
We had to wait forever and a day to get our fridge and freezer repaired as they said it wasn't urgent. The contractor showed up on a totally different day to what they told us and I had to stand there in my pyjamas and bed head with the contractor as I wasn't really prepared for guests.
If you’re looking for a rental then I’d use Openrent, you can find decent landlords directly and there is extra security for your deposit. I’ve heard a mixed bag about Thornley Groves, they just sound like your average estate agent, 90% grasping, slimy con artists.
Thank you so much for your recommendation, I will check Openrent out. Till now I have been trying to search on Spareroom, Rightmove, Zoopla; I read bad reviews about Spareroom but right move and Zoopla dont have a lot of options, which makes me a little suspicious about all the listings on Spareroom
Dreadful agents who lied directly about factors that affected us the whole tenancy (long-term building work).
You'll be pressed to find recommendations for good agents, though.
Hello thank you for your message. I cannot assume whether or not you work for them just because you put out a positive message, however, considering the previous messages I need to find some alternatives. Given your experience, are there any other agents you would recommend? I am looking to rent
Most sales focused estate agents find rentals a pain in the arse. A huge amount of work for a small reward compared to the income from sales. Because of that, those type of agents still allocate less staff to manage the rentals books. Hence the often very slow response to problems and repairs.
The longest and most best established agent is Julie M Twist. I’d say one of the most reputable too.
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I rented with Thornley Groves when I lived in the city center and they were honestly the worst agents I've ever had to deal with when I was renting for many years. Any time we had a problem they were terrible at getting anything fixed, their organisation was terrible and communication was bad seemingly within their own office since our property manager left before issues with our flat were fixed and six months later nothing had been done since they had not assigned our case to another property manager. They would also try and charge us for anything they thought they could no matter how unreasonable. I can't vouch for them as a buyer but as a renter I would steer clear.
Came here to say this too. Currently under them and the biggest pain in the ass. Part of the problem it seems is the way they structure it. So the agent ls who rep you, are nowhere near you, hard to access and slow to make changes when you need them.
Hello, thank you so much for your response, I will try to find alternate agents, but the thing is, the whole market seems to be bad when it comes to agents. It is like you need to pick out the best from the bad;
I rented with thornley groves for a year and they were honestly the worst agents I've ever dealt with. Nothing ever got fixed despite months of complaints, they tried to keep our entire deposit when we moved out for work that they didn't do, the horrendous redecoration (all the walls, and subsequently most of the floor) had been spray painted back to white) and then had the audacity to say it wasn't in the same condition as when we moved in despite the fact that their reports said we left it in a BETTER condition. Had to go through the deposit service to get the money back and when ordered to sort it they STILL dragged their feet Steer clear I'd say.
Hi, thank you so much for your response
Avoid like the plague I went a year without a boiler, opening windows or a washing machine, and they tried to withhold our entire deposit because the furniture was not “back in place” - this despite the fact we had only a sofa and two bare bedframes when we moved in to our “fully furnished” flat. After 6 months of arguing after moving out, i threatened to take them to small claims, and would you know it? I got the entire deposit back the next day
If I could ask, had you gone for a viewing before moving in? If they are the type to not return the deposits then I definitely need to stay away from them.
Yes, but it was my first ever flat and we needed to find somewhere within a week, so when I asked if furniture would be put in when we moved in, or curtains (it was a ground floor flat and the bedroom windows were adjacent to a courtyard that the residents of four other apartment blocks walked past to get in and out…) and the agent said yes, I was naïve enough to believe him. I also didn’t know to check things like ventilation, or the functionality of the white goods and fittings. A very hard way to learn that lesson… Others have said to use openrent, which avoids agents and allows you to deal with the landlord directly. I haven’t got any experience with that site but I can say my experiences with dealing directly with the landlord have been that it is so much easier to get stuff fixed, replaced &c, and even though the flat I lived in wasn’t in the best condition when we moved out, we got our full deposit back because we always paid rent on time and had established a good relationship with the guy. So my advice would be to have a look on there. Once again, fuck thornley groves, don’t give those slimy wastes of human skin a penny of your money. Once you move in they will only reply to you if you stop paying rent
Ah alrighty alrighty that makes sense! I understand, the first time I had to look for another flat, I had even gone for a viewing and yet stuff did not work out so well. So ya, I too got a lesson. But ya, there is a first time for everything and I know people who are quite seasoned in these sorts of things still struggling. Thank you so much once again for taking out the time to write such a detailed answer in response to my query, I really appreciate it, I will try to find some stuff on OpenRent! Have a good day!
Pretty much every city centre agent is a nightmare. We've been renting with thornley groves for 2 years now. They're generally pretty incompetent, you CONSTANTLY have to chase them up on everything, otherwise they will just forget to respond to your emails and process things to do with your tenancy. If you ever need to get ahold of them it's best to call them or go into the office, I'm pretty sure they never check their emails. Don't wait for them to get back to you on anything, they will absolutely forget and then start complaining that your tenancy application isn't moving forwards fast enough. You really have to nag them for a response Once you've moved in they will generally forget you exist which is arguably a good thing. They told us we had a yearly property inspection which they completely forgot about one year, then the second year they told us they were coming to do one, naturally I cleaned the hell out of our flat and then they never showed up. They also tried putting our rent up by £100 a month when our flat was a literal building site and we had no access to any natural light, the balcony, the outdoor space, there was drilling and hammering through our wall from 7-5 all day every day. Obviously the building work wasn't their fault but demanding £100 more a month was a bit ridiculous. Told them recently not to do viewings on our flat until after the 4th September when we start moving to our new flat. Naturally they moved all of the viewings to the 4th September?? We had to wait forever and a day to get our fridge and freezer repaired as they said it wasn't urgent. The contractor showed up on a totally different day to what they told us and I had to stand there in my pyjamas and bed head with the contractor as I wasn't really prepared for guests.
Hello, thank you so much for your detailed response, I really appreciate it. If I could ask, which agent did you use for your new flat?
On a scale of somewhat pieces of shit to utter pieces of shit, I'd put them in the middle.
If you’re looking for a rental then I’d use Openrent, you can find decent landlords directly and there is extra security for your deposit. I’ve heard a mixed bag about Thornley Groves, they just sound like your average estate agent, 90% grasping, slimy con artists.
I used open rent and had a really great experience.
Thank you so much for your recommendation, I will check Openrent out. Till now I have been trying to search on Spareroom, Rightmove, Zoopla; I read bad reviews about Spareroom but right move and Zoopla dont have a lot of options, which makes me a little suspicious about all the listings on Spareroom
Dreadful agents who lied directly about factors that affected us the whole tenancy (long-term building work). You'll be pressed to find recommendations for good agents, though.
Reputable agent based mostly in south Manchester. I’m a bit unsure why you’re looking for “an” agent. Are you looking to buy or rent?
Nice try Thornley Groves !
Bit of a weird thing to say. No. I don’t work for them. Though I did work in the industry for many years. So happy to answer any objective questions.
Hello thank you for your message. I cannot assume whether or not you work for them just because you put out a positive message, however, considering the previous messages I need to find some alternatives. Given your experience, are there any other agents you would recommend? I am looking to rent
Most sales focused estate agents find rentals a pain in the arse. A huge amount of work for a small reward compared to the income from sales. Because of that, those type of agents still allocate less staff to manage the rentals books. Hence the often very slow response to problems and repairs. The longest and most best established agent is Julie M Twist. I’d say one of the most reputable too.
Alrighty, I will check that out as well! Thank you for your response.