Finders Keepers

Finders Keepers made a monumental mistake which left me over £150 out of pocket. When brought up with them, the blame was shifted and I was told that it was my fault.
In my personal experience with them I was made to feel small, scared and cornered by Finders Keepers and I certainly will not be using them again.

We had a fairly difficult time finding a property that was suitable for us and on the market long enough to view at the weekend, but find one we did! Anyway, to the point
Just to put things straight, my experience of dealing with Finders Keepers was virtually hassle free, but there were a few points I wanted to touch on.
When I phoned to make my first enquiry, there were some standard screening questions about finances and lifestyle etc. Slightly intrusive and impersonal, but necessary from a business perspective, so understandable. There was a sense of being trafficked through the process, so it didn’t really feel like the person on the other side of the phone was trying to help, more to see if we qualified to be tenants.
We got a viewing booked in of the place we had our eye on, and the lady who showed us around was very helpful, very cheerful and knew the property well. We liked the property, and we liked her, so we virtually made our decision on the spot.
Next up was to pay the first fee. £300 to reserve the property and to start the process. Standard agency fees, but a bit steep. It would be great if each tenancy had a single price, rather than basing the price on the amount of people involved in the tenancy.
Lastly, and most importantly, we used the Docusign online signing system to review and sign the tenancy. We use a similar version at work, and it’s really easy to use. But the problem came with the content of the tenancy agreement. Although it took a while to figure out, essentially the 12 month period of the contract was stated as 13 months, meaning that we would be paying for an extra month at the end of the term and after (potentially) moving out of the property. This means that, without noticing this basic but important mistake, we would have been paying an extra £1,000 at the end of the agreement.
We raised this with FK and they were quick to change it, but no apologies.
I would recommend using FK because the person I dealt with was so friendly and helpful (once we passed the telephone test), but I would urge people to look at the details of the agreement. Lets hope for an amazing 12 months with them :)

One of several very popular student accommodation services in Oxford. In fact, this company is for everyone, not just students, and has a very wide range of properties. This does run the risk of them being less specialised, but in fact I think it makes them better as they’re used to dealing with a wide range of clients. They’re worth checking out for property throughout the year, although obviously there is more available at peak times for students. They have properties in the town centre and further afield, from one bedroom to six. If you have a spare room in your house, it may well be worth advertising through them. I’ve not heard any bad things, which makes a change for companies dealing with student accommodation.