Has anyone used housing company GoHaven/Student Haven?
If you have used or attempted to use Haven please tell me your experiences because I tried to get a viewing of a house for 3 weeks. Every time I emailed or called them and gave them my email address and phone number they never arranged details for the viewing, they just say they or a colleage will call you, and then they never do, even after i complained about it to them, they still didn't call. I am starting to wonder if they are even a real company or a bunch of hustlers.
kobrakai
they are a real company, but they are a terrible one. i'm renting with them at the moment. our house has all kinds of things wrong with it, problems that have been here since before we moved in (july 1st) and we've had countless promises that they'd get sorted. but no, nothing yet. your best bet would be to actually go to the offices, the number you're told to call is for their call centre type place.
I had a similar experience with them, combined with a bad landlord. We were told we'd have central heating in the house before we moved in (July) so we didn't have to use the rubbish electric heaters. We eventually got the heating in January/February. We had a whole in the ceiling over the stairs that was there before we moved in which we told Go Haven about repeatedly and as far as I'm aware the whole is still there even though I haven't been in Huddersfield for 7 months.
The office is a hike and a half from the uni and not good when you're carrying a load of stuff ready to move in like I had to! Saying that, they did expect us to borrow (and even beg for) money from our parents to pay the deposit on the house. They weren't impressed when we told them that they could take a running jump and said we'd give Storthes our money instead for that comment.
Keep away from Go Haven.
blimey. that's horrible anth.
our landlord's a bit crap too. when we can't get through to go haven, we try him. our velux window in the kitchen ceiling has been leaking since before we moved in (though it hasn't been that bad so far), loads of times we've been told 'it'll be fixed asap!'. has it? no. apparently they need two or three days of sunny weather to be able to sort it...we've been here since july. i know the summer was a bit crap but were there not several days of sun during that...?
the curtains are off the hooks in the living room, my housemates' curtain rail has broken in half and as good as fallen down and out of about three or four strip lights in the bathroom, one works. one. and that looks set to go soon too.
i think this year's worse becasue we're dealing with go haven as the go between from us to the landlord. last year if we had problems, we'd contact our landlord directly or we'd go and see him (he owns that top spot snooker club by uni) and it'd get sorted quick enough.
our landlord's a bit crap too. when we can't get through to go haven, we try him. our velux window in the kitchen ceiling has been leaking since before we moved in (though it hasn't been that bad so far), loads of times we've been told 'it'll be fixed asap!'. has it? no. apparently they need two or three days of sunny weather to be able to sort it...we've been here since july. i know the summer was a bit crap but were there not several days of sun during that...?
the curtains are off the hooks in the living room, my housemates' curtain rail has broken in half and as good as fallen down and out of about three or four strip lights in the bathroom, one works. one. and that looks set to go soon too.
i think this year's worse becasue we're dealing with go haven as the go between from us to the landlord. last year if we had problems, we'd contact our landlord directly or we'd go and see him (he owns that top spot snooker club by uni) and it'd get sorted quick enough.
Reply 4
By the way,more about these nice people
http://www.unofficial-guides.com/comments/view/?id=566f958a91206757939d992322f4231c
http://www.unofficial-guides.com/comments/view/?id=566f958a91206757939d992322f4231c
Reply 5
Guys,you really need to stay away from these lot. They are not a chain - it is basically a brother and sister who run the shop in Marsh.
My mates and I rented a house from them in Marsh, which was in pretty crappy condition, but cheap. First week, heating and hot water went on the blink. GH ignored our calls saying the manager was out and they would get back to us. Never happened! Each time we went to visit the office,it was only a receptionist there who said she would pass on our messages.
We waited a two weeks, after which we called it a day and wnated to move out. Problem was, they wouldn't pay our deposit back saying we had messed the house up! Complete nonsnese. Anyway, after weeks of haggling and letters, we got half of our deposits back.
Now the shocker - i did some research into the owners and came up with the news story below. If you read it, it says the guy has nothing to do with the company,but it was him who showed us around the house and took our deposits. It was also him who eventually returned half our deposits. Clearly he is running the show.
Keep away from em.
http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/local-west-yorkshire-news/tm_objectid=16342204&method=full&siteid=50060&headline=debt-hit-trader-linked-to-town-firm-name_page.html
Extract:
"Debt-hit trader linked to town firm
Nov 7 2005 By Andrew Hirst, Crime Reporter, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner
A MAN whose company collapsed owing thousands of pounds has denied being involved in a similar venture in Huddersfield.
However, businessman Aziz Patel, 25, has answered the phone at Go Haven property letting agents in Marsh and has done promotional work for the newly-founded company."
My mates and I rented a house from them in Marsh, which was in pretty crappy condition, but cheap. First week, heating and hot water went on the blink. GH ignored our calls saying the manager was out and they would get back to us. Never happened! Each time we went to visit the office,it was only a receptionist there who said she would pass on our messages.
We waited a two weeks, after which we called it a day and wnated to move out. Problem was, they wouldn't pay our deposit back saying we had messed the house up! Complete nonsnese. Anyway, after weeks of haggling and letters, we got half of our deposits back.
Now the shocker - i did some research into the owners and came up with the news story below. If you read it, it says the guy has nothing to do with the company,but it was him who showed us around the house and took our deposits. It was also him who eventually returned half our deposits. Clearly he is running the show.
Keep away from em.
http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/local-west-yorkshire-news/tm_objectid=16342204&method=full&siteid=50060&headline=debt-hit-trader-linked-to-town-firm-name_page.html
Extract:
"Debt-hit trader linked to town firm
Nov 7 2005 By Andrew Hirst, Crime Reporter, The Huddersfield Daily Examiner
A MAN whose company collapsed owing thousands of pounds has denied being involved in a similar venture in Huddersfield.
However, businessman Aziz Patel, 25, has answered the phone at Go Haven property letting agents in Marsh and has done promotional work for the newly-founded company."
guys, just bumping this to warn you. go haven have been looking at this thread. my housemate told me earlier that they'd found it and mentioned it to other housemate when he went to hand in his keys, saying they wanted to speak to me about it. that said, they haven't been in touch with me at all regarding this, so i'll see if they say anything when i go hand in my keys sometime in the next week.
but, as i see it, this is a public forum and we're entitled to say what we want to. if they don't like what's being said, then it's up to them to change it. it isn't our fault that a lot of people have trouble with them.
but, as i see it, this is a public forum and we're entitled to say what we want to. if they don't like what's being said, then it's up to them to change it. it isn't our fault that a lot of people have trouble with them.
Reply 11
They can't possibly use the defamation line. We are merely saying what happened to use.
Zaul, what did they say in their email? Where they offering an apology or something?
Oh, I found this about them too
http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/Landlords-say-they-are-owed.1233006.jp
Zaul, what did they say in their email? Where they offering an apology or something?
Oh, I found this about them too
http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/Landlords-say-they-are-owed.1233006.jp
Reply 13
Absolutely terrible company, would avoid a million times over and advise anyone else to avoid them too. Absolute rubbish.
Pretty much lie to you bare faced or 'twist the truth'. We moved out in July and they tried to charge us our entire deposit and more to essentially clean the house and paint a wall. Absolutely ridiculous to get hold of, slow to reply to emails and phone calls. Charlotte one of the colleagues can be extremely snotty when you call up with a query or problem. Absolutely awful i can't say it enough times, avoid at all costs you'll lose a lot of money and live in poor conditions!!
Pretty much lie to you bare faced or 'twist the truth'. We moved out in July and they tried to charge us our entire deposit and more to essentially clean the house and paint a wall. Absolutely ridiculous to get hold of, slow to reply to emails and phone calls. Charlotte one of the colleagues can be extremely snotty when you call up with a query or problem. Absolutely awful i can't say it enough times, avoid at all costs you'll lose a lot of money and live in poor conditions!!
Reply 14
Me and my housemates have also had a similar experience with Go Haven. We left the property in August and also dealt with Charlotte who we had several problems with at the beginning of the tenancy. After leaving the property we heard absolutely nothing about our deposit return and after calling a few times we eventually received an email six weeks later. Though we knew tenants would have already moved into the property by this point, therefore there was no need for this long delay.
In the deposit return we were told we actually owed them money due to the damage in the house. There was minimum damage in the house which we took photos to prove. We too where charged for a full house re paint and an excessive amount for cleaning despite us cleaning the house from top to bottom before we left, we have also been charged for new sofas and a number of other ridiculous charges. Better yet Charlotte herself actually came to do a pre-inspection of the house and reported back that the house was in overall good condition and only needed light bulb replacements and to cover a few marks on the walls.
We knew the previous tenants to our property and also asked them for a copy of their deposit return in which they pretty much got the full amount back last year. They had been charged for the house repainting at 20+VAT per room and we were actually charged double at £40+VAT per room.
The problems at the start involved Charlotte giving us an incorrect tenancy start date that we actually signed for and then later told us this was incorrect. This meant that some of our tenants that are not from England had nowhere to live for around a month, she showed little sympathy and was incredibly rude and unprofessional about the whole matter and demanded us to all come in and sign a new agreement.
We feel as student we have completely been taken advantage of and this has not been a pleasant experience. Forward to receiving the reply to our deposit return after phoning, we were informed each individual tenant would have to email a response if we were not happy with the charges. We have replied and have STILL not had a response over a week later!
Getting in contact with this agency is almost impossible throughout our final year at University phoning the agency was the quickest and easiest way to get in contact during this busy period. However EVERY problem with the house had to be dealt with by email. We have wasted a lot of time with this agency and it is the last thing any student needs when you are trying to complete your degree!
In the deposit return we were told we actually owed them money due to the damage in the house. There was minimum damage in the house which we took photos to prove. We too where charged for a full house re paint and an excessive amount for cleaning despite us cleaning the house from top to bottom before we left, we have also been charged for new sofas and a number of other ridiculous charges. Better yet Charlotte herself actually came to do a pre-inspection of the house and reported back that the house was in overall good condition and only needed light bulb replacements and to cover a few marks on the walls.
We knew the previous tenants to our property and also asked them for a copy of their deposit return in which they pretty much got the full amount back last year. They had been charged for the house repainting at 20+VAT per room and we were actually charged double at £40+VAT per room.
The problems at the start involved Charlotte giving us an incorrect tenancy start date that we actually signed for and then later told us this was incorrect. This meant that some of our tenants that are not from England had nowhere to live for around a month, she showed little sympathy and was incredibly rude and unprofessional about the whole matter and demanded us to all come in and sign a new agreement.
We feel as student we have completely been taken advantage of and this has not been a pleasant experience. Forward to receiving the reply to our deposit return after phoning, we were informed each individual tenant would have to email a response if we were not happy with the charges. We have replied and have STILL not had a response over a week later!
Getting in contact with this agency is almost impossible throughout our final year at University phoning the agency was the quickest and easiest way to get in contact during this busy period. However EVERY problem with the house had to be dealt with by email. We have wasted a lot of time with this agency and it is the last thing any student needs when you are trying to complete your degree!
Reply 15
Your landlord must put your deposit in a government-backed tenancy deposit scheme (TDP) if you rent your home on an assured shorthold tenancy that started after 6 April 2007. In England and Wales your deposit can be registered with:Your landlord or letting agent must put your deposit in the scheme within 30 days of getting it.If they do not do this you can take it to court to seek upto 3 times the Deposit the original deposit paid, Example 600 was paid court award 3x so you would get 600x3 the original deposit amount on top and Landlord would pay court fees ect.
'Student Haven' are over priced (approx. £460 per month for a bedsit) and their property maintenance when done is shabby and unprofessional !! 'Student Haven' is anything but a haven for students, they are only interested in your money. Avoid like the plague, there are far better leasing companies for students in Huddersfield.
Mr Andy Patel? (real name Mr Aziz Patel) co-owner of Student Haven Properties in Marsh, Huddersfield owes me £300 for decorating work done at one of the properties : I completed the time consuming and skilled part of the badly damaged large period windows restorations and the badly damaged drainage pipes, 30ft to ground (trowel mastic, preparation and undercoat). Near the end of the job, Mr A Patel contested the 'arranged' price which was £400 (5 days work). I didn't agree to the new and lower price 'suggestion' so I stopped working. I was told very aggressively 'xxxxxxx leave my property IMMEDIATELY'! I was obstructed trying to put my ladders in my van. I left with all my tools.I still haven't received payment for the restoration work done at the property of Gledholt Road, Marsh. Mr Patel said he would take me to a small claims court.Untrustworthy,deceitful organisation, Beware!
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