I have been privately renting accommodation for the majority of my adult life and Bradleys are by far the worst estate agent I have ever had the displeasure of renting from. Dealing with the referencing company Bradleys use, Van Mildert, was a nightmare. They would ring me asking for documentation that I had already sent because they hadn't bothered to check the notes. When that was finally sorted Bradleys kept changing the move in date. They knew I was relocating from Scotland and, because of the distance, this made it even more stressful. When I collected the keys from Bradleys Exeter city centre office I had a question about the contract and the branch manager, Robin Middleton, simply said, “oh I don't deal with lettings.” He made absolutely no effort to find out the answer. I was not given all of the correct keys to the property. The inventory said there was a garage side door key and a key to the back gate. The garage side door key did not fit the lock and the door had been left unlocked, and the padlock to the back gate was not actually locking it and had completely rusted so that the key could not be used. These keys had clearly not been checked and it meant that when I first moved in I was unable to secure the garage, and I had to contact them in order to get it rectified. There was no apology for this. The incoming inventory completed by Tom Roberts was very wrong. I have mentioned about the keys not being checked, but there were also a lot of maintenance issues which were not noted down and he couldn't even be bothered to change the name on it, he had left it in the name of the previous tenant. The inventory had to be re-written and again there was no apology for this. I was not told I was living on a permit owners street (and it wasn't obvious because there was only one small sign at the end of the street), and this resulted in a fine being issued. When a complaint was made the response from Alison Wright, group personnel manager, was that it was “outside the remit of our staff” because of the garage. I had told them when the property was viewed that there would be two cars and they still said nothing. Furthermore, when I gave notice and they were showing potential renters around, for the viewings I was present for, every single one of them were told about the residents parking. Therefore, I believe either Alison was lying when she said the staff didn't have to mention it, or I was treated differently for some reason. I'm not sure which is worse. Also, with reference to all of the maintenance issues with the property Alison said “all property, whether privately owned or rented, will have maintenance issues on an ongoing basis.” Now I can appreciate this, however, I do not expect to move into a rented property and the next day have to report a load of maintenance issues that have not even been recorded on the inventory, and I especially expect to be given all of the right keys at the very least. Alison's letter was a very obnoxious response to a legitimate complaint where mistakes had been made by the business. The tenancy ended during lockdown and I had to contact Bradleys 3 times before I got an answer about what to do with the keys as the office was shut. I understand that this was a difficult time for everyone, but I think the only reason I heard from them then is because I said I was going to post the keys back through the letterbox which could have potentially left the property vulnerable. I said this is what I would do because I didn't want them to keep charging me rent when I had moved out. To be fair, when they did eventually contact me the employee I spoke to was really nice and did apologise. That is the only apology I have ever received when mistakes have been made. Otherwise it has been an “I'm sorry you feel that way” kind of response when at times they have clearly been in the wrong. I moved out on 1st April 2020 and the property was not inspected until 29th, I assume this was to do with Covid 19. However, I then received an email from Jayne Cardew, group rentals manager, wanting to take an extortionate amount of money from my deposit. I replied with a lengthy email, including pictures, but I never got a response. The next thing I knew it was sent to the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) without even trying to resolve it. When I questioned this Jayne said they didn't think it could be resolved without taking it to the TDS but, in my opinion, someone could have at least replied to my email to let me know this was happening. When I got the email from the TDS about the dispute there were things Bradleys were claiming for that they had never even mentioned to me. They wanted money for gardening giving no consideration to the fact that obviously the grass and weeds would have grown because it took them so long to do the inspection. In the outgoing inventory they added that there was a lawnmower at the property and tried to charge me. I made it very clear on the incoming inventory that there was no lawnmower but they conveniently decided not to use this in the evidence, luckily I had asked for a copy so I had proof. They also said I must have been happy with the condition of the property on move in because I had not returned the inventory. This was an outright lie. In the end the TDS decided Bradleys got no money for cleaning, gardening or the lawnmower, and significantly less for redecoration. I believe the TDS exists because of estate agents like Bradleys. However, the only reason I had proof of their deception was because I had asked for a copy of both inventories and I took my own pictures on move in and move out as evidence of the condition of the property. If you do rent from Bradleys, for example if you have no other choice, then please check the inventory thoroughly and ask for a copy of it, as this is the only way you will get one. Also please take your own pictures so if they try and pull the same crap with you, you will have proof to dispute it like I did. Bradleys use an online reporting system for any maintenance issues. When the boiler broke down I realised that, to my knowledge, there is no out of hours way to report. The website suggests that you would need to get someone out and pay for it yourself. Whether or not you would get reimbursed for this I don't know. Judging by the reviews and my experience I am of the opinion that Bradleys treat sellers and buyers a lot better than renters, I assume this is because they make more money out of it. Personally, due to the way I was treated, I would never use Bradleys again. I found their incompetence and dishonesty is just not worth it.