I have used Gascoigne Pees/Contrywide to let our family home while we went abroad to work for 4 years. I chose full management and paid dearly for it, but the service I received for it wasn’t worth the money at all. When the tenants reported issues, Contrywide informed me late, hence that I asked the tenants to copy me in their emails, so that I could get on top of things quickly. I used one of their contractors for an issue in the main bathroom at the beginning of the tenancy and they sent a company that did a terrible job, caused damage and a lot of hassle and then went into liquidation, so I could not get any compensation. After that I chose contractors by myself and only used contractors I had previously used or highly recommended on Check-a-trade. Every time they offered the services of one of their contractors, the prices were extortionate. I ended up doing all the work myself, although I paid full management fees for 4 years. At the end of the tenancy the deposit rigmarole started, since the tenants have left a lot of damage and issues behind, which begs the question: how do Contrywide check references for tenants?? I accumulated tons of evidence in photos, videos, invoices, quotes, put everything together in an EPUB file and sent everything to Countrywide deposit team by 3rd August 2022. The adjudicator’s decision arrived only on 14th November and there were too many points in it that made no sense, as if the adjudicator looked at someone else’s file really. When I asked for the procedure to complain about the adjudicator’s decision, my case was passed to another member of the deposit team and it became clear that the previous employee tried to claim for items I never claimed anything for, while leaving out items I did claim for! Ultimately Contrywide are hindering me rather than helping me withhold the deposit, and they are exploiting the fact that I will take the tenants to the small claim court as an easy escape route to deny the responsibilities they have for their shoddy work. What a disappointment! And I though I was in the hands of professionals…