The Property Ombudsman Recenzje 402

If I could rate no star I would.

Please do not waste your time on the property ombudsman.

Absolute useless service.

I got a defined answer five months of raising a valid complaint where the outcome was basically that there is nothing that they can do to help resolve the complaint.

From the low rating in general it's obvious to not use them.

Absolutely disgraceful .
Few days in their language means several months .
After nearly a year of looking into a complaint it is yet to be understood. Extremely disappointing.

I have had an ongoing complaint with "purplebricks" for over a year, with regards to their fees,and the fact that they operate in a very villainous manner.
Although it took a year from the initial contact made with the property ombudsman for a resolution... I am over the moon to say that they agreed with my complaint, upheld it, and as a result had £1300 worth of fees removed.
I should never have even had this debt in the first place and would urge no body to use purplebricks to begin with... But I am very thankful to Karen Radford from the property ombudsman for her help.

The case/complaint, 5065 was closed without understanding the issue or asking for more information. Wasted time to fill out their useless complaint form, and they closed the case without our Consent
Edit: How to contact you, your all mails including given are unresponsive

Absolutely useless service. They are dealing with my case for over 8 months time and I do not feel they have actually done anything about it. It is a joke! They are waste of time and lost hopes! They should not exist if they are not fit for purpose! Waste ofbtax payers money!
Updated after response from TPOS 02.05.2024 asking me to contact them when they never reply to their emails.
Automated message says they reply within 5 days and they never reply!
The government should ban them from operating when they do not follow their own polices!

Waste of time. Borderline corruption. Supposed to judge the members that pay them. Clear conflict of interest. After almost a year of back and forth, the company I was going against were found to be guilty by TPO of failings that resulted in thousands of pounds to fix from our end. What did TPO attempt to award us as compensation? Less than 100 pounds. Naturally, I told them they are useless and the amount was pitiful.

Private company funded by subscriptions from property management companies etc, ie the very people you're complaining to them about.

On my very first complaint they admitted they can't direct companies to deal with complaints. At best, they get you a bit of compensation for your time/inconvenience. The compensation may or may not mean much to you, but it definitely doesn't hurt the company being 'penalised' - it's peanuts to them.

So I've complained a number of times and got a number of payouts. I hoped the property management company would start to feel the pain. My approach was basically "another 8 weeks has gone by when this company has not dealt with my complaints." But now they've decided that as I've already complained about the company not dealing with complaints and received a 'resolution' (aka pathetic payout), I can't complain about the company not dealing with complaints anymore!!!

As other reviewers have said, they are also constantly overwhelmed. It took them 24 weeks to pick up one of my complaints, only after me chasing them many times. Their business model is aimed at providing a cheap membership to bad actors like themselves, not at supporting people stuck in poorly-managed estates.

TPOS also changed their online complaints process in late 2023, as the old process gave complainants too much space to set out their complaints. Now you have to attach a single evidence file with a very low size limit, and even when your file is well below that limit it tells you it is too big. They don't want complaints, they just want to collect their fee and have a quiet life.

Unfortunately, if you're looking to complain about TPOS, you'll find they are members of an association that has no care about what its members are doing. I think that's where TPOS got the idea from.

I don’t understand how this place is still operating. I filed a complaint and my complaint was lost. They are now unable to retrieve my most recent complaint. The customer service is shocking, the lack of communication through out the process is shocking. I truly am wondering WHY it’s obligatory to be signed up with the ombudsman if you’re an agent if they don’t do anything to help. It’s a laughing stock. Avoid like the plague. If you have an issue you’re far better off trying to resolve it yourself. This place should be shut down and by the looks of it a hell of a lot people on here seem to think so too!!

TPO are appearing to be incompetent in dealing with my 9 month long complaint against my surveyor who failed to recognise roof failings costing me tens of thousands of pounds. However what they are actually doing is mascarading as an impartial service but in reality they will support their paying member by dismissing your evidence, make incorrect assumptions from your evidence to support their biased decision, not address all points of complaint in their decision. This company should be investigated just as the PO has recently been.

I've never seen a company with such a bad trust pilot review continue in its operations, they need to be investigated. Completely skewed towards assisting landlords and lettings agents, has nothing to do with being impartial or helpful toward those who lodge complaints. Months and months of zero help, no communication and excuses as to why they were not escalating it. They seem chronically overwhelmed with disputes and cannot provide timelines it's been around 8 months since providing all evidence. Save yourself the time and go to court instead of dealing with this mess. They are just another scam, masquerading as being impartial or helpful to tenants who've suffered due to their landlords, they shouldn't be in operation

Edit: I just spoke to a member of staff who said that me questioning their time frame has become "unreasonable behaviour" ahahahahahahaha - what an absolute joke

To reinforce what others are saying, complete waste of time. They are certainly biased towards the party you are complaining about. This organisation needs to be shut down as they are mascarading as an organisation that is a complaint resolution service for customers. All they do is side with the company you are complaining about. Completely ineffectual service. Sent me a response to justify there existence. Still not impressed. They can try and justify their actions but they should not be called Trust pilot as the reviews do not honestly reflect customer experiences. They are edited according to merchandisers wishes.

Found one off my complaints against valid, 2 others not.
But won't enforce estate agent to pay compensation!

So what is the point of this service?
Look after the agent, screw the little man.

Plus agents know how to play this system.
EDIT
Contacted today and tpo are going to contact estate agents for my compensation.

Almost half the residents signed to support my report to the TPO re: our management company. No accounts, no statements to provide the whereabouts of our sinking fund and a block of flats in a state of total neglect. TPO upheld every complaint I raised and issued a minimal amount of compensation but would not do more than that and advised I escalate to ARMA. I did, and ARMA suspended the firm for "considerable financial uncertainty". They stated this was "serious". I reported back to the ombudsman this firm is now suspended by ARMA for the reasons that formed the basis of my complaint but TPO did not even reply, so as far as I am concerned they are endorsing a firm that is now suspended from ARMA by allowing them to remain on the TPO register and I am now in conversation with Baroness Scott of Bybrook OBE from the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities regarding this. Meanwhile our block of flats despite having a new management company (as the freeholder sacked the original company as it now transpires they also owe him a large amount of ground rent that they collected but did not pass on) is still in a state of neglect with no sinking fund money to put it right.

Absolutely useless Think that it is perfectly fine and ok for an estate agent to repeatedly enter your property after being provided with a court order, The property ombudsman think that this is legal and there is nothing wrong with this action. Seemingly turn a blind eye to illegal activity.

After having a level 2 survey carried out the surveyors Flintross Moorhouse failed to highlight the serious defects in our roof and the damp. We had issues before the 1st winter. We took photos of everything and asked them to come out. They refused and denied any responsibility. We had to go through their complaints process which they didn’t even adhere to before we could take the matter up with the Property Ombudsman. We provided extensive evidence and again asked them to and see for themselves. They never responded to this. Instead the Ombudsman took almost 90 days to offer £200 and highlighted that our pictures were not date stamped. Why not ask us then. They are on the IPad so the dates could have been provided. The surveyors didn’t even look in the loft or take photos. Absolutely waste of time. In the PO response they start with saying that they are not qualified so why did this person even investigate our complaint? Turns out the company is gone into liquidation. Avoid at all costs. They are not interested. We are now facing at least £20,000 for a new roof and also the rotten joists underneath. I will be looking out for Flintross Moorhouse setting up under a different company name!! Shame on you. Thing is karma will do its thing!!

THIS IS A TOTALLY IRRELEVANT ORGANISATION.
Having explained that an online auction house was selling a property with totally incorrect information and not that it was not disclosing very important information the Property Ombudsman simply said that there was nothing they could do. What is is there for then? Perhaps they can answer that simple question?

I have just received a hard won "re-review" of my complaint against FirstPort Retirement Home Services first lodged early August 2022 and which has upheld many complaints of lack of compliance by FP with TPO own GMO and ARMA Consumers Charter BUT -and its a very big BUT- I have received an mail from TPO Adjudicator further stating TPO powerlessness to act to "enforce" compliance with TPO Codes or to expel a Member..

I feel totally confused by the lack of logic as I see it inTPO saying "TPO deal with the individual service complaints with formal adjudication and address membership compliance separately from that" which response I have challenged and trust TPO will take appropriate action.

This re- review is pointless if at the end of the day TPO is powerless to implement any redress for a Consumer's complaints which TPO has upheld against a TPO Member for breaches in their Membership "Rules".

I ask what actual comfort a Consumer can expect in reality from a Property Manager publishing their Membership of an apparently toothless watchdog?

Susan Reed BA (Hons) FRSA
BH5 1AF

Complete waste of time. Spent over an hour completing the Complaints Form on their Home Page. Uploaded lots of evidence to support our complaint and completed all the required fields. Went to press SUBMIT & the system wouldn't allow me to complete. Complete waste of time, energy & money

I have come on here to post my review and am shocked to see so many negative comments. My experience couldn't be any more different. Yes it did take a while but it was certainly worth the wait. If Storeys of London are anything to go by, I can appreciate TPOS are probably inundated! Never dealt with a more deceiptful or incompetent lettings agent

My complaint was dealt with by Kirstie Williams and I couldn't have asked for a more fairer, more accurate outcome. Kirstie kept me informed at all stages and was very thorough in her review of the issues I'd experienced with the awful Storeys of London lettings. What stood out to me was the fact that despite complex issues, with he said, she said etc, Kirstie was able to detail exactly what happened, the obligations of these so called managing agents and identify shortcomings in their "management" of our home. My complaint was upheld and I have had the greatest pleasure in sharing her review directly with our landlord who up to now, thought I was responsible for all the issues. Not true Storeys, or should I refer to you as "Stories" because that's all you tell.

All I can say is, if you have a genuine complaint, then I'm sure it will be considered fairly and impartially by TPOS .

Thank you so much Kirstie. You have made such a difference.

Following my last negative comment I received an email from a resolution officer with TPO. Wanted convenient day and time to telephone me to discuss my complaint. So gave him either 1st/2nd November between 11.00 am & 16.00 pm. And guess what? Didn't bother to rely to my email or contact me. What a waste of time. Thanks TPO for a complete and utter waste of 10 hours. You should be ashamed of yourselves.