Juliet

Unbelievably incompetent, no urgency, no attention to detail, no common sense, no customer care. My bathroom ceiling collapsed on 3 March making holes in the floor large enough for an adult to fall through. We’re now nearly six months later and they’re asking for yet more quotes. These could have been requested months ago. Meanwhile, I have lumps falling off the exposed joists into my bathroom every day, can see the neighbour through the ceiling and have holes large enough to fall through on the floor. It’s hard to understand why anybody would use this company that makes a bad situation even worse.

We have Allianz for our buildings insurance. On 3 March my bathroom ceiling collapsed and made holes in the floor large enough for an adult to fall through.

It’s now almost 6 months and no action had been taken. It’s incredibly stressful dealing with them on top of the mess in my flat. There’s no sense of urgency, replies take weeks and they then want yet more quotes they could have asked for weeks ago. So far I’ve given them a surveyors report (which they requested then ignored), builders quotes, photos of before and after, two visits from their surveyor, leak detector. None of this is my fault - it’s poor external maintenance and an upstairs leak - so it’s quite incredible that I’m having to pay out to make my flat safe and habitable. Definitely not an experience I would recommend.

We regularly have intermittent service and have just been left without any service for over three weeks. The first engineer they sent completely cut the line, the second told us he wasn’t qualified to make the repairs. Every time I called, it would take 7 days for them to send the next engineer. This is despite having a disabled child in the house and living in an area with limited mobile phone reception. They’ve just offered me £9.46 in compensation and charged me for the full period. I’m changing supplier as fast as I can.

Took my watch into the local store to get the battery replaced, was told it would take about 4-5 weeks, so was really pleased when it was returned, FOC, cleaned and to my home, after 3 weeks.

I used Lightfoots for the purchase of my flat. The communication was dismal, the conveyancer didn’t once respond to requests for a meeting, I’d get calls telling me I needed to move substantial amounts the next day, they lost £10k during the exchange process. I then had issues with the (it now seems notorious) managing agent for the flat being sent a bill for nearly £25k within weeks of buying the flat. I engaged the Lightfoots legal team to work through this. They charged me nearly £600 to read my emails summarising the situation, no advice. A very expensive and stressful experience.

Initially I gave HML benefit of the doubt thinking they were incompetent but soon realised they lack ethics. They charge extortionate service charges and deliver the worst services, if you get any at all. I wish I could include photos. From the floor to ceiling mould and rot caused by overflowing drains, sewage outside our house, shrubs growing past the first floor, uncut grass and brambles, repointing in different colours, painting without sanding, there is no end. Your house will be devalued by the lack of maintenance and the service charges will make it unsaleable. We regret the day we bought a property managed by HML.

Easy, prompt and efficient!

Want to see dishonest and incompetent company in action? Move into a property managed by HML. Post a negative review and see if it’s still there in a couple of months time.

So Letstalk, please address the common themes across HML managed estates. Where are the drain cleaning contracts? Why aren’t the lawns mowed or shrubs pruned? Why do we pay excessive charges for services that aren’t delivered? Why do we have health and safety issues marked as urgent in 2017 that haven’t yet been addressed? Seems like these are issues for multiple estates yet I’m sure there will now be another flood of disingenuous reviews praising Cheryl, Jade and Darren.

The reality is that we have a property with mould growing up the walls and it’s July. We can’t see through our windows because the shrubs have grown over them. Our drains overflow and we have sewage on the paths because the contracts due on 1 January are still not in place. These are issues that have been repeatedly raised, we’ve written to your CEO who couldn’t be bothered to reply, we’ve been through your complaints process and we still have the same issues. In fact we now have more problems as we’ve been advised that your lack of property management has caused our entire ground floor to rot.

You have all the details you need to resolve the issues. We look forward to constructive progress.

Avoid anything managed by HML.

We made the mistake of buying a flat managed by them and are charged nearly £6400 a year. HML are unable to say what services this covers. It isn’t drain cleaning because they haven’t yet put the contract in place even though it was due on 1 January. Our drains overflow, the smell is awful and it’s seeping into the buildings. Lawns are nearly knee high, trees and shrubs haven’t been attended to for years. There are health and safety items marked as urgent in 2017 that still haven’t been actioned, paint is flaking, repointing needs to be done, the roofs leak…

We’ve written to their CEO and completed their complaints process and they haven’t sorted anything. They post fake reviews (I doubt that Sir David Suchet CBE lives in an HML managed property in Dartford) and invite contractors to bump up their score, there are NO POSITIVE REVIEWS FROM PEOPLE WHO OWN HML MANAGED PROPERTIES,

I’m surprised this company hasn’t been investigated for its fraudulent practices. Is there a case for group action against this company?

Brilliant. Easy to navigate website, easy to order, smoke and heat alarms were delivered the next day. Great service.

Avoid at all costs. This is a dishonest, incompetent and unqualified company.

I’ve written to their CEO (HML have asked me to remove his name) who passed me into the customer services team who provided incorrect detail, I’ve gone through their complaints process with no resolution provided, ‘let’s talk’ seems to be a public response but hasn’t talked at all.

Health and safety and maintenance items marked as urgent in 2017 have yet to be started, they use contractors with no experience, deliver sub-standard work if anything at all, and will block external contractors even when it’s clear the service and charges are cheaper and significantly better elsewhere. This is a company that is out to make as much profit at your expense as it can, it does not care how much it’s running down your estate.

They’re quick to demand money, often erroneously, and do not respond to email. You will pay thousands of pounds that you weren’t expecting for a service that isn’t delivered, or potentially may be delivered years late by unqualified and untested contractors. They hide behind legal jargon but can’t resolve queries or address issues.

We are still waiting for contracts to be put in place for basic work including drain cleaning and because the drains are backing up into our property, we’re paying to have them cleaned ourselves.

Having experienced HML, I would avoid buying a property that had any involvement with them. They are daylight robbers.