[dorklips]

Has anyone hadany experience dealing with such agencies ? As I understand you pay a once off joining fee and they arrange viewings during a set period, then there is nothing more to pay.
Is there anything hidden that I should be aware of ? This seems the easy and reasonably priced way for someone who is moving to Lonodn but not there yet...
thanks

[Bluey]

Perform a keyword search for these agencies on the forum and on google to get feedback.

Gumtree recommend that tenants do not pay upfront fees to agencies (i.e. fees to receive listings and arrange appointments before accommodation has been viewed and secured).

See our stay safe tips

http://www.gumtree.com/help/stay_safe#item73

[FunkyT]

We do not support Fl;atlet/Spacelet or anything where you have to pay a one off joing fee or whatever they want to call it.

Do a wee seach, as per Bluey's ideas

[Londonishesque]

My advice: avoid.

Flatland have been around for years. All they do is give you a list of properties. Effectively you are paying a very large fee for something that gumtree, loot, etc are giving away for free.

They tempt people with great flats advertised for bargain rents. Well, the places they advertise are never available ....nor any other properties of such calibre at such a low rents.

Here's my experience:
===============

When I was a teen, I called them only to discover I had to go and register before they would even talk to me. So I went along to their office & joined the 50 strong queue of hopefulls, filled out the form and handed over my fat *registry fee*.

Only once I had paid up was I told that all I would get was a list of properties. I then spent the day trailing round with all the other hundreds of idiots who'd forked out for this list. It didn't take me long to discover I'd wasted my time and money on a list of overpriced slums.

[Sentinel]

After not having much luck finding the type of room I was looking for on Gumtree/etc I foolishly paid the SPACELET registration fee of £59 on the premise that they had access to and would show properties and rooms which were otherwise not accessible via Gumtree/etc. Low and behold the first day they sent me to a property where upon my arrival and my mentioning of the SPACELET agency the girls living there gave me a blank look asking what I was talking about. All they had done was post an advert on Gumtree, and those scheming moneygrabbers at SPACELET had merely called them to arrange my viewing...Something I could have done myself for free and I wouldn't have bothered anyway because the room was not what I was looking for, which I would have seen from the photos. SPACELET lead me to believe they would show me places which were only available by registering with them, but ended up just passing off stuff I could have found myself on this site for free, and I paid them £59 for the privelidge. What a nice welcome back to London!