Touchstone - Bath - Bath

Caleb F.

Emailed early December to end my tenancy for 6th February. It took weeks to get confirmation of this.

Were told agent would check us out between 12pm and 6pm, we booked the day off work and waited all day, no one showed up, no phone call, no email no apology. No instructions given on what to do with keys so we kept them safe with us until instructed otherwise, and moved to our new home.

Again, no contact for a fortnight, before they eventually asked us to drive back to the property (45 minutes each way) and put them through the letterbox.

No contact again for days, and finally a deposit return agreement email came over which we agreed to right away. 3 weeks since we received this email...

5 weeks after move-out, no deposit, and almost no communication.

Every time I've called the office, I'm on hold for over 45 minutes before finally giving up. Calls never returned, the few emails that we have received since December have all been from a different person. We have had no clue who our designated property manager has been since it changed in June 2024, which feels like a deliberate move to make it unclear who to contact.

This has been the most unprofessional, drawn out and chaotic move-out from a property I have ever experienced. If I wasn't in desperate need of my deposit returned it would be hilarious.

It's not that complicated. If there is a delay in processing a tenants deposit, why not have a copy+paste email template apologising for the delay, and giving an approximate time frame to expect it. It's such a small thing, that would make a huge difference to a tenant's level of worry. If I missed my rent by 1 day, it was easy enough to get hold of them.

I'd suggest anybody who's been in a similar situation with Touchstone to also take this to the council as I will be, in the hopes that, eventually they will improve the woeful levels of service for their future tenants.

Deposits are not trivial amounts of money, tenants need them returned to survive and secure future accommodation.

I'd rather not receive a response asking me to email [email protected] as I have no faith my email will be answered. I will not spend any more of my life attempting to make contact. I would just like to warn others of the potentially massive amounts of time you will waste and unnecessary stress you will likely experience renting from Touchstone.

Chloe W.

Like others that have left reviews, I too hate that I need to give Touchstone even one star in order to leave a review. I'm a current tenant being completely ignored by Touchstone after we were left without a working boiler for almost three weeks - during which we experienced snow and minus degrees temperatures. We have four very young children in our property and two of us are vulnerable people. Touchstone ignored us for over a YEAR after we raised concerns through their portal about unsafe and uncontrollable water temperatures that had burned us and our children, along with other property issues that are also still unresolved (Nov 2023). Fast forward to December 2024 after raising the issue a third time, a heating engineer attended us and told Touchstone our boiler needed replacing. Touchstone closed for Christmas before doing this, knowing they'd be uncontactable until 2nd January and that we were being left with dangerous water temperatures and a boiler beyond repair. Our boiler began kettling during this period and was condemned on the 30th December by an emergency engineer. A director was fully aware of our situation at this point and made no offer of temporary accommodation.
After a very long and arduous ordeal with Touchstone, we finally got our heating back and wrote our complaint, requesting money back from our rent for the period we were without a boiler and compensation for their negligence. Our second final response from higher management was due almost two weeks ago and we have not received it. I have tried so hard to get hold of anyone for our final response, I have left two voicemails with Sophie, a voicemail with her manager Dan, as well as an email to [email protected] (which laughably says a reply will be sent within two days) and all have been ignored, as well as the receptionists sending various managers messages on my behalf over a period of two weeks, and still nobody has contacted or responded to us. I honestly cannot believe how awful this company is at property management and customer service, their negligence and unprofessionalism is unbelievable. Their complete incompetence to simply make contact - unless they want money from you - is shocking, especially as this is supposedly higher management!
I'm looking forward to the reply on here which others have received, asking to contact them about this situation - I already have, multiple times in multiple ways, so can I please get a response now? I otherwise have no option but to contact the ombudsman.

Josh K.

One of the worst rental experiences I have had, and an even worse time trying to get my own deposit back!

I rented a 3 bed flat in Salisbury for nearly 2 years, with a persistent leaking shower for over 7 months. This caused an enormous amount of damage in the bathroom including damp and bad smells, yet I was met with no urgency to fix the issue. Once someone started to take notice, I was rudely told to not use the shower - for over a month.

Once ending my tenancy, it took touchstone 6 weeks to agree deductions, and then another 5 weeks to return my deposit. Not only was this in poor faith, but its completely illegal according to the Tenancy Deposit Scheme. It was only returned at that point because I started a dispute with the TDS, as I'm sure they would have held onto my money even longer. Everyone involved in the deposit return (Madelene, Daisy, their mysterious manager who has never answered, and the entire accounts department) are stealing a wage.

If I was desperate for a place to live, I'd choose a bus shelter over a touchstone property.

Wimborne S. S.

Avoid This Property Management Company

I strongly advise against renting from or hiring this company to manage your property. As current tenants, we have experienced firsthand their complete lack of commitment to property maintenance. Despite numerous requests, a long list of issues has persisted unresolved for over a year. Their disregard for tenant concerns and property upkeep is unacceptable. Save yourself the frustration and look elsewhere.

All reported and sent off to the feedback team, but still no resolution to the 6 issues we currently have, but I'm not surprised this is how Touchstone operates.

Gary S.

Spoken with Maisy regarding a number of issues, none of which were their doing. Absolutely fantastic service. Calls back with accurate information, at the agreed time with added insight and support. It takes much of the stress and pressure away when dealing with someone so knowledgeable and considerate. Charlotte has also been really helpful (and kind) when dealing with us.

Kate H.

Even 1 star is too much! Unprofessional and unbelievable customer service. I have been without a washing machine for just shy of 1 month. It was supposed to be done by 12th September. It wasn't, I chased and an outside company Harris Electronics made an appointment for the 26th to install. Never turned up waited all day. I chased Harris Electrical 3 times that afternoon. To be fobbed off they are literally useless too, I'm still waiting. Touchstone useless to get hold of, receptionist says they all work from home, I said I want management to call me back by today with answer or I will take further. How do these people advertise themselves as professionals...joke!!

Nelson S.

Moved into the property in Bristol in Feb 2024. There were a few hiccups while moving in, considering that the property had been empty for 3 months and it was gathering dust, cobwebs and woodlouse. There was a leak from the ensuite shower to the kitchen downstairs which the previous tenants failed to report. They were responsive the first few weeks and got some work done. But the contractors failed to complete the job and haven't responded to the other jobs that were reported along with the leak. Been waiting for repair works to be completed for the past 2 months now. I feel neglected after all the times I've tried to contact them. Used their portal (Residently app) to raise the issues again. They combined all the jobs into one and then closed the other jobs and then went back to not responding to my comments or calls. Reading the reviews below, I'm worried whether they'd ever get fixed.

Edit April 2024: I mailed them of my grievances (again) and Touchstone have now responded and have agreed to send the contractors on Tuesday (30th April). Will update this review once the works get done.

Reply to Touchstone: Thanks for your reply. If only you replied to the messages I left via the Residently app as fast as your response to this review. I've left my previous letting agents (Twelvetrees Accommodation) a 4 star review for the way they handled everything. Prove to me that you're not as bad as all the other reviews below. Get the work done on time, be more responsive to my messages and I promise I'll edit this review to a better rating.

Edit May 2024: 1 star to 3 stars.
Why? Yes, they sorted everything. But it took so much effort from my side calling them and mailing them so many times to get a job done. But they did finally do it. So upgrading to 3 stars from 1 star.

Note to everyone renting: This is my 5th property that I'm renting. I've moved around the UK quite a lot for work and family. Most property agents are like this anyway. So I'm glad they're at least getting the work done, albeit quite slow and requiring me to constantly get in touch with them through various means. But 3 stars isn't bad at all.

rhys1265

Where to begin. Their communication is awful and the process went on for nearly 3 weeks before a decision was even made. They teased our hopes, with some of them even unable to construct a professional email with correct spelling.

I'd echo a lot of the similar reviews on this company with no one with any empathy or compassion for people's lives. You'll receive no update unless you do all the chasing and fail to achieve deadlines. We were passed from person to person with no communicating with each other, save your time and find a reputable company.