Ossum L&D Reviews 10

Subject: Formal Complaint and Refund Request – Misleading Accommodation Booking and Violation of Student Rights

Dear Universal Student Homes,

I am writing to formally lodge a complaint and request an immediate refund of the payment I made to reserve a specific accommodation through your service.

Despite taking the full payment from my end under the assurance of securing a particular room, you failed to fulfill your commitment. I was later informed that the room I had reserved and paid for was no longer available. This is deeply concerning and amounts to a serious breach of trust and responsible business conduct.

As per UK housing and consumer protection laws, particularly under the guidelines governing student accommodations, it is unlawful to charge a student for accommodation that is ultimately not provided. Accepting payment without delivering the promised service is not only unethical but could also be considered fraudulent.

I trusted your platform based on the information and guarantees presented to me. However, this experience has been disappointing and has caused unnecessary stress during an already challenging time as I prepare to move to the UK. I am no longer interested in being offered alternative accommodations—I specifically paid for the room that was initially agreed upon, and your inability to provide it nullifies our agreement.

I am hereby requesting the full and immediate refund of the amount I paid. Failure to process this refund within the next 7 business days will leave me no choice but to escalate this matter to relevant authorities, including the student housing ombudsman, consumer protection bodies, and possibly seek legal advice.

Please treat this matter as urgent and confirm the initiation of the refund process without delay.
Don’t Trust these types of private accommodation platform.They only have fake photos of accommodation and all they need is scam amount in the name of security deposit.

Sincerely,
Aarav

I’m writing this on behalf of a friend who had a terrible experience with this housing agent. They paid £190 for a "securing deposit" to lock in a rental property. The agent was helpful at first, but after receiving the payment, they failed to actually secure the property as promised.

Despite several attempts to reach out and follow up, the agent stopped responding and left my friend with neither the property nor the money.

This is a warning to anyone considering using their services. My friend has been let down, and I strongly recommend steering clear of this agent to avoid losing your money.

My experience with this company has been nothing short of terrible. Their agent, Rateb Bakeer, asked me to pay £150 just to get a viewing and promised to compensate the amount if I booked through them. However, after taking my money, they provided only two options that were completely unsuitable - both were far from my university and way beyond my budget. This company is a scam and lacks professionalism.
Do yourself a favor and stay away from Universal Student Homes. Pathetic service and a complete waste of money! And more than that they are not letting my review stay on this site as it is and removing it continuously.

I'm posting this on behalf of a friend who had a very disappointing experience with this housing agent. My friend paid £190 for a "securing deposit" to secure a rental property. While the agent initially helped, they failed to actually secure the place and left my friend in a difficult situation.

After making the payment, the agent communicated for a short time but never followed through with securing the property as promised. Despite multiple follow-ups, they stopped responding, and now my friend is out of pocket with no property secured.

This is a warning for anyone considering their services. My friend has been let down, and I strongly advise against using this agent to avoid being scammed out of your hard-earned money.

I strongly advise against using USH for accommodation services in the UK. Three of my friends were scammed by this company while trying to secure a place to stay. Here's what happened:
-They requested a deposit and promised to secure a unit for us.
-The viewing was delayed multiple times.
-When the move-in date approached, they claimed the unit was not secure.

It became clear that they were never planning to fulfill their promises. This company operates in bad faith and takes advantage of vulnerable individuals seeking accommodation. Do not trust them, and avoid them at all costs.

If you’ve been affected by similar issues, please report them to consumer protection authorities to prevent further scams.

(Don’t be fooled by their professional but useless reply, that’s not the way they communicate at all, it’s usually just useless without the professionalism, they don’t even bother to check their spelling before texting you. Plus, they claim to have reached out to me multiple times? I was the one texting them and them ignoring my texts. And their last text to me is “I believe now u happy” after i posted my review. Yea, great effort to reach out to me that is. Their explanation of my booking being completed is ludicrous, but I’m not even gonna say more about that part because what’s the point, the important part is, these people will take your deposit, not secure your accommodation, not tell you your accommodation is not secured so you have to do everything last minute, and on top of that they will keep your deposit)

Through a friend’s recommendation, I contacted the agent to secure an accommodation. After paying the “securing fee”/deposit for the accommodation, I thought the accommodation was secured.

Around a month before I was going to move in the accommodation, my friend and I contacted the agent again and was extremely shocked when we were told that the landlord hasn’t accepted my offer yet. I was upset because by that time a lot of other good accommodation choices were already fully booked. The agent told us nothing about having to wait for the landlord to accept our offer.

So, I had to book another accommodation myself because all the other options the agent gave me by then was either fully booked or not ideal. The agent then told me that because I went on and booked a place myself, the “securing amount”/ deposit will not be refunded.

After a series of arguments, the agent promised a partial refund of 15%, a laughable amount. Despite his promise, I chased the 15% for months and he kept ignoring me. Whenever he did reply, he made excuses.

After that, I couldn’t wait anymore and contacted another one of their employees. He finally settled the 15% for me, on the condition that I do not complain about them in trustpilot.

However, because my friend (the one that recommended me the agent) complained about them in trustpilot because the agent failed to secure him the accommodation and refused to refund him as well, they took back my 15% because MY FRIEND complained about them and not ME. And instead of contacting my friend themselves, they asked me to ask my friend to delete their complaint if I wanted my 15% back. Hence why I’m complaining now lol.

Overall 0/10 experience, do not recommend.

I am extremely frustrated and disappointed with this agent. My friend and I paid a total of £380 in December 2023 to secure a unit they initially offered us, but they failed to secure it for us. Instead, they provided us with alternative options that were all far from the university (over an hour’s walk) and not up to standard.

Before receiving the deposit, the agent was very enthusiastic and responsive. However, once the deposit was paid, the communication completely dropped off. My friend and I had to chase him every week for updates, and sometimes he didn’t even bother to reply. I requested to view the unit multiple times since 2023, but the agent always delayed and never allowed us to view it. Only in the final month of our previous tenancy did we realize the accommodation was not secured, leaving us in a difficult situation with no options. We trusted them from the start, but in the end, they didn’t provide any accommodation until the very last month.

They promised a 20% refund, but to date, we haven’t received anything. They never even asked for our bank details to process it. Losing that much money as students is incredibly frustrating and unfair. I really hope to get back my deposit, but so far, there has been no resolution.

Do not trust this agency, they have been unprofessional, unreliable, and have not kept their promises. Avoid at all costs.

I had an extremely frustrating experience with Universal Student Home. I was working with an agent who advised me to pay a deposit to secure a unit. After following their instructions, I made the deposit promptly. The agent also suggested I offer a lower asking price, which I did in good faith. However, when it came time to secure the unit, I was told that the price I proposed was too low, even though it was the agent’s suggestion in the first place.

In the end, I didn’t get the unit and was promised a refund of my deposit. It’s been weeks now, and I still haven't received a refund or any response from their team. I’ve reached out multiple times via email, but my messages have been completely ignored. This company is dishonest, unprofessional, and clearly operates with bad intentions. I would not recommend Universal Student Home to anyone. It feels like a scam, and I’m left out of pocket with no resolution.

Do yourself a favor and avoid this company at all costs.

India Based Company, Delayed viewings with excuse after excuse. Promised refund if viewing did not happen. They didn,t. Was getting too close to University start date for comfort and still no viewings arranged. Asked for refund of the deposit. First refused, then offered 10% then 20%. Filed a dispute with bank with whatsapp evidence of no viewings. Bank investigated and gave full refund. Avoid like the plague.

Company stopped helping and wouldn't give any responses. Got a 20% refund back for my deposit. I'm very disappointed in this service. I was using this to secure my private sector accommodation for this next year. Highly unprofessional and disappointing