UNITE/UNITE GROUP/Unite Student Accomodation/Unite Student Housing review: UNITE is a RIP-OFF 18

Hi there,

Reading your story, one seemed clear - a typical case of encountering a department/team of a company makes you think, that the whole business is like that, that we ALL operate and treat our customers like that ( yes this suggests I work for UNITE)
Now let me guess - you have NEVER met a teacher or tutor that favoured one pupil/student over another (did you want to BRING the whole school down? Most likely not!)
Now don't get me wrong, I actually believe you... cuz it's nothing new, hearing about people that don't do their job properly, but to make your post more transparent, you should have enclosed to whom you reported any maintenance issues (cuz if you didn't via maintenance report or at the reception, how would the team have known?And if you did, did you raise a complaint or escalate it if it wan't solved?) By the way - are you a fire fighter? If not- it was a silly thing to put the fires out ( health&safety and common sense and stuff...)
Also your tenancy agreement tells you what happens if you don't pay RENT. And the fact that we have no capped bills is all over our advertisements, therefore, if you were cold you could have had extra heating in your room without extra charges.
All Unite buildings have up- to date prices and any additional fees if applicable, so before you booked a room YOU and your guarantor knew exactly how much and how often the rent would have to be paid and also how big the room will be.
To add to this - no one will ever be evicted after 4 days of due rent or even a week or 2, that's not how we work, which suggests that you didn't pay rent for at least a month. (you should have mentioned that too and FYI- any private landlord would have kicked you out within 2 weeks)
And at last -
5.13 x 60hours =1231.20 gross - 752 (rent+all bills) = 479.20 minus tax if applicable = you have more at the end of a month than most of the average families with 1 child so stop being so stuck up and just grow up!
There is so much the company can do for you, but business is business and if you don't pay rent you won't get endless second chances!

At £752 a month, Unite must think Students and their parents have money to just throw around randomly. I am in the process of being evicted, despite paying money on CHRISTMAS EVE, sacrificing my christmas and then working 50-60 hours a week on £5.13 an hour to try and pay the rent. Rather than trying to help me with my monetary issues Unite have instead shafted me, trying to make me sleep rough (which I have had to do in the past due to how hard it is to get Accommodation in Aberdeen) and been totally unflexible and unhelpful. only 3 of the staff I have encountered have actually been decent and helpful at Mealmarket Exchange. They bent of over backwards to try and help me chase up management to put a payment plan though and Management gave me 4 DAYS to pay £614 pounds, like I just have the money randomly sat around.

I stay at Aberdeen's Mealmarket Exchange. It is supposed to be the "premium"/premiere unite accommodation to stay in. For £752 a month you get: a 10ft by 12ft box, with very little storage, a tiny shower room/toilet, 1 fridge freezer between 5 people, broken door seals on your Oven, poor ventilation in the bathrooms, shoddy double glazed windows with poor seals so the heat escapes easily (it has dropped to 10 degrees Celsius in my room overnight before), the heating then can only stay on for 2 hours at a time before it automatically switches off.

The fridge-freezer has been leaking coolant/BUTANE gas, a flammable gas, for months now and nothing has been done about it. Considering one of my flat mates has caused 2 kitchen fires which I have had to put out myself and then vacate the building after opening all windows and turning on extraction this is out right foolery. I'm pretty sure they would claim on the insurance for "faulty goods" if an explosion was to occur.

I will be establishing a counter case against Unite and contacting Trading Standards to launch an investigation FOR THE SECOND TIME into Unite Integrated Solutions PLC due to how they conduct business. Their tenancy agreement is Unstatutory and illegal, signing it doesn't mean they have jack ### against you in court as it is also contradictory.

If you would like to bring Unite down, brick by brick then please, don't hesitate to contact me on the below email:

savannahplaine15@gmail.com

I will relish the opportunity to make Unite's Share Capital Price drop by over 500% like it did in 2009 (the reason they are now even more desperate for money).

I totally agree regarding this! I live with UNITE for a year and it has been a big disaster. They never simply solve your problem but they are just trying without giving any good result. UNITE only talk nicely but never did anything much. Currently, I never took my summer room and never return the contract as well. Now my deposit is being held and I am being charged with the summer room rent which I never used or even took the key. This is crazy and I have been emailing them since but never get a professional response. They just keep on asking me to pay without even considering what I wrote to them.

This is only some of the bad experience I had with UNITE, during the year I have constant problem and I will never want to live with UNITE again. This happened in Sky Plaza, Leeds.

At all cost, avoid UNITE properties!

Thanks!

Hi all

Do all the stated problems apply to all properties of UNITE? How about wellington lodge?

Thanks!

I have not personally suffered from many big maintenance issues. However I can say that I have been victimised and harassed the entire year as I live on the ground floor. Other residents (god knows who) constantly bang on my window, throw objects at it, lean on it, smoke right outside it so my room always smells of tobacco which is unpleasant as I do not smoke. I complain ALL THE TIME and nothing is ever done. Once they put up a paper sign (which was quickly ripped down) saying not to smoke near entrances to blocks and residents windows. They put this up and yet the staff themselves, especially the cleaners smoke outside the entrances and windows! What kind of unprofessional people even smoke casually on a job.. The only other thing that was ever done was - I figured out the names of a group that victimised me and threatened me (through the window, how brave of them) and connected them to a university and they were given a warning by their uni's to leave me alone. Sadly that is the only serious response I have received and harassment continues from other individuals all day and through the nights too, it can be really scary. Note that my window faces an inner courtyard for the blocks and so it is ONLY students doing this. Staff say they look at cctv but are unable to identify people.. Nonetheless my year of hell is nearly over however I am worried I will not receive my deposit back in full as many students complain unite does not like to return it or that it charges high prices for unnecessary things like repainting a wall is 69 pounds.. whaaaat.. I am hoping I can demand my money back given the awful paint job in our flat, the fact it took them two months to replace our broken window (the entire window fell OUT of the wall what the f right? the frame and everything), of course the harassment and threats and fear I have put up with, I have even developed depression and contemplated suicide after my experiences and I am now mistrustful and fearful of random people whereas I used to be a happy and normal girl. Do not sign up with Unite.

Agree. As stated in comments stated below.

Location: Greencoat House managed by Unite Student Accommodation, Kingston Upon Thames
Stay period: 2012/13

I have lived in Greencoat House for the 2012/13 academic year. However, it is absolutely the worst student accommodation that I have ever lived before.

Greencoat House, which is situated in Kingston Upon Thames, is managed by Unite Student Accommodation. The photos and all the booking procedures listed in the Unite website are detailed and looks to be a reliable student accommodation, considering the scale it covered in the whole UK.

However, the actual management onsite is absolutely not satisfactory once I have moved in. I rented a single student studio in Greencoat House. I have to say all of room facilities are in satisfactory condition, with no broken pieces. However, it is all about the management which messed up all my experience in staying in Greencoat House.

Firstly, the fire alarm rang on almost THREE to FOUR times per week. I am not sure whether it is a fire alarm or someone deliberately set on the fire alarm just for fun, the fire alarm just ranged TOO frequently. Sometimes during daytime, sometimes during midnight, without any notice. It is not acceptable to trouble a paid customer for such a frequent amount of disturbance.

Secondly, there is at least ONE maintenance access to your room every SINGLE week, considering I am staying in that building for a year. The number of times to access the student room is too frequent and not acceptable. Also, there will surely have other workers (i.e. strangers) outside your room door every week. This cause unreliable and unsafe feeling to my room safety, considering they also have the right to access the room.

Thirdly, some of the public facilities situated inside the building is also not acceptable. For example, there is no space for dropping garbage inside the building and you have to carry your own stinky garbage walking right front of the crowded Kingston rail station and turn to the building backspace (i.e. car park) to drop your garbage.

In conclusion, all of the points that I have mentioned above did not exist in other student accommodation that I have lived in. For example, I have lived in Nido Spitalfields in the year which the building is also newly opened. They DO NOT have all of problems mentioned above. They have the private garbage space every floor, and there is only one to two times in ONE YEAR the fire alarm has rang or the room required maintenance. The Greeencoat Staff argued that it is a new building thus it is not doubt that there will be some issues. In fact, I have to say I don't care what problem you have because I am a paid customer to stay that building and thus I am expected the standard FULFILLS the price. If the building is not ready, do not open it.

A Kingston University Student

Summary: Awful

Absolutely agree with all the comments above. I am paying 390 pounds per week and I feel like a fool for doing that. Strong regulations need to come into play that protect consumer welfare. Allowing companies like UNITE to rip money off unsuspecting consumers who do not get their penny worth is not the way.

Last year, I even had my laptop and handphone stolen within the compounds just 1 day before my exams. As a result, I was unable to sit for my exams. No compensation from UNITE. Hardly any apology other than a brief meeting with the building manager who offered little sympathy, apology and zero compensation.

I hate them with every fibre of my being. I moved out in November shortly starting uni..
It's now February. They say that I am liable for all the weeks rent even after I moved out. I have tried EVERY avenue to find a new tenant. They don't help you AT ALL as long as someone is paying the rent they couldn't care less even if it is ruining an 18 year olds life. They have a "list" of rooms that need to be filled. You'd think that because I've been waiting the longest I'd be at the top? WRONG! I'm third because they need "ratios to be right". NO WAIT surely because I've spent thousands of pounds now on the rent for somewhere I'm not living I should be priority? Even before all this the company is a joke. Reception is full of rude lazy ###ic baboons. Call me sad but I will spend time and energy bad mouthing this company because they don't deserve to survive. Only use them of you're SURE you will be in the room for the uni year and if you don't mine having NO fridge space an a generally dirty kitchen, and being spoke down to by unorganised staff when you yourself with no training could probably do a better job. (Ps. I went to Purbeck in Bournemouth)

I am an ex employee of the Unite Group and I totally agree with you guys!
The company publishes glossy brochures and flyers about "Living with Unite" but the reality is that they are only interested in getting their hands on your money!
They have NO REGARD for the safety and well being of the students and are a typical example of a "ticks in boxes" organisation. Most of the cities across the country are managed by poorly qualified corporate yes men and women, whose main concern is getting on the next rung of the tacky corporate ladder with little regard for the well being of their tenants.
I sincerely hope that anyone considering a stay with this money grabbing organisation takes heed of the real life experiences of you guys and stays clear of UNITE and it's poor excuses of staff.

They make me feel sick and I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks so. They are a rip off they only care about getting your hands on your student loan. There was problems in sherren house where i lived that included slow Internet connections, Terrible showers, Loud Noises and insect infestation caused by a flatmate. When i complained they didn't do anything i had to get the poor cleaning lady to do what the landlord was to scared or could not be arsed to do.They expect you to pay your rent before you have even had your student loan like student are mega rich. Each halls of residence is different but it seems to me unites main clients are wealthy foreign students which can create a social barrier to a typical British working class student.They have not as i have checked out charged me £95 for what they call a stain on the wall and the table top surface. At this point I'm far past getting angry and will just be glad to get the remainder of my deposit back and never having to see hear from anyone who has anything to do with that company. In short the worst choice i have and will ever make in my life. DONT LIVE IN ANY OF THERE BUILDINGS

Agree agree agree agree agree. Living in Unite student accommodation has ruined my first year at university and I strongly disuade anybody from renting student accommodation from this money-grabbing, lazy, horrible company. :(

I completely agree with the complaints. The receptionists are unhelpful and legalistic, not to mention inflexible in their trying to solve problems for you, always referring to the 'agreement' signed at the beginning of the tenancy thereby refusing to lift a finger to help you solve your problems. The cleaning staff have entered my room on separate occasions WITHOUT prior notice, re-arranging my items and leaving detergent stains on surface tops without cleaning them, the place turns out to be worse than before it was cleaned..

You have been warned, do not stay here. It is expensive, we pay treble the amount of normal student residences with accommodation problems, bad service, and unhelpful staff.

Hi Anonymous.b,
Please see the comment I made previously on the 16th Nov., 2011.
You are obviously very upset and I can see it is interfering with your studies, you must find the strength to overcome the conditions you are facing. Is there anyone who can speak up or help you ? Is there any way I can give you moral support ? Please try to hold on until your contract is finished, do not give Unite the satisfaction of getting your money for free. They have you tied up into the contract in such a way that you are bound to pay even though you don't live there.
I am the father of a woman also staying with Unite, her contract is up in July and she wants to leave as soon as it is finished, she has another year to complete college, but she certainly will never stay with Unite again, ever.
I have communicated with Unite management at all levels regarding my daughter and they are definitely not outwardly polite nor too helpful, nevertheless my daughter now is living more comfortable than before.
I sincerely hope your condition improves. Good luck with your studies.

I totally agree with all the comments here. I am a resident at the Unite flats in London and I regret EVERY MINUTE OF MY LIFE FOR CHOOSING TO LIVE HERE. I HAVE MADE SEVERAL COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE NOISE FROM MY NEIGHBOURS AND OTHERS HAVE AS WELL AND THEY ARE SUCH COWARDS AND DO NOT WANT TO LOSE THEIR MONEY BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT THROWING THE DISRESPECTFUL NEIGHBOURS OUT! ITS A TORTURE TO TRY AND STUDY AND TILL LATE AT NIGHT AFTER MIDNIGHT PEOPLE RUN IN THE HALLS, TALK LOUD, SLAM THEIR DOORS. AND I AM SUPPOSED TO STUDY ! IT IS A TOTAL RIP OFFF! DO NOT SIGN TO LIVE HERE. WE HAD SO MANY TIMES PROBLEM WITH THE HEATING, AND WHERE LEFT WITH NO HEATING AND HOT WATER FOR MORE THAN A WEEK. NO COMPENSATION WAS GIVEN TO US. I CANNOT LEAVE FROM HERE AS I HAVE NO WHERE TO GO TILL MY YEAR AT UNI IS OVER. I AM EXTREMELY FRUSTRATED.
AT THIS POINT I AM TRYING TO SLEEP WITH EAR PLUGS TO NOT HEAR THE PEOPLE SLAMMING THE DOORS. STILL THE ROOM SHAKES AFTER THE RESIDENTS SLAM THEIR DOORS. POOR CONSTRUCTION OF THE BUILDING .
SO IF YOU WANT TO COME BACK HOME TO RELAX AND YOU ARE GETTING ANGRY AND FRUSTRATED MOST OF THIS PLACE ( ELISABETH CROLL HOUSE )
IS NOT THE PLACE TO LIVE.
HOPEFULLY SOMEBODY WILL AGREE WITH THIS POST.

I am in total sympathy and understanding with the people who have made previous comments regarding Unite.
At Panmure Court in Edinburgh my daughter has had problems such as disrespect, rudeness, discomfort from comments made by the staff and what appears to be non adherence to their duties, all of which makes a mockery of their contract. I am loathed by these (and more which will be brought up in court) and will be taking legal action to terminate the contract with a strong intention to sue them on several counts, which will also hopefully bring attention to the public, media and worldwide parents and students of would be subscribers to Unite. I will promulgate the outcome, which I know will be positive for me as worldwide as I can possibly make it.

I forgot to add, this problem was widespread across the halls. For just a small example, a friend had SEWAGE leaking into her wardrobe. She said it wasn't sorted out for 4 months, after which her parents had to come and help her clean it up.

Other nice touches are being woken up at 8am and told to empty your room so a new carpet can be put in, with no notice. You then have to sit in your pyjamas for 5 hours in the kitchen because people are laying carpet in your room. Super.

I agree, and would totally warn anybody against living in a UNITE halls of residence.

This year I have felt targeted and uncomfortable in a place that was meant to be my home. In my first room, the window was broken and the floor of my bathroom was made of an uneven, bobbly, concrete-like material, because it was uneven pools of stagnant water gathered, and because of the bobbles it was impossible to mop or clean. I lodged a complaint, and nothing was done for nearly two months.

It was only when my dad got involved that they took any action. I got moved to another room, where the heating, plugs and internet didn't work. I got given another temporary room to sleep in, but when I went to put my bedding in it UNITE had given another resident a key to the room, so she could use the internet. I then got a fourth room to use the internet and sleep in. All the moving took up loads of time that I should have been working at Uni.

Since all of this happened, UNITE have been awful at dealing with the complaints. They even came into my new, fixed room, whilst I was away at work, and left me a rude voicemail saying that I was wrong and nothing was wrong with my room... this is the new room? Dealing with the whole situation has caused me lots of stress and hassle, as a direct result of their complete incapability to run halls.

I can even quote the manager of the halls as explaining the 7 week gap between my original complaint and UNITE taking any action as because their staff were away, and the staff they did have were inadequate to fix the problems, and their paperwork and filing was inadequate. He also claimed that it was ok to have unhabitabal rooms, stating that it was hard to manage 300 rooms. If you can't keep 300 rooms habitable with a team of staff and established business, you shouldn't be charging students £125 a week to live there.

Don't sign up to live there, please.

100% agree! And one more thing... few days ago I received a letter saying that i need to pay almost 1000 extra pounds because 6 months ago (!) i changed a room where i spent 1 week, so my previous contract was canceled after 3rd september... so i guess if i changed my room now, i would have to pay 6 month rent for this flat and 51 weeks for new one... i really don't know what do i need to do now