A Guide to Living in Newcastle

Not many shops around, however costco is a short drive down the road.

Please review your development:

Moved into our home Nov.2021 and has been a nightmare ever since. I thought buying your first home was supposed to be a highlight of growing up, however it has been the most stressful year of my life.

The home is nice, however as with all new builds came with snags. If i were to rate the home as itself i would give 4 stars, however, the reason for this one star is due to the Customer Care that Keepmoat provides.

I noted an issue to my render under my exterior light back when I moved in Nov.2021 and was told it would be fixed along with other snags. I was then told that it had been fixed. Trusting that it was actually fixed I believed them and never removed the light to check (my fault – possibly, however I’d like to think that keepmoat wouldn’t lie to me).

Fast forward to August 2022, I decide to change my light and upon removing the original lighting notice that the render was never fixed. I decide to put up the light anyway as the original light is poor quality and notify Keepmoat that the job was never done.

They confirm multiple times that they will fix it and need to schedule the company that does their render. Week after week I remind them and ask when it will be fixed and they say they need to schedule it. Finally, end of October 2022 they say they can fix it.

The renderer comes to my property and states that it is a bigger job than discussed and has to order the supplies. We then receive an email after that keepmoat will not fix it due to the fact “I caused the damage putting up my light”.

I have tried to discuss with customer care that I noted the damage back in Nov.2021 when it was supposed to be fixed. I then get an email which is a blatant lie saying “it won’t be fixed as per our phone call you said that the damage was caused by you”. I asked for the recording and questioned why I would even call to admit to something I never did. Customer care continue to blame me and say they won’t fix it.

I then receive an email changing their reason for not fixing the render. It changed from “due to myself damaging it from putting up a new light voids the warranty” to now “due to it only being visible once the light was removed it is not covered by the warranty”. I have now asked to see this wording in their terms and conditions as I have never heard of such wording.. Still no response.

While Keepmoat have sorted other issues for us, it is still upsetting having to deal with a company that lies and blames you for damage and who won’t fix issues even though it is covered under their 2-year warranty.

I hope that this can can sorted amicably, but in the meantime, Keepmoat is deserving a 1 star for very poor quality of customer service.

Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:

The amount of stress caused trying to fix snags and issues which are supposed to be covered under the warranty

How has the building management responded to any problems or issues you have raised:

As per the above, they have blamed me for damage, and make up reasons as to why it is either void of the Warranty or it is not covered.

Please review your development:

AVOID AT ALL COSTS!! Place has gone seriously downhill since change of ownership. I lived there for 2 years. When I moved in there was a working free coffee machine in the lounge and friendly staff who made you feel at home, who also kept the place very clean and tidy. In the last year I’ve seen them go from 6 full time cleaners to 1 and the coffee machine has been “out of order” for over a year. There is constant dog poo everywhere, the lifts stink and are filthy (was once physical vomit on mirror for over a fortnight) and there was literal rats in the bin rooms. There is supposedly post lockers however these are pointless if your post goes missing for 2 weeks once being delivered before being o put in the lockers. On top of this the new staff tried to trick and lie to us by telling us face to face we would not be charged for a burst seam on the sofa, for us to be sent a bill after moving out for £450 to replace the sofa and being told if there is nothing in writing there is nothing they can do. They said we can contest this after not replying to us for a week then after us saying we would like to contest it over another week has went by and we’ve heard nothing (it’s been almost a month since we moved out). Please if they try to scam you like this go straight to TDS as you are wasting your time trying to deal directly with the forge. The only member of staff who remains who is really nice is Kristina.

Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:

That it would be taken over not long after and ruined.

How has the building management responded to any problems or issues you have raised:

They tricked us into being told problems were to be fixed free of charge face to face then told us we were being charged because we have nothing in writing

1

Facilities

1

Design

1

Location

1

Value

1

Management

Please review your development:

Worst place I have ever lived! The multi storey car park alarm is always going off and no one comes out to resolve the issue for days!! Omnia need a system in place to resolve this issue fast to stop the endless nights of sleep the residents suffer from here!

Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:

I wish I’d known there was such an issue with the car park that would cause so many frustrating nights of no sleep.

How has the building management responded to any problems or issues you have raised:

They have taken days to come back to resolve the issue when the car park alarm goes off. No one when you call is any use.. just continually “following procedures” which don’t help the situation.

Overall would highly recommend it!

Please review your development:

Overall the development is really nice and modern. The lounge is a nice place to work and the gym has enough to have a decent workout. Also any issues with the flat get sorted very quickly.

The team is what made my two years so easy. They are extremely welcoming and go beyond their job requirements! In particular, Helen, Dan, Christina, Kelly, Coleen and Maz make a real effort to make tenants feel welcome and are always happy to help!

Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:

Parking was the only real issue and a little expensive but the Copthorne Hotel do a reasonable rate.

How has the building management responded to any problems or issues you have raised:

The management team would very swiftly act on issues raised.