merchant lettings

Utterly terrible RENTERS OF EDINBURGH, AVOID AT ALL COSTS!
I lived in a Merchant property for a year, June to June. At the end of October, the boiler packed up and the hot water stopped working. Merchant sent in a few different tradesmen to look at it, all of whom sent for ‘a part’ which every time mysteriously disappeared and had to be re-​ordered (which of course took weeks), then failed to solve the problem. For a while, the boiler broke down entirely and for two weeks IN FEBRUARY we were entirely without heating or hot water. In all, we were without hot water for over SEVEN MONTHS. In April, I finally lost my temper with one of the tradesmen Merchant sent round, and demanded to know what the heck the problem was. He confessed to me that Merchant had told his team that they should patch up the problem as best they could but not do anything too drastic, as they (Merchant) wanted to wait until we moved out in June to replace the boiler! They had known FOR SEVEN MONTHS that the boiler needed to be replaced and for seven months they deliberately left us without hot water, and sometimes, heating.
After hearing this from the tradesman I immediately complained to Merchant. They did apologise, and replaced the boiler, but by this time there were only a handful of weeks left on our lease, so we did not exactly feel the benefit. By way of apology, Merchant offered to meet with us in the flat, and we were told the director of the company would attend this meeting. However, the director SAT OUTSIDE IN HIS CAR and sent one of the letting agents to talk to us. This letting agent utterly shockingly told us that the boiler had not been fixed for so long because ‘[the admin lady] is terminally ill.’ He genuinely blamed one of their members of staff for not sorting the problem out ‘because she was terminally ill.’ We were flabbergasted.
At this same meeting, the letting agent assessed the property and assured us that we would receive our deposit on the property back in full, minus a £50 charge for cleaning. However, unsurprisingly, we were charged over £100 for ‘cleaning’ of a flat which we had cleaned so well on moving out that you could have eaten your dinner off the floors. We complained again but I was told my a receptionist over the phone that the letting agent would never have quoted us £50, and we were clearly lying.
NEVER LET FROM THESE PEOPLE. EVER.

One of the few letting agencies that give you a pleasant experience. When I was signing the paperwork, the woman in the office was lovely and really helpful. They explained very clearly what you were paying for, i. e the admin fees and what that covered. When we had any maintenance issues, it was usually dealt with quickly. The only downside was that my bathroom wall started crumbling and nothing was done about it for 4 weeks. Other than that, I was happy with their service and would rent with them again.