When my troubles first began with Robin Larkins and The Real World Rental Company, I thought at least I might be able to find some assistance from Holiday-Rentals, whose website I used to find Larkins and his company.
In the first instance, and after feeling somewhat worried by their unprofessional behaviour, I tried to seek reassurance from Holiday-Rentals that The Real World Rental Company was bona fide. I had completed the Rental Guarantee service offered by Holiday-Rentals, but I wanted some reassurance about what this actually meant, and so - as suggested from their "Rent with Confidence" registration email, I made further inquiries. This guarantee promises that they will respond within 24 hours. 24 hours on which planet? It's now over 3 months, and there has been no response.
Subsequently, after my rental had completed and my several requests to Robin Larkins and The Real World Rental Company for the return of my deposit amounted to nothing, I contacted Holiday-Rentals again.
I had a conversation with Sonia Diadhiou and explained the problems I had been having. She asked me to send her an email with all the details of my complaint, which I immediately did. She then rang Robin Larkins and based on a "reassurance" from him, replied to me that he would be repaying my deposit that week, (herewith the reply, dated 8 November:)
Thank you for your email.
I contacted Robin Larkins and he has been arranging your deposit with the owner. He is Ok as from my team leader because Holiday-rentals has used him before to rent out his properties.
He will be in touch next week.
In turn I wrote immediately back to Holiday-Rentals:
Thank you for your reply.
I am somewhat unclear what "he has been arranging your deposit with the owner" actually means. I have been told by both him (on 28 October) and his wife on 4 November that the money was being paid on those dates. It has not been. I was advised by Emma (their staff) that Rachel Larkins is the owner; She also said at our check out that the deposit would be refunded within 7-10 days. We left on 13 October. Their Licence Agreement states that the deposit will be refunded usually within 10 days. These deadlines have long passed
You will note from the websites I forwarded to you that others have been waiting more than 6 months for the return of their deposit, so I am eager to learn why his reassurances to you should mean anything. Can you advise?
Also, you state that your team leader is OK with Larkins because Holiday-Rentals has used his company before. Does this mean that Holiday-Rentals is "OK" with Larkins defrauding customers? Please advise, as obviously this is important in the likely legal proceedings that I will have to take, because unfortunately I have no faith in any assurances given by Larkins or his staff.
I look forward to hearing from you soonest.
Unfortunately Holiday-Rentals declined to respond. So on 12 December I obtained the name and contact details of the head of customer services, Sandy Kirk and asked him to please follow up. After no reply, I followed up again on 18 December and he has replied as follows:
...we are looking into your concerns, this agent has been with us for nearly 3 years without any complaints so far, and we are looking into yours. We have an internal company policy on complaints and will deal with this situation according to those policies.
I responded with this:
I note your comments regarding Larkins and The Real World Rental Company. I am truly surprised that the incidences that I highlighted to your colleague over one month ago produced no response whatsoever from Holiday-Rentals. It's not just my own complaint, (of non refund of my deposit), but there are many other customers who have been similarly defrauded, the details of which I have provided to you. Whether or not you have had a three year relationship with Larkins, you need to seriously question your vetting procedures for companies that advertise through your portal. It may be that I am the first customer to report these issues to you, but I doubt it.
I then went on to (again) provide them with the details of a customer who rented through their website, and who has waited 9 months to receive her deposit back.
So I ask you - what planet are they on?
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8 comments:
Oh yes, let us all work together and get these people!
If "Holiday Rental.co.uk" do not take swift and decisive action, we should legally pursue them as well.
I have sent you a personal Email with my details!
Thanks for your good work.
Thank you for coming forward. I hope the word is now getting out there, and like you, I hope that Holiday Rentals will do something about The Real World Rental Company and Robin Larkins, because they have a great deal of information which should make them behave with integrity, and remove Larkins and his bunch from their web portal. One has to wonder about them, and their agenda. I will reply to your private email separately, with further ideas about how to retrieve your funds.
I've also been stung by Robin Larkin, and contacted findaproperty.co.uk who he uses to post ads. They have received complaints about him as well but operate a '3 strikes and you're out' policy. I will be submitting a formal complaint and then they'll start investigating him with a view to dropping him as a client. I'll send them the link to this blog as well. I'll also be submitting a complaint to Holiday Rentals, and any company that Mr Larkins advertises with. Will be pursuing legal action as well in the New Year. Would be interested in hearing how you get on with your legal proceedings. Good luck!
I am awaiting the deliberations from Holiday-Rentals, as you can see. Findaproperty have also advised that they are investigating him. It's surprising how reticent these people are to strike off Larkins and The Real World Rental Company, when there is clearly mounting evidence of his fraudulent activity. I will update my experiences as and when they occur, but I'm now glad to see that "Robin Larkins" and "The Real World Rental Company" have this blog featured when you Google them. Also the Estate Reviews are up there too. You should report to the fraud prevention websites that I list.
Sadly, I too have fallen for the Real World Rental Company deposit scam. I found the property through Holiday Rentals also and would have thought that given mounting evidence of alleged criminal activity, they would distance themselves from Robin Larkins fairly swiftly.
I will be pursuing my matter through all avenues.
I suspect he'll be out of business fairly shortly. Let's hope that we recoup what we're legally owed before he goes to ground.
I am sorry to hear it, (but not surprised). I have heard nothing from Holiday-Rentals since they advised they were "looking into [my] concerns" on 18 December, and they still appear to be advertising RWRC and Larkins' properties, so again, one really has to question their motives and involvement.
It is after all based on their reputation that many of us have rented properties from Larkins.
But as they have no responsibility, and no liability, they have no interest in whether customers are ripped off either. Best to avoid them too in my opinion.
If you wish to contact me directly, please feel free to do so, and I can give you more details about my endeavours, which may assist you in yours.
I'm actually not convinced that Holidays Rentals have no liability or responsibility. If they are well aware of alleged fraud of Robin Larkins and potential loss to their client, then they must have a fiduciary duty (that exists in any agent / principal relationship) to disclose that information.
Furthermore, I also wouldn't rule out the implications under the Fraud Act of 2006 - Section 3 (Failure to Disclose Information). Officers of the company are tied to the offence under Section 12 (Liability of Company Officers for Offences of Company). Maximum penalty - 10 years in jail.
In practice, I suspect the fraud squad would think their time is probably best spent investigating Mr Larkins directly, but Section 12 will at least give his cohorts something to think about presumably.
That's very interesting re Holiday-Rentals. I chased them again on 20 Jan (Sandy Kirk), but he has not responded.
I have also reported to the fraud prevention sites I list on my blog, and I am in the midst of legal proceedings with Larkins, (which I would be happy to share with you privately, if you are interested). I am in contact with others privately who have also become victims of this theft.
I am sure there are quite a number, judging by the snippets I have found on various sites. I am also sure many have just written off their loss. Although a relatively small amount of money, I am simply outraged by his behaviour and I will pursue it as far as I can - hence the blog (inter alia).
My one new development is a significant newspaper in UK whom I have contacted, and I am in the process of providing them with all the information they have requested.
Larkins appears pretty impervious to my blog and any reportage, so I'm not sure what reaction that will have.
I have also contacted a number of Holiday-Rental types, and they have agreed to investigate, and some to remove.
I would be happy to assist you in any endeavour, and would welcome your suggestion to follow any untried avenue by myself.
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