Scott Fraser

We have had a wonderful experience with Scott Fraser. We recently moved here from the States and had to rent a place sight unseen. They were very helpful about supplying every detail we could want and answering our many questions. Zoe Warwick at the Banbury Road office was well-​informed, friendly and professional. They were so kind as to bring an Oxford friend of ours to the house to look it over and take more pictures for us. Once we made our decision, the letting part was handled in a clear and business-​like manner. The house was in perfect condition when we arrived. We were really pleased with the high standard of everything here. The agency is very responsive whenever we need anything. Chris Carter at the Headington office very kindly came over recently to explain the heating system in greater detail and has answered many other queries. We have no complaints about their work whatsoever. We are very happy that we ended up letting through Scott Fraser.

Scott Fraser were really good with us. We stayed in one of their flats for one year and never had any problems. They even helped us talk to the landlord to arrange a new cooker fitting. Very pleased overall. If I had one negative it would be the slightly high charges we had to pay, one of which was a ‘checking out’ fee.

I lived in a house of University students from ²⁰¹⁰⁄₂₀₁₁ which we rented via Scott Fraser. During the tenancy they were a little slow to respond to our complaints (in particular, it took two months and multiple reminders for them to repair a broken wall at the front of the house). Perhaps you expect inefficiency and hesitation in a letting agent, I’m not sure perhaps that makes them a ³⁄₅ organisation.
Where Scott Fraser really screw you over is at the end of your tenancy. It may be too late for ’11/​12 tenants, but I recommend all ²⁰¹²⁄₁₃ to find an alternative.
Scott Fraser will bill you when you come out and when you come in £560 as an ‘application fee’, plus charges for guarantors, plus ‘estate agent fees’and we paid about £650 to leave again.
I’m most annoyed about the leaving bill. This was our experience: we cleaned the house thoroughly ourselves, and were initially given ludicrous bill of approaching £800, to be taken off our deposit.
The problem we faced was not the fact that we had to pay to clean the windows/​carpets/​furniture/​rest of the house/​inventory, but that SF charged us frankly too much for all of them: their inventory bill was advertised as ‘from £95′, and came to £198. SF employed cleaners who charged £20 an hour, about double the standard rate. About a hundred pounds was in petty ‘compensation damage for x’, and we ended up spending over £200 on ‘carpet and upholstery cleaning’.
When we complained we received a reduction of about £120. This is only generous if we forget that that approximately £650 remains.
In short, I do not believe Scott Fraser feels responsible for its tenants or that it works in their interests.
Ultimately SF rely on the fact that students are unable to properly contest bills and their ability to escape unnecessarily high charges is extremely limited. I can tell from fellow students that Scott Fraser is worse than the industry standard, and I recommend that you avoid whenever possible.

Customer testimonial from Mr C L (Oxford Landlord)
I am hugely impressed by the service I have received from Scott Fraser. Your team has bent over backwards to meet my requirements as regards letting and maintenance, and kept me fully in the picture as things progress.