DirectWonen SUCKS!

• Hello All,
  With this little note I just wanted to put down my complaints about how this real estate agency works (or worked with me...) and to help and warn others, especially the ones that do not know the Dutch language.
  The trick that this agency uses is that it is one of the few Dutch real-astate agencies that has an English version of its web-site. This is a sure trap that catches non-Dutch victims such as myself. This agency was my primary search source for a house only because it was the only one I could find that was also in English. I was tricked multiple times by this agency and here is how:
  1)On their website they ask from you to register (pay money) for an ANNUAL access of their house listings. They say that if you register (pay) you can see images of the houses, full details, etc. Being in a far away country I really wanted see photos of the houses that I was interested in. So I registered and payed them something like 40-45 euros for an ANNUAL access and to be able to see some photos. Once I did that, I realised that there simply are no photos for you to see. Even if you pay, photos do not exist in the webpage! I emailed them about this many times. They were always promising potos but nothing ever happened. So, just know that even if you do register, you won't be able to see photos simply because photos do not exist. The other thing is this: once they have "found you a house", they immediately stop your registration. So the truth is that they lie when they talk about an ANNUAL access to the house listings. I registered in July and got tangled in a contract in August. My 45 euros were good enough only for one month. I was denied access after signing a contract even though I had paid an ANNUAL deal. I did complain to them about that but was totally ignored.
  2) Dealing with the agent and the landlord. I had the misfortune of having a Dutch landlord that did not know Enlgish. I was hanging of the translation from the agent. He lied to me multiple times. He told me that curtains, light fixtures and certain pieces of furniture were going to stay. He also promised me a paint-job before my moving in. He told me that I could have the place right away. Here is what really happened: As soon as he got me to sign some initial contract which basically states that I want the landlord to consider me as a tenant, he told me to wait a while so that the landord could make up his mind on whether the dude wants me as his tenant. I waited. Finally got at some point the "congratulations" phone call stating that I am the "winner" of the apartment. So quite naturally one would expect that the next step was for the place to start being painted (1-2 days for 40m2???) and soon I would be able to move in. Right???? WROOONG!!!! They had me waiting with promises that "soon, soon, it will be ready and you can move in" while at the same time the agent was pushing for me to complete my payment. I was hesitant to pay because I would walk underneath the apartment only to realise that there were people still living there!!!!!! I could see their stuff through the windows and it didn't seem to me that they were moving out anytime soon!!!!!! I kept asking the agent what is going on??? He would always tell me to chill, don't worry and everything is going very well. The outcome: they had me wait for 2 weeks! 2 weeks!! In the meantme I had to stay at a Bed and Breakfast!!!! I am avoiding even to think about how much money I have lost with this story!!! And the best part of all.........listen to this: no lights, no curtains, no furniture of any kind AND NO PAINTING either!!!! The contract was in Dutch. I begged for an English version but no. Nothing. The agent told me not to worry and that these things are standard procedure, no problems at all. I mentioned to him about the paint-job. I told him that I would like to have it included in the contract. He never made any attempts to incude that in. He said :"If I know it and you know it and the landlord has said it, then it is as good as leagal"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WTF??!!!!!
  While living in the B&B and seeing my savings disappear, I had no choise but to swallow this situation and sign only to get a roof over my head. I was cought stupid so many times. It is possible that I could have avoided all this pain if I had a Dutch friend with me. Dould I have done better research on this? Gosh, I did so much research yet, still, I got tricked.
  One more thing: once the agent gets you to pay in full and sign the damn contract he will say this "Okeeeeyyy......and now lets discuss about the liability insurance....do you want to sign it with us or would you rather do it with somebody else?" This is extra money that he said I will have to pay in case something happens (e.g. fire) to the apartment that I am renting. Yes, more money. In case the apartment burns to the grounds for some reason or if any other damage happens you are "supposed" to pay for that. Now, I am still doing research on that because, really, I have no idea if this "supposed" factor is really true. As I said, I was mistreated and tricked by DirectWonen so I am having trouble believing anything else from them.
  This is my experience with this specific agency.
  A good agency that I have found though is called "Rent a house service" or somehting like that. At least these guys put you in a car and drive you around to all places that match your criteria. They take you there! DirectWonen pretty much is like:yea, here is the address, go find it, meet 'ya there, wanna sign up for it and when will you come and pay....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  Hope I helped out somebody out there. Be careful of real estate agents! Watch out for DirectWonen!
  Bessy

  21 Sep 2005, 07:39 Anonymous

Replies

• Thanks for the heads up, Bessy!!

  I am sorry to hear about what happened to you. I will be apartment hunting in November 2005, but my dutch friend has offered to let me stay with him until I find something reasonably priced, and he will come around with me to look at the places.
  
  [email removed]

  Anonymous 24 Sep 2005, 05:48 - Report

• DirectWonen SUCKS! IT's F***ING TRUE

  Expect from them the worst service ever, if you are not considering any appartment rent aroun 2000 euro.
  If you are approcahed by one of their agent named Dennis, ask immidiatelly for another one. he is a jerk!
  

  Anonymous 24 Sep 2005, 10:01 - Report

• Direct Wonen helps you to find a new rental property!

  Dear Bessy,
  
  We regret that you were not satisfied with the service of Direct Wonen. From your story I can see that there has been a misunderstanding between you, Direct Wonen and / or the landlord. We shall do our best to improve our service of mediating so that our clients are satisfied and happy with their new rental property.
  
  Direct Wonen has in the course of the last 15 years become the biggest rental estate agency in the Netherlands, we are specializing our service to mediation between the landlord and the house seeker. At the moment we have 22 offices throughout the country and more than 100 experienced housing specialists. We are helping house seekers to find new housing and the landlords find new tenants.
  
  When starting cooperation with a rental agent in a foreign country it is always important to read the general conditions carefully! In our general conditions (which are also available in ENGLISH and GERMAN on our website) it is stated that a paid subscription is valid for one year or until you find housing. It means that when you find your housing via Direct Wonen your subscription will be blocked. We regret that this point was not clear for you on our website. When registering yourself via the website you have to first accept the general conditions. See step 4 of the subscription on the website. We shall think of a better way to make it clear what a paid subscription contains and when it expires.
  
  It is true that you have to register to be able to see the photos on the website, unfortunately not every object has photos; we are trying to do our best to obtain photos for the every apartment we are mediating as soon as possible, but the mediation process goes sometimes so quickly that the apartment is mediated before we get photos of the object. This is also a good point for us to make clear on our website, with a paid membership you can see photos only if they are available. You can check this without being signed in on the website, in the search results you can see the thumbnails (small photos) next to the property, if there is no photo, than it means there are no photos available yet on the website.
  
  If you have made any agreement with the landlord (e.g. about the curtains, painting, furniture etc.), let it always sign by both parties. This always cares for less or no misunderstanding in case of any problems at the side of one or another party. If the agent doesn’t seem to listen, I advice you to contact the manager of the office or the quality team at the head office of Direct Wonen (see the contact information below).
  
  When signing a contract, read it carefully as well. Direct Wonen has English contracts available for our English-speaking clients. In the contract there always has to be stated from which date you can enter the property and also if it is a contract for a definite or undetermined period. It is not wise to sign anything you don’t understand! If you are a foreigner who does not speak Dutch, always ask for an English contract or ask someone you trust to translate it for you. Again, there are English contracts available at Direct Wonen, if you do not get one, please contact us via one of the contacts shown below.
  
  As to our office in Utrecht via which you found your housing, you have rented a semi-furnished property, which means that there is a carpet or another floor covering (laminated floor) and sometimes there are also curtains. The landlord agreed that the time he needed to do the painting would be abducted from the second months rent. The landlord also offered to store, free of costs, your furniture, which you have, send over from the States. For more information / comments / criticism please contact our office in Utrecht at [email removed] or +31 (0) 30 – 234 2002.
  
  In case of any trouble with the office(s) of Direct Wonen please feel free to contact the manager of the local office or our quality team at +31 (0) 70 304 26 40 or at [email removed]. Our quality team will discuss the problem with you and also with the office, which is / was involved and will try to solve the problem between the two parties as soon as possible.
  
  Also if you have any trouble with the website or if you have questions about our website or about Direct Wonen, you can contact our specialized Internet helpdesk at +31 (0) 70 304 2650 or at [email removed].
  
  Best regards
  
  Katie Junasova
  Direct Wonen Helpdesk
  [email removed]
  www.directwonen.nl/en/default.aspx
  

  Anonymous 05 Oct 2005, 03:42 - Report

• my response to Direct Wonen...

  Hello to Katie Junasova (the Direct Wonen Helpdesk),
  
  I do respect the fact that you replied to my complain and be sure that I will be contacting you immediately. I am doubtfull though as to if there will be a solution to my problem. The Direct Wonen agent that I had was all about "don't worry, trust me..." and now I am the one in trouble. In my contract I've got the word "semi-furnished" but in fact all I got is bare walls. As I told you again, I went to this agent to complain and he basically said "Sorry, from now on its between you and the landlord". So he pretty much showed me the door and offered no help and didn't even want to listen to what I have to say. Thank you for all your contact info. I will be speaking with the quality team soon and I am curious to see how and if indeed you will help me sort this out, but to be honest, at this point my expectations are kinda low.
  Thanks again and talk to you soon,
  Bessy

  Anonymous 06 Oct 2005, 06:32 - Report

• Anonymous 21 Mar 2006, 06:17 - Report

• Avoid Directwonen!

  Two years later, I see Directwonen remains still a company with doggy - and probably illegal - practices.
  
  I cam in Netherlands a year ago. Not knowing the language, I was lured by Directwonen too.
  
  When I went to their office, the agent told me I have to pay 35 Euros to see what they offer. Fine, I gave him the money and he created an account on the website.
  
  Didn't find any suitable appartments through them. No problem though, I find a good one fast with another agency.
  
  But one year later, surprise! I get an INVOICE from them for subscription renewal! They said I am supposed to explicetly cancel my subscription 2 MONTHS in advance!
  
  I told them that I'm not paying anything because:
  
  1. I paid in cash at the office, I never saw terms&conditions and the agent never told them to me. He didn't even tell me that it is a subscription.
  
  2. I only used the website a couple of weeks and never again.
  
  3. They informed me about the renewal AFTER it become "active", without giving me any notice.
  
  Nice way of doing business, isn't it!?!
  
  If they keep bothering me again, I plan to report them to Consummentebond.

  Sebastian 04 Dec 2007, 06:02 - Report

• Direct Wonen

  Dear All,
  just few words to say that I had the same problem with DW. I was looking for an apartment in Utrecht in 2005.
  I called them from abroad to set an apointment, asking how many options they had. They replied to me to have 5 apartments fitting with my requirments, but that first of all I had to pay the entrance fee.
  I paid but when I arrived in the office the week later, they told two apartments had been already rented.
  Then another one was not available because the landlord did not want to rent it anymore and another was not visitable because they did not have the keys and the landlord was not reachable.
  Basically I travelled for 1400 Km for nothing (luckily the day after I found a place with Rots Vast).
  I argued imeediately with the agent and I already dialled the police number from my mobile.
  So at least I got the entrance fee back and they apologize providing me a free annual internet access to heir website (that I never used).
  Bye, Lu

  Luisa 06 Jan 2008, 05:30 - Report

• DirectWonen SUCKS!

  this seems to be consisten across most dutch housing agencies unfortunately..

  squish 10 Jan 2008, 11:35 - Report

• DirectWonen

  Had the same problem. It's hard for me to believe how this agency is still working, with so many complaints and bad testimonials. And it's hard for me to believe how this agency can be supported by justlanded.com
  
  Bad service and false promises...

  Nuno Silva 30 Jan 2008, 05:48 - Report

• Just use Pararius.nl

  I feel bad for everyone that had a poor experience finding an apartment. It is stressful enough moving to a new country wihtout having to worry about the expense and hassle of finding a place to live. If you want to look at pictures of places just use Pararius.nl as it displays properties from a large number of different agencies (but not from directwonen).
  
  You will still have to register with an agent eventually but you can at least see what properties are available before shelling out EUR50 registration fees. Also, rotsvast.nl also has free access to pictures of their properties (sometimes these pictures don't appear on pararius but they do on the rotsvast website) but I have never used them as an agent. By the way both these websites (pararius.nl and rotsvast.nl) can be displayed in English.
  
  Graham

  Graham 24 Feb 2008, 12:30 - Report

• Direct Wonen ...... SUCKS!!! YES THEY DO!

  Choose DirectWonen.nl if....
  
  1.) You want to experience extortion
  
  2.) You want to get the feeling that you are not respected
  
  3.) You want to be treated like dirt
  
  4.) You want to feel stupid
  
  5.) You want to experience sleepless nights
  
  6.) You want to experience a first hand course in "How Not to Treat Your Customers!" or "How to Piss Off Your Clients, Extort them, and Get Away With It!"
  
  ....... the list goes on but i think you get my point
  
  
  I did briefly use another real estate agency and these guys are 1000 x 10^39 times better than directwonen..... give rotsvast a go
  
  www.Rotsvast.nl
  
  Try to find other means to find an appartment they will bear far more fruits than directwonen
  
  Nobody likes being ripped off

  Alex D 05 Jun 2008, 04:23 - Report

• This agency worked great for me!

  http://www.rotsvast.nl/
  
  Very helpful people, speaking English, no lies, no extra costs. We got our apartment in Hilversum with no hassle and only paying one month refundable deposit. We have been in that appartment for a year now and never had a problem. The landlord doesn't speak much English but he made any little problem we had fixed.

  Jo 06 Aug 2008, 03:47 - Report

• Direct wonen is holding my money hostage

  i signed a preliminary contract for a house costing 1400euros/month. i told them numerous times i was freelance and what amount i made per month. after the signing and paying the agreed upon amount of 3 months (1 deposit, 1 fee and 1 month rent) they held my money and tried to force me to pay another 2 months rent. they are still holding my money and asking for financial statements, ive given them printouts of my monthly deposits, a statement from my client, and a copy of my contract, yet they still want more. now they want my end of year report as well, however i have the feeling they still wont give me my money or house.
  
  never rent from these people. they're nice until you give them money, then once they have the upper hand they f*** you.

  anon 26 Jan 2009, 01:36 - Report

• DirectWonen is the WORST housing agency I have ever dealt with!

  Please, use any other agency than DW, they also fooled me to pay insane amount of money for a shitty apartment next to "nice cafe" which turned into a f*cking night club every night!!!
  Behind my bedroom (paper)wall, there was music so loud I could hear the lyrics, etc. and even words that people were shouting to each other over the music, and this usually started at 9-10pm. and ended around 4-5am.
  I had to get up at 6am in order to make it to work in time.
  I can't even write all the shit they put me through in my first months in this country, but I just wanted to write this to maybe help someone else from not signing up with this Direct Wonen!
  
  P.S My experience was in Haarlem.

  FinnishGirl 02 Feb 2009, 07:35 - Report

• Covers Housing sucks

  I had extremely bad experience with Covers Housing, a real estate agency in Utrecht. They were representing the owners who live abroad. For a year and half that I spent in the apartment I rented through them, they didn't react to any of my requests, they visited the house without a notice in advance, they were arogant and incompetent in every sense. At the end it took them almost two months to pay the deposit back even the contract says they have to do it in a month. So, keep away from these people.

  Andrei 07 Mar 2009, 02:54 - Report