I had the same.. (This is my experience and my personal & honest statement of events) Lots of promises, a deposit of £100 followed by a further £500 once they have received paperwork from the rates office confirming that they acknowledge an application for review. THEN THAT'S IT!!! After calling them over and over again, they finally said my case was thrown out. Total rubbish as I went onto the rate website myself and did exactly the same for free!! It took me a total of 5+ minutes to achieve this. A rate assessor visited and reviewed my rates (how hammer came to their decision without visiting is beyond me). Unfortunately the rates assessor didn't feel that this could be reduced. If it had then I would of honestly been in court against Hammer for a refund.
What hammer does is offer you a 'SERVICE' (their words) to apply for the VOA stating that the rate office acknowledges the application. Again, I did this myself for free, myself in 5 minutes!!!I I asked Hammer for written details re my case and guess what? Nothing forthcoming, even though they said they would send it to me..
This so called 'service' is actually legal, albeit totally misleading and unethical. They employ some fantastic sales people who will promise you the world but alas, it wasn't forthcoming for me and I now have a little more scepticism with this type of call...
I went through my solicitor as I was pretty P###ed off!! But as aforementioned it's not illegal and would cost even more money to take them to court.
I now believe that the company has dissolved. No doubt they'll probably re-appear under a different name and offer their 'services' to others - JUST BEWARE!!! It's up to you, but I would hang up as quickly as I possibly could....
I was cold called and they visited my premises. Gave all the talk of making my ratings lower.
Paid £500 in advance, big mistake. Read what they had provided, it was only an acknowledgement of rates.
Decided to do it myself, and contacted the VOA. Had to get the paperwork to say hammer properties were no longer representing me and I was doing this myself.
After a successful appeal I managed to get the rates down. 5 years later hammer properties send me a statement demanding £10,000 for their successful appeal!! Wtf!
Luckily I had all the paperwork to prove that I did it. And I told them I will be taking them to court to claim my money back.
Received a letter saying whether I am successful or not, they won't be paying up. Really pushed my buttons, so I'm going all out against them to shaft them.
Had I not kept the paperwork, I would have to stump up the money!
Urge everyone stay away and do it yourself!! Or give me a drink and I'll do it for you!!!!
So firstly these are not accurate reports and iportnatly no one is suing Hammer Properties. They are suing a couple of clients who after getting a reduction wont pay the commission but hey ho....people think they can just post anything without supporting it with evidence....so if the two above alleged reviewers want to state their case numbers for everyone to be able look up if they are telling the truth that would be helpful.......
Not accurate reports????????? There seems to be a lot of inaccurate reports then, both on here and other sites! I really dont think all these reports have been made up from thin air! I get the feeling you work for Hammer!!!!!!!!
I used this companies services in 2012 when they contacted me promoting they could appeal my business rates and could guarantee a decrease in our business rates. They had all the info on our rates, and being a new business, I gave it a go as to be honest I was struggling to pay the rates at the time. Everything was going week until the time of payment and then once they receive your money, they don't call you, keep you updated and fob you off with excuses and stories for reasons why the results they promised still were not achieved. To summarise, they pry on small businesses and give big promises and they don't deliver. dont use their services. They do nothing for the money you pay them. And after 18 months, they still didn't reduce my business rates and they refused to give me a refund.
One of their ‘surveyors’ will cold call you, telling you that they have successfully managed to reduce several businesses (the same as yours) rates in your area. He will guarantee a reduction in your rates and a refund. He will tell you that there is no fee to pay until your claim is successful. Obviously implying that you will pay nothing until you achieve the reduction and refund. It sounds good, you will believe him. He will take a deposit of £100 over the phone and still advise you that nothing more will be payable until your claim is successful.
They submit something to the Valuation Office, which doesn’t actually mean anything. When they then receive an acknowledgement from the VO they then take another £500 out of your account without bothering to contact you in any way. Check out their own website and their own complaints policy, it’s quite amusing actually. Their idea of your claim being successful is when the VO post out an acknowledgement, it means absolutely nothing at all. Nothing. Yet on the back of this, they steal £500 from your bank account or credit card.
They are an unscrupulous and disgusting company. I am dealing with it, and I am not going to let it lie until I get my money back. I am suing them and I will let you know how I get on.
I hope you have not already been sucked in by these cowboys, if you have I will help you all I can. If they have contacted you please please do not fall for their lies. I really do not know how these people manage to sleep at night.
Hammer Properties Reviews
Me Too!!!
I had the same.. (This is my experience and my personal & honest statement of events) Lots of promises, a deposit of £100 followed by a further £500 once they have received paperwork from the rates office confirming that they acknowledge an application for review. THEN THAT'S IT!!! After calling them over and over again, they finally said my case was thrown out. Total rubbish as I went onto the rate website myself and did exactly the same for free!! It took me a total of 5+ minutes to achieve this. A rate assessor visited and reviewed my rates (how hammer came to their decision without visiting is beyond me). Unfortunately the rates assessor didn't feel that this could be reduced. If it had then I would of honestly been in court against Hammer for a refund.
What hammer does is offer you a 'SERVICE' (their words) to apply for the VOA stating that the rate office acknowledges the application. Again, I did this myself for free, myself in 5 minutes!!!I I asked Hammer for written details re my case and guess what? Nothing forthcoming, even though they said they would send it to me..
This so called 'service' is actually legal, albeit totally misleading and unethical. They employ some fantastic sales people who will promise you the world but alas, it wasn't forthcoming for me and I now have a little more scepticism with this type of call...
I went through my solicitor as I was pretty P###ed off!! But as aforementioned it's not illegal and would cost even more money to take them to court.
I now believe that the company has dissolved. No doubt they'll probably re-appear under a different name and offer their 'services' to others - JUST BEWARE!!! It's up to you, but I would hang up as quickly as I possibly could....
Avoid hammer properties
I was cold called and they visited my premises. Gave all the talk of making my ratings lower.
Paid £500 in advance, big mistake. Read what they had provided, it was only an acknowledgement of rates.
Decided to do it myself, and contacted the VOA. Had to get the paperwork to say hammer properties were no longer representing me and I was doing this myself.
After a successful appeal I managed to get the rates down. 5 years later hammer properties send me a statement demanding £10,000 for their successful appeal!! Wtf!
Luckily I had all the paperwork to prove that I did it. And I told them I will be taking them to court to claim my money back.
Received a letter saying whether I am successful or not, they won't be paying up. Really pushed my buttons, so I'm going all out against them to shaft them.
Had I not kept the paperwork, I would have to stump up the money!
Urge everyone stay away and do it yourself!! Or give me a drink and I'll do it for you!!!!
Stay away from hammer properties!
REALLY?
So firstly these are not accurate reports and iportnatly no one is suing Hammer Properties. They are suing a couple of clients who after getting a reduction wont pay the commission but hey ho....people think they can just post anything without supporting it with evidence....so if the two above alleged reviewers want to state their case numbers for everyone to be able look up if they are telling the truth that would be helpful.......
me too
I am also a victim of this scam and sympathise with you for this rip off.Can we just send applications to Ombudsman or any other such office.
Yes REALLY
Not accurate reports????????? There seems to be a lot of inaccurate reports then, both on here and other sites! I really dont think all these reports have been made up from thin air! I get the feeling you work for Hammer!!!!!!!!
I used this companies services in 2012 when they contacted me promoting they could appeal my business rates and could guarantee a decrease in our business rates. They had all the info on our rates, and being a new business, I gave it a go as to be honest I was struggling to pay the rates at the time. Everything was going week until the time of payment and then once they receive your money, they don't call you, keep you updated and fob you off with excuses and stories for reasons why the results they promised still were not achieved. To summarise, they pry on small businesses and give big promises and they don't deliver. dont use their services. They do nothing for the money you pay them. And after 18 months, they still didn't reduce my business rates and they refused to give me a refund.
How they operate:-
One of their ‘surveyors’ will cold call you, telling you that they have successfully managed to reduce several businesses (the same as yours) rates in your area. He will guarantee a reduction in your rates and a refund. He will tell you that there is no fee to pay until your claim is successful. Obviously implying that you will pay nothing until you achieve the reduction and refund. It sounds good, you will believe him. He will take a deposit of £100 over the phone and still advise you that nothing more will be payable until your claim is successful.
They submit something to the Valuation Office, which doesn’t actually mean anything. When they then receive an acknowledgement from the VO they then take another £500 out of your account without bothering to contact you in any way. Check out their own website and their own complaints policy, it’s quite amusing actually. Their idea of your claim being successful is when the VO post out an acknowledgement, it means absolutely nothing at all. Nothing. Yet on the back of this, they steal £500 from your bank account or credit card.
They are an unscrupulous and disgusting company. I am dealing with it, and I am not going to let it lie until I get my money back. I am suing them and I will let you know how I get on.
I hope you have not already been sucked in by these cowboys, if you have I will help you all I can. If they have contacted you please please do not fall for their lies. I really do not know how these people manage to sleep at night.
Total scammers!
I too was scammed by this company, I'm currently in the process of taking court action! Stay well away from these cowboys.
I'd like to hear of anyone else that has been successful with legal action against these rouge traders!