SpareRoom
reviews and complaints

I gotta say, I'm a bit disappointed with SpareRoom's strictness towards agents and agencies. As a new agent in the industry, I'm struggling due to COVID-19 and trying to build a transparent business. But it seems like SpareRoom doesn't quite understand that.

I get it, they want to protect their customers, and that's important. But they can't just kill off new agents or people who are trying to build something from scratch. We don't have the same resources as a millionaire company like SpareRoom does.

It's completely unfair.

Sure, SpareRoom might be great with a part of their customers, but they need to remember that agents are a core part of their business too. It's not just tenants who are their customers.

Without us posting listings, they wouldn't have anyone seeking out their services. It's a two-way street, you know?

I hope SpareRoom can take a step back and realize that they need to support new agents and agencies, not just shut them down. We're all trying to make a living here.

I gotta say, I've had some mixed experiences with Spareroom. On one hand, their customer service team has always been super nice and professional whenever I've had to reach out to them. But on the other hand, their security measures could use some serious improvement.

For example, I had someone harassing me through private messages on one of my rental ads. This person was clearly upset that they didn't get chosen for the rental, and they ended up creating multiple fake accounts to continue harassing me. One of these fake accounts even had the identity and photo of a dead celebrity - like, seriously? Spareroom did eventually respond to my report, but they didn't take down the fake accounts or do anything to prevent this person from continuing to harass me.

Another frustrating thing about Spareroom is that you can't delete messages in your inbox without first opening them. This might not seem like a big deal, but when you're dealing with someone who's sending you nasty messages, it's really annoying to have to open each one just to get rid of it.

Overall, I think Spareroom has a lot of potential as a platform for finding rentals. But until they improve their security measures and make it easier to block or report harassing users, I'm not sure I can recommend them wholeheartedly.

I've been using SpareRoom for quite some time now and I have to say, it's not the best experience. It's really difficult to find a place to rent through this website. Landlords don't respond to messages even though they've read them, and the listings are full of overpriced properties that have already been rented out. It's really frustrating to spend so much time looking for a place to live, only to find out that it's not even available anymore.

Another issue with SpareRoom is that there are a lot of scammers on the website. They try to get your personal information without actually offering you a viewing of the property. It's really shady and I don't feel safe using this website anymore.

I've made several reports to the website, but they don't seem to care. They told me that they're just an advertisement platform and they can't control what people post. But then what's the point of having moderators if they can't do anything about the scammers? It's really frustrating to see that they're not taking responsibility for the content on their website.

To make matters worse, most of the good listings on SpareRoom aren't even free. You have to pay a ridiculous amount just to contact the landlord, and even then they might not respond to you.

Overall, I would advise people to avoid using SpareRoom. It's just not worth the hassle and there are better websites out there for finding a place to rent. I might even report it to the authorities because they need to take responsibility for the content on their website.

I don't usually write reviews, but I just had to warn you all about beaconproperty on sparerooms or any other platform. These guys are not to be trusted. They will do everything in their power to keep your deposit and not return it to you. I had a bad experience with them, and I don't want anyone else to go through the same thing.

To be fair, I did stay an extra week and forgot to pay the rent until I was reminded. But when I left, I left the room in a better state than when I got it. Despite this, they claimed that I was late on the rent and had to pay an extra ?195 on top of the agreed ?125. It was a complete rip-off, and I felt bullied by them.

In the end, I decided to cut my losses and move on. They wanted me to pay the extra ?195 before they would return my deposit, which was ridiculous. I just want to warn other people out there, especially healthcare professionals or those employed by the hospital, to be very careful when dealing with these guys.

I give them zero stars, and I hope that others will avoid them at all costs.

I gotta say, I ain't too impressed with Spareroom. I had a run-in with one of their moderators, *name redacted*, 'bout a dodgy agent and it didn't go too well. This agent was keeping tenants' deposits and had a website full of malware, but Spareroom seemed more interested in defending them than helping out the tenants. I reckon they're just tryna make a quick buck off the ads and don't care 'bout the people using their site.

I even reached out to *name redactedfor help and they didn't do much. They just kept defending the agent and didn't seem too bothered 'bout the tenants getting ripped off. I mean, come on, if you're runnin' a site for people to find places to live, you gotta make sure they're safe and not gettin' scammed.

I was hopin' Spareroom would be more helpful, but they just seem to be lookin' out for themselves. I wouldn't recommend 'em to anyone lookin' for a place to live.

I've been using spareroom for a few years now and I have to say, I'm not too impressed with their lack of consideration for diversity among renters. It's frustrating that there's no option to set preferences for who you want to share with. As a person of color, I've noticed that the majority of landlords on the site are white and often discriminate against ethnic room seekers. While spareroom does monitor ads for racist or discriminatory language, they need to do more to fully verify ad posters and conduct background checks.

I had a terrible experience with a landlord who refused to return my deposit and had serious mold and behavior issues. Despite alerting spareroom multiple times with photo and video evidence, the landlord painted over the mold and reposted the room without fixing the issue before I left. I even suffered health problems as a result of the mold. Spareroom responded to my emails saying they are just a platform and don't get involved in disputes, but they would keep my report on file in case anyone else reported the landlord in the future. While I understand that spareroom is just a platform, it's frustrating that they didn't take more action to help me.

I believe that spareroom needs to be regulated and have a governing body to ensure that anyone posting an ad is verified. Other social media platforms are held responsible for their content, so why not a platform for renters and landlords? It's important to ensure that everyone is treated fairly and that renters are protected from unscrupulous landlords. Overall, I think spareroom has potential, but they need to do more to ensure that their users are safe and protected.

SpareRoom is a website that claims to help people find roommates and shared living spaces. However, my experience with them has been less than satisfactory. They seem to take no responsibility for the information that is available on their site, even when it is blatantly false. It's like they don't care about the laws that govern roommate and share situations.

They used to "advise" their advertisers to check local laws, but they don't seem to do that anymore. They don't even mention that under FEDERAL law, Flatshare Ltd, of Manchester, UK, which OWNS the Spare Room web site is fully responsible for falsehoods placed on their site, and the FTC, which enforces FCC regulations, can take the site down in a heartbeat.

It's like they let people register just to trawl the waters for people in need in the worst housing market in US history. Then, when something goes wrong, they say "Oh, so sorry... we have no jurisdiction over people like that, but please keep us informed..." It's like they don't care about the people who use their site.

And don't even get me started on the profiteers. They've been breaking local "roommate" laws for years, and SpareRoom seems to turn a blind eye to it. They say they have no way of tracking them, but that's just a load of H. S. It's like they don't care about the law or the people who use their site.

If you do decide to use SpareRoom, be sure to keep copies of EVERYTHING. You will need it in court. And be firm. Opportunists and profiteers don't care about the LAW -- they know you're desperate and will take you for all you're worth.

The "moderators" give you a load of hooey. "Keep us posted." (reply no. 4 on their list) It's like they don't know that OUR federal agencies consider EVERYTHING POSTED ON THEIR WEB SITE IS THEIR RESPONSIBILITY, AS ARE ALL CRIMES COMMITTED USING THEIR WEB SITE.

Yes, they have JUST RECENTLY added a great deal of cautionary verbiage lately -- now that they know they're about to answer to the U.S. Attorney General, a state Attorney General, and a local District Attorney. But it's like they're just another commercial enterprise that thinks an ocean absolves them of any culpability. It does not.

In conclusion, SpareRoom is just an advertising platform that doesn't seem to care about the people who use their site. They claim to help people find roommates and shared living spaces, but they don't seem to take any responsibility for the information that is available on their site. If you do decide to use their site, be sure to know your laws backward and forward. And be well armed.

I was really disappointed with the LandLord that I rented from through SpareRoom. When I gave her the rent, she didn't have a key to give me, which was a big problem. Instead, she relies on her pit bull to protect the house, even though all the doors are unlocked day and night. I noticed that my brand new bottle of expensive olive oil was all scratched up within the first two days of staying there. There are no locks on the room doors, so anyone can just come into your room and do whatever they want.

When I mentioned the scratched olive oil to the LandLord, she immediately got offended and accused me of accusing her. I told her that I wasn't accusing her, but that I did have suspicions about the one other tenant who always went to the restroom immediately after I used it every time. This made me feel very uncomfortable. Strange things were happening in her house that I did not like, such as a strange knock on my door and a big fat water bug oversized cockroach coming into my room.

I was also concerned about my privacy. I was looking at a website of adult material in my own spare time, and my phone was hacked by a nosy neighbor in the house. My business was spread concerning my privacy. When I asked the LandLord what else she had learned about me, she got offended again and wanted to know what I meant by that. I wasn't trying to make a big thing out of it, but she kept asking me, so I said I was looking up things on the computer just to say anything to keep from having to go into what she unbelievingly kept asking me.

After a couple of days, the LandLord came to me complaining about what was said, which I had moved on from and forgotten about. She then said she wanted me out and tried to say I was not happy there, which I never said. If I had decided to move, I would have told her, but I had no intentions because I was alright. Nevertheless, she asked me to move, and I had not even been there for two months. I feel like I wasted time and precious money.

I would not advise anyone to go to this woman's place at 52dr in Maspeth Queens NY green house. The house is not secure, and she never keeps locks. There are no locks on the doors of your room, so a nosy tenant can go into your room anytime. Who's to say my food has not been tampered with? My box of cereal was open, and it was brand new and never opened by me. She the LandLord has no lock on my door, so my privacy to my belongings can be violated. I have a secret camera video recording in the room when I am gone.

Nevertheless, I have to leave because she the landlord is trying to make it that I'm not happy there. When in all actuality, she is the one not happy. She fussed over the smallest of things, and that's a fidgety landlord that just can't be pleased. I would not want to rent to someone like this ever again. Now I have to find a new place all over again. I think she is too smart for her own good.

Spareroom is a company that I have had a lot of issues with. They took down my review on Trust Pilot, which I think is completely unfair. I have a right to leave a review, and they shouldn't be censoring people's opinions. In my experience, Spareroom is a pathetic company that only cares about getting 5-star reviews, even if they don't deserve them.

I have rented from private landlords and agencies through Spareroom, and it has not been a great experience. One house share I lived in for 5 months had bed bugs, and I didn't get my deposit back. The landlord accused me of leaving tea stains on the wall, which I didn't do. I had to live on very little money until payday, which was very difficult.

The second place I lived in wanted rent on the 1st of every month, even though I paid rent every month. I had to move out because of this, even though the people were nice and friendly. One girl complained about my TV being too loud, but we were able to work it out.

In the third house share, a guy tried to come into the bathroom while I was in there, which was very scary. I reported him to the police, but the agency didn't have my back at all. Another guy always complained about noise, even though it wasn't on purpose.

The fourth house I lived in was with a live-in landlord who was harassing and abusive to me. I had to report her to the police twice, and she only told me she had bipolar disorder after I moved in. A professional told me that she shouldn't be renting to people if she has bipolar disorder. She also didn't give me my deposit back, which was very upsetting. I had to borrow money until I got paid, which put me into debt.

The fifth house share had four people who were racist and verbally abusive to me. One woman even accused me of making noise at 3am and banged on my door. I was scared for my life and reported her to the police. When I emailed the agent about it, they showed her the email, which was a breach of privacy. She then called the police on me and accused me of stabbing her, which was completely untrue. I had to go to court for rent arrears, and the two female tenants wrote false statements about me. The judge dismissed it, but it was a very stressful experience.

I had to get outside help to pay my rent arrears, but the agent never told me they were taking me to court. I was blindsided by the whole thing. I lost my job and ended up in rent arrears, which made things even worse. I wanted to move out, but there were too many obstacles in my way. The whole experience was like living in a house of hell with four demons. It was a wicked place to live in.

Eventually, I saved up enough money to get my own flat, and I have been living there for a year now. However, the abuse I received from the last two house shares has left a psychological impact on my life. I have bad dreams about it, and it has changed my character and my belief in humanity. The world can be a cruel and wicked place to live in.

In conclusion, I would not recommend renting from Spareroom. The people who advertise on the site should be DBS checked, and people should be careful when renting from private landlords and agencies. Spareroom should also be more transparent and not censor people's reviews.

from SpareRoom if you value your safety and sanity. I've been using this app/site since 2014 and have rented five rooms through it. Unfortunately, every single experience has been a nightmare. SpareRoom claims to be an advertising platform and refuses to take responsibility for mediating the renting process. This creates an unregulated and toxic environment where tenants are treated as pawns in the horrendous housing market. I've encountered some of society's most deprived, challenged, and violent individuals while renting rooms from rogue landlords on SpareRoom. I've had to involve the council, police, and seek legal advice multiple times due to physical threats, assaults, mental and emotional abuse, harassment, and disgusting living conditions. SpareRoom is complicit in all of this by allowing scum landlords and predatory agents to exploit the app/site without any community standards or vetting process.

Ads are often left up for days, weeks, and even months after a room is taken, and landlords discriminate and dominate the proceedings. They send spammy messages to prospective tenants without even looking at their requirements and often send referrals to ads that are way out of budget or want female tenants. Many ads are fake or misleading, and SpareRoom does nothing to prevent this. They make money from premium listings and don't want to lose their cash cows by regulating their services better.

To make matters worse, SpareRoom has removed any indication of housing benefit on ads posted to the app/site, making it harder for people to cope during COVID-19. More and more people are now reliant on benefits than ever before, and SpareRoom's discrimination and direction with their products are evident. They don't care about the end user or the community they claim to support. There is no support, and you're on your own with this app/site surrounded by predatory landlords and agents who have capitalized on its lawlessness.

SpareRoom is a meat market for landlords/agents run by a company that has no connection to its audience other than providing a sub-quality service. The end user has very little say in the whole process and simply has to put up or shut up when it comes to the quality, reliability, and peace of mind of this app/site. OpenRent attempts to balance out the renting process by balancing the responsibilities of both tenant and landlord, unlike SpareRoom, where that doesn't apply in the slightest.

This is the best example of how BAD relying on apps/sites like this can be. I'd much rather go through the necessary tediousness of ringing around landlords and agents the old-fashioned way than give that responsibility to a company that doesn't even accept that responsibility in the first place! SpareRoom will happily tell you they are simply an advertising platform, which means they really don't exist when it comes to being involved in the process, at least according to their mission statement anyway. Stay away from SpareRoom if you value your safety and sanity.

So, I've been using SpareRoom for a while now and I gotta say, I'm not too impressed. I've had a few people contact me about potential roommates, but none of them seemed legit. The first guy had some photos that looked like they were edited, and he never wanted to meet up in person. The second person asked me a fake question, which was a bit weird. And the third guy claimed to be a doctor, but then showed me a utility bill that was almost a year old and a bank statement with over ?11k in it. I mean, if he has that much money, why can't he just get a hotel room and meet up with me before moving in?

Honestly, I think the profiles on SpareRoom are just click bait for scammers. It's a bit sketchy if you ask me. I would definitely be careful if you're using this site to find a roommate.

So, I was looking for a roommate and decided to give SpareRoom a try. Let me tell you, it's so much better than CraigsList. Sure, there's a small fee involved, but it's worth it. You can use the free version, but then you have to wait 7 days before someone can contact you. That's not too bad, but if you're in a hurry, it's worth paying the fee.

Now, I did have a bit of trouble getting in touch with someone at SpareRoom. I tried calling, but no one answered. That was a bit frustrating, but I eventually figured things out. One thing I don't like about SpareRoom is that they don't make their policies very clear up front. It would be nice if they were more transparent about things. That's why I'm only giving them 3 stars.

But overall, I think SpareRoom is a great service. If they can improve their policies and customer service, they'll quickly win over the CraigsList crowd. I mean, let's face it, CraigsList is free, but it's also pretty horrible now. SpareRoom is definitely the way to go if you're looking for a roommate.

I gotta say, SpareRoom ain't all that great. There's a ton of fake stuff on there, like fake properties and fake people. And their system is all messed up - they keep old ads up even when they're expired. Like, what's the point of that? And get this - anyone can advertise a property, even if they have nothing to do with it! That's just crazy. And the current tenants can put up whatever they want, but they don't have to take any responsibility for it. Like, how can they say they accept DSS? That's just not right. And when you try to talk to the landlord or estate agency, they act like you're telling them fairy tales. Sometimes they don't even know the property is being advertised! SpareRoom is just a big waste of time. It's like they're trying to scare you with all their fake stuff. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Spareroom ain't worth it, man. They'll cancel your subscription without warning, and it's a total waste of your hard-earned cash. You're better off using other platforms like Facebook or Gumtree. Spareroom just brings you a bunch of useless leads and people who ain't serious about renting a room. They'll set up a viewing and then not even bother to show up. It's a joke, really.

And if you try to invite them to your office to get a better idea of whether they're a good fit before showing them the place, they might even report you! It's ridiculous, really. Spareroom used to be good, but now it's just a hot mess. Save yourself the trouble and go somewhere else.

I'm a landlord and I was looking for a tenant to join our house share. I got contacted by a young girl who sent me a message saying she wanted to view my room. I replied to her message but never got a reply back. I was a bit disappointed because I was really interested in renting out my room.

After a few days, I decided to do some digging and managed to find the girl who's picture was on her advert. I got in contact with her through Facebook and to my surprise, she said she never made an advert on SpareRoom and was living in India. She only dreamed of coming to the UK. Her profile stated that she was in project management in the UK, but it was all a lie.

I was really disappointed and frustrated because I paid for their services and they make false profiles and fool people like me. SpareRoom should be more careful with their users and make sure that they are genuine. I would advise people to stay away from this website and look for other alternatives. It's not worth the hassle and disappointment.

SpareRoom ain't all that great, to be honest. It's a bit of a struggle to find a place to rent on there, and even worse, the platform ain't trustworthy at all.

I got scammed by some supposed estate agency that had a fancy website and everything. They took my deposit and a whole month's rent, and I was left high and dry. SpareRoom should really be doing more to check out all the accounts and listings on their site, because they didn't even catch this scam after it happened. It's pretty ridiculous that they're asking people to pay for premium when they can't even keep fraudsters off their own platform. Shame on them!

If you're thinking of using SpareRoom, be super careful. Honestly, if you can avoid it altogether, that might be the best bet.

I gotta say, I've tried out a few different websites for finding roommates, and SpareRoom just didn't cut it for me. I mean, there are other sites out there that don't charge you anything, so why bother with this one? And don't even get me started on the spelling - I'm pretty sure they're a British company or something, but if you're doing business in the US, you gotta adjust your spelling to match. "Enquiry"? Come on now, that's not how we spell it here.

Anyway, the whole process just seemed a little unclear to me. You have to have your "advert" up on the site for a whole week before you can even start contacting people, and even then, I'm not sure if they're gonna keep hounding me to pay a fee or what. I guess we'll see how it goes, but honestly, I think I'll just stick with Roomies - at least they're an American company.

Overall, I just wasn't super impressed with SpareRoom. Maybe it works better for some people, but for me, it just seemed like a lot of hassle for not a lot of payoff. I'll keep looking for other options, but I don't think I'll be coming back to this one anytime soon.

SpareRoom is a website that is supposed to help you find a room to rent or a roommate to share your space with. However, in my experience, it's more like a black hole where your time and energy disappear without any results. The site is full of people who don't read your ads or respond to your messages, and you can spend hours or even days arranging views only to have people not show up.

The worst part is that the prices are way too high for the level of service you receive. You're better off looking for a room on your own or posting a 'room wanted' ad on a community noticeboard. SpareRoom is definitely not worth the money.

I've tried using SpareRoom to find a room before, and it was an absolute nightmare. Most of the rooms were already taken, or the people just ignored my messages. In some cases, I received a terrible auto-response that didn't even address my questions. And when I did manage to arrange a viewing, the place was often unsuitable or a blatant scam.

Despite all of this, there are a few gems on SpareRoom if you're willing to sift through all the garbage. But in my opinion, it's not worth the effort. SpareRoom is a waste of time and money, and I would not recommend it to anyone.

SpareRoom is a website that claims to be dedicated to fighting against fake profiles, but let's be real here, they're just trying to distract us from the real scam that they're running. They want us to believe that the only fake profiles out there are from people pretending to have a property to scam tenants out of their hard-earned money. But we all know that we should never hand over any money or bank details without first checking out the accommodation and landlord. Those kinds of scams are few and far between these days.

The real scam that SpareRoom is involved in is creating false profiles. They do this to keep landlords and people looking for a housemate paying for contact. It's all about the advertising revenue for them. And they create many, many false profiles to keep the money rolling in. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is aware of this, and there are ways to identify when they're doing it.

So, my advice to you is to steer clear of this scam artist of a company. Don't waste your time and money on a website that's just trying to pull the wool over your eyes. There are plenty of other options out there that are more trustworthy and won't try to scam you.

So, I had a bit of a problem with SpareRoom. They banned my ad because they said I wasn't allowing full access to the kitchen. But, I mean, come on, I've seen plenty of ads where landlords don't offer full access to the kitchen. It just didn't seem fair to me. But, I decided to change my ad anyway because I had to travel for work for a few days and I could allow full access to the kitchen now. But, they still denied my ad! I was so frustrated. I told them that their policies were double standards and I even showed them proof of other ads that didn't even mention kitchen use. But, they still wouldn't change their mind.

Honestly, I don't think SpareRoom is safe. I'm looking to complain outside of SpareRoom now. Does anyone know who the next Ombudsman or Financial Conduct Authority is? I just want to make sure that other people don't have to deal with this kind of unfair treatment.

It's a shame because I've heard good things about SpareRoom from other people. But, after my experience, I don't think I'll be using it again. I just don't feel like I can trust them. So, if you're looking for a room, I'd say stay away from SpareRoom. There are plenty of other options out there that are more reliable.