Singing Pig

I'm afraid my experience of Ajay Ahuja has left a very bitter taste in my mouth too.

In 2006 I employed the services of Ajay's builders under the banner of Fast Let (I can't remember offhand the name of the site now) but essentially his website was nicely presented with good graphics and the promises given seemed great and achievable at the time (by competent tradesmen that is). Basically you pay a fixed fee depending on the size of the property, pay a 25% deposit, hand over keys, make stage payments and then at the end of the agreed timescale you pay the balance and take the keys back again.

Well, everything was not as it seemed. The ad promised laminate flooring throughout. The 2 cowboys browbeat me into carpet, saying it was better due to noise etc. Seemed plausible, but when you saw the tatty carpet at £1.99 psq yard they put down, they've just save a heap of money and more profit to them. They were masters at the cover up, as I have since discovered following various issues at the property, such as light fittings, kitchen replacement, waste pipework not capped off which caused a flood, bathroom tiling not done with waterproof grout (where the shower was!), plug sockets held on with glue! and pretend screws (they were real screw heads but because the back box was broken and they were too cheap and lazy to do the job properly, they cut off the screw head and glued it in the plug socket fascia. The minute a rather stiff plug was inserted and then taken out again, the fascia came away from the wall...!)

My advice, don't touch Ajay's Fast Let service for refurbing property at all. The main culprits are two cowboys named Bob and Fred (probably not their real names knowing Ajay). They only deal in cash by the way. Get receipts. Everything seems easy but the nightmare has only just started the minute you've paid up and they scurry away to their next job.

It's not worth taking these characters to court, too much hassle. I'm dealing with things as they crop up and getting through each issue one by one. I hope someone else manages to nail them though. He deserves nothing less.

If you want a really reliable decorator/contractor in London (north of the Thames only) then contact me. My new contact is superb. Committed, professional, listens to you and gives advice, flexible etc. etc. What more could a landlord/investor want?

Gareth

Hi chaps,

I dont want to go off topic here but someone mentioned Watch Dog. May be worth a try. A good friend of mine was on there a couple of weeks ago. Mobile broadband bills whilst abroad. To cut the story short, 12k+ bill (inc vat). The Saturday before the show was on she got a call saying "nothing to pay madam". Now obviously the mobile company are not a shark (I am not suggesting for minuet that the afore mention Ajay is a shark as I have no personal experience to call upon) but if enough people get in touch with Watch Dog then they may well give it a look. Especially given the current economic situation and the love of showing people getting fu.... done over with a property investment. 

Good luck and dont let the b'stards grind you down.

(I would like to reiterate that I am  in no way suggesting that any person or persons or companies mentioned in this thread should be considered a b'stard)

Hi

I am having serious difficulties with regard to Ahuja properties, which have not been what I expected.  Could I speak to you?

I filled in a refund form for £350 instruction fee that I paid to Ahuja Holding. As I felt mislead by their newsletters"limited offer, Pay the instruction fee on your first property and we will source your next 4 properties without any instruction fees whatsoever"."I understand I have to pay them for the first property, after which they will source the next 4 properties free of charge. Later I learnt that I have to pay between £1500 upto £3500 for each property they source apart from the £350 I have already paid.I wouldn't paid £350 if I had known this.Then Ajay Ahuja(owner of the Ahuja holding) told me £350 is non refundable even though he didn't mention this anywhere in his website, his newsletters or emails.He didn't reply any of my emails requesting a refund since then. What sort of business he has!! I applied to court now to get my money back.

I'd STRONGLY discourage others to deal with this guy.

Hi, I paid a lot of money to Ajay back in 2006 to source properties in the USA.  These properties failed to materialise.  When I asked for my money to be refunded I was ignored, so took court action.  I am still trying to recover my money.

I hope for Ajay's sake I manage to recover my money soon.  Watchdog seems like a good step - shall we? 

Regards,

Fiona

I suppose you can take this to watchdog, but it is a bit like admitting that you have been taken in by a nigerian scammer.

Chas

chasbmw:

I suppose you can take this to watchdog, but it is a bit like admitting that you have been taken in by a nigerian scammer.

 

Chas

I have not and never will have any dealings with Ajay. However I think your above quote is incorrect. This guy has had books published, articles in national press and, I believe, been on national TV. If it is "a bit like admitting that you have been taken in....." then so have the national press and TV that have quoted him as an "expert" on many occasions. I think this fact adds weight.

If enough people contact Watch Dog then they will look at it.

Cheers

Andy