Horrible service by Harcouts Mandela Bay - Uteinhage

I experienced a horrible service from Lario Fourie and her principal(managing agents). I entered into a lease agreement for a flat around Despatch in Uitenhage beginning of June 2024. In the first weekend the property got flooded. Reported the incident and they promised to sort it out. However, it was never sorted out until I left the property . My stuff got damaged due to flooding. The property would be flooded every time it rains heavily, to extent that I had to find solutions at my expense. I stayed in the property till end of October. I waited for them all this time to get the property in order. The response I got; was that it will be sorted by the end of November 2024 as if I did not suffer enough damage to wait that longer. I wrote an email to the agent (Lario Fourie), informing her that I have had enough and that I will require my deposit should I find a new place to stay. On the 1st of November, I found a new place and I moved out of the property. I asked her to pay back my deposit. She said to me they will have to deduct money for grass cutting and for the municipal bill that was in arrears. I have been paying rent and water since the inception of the lease.So when I asked about the damages that I suffered as well as the additional expenses I incurred relating to the condition of the property her principal insisted that by law I had to incur such. She never explained which “law” that she was referring to.When I was discussing the damages, I was referring to the terms of the lease agreement. However, the principal kept on referring to “law” which I did not understand because the only binding agreement we had was the lease document. They ended up paying me less than the full deposit amount and the principal said they were doing me a favor by doing that. Moreover, there is inconsistency in terms of how they treat people based on their skin colour. I will never recommend Harcourts to anyone based on my experience with them. I waited longer simple because the place was convenient for my workplace. Also, places to rent around Uitenhage are very limited. I guess they are using that to their best advantage.