Viewed a flat to rent in Hertford,had the forms sent over,I called at the beginning of the week to say I was happy to pay the holding fee straight away as we didn't want the flat to go,was told we couldn't until the forms were sent in,had some trouble getting everything together immediately and finally got them in by Friday,to be told another couple had viewed the property and sent in their applications and now it was up to the landlord to decide,to which he chose the other couple,absolutely furious that we weren't informed there had been more interest in the meantime after specifically telling them we wanted to take the flat (which was £200 cheaper than the property we currently rent,and have great references so knew we wouldn't have a problem).Obviously won't be using them now for future properties.