Settl. faces consumer backlash on social media platforms over delayed security deposit refund

Settl. offers affordable fully furnished co-living spaces in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Gurgaon and Chennai. It is way more cheaper and less maintainence compared to hotels or renting a house.

Start-up Settl., a co-living hospitality sector start-up, is facing consumer backlash on the social media platforms.

The Bengaluru-based company is co-founded by Bharath Bhaskar and Abhishek Tripathi. It offers affordable fully furnished co-living spaces in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Gurgaon (Gurugram) and Chennai. They are a good alternative to people who'd like to stay temporarily for a few months in a city, and are very affordable compared to hotels or renting a house.

However, lately it is getting panned for not returning the security deposit taken from customers while signing the rental agreement.

A student Tanish Nevatia took to LinkedIn to complain aboubt Settl. He and his flatmate had vacated Settl Santana on 15th December 2024. As per his rental agreement, the security deposit was to be refunded within 30 days of evacuation. three months have passed and despite the repeated follow-ups, Nevatia and his flatmate haven't receive their deposit.

In a similar case Shristi Singh too has received her refundable security deposit yet. She stayed a Hyphen Vieusx (now owned by Settl.) accomodation in Malleshwaram for three months and moved out on time. She was supposed to get her money back in October 2024. Singh contacted the customer care for follow-up in November, December and January, yet there is no action so far.

To make things worse, Singh is getting payment reminders despite vacating the premises several months ago.

There are many such complaints on Reddit and Quora as well.

In some of the responses to customers on LinkedIn and other social media platforms, Settl. has responded with an apology and promised to rectify the issue. But, most of them haven't recieved their security deposit.

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