The LL probably thought really bad comms from @Carly8 and that if they did nothing it would be refunded. They are probably as surprised as you that OR wait 15 days. It’s not good use of their time to spend it on obvious timewasters
Blaming LL for @Carly8 's inability to know not to hand £ to anyone without talking to them first… v unfair
Best
always get the LL acceptance by email before parting with a holding deposit. I have not used OR before but I am guessing that you will have to wait for the landlord to withdraw and return the deposit. You could try writing a polite message explaining you acted in haste due to OR popping up with “show the landlord you are serious and place a holding deposit” I do portion some of the blame on OR and elsewhere a holding deposit is normally requested by the LL/Referencing if they are happy to proceed. Lessons learned for next time and I hope the matter gets resolved
I’m not “blaming the landlord” for the fact that this has happened. But we all know that the OR Rent Now button is a very unsatisfactory part of the otherwise good OR process. It is all too easy for a prospective tenant to miss the Info button alongside the Rent Now button. What I do think is unacceptable is for a LL not to return the Holding Deposit immediately if a prospective tenant who has not been met and has not viewed the property pays a Holding Deposit.
OR really need to sort out this part of their system ASAP. They should stop emailing applicants suggesting that they pay a Holding Deposit simply because the LL has not yet finalised who they intend to select for final consideration as a tenant. They should require the prospective tenant to positively confirm that they have already reached agreement with the LL to pay a Holding deposit before they allow it to happen.
Unless and until these changes are made we will continue to include a specific “warning” in our adverts that we will not accept a Holding Deposit from any applicant until we have selected them after a viewing/meeting and asked them to proceed.