Trusted Agent profile · Banbury
★★★★★
173 reviews across 2 platforms
3-4 Horsefair, Banbury, OX16 0AA
Stepping Stones's office in Banbury, at 3-4 Horsefair, is rated 4.0 out of 5 across 173 reviews on two platforms, including 172 Google reviews rated 4.0.
Every review we hold for the Banbury office, from every platform, shown as written. First names only.
5/5
GoogleGreat service from start to finish. Answered questions and responded to messages reall quickly and a fantastic welcome pack. Thanks Glen and Sam and the team for all your help!PositiveResponsiveness
Thanks Anna. Much appreciated and we hope you love your new home.
5/5
GoogleBeen very happy in the three + years of letting with Stepping Stones :)
Thanks Jason
5/5
GoogleI have used Stepping Stones to let both my properties over the last 10 or so years. They are professional and courteous at all times. They are always on top of the legalities, reminding me when electrical checks etc. were due and have a 'bank' of contractors to carry out any necessary works. If you are planning to let a property in this area, then I can thoroughly recommend them.
Thanks for the nice review, I am glad that we could help. Ben Jones - Stepping Stones
1/5
GoogleVery bad agency. We lost all our deposit even tho we had the carpet professionally cleaned and the garden was also tidy when we left and handed our keys in but it grew by the time the new tenants moved in which the agency charged 150 pounds to do the garden which we shouldn't of had to pay cause we keys in! They also had maintenance people and visits to our house with out notifying us first and also lied about a plug socket being fixed which they tried to charge us for 50 pounds. Staff are also rude. I would never use stepping stones again. Now with chancellors and had no problems at all.NegativeProfessionalism
Dear Ben I am sorry you felt that you needed to give us a poor review. I see that your partner has also given a poor review and so I thought that I would include my reply to her below.... I understand that you rented one of our properties for some time and in fact I met both you and your mother on a number of occasions to discuss your desire to terminate your contract early. I believe that when we spoke you felt that you had not signed the agreement renewal and therefore did not want to pay the costs relating to the early release. Although we demonstrated that you and your partner had both signed we then offered you a large reduction in these fees as a gesture of goodwill and as we felt that you were keen to move to a different property. Once you moved out the property was not found to be in an acceptable condition and you were charged accordingly. Check outs and dilapidations are both the most important and most contentious part of our work as letting agents. We have to carry out a fair and impartial final inspection as all of our actions are governed by The Dispute Service (TDS) who will carry out impartial arbitration in the event of any dispute. There is always a delicate balance as tenants always feel that we are being overly harsh and Landlords will always feel that we are too lenient. Unlike many other agents all of our staff are sent on TDS training courses and then refresher seminars to ensure that the process is as fair to all parties as it can be. I have looked at all of the correspondence and I have spoken at length with your property manager. I believe that they have judged this matter as fairly as they could and certainly abided by the protocols set by the TDS and ARLA (The Association of Residential Letting Agents). They have used your original inventory, made allowance for fair wear and tear and depreciation and taken into account all of your arguments whilst coming to a conclusion that is, as far is possible, fair and acceptable to all parties. I am not naïve and I understand that you will not agree with this. As the owner of Stepping Stones and someone who is very proud of my company and our customer service reputation I did want you to be assured that your feelings were not being ignored and that we do try to be as fair and honest as we can in all of our dealings. I do not like to see any client, be they Landlords or Tenants unhappy with the service that they have received and although I cannot alter the findings of the checkout I can only apologise that you felt aggrieved by this process. I would also point out that the guide lines that we work with are not set by Stepping Stones but by the industry regulatory bodies that I have listed above. We have at all times been honest, transparent and courteous in our dealings with you and I would also point out that we have no monetary gain whatsoever from dilapidations as all tradesmen used are outside contractors. Again my apologies that you feel disappointed with our service and if you would like to discuss this further please feel free to contact me on 01295 275909. Ben Jones
5/5
GoogleVery professional, efficient and highly recommended if you are an international worker who needs to look for your next move from abroad. I couldn't be there in person and Glen organized me an apartment view through a video call all in the same Saturday morning !!! They also accepted a view by a person on my behalf ! Very quick also with the referencing process. These people clearly know how to make business out of the local community and they do everything they can to simplify your life and save real money. On a comparison Stambra Powell asked me to book a plane for the second time, to be there in person to view the property (after having recently rented an apartment with them and receiving the deposit back in full !?)... Luckily in the era of 4-5G internet with the decent people I met at Stepping Stones I was able this time to make a smart move. I cannot recommend enough Stepping Stones Letting particularly if you're looking into Banbury. Thanks again Glen!
Thanks Dario, much appreciated.
5/5
GoogleI am not one to ever write a review for anything, but I rented from Stepping Stones for 3 years and I do not have a single complaint about anything. All of my dealings with the office personnel were nothing but professional and they were always extremely helpful and dealt with any issues in a timely manner. If any maintenance issues arose during my tenancy, they were always repaired as soon as possible. I would recommend this agency to anyone and would not hesitate to rent from them again in the future.
Joel, Thanks for the lovely review and good luck in the future. I am glad that we could help. - Stepping Stones.
4/5
GoogleWe have been very impressed with Stepping Stones and were pleasantly surprised at the timeliness and level of service, which exceeded our expectations. Our Property Manager was excellent! We would definitely recommend this agency.
Thanks for your kind words. I am glad that we could help.
1/5
GoogleWe rented from stepping stones a few years ago and had a good experience with them. Remembering this we went with them again on our recent rental. Now I feel like they have done their utmost to pick everything possible after we left the place spotless! Deweeding in the garden, failing to clean the outside of the windows sufficiently, our cleaner missed the top of the fridge... Lots of picky things that added up to £260! I'll never consider renting with them again. Update - after our cleaner went back and cleaned the fridge and lower floor windows again, they reduced the amount charged by £40.
Caroline. Many thanks for your review and the points raised. I am sorry that you feel that you have not had a good service from us and for that I apologise. As one of the founders of Stepping Stones I am very proud of our customer service reputation that we have built up over the last twelve years. Check outs and dilapidations are both the most important and most contentious part of our work as letting agents. We have to carry out a fair and impartial final inspection as all of our actions are governed by The Dispute Service (TDS) who will carry out impartial arbitration in the event of any dispute. There is always a delicate balance as tenants always feel that we are being overly harsh and Landlords will always feel that we are too lenient. Unlike many other agents all of our staff are sent on TDS training courses and then refresher seminars to ensure that the process is as fair to all parties as it can be. The property was professionally cleaned at the start of the tenancy and it is within the right of the landlord to enforce a professional charge at the end. However, this was reviewed by your property manager and a lesser charge was settled upon as a gesture of goodwill. I know that you have spoken with your property manager and he agreed some further amendments and agreed for your cleaner to revisit. I have looked at this matter and I have spoken at length with your property manager. I believe that they have judged this matter as fairly as they could and certainly abided by the protocols set by the TDS and ARLA (The Association of Residential Letting Agents). They have used your original inventory, made allowance for fair wear and tear and depreciation and taken into account all of your arguments whilst coming to a conclusion that is, as far is possible, fair and acceptable to all parties. I am not naïve and I understand that you will not agree with this. As the owner of Stepping Stones and someone who is very proud of my company and our customer service reputation I did want you to be assured that your feelings were not being ignored and that we do try to be as fair and honest as we can in all of our dealings. I do not like to see any client, be they Landlords or Tenants unhappy with the service that they have received and although I cannot alter the findings of the checkout I can only apologise that you felt aggrieved by this process. I would also point out that the guide lines that we work with are not set by Stepping Stones but by the industry regulatory bodies that I have listed above. We have at all times been honest, transparent and courteous in our dealings with you and I would also point out that we have no monetary gain whatsoever from dilapidations as all tradesmen used are outside contractors. I am sorry that you felt the need to give us a one star review when we have seemingly given a good service in the past and up to the point of check out. If you would like to discuss this in more detail feel free to give me a call at any time. Ben Jones Stepping Stones Letting Ltd
1/5
GoogleAVOID…PLEASE DO NOT RENT WITH THESE. Seems we are not the only ones who have had issues either! Staff are appalling, rude, aggressive and unprofessional from the owner down as all they are interested in is money. They don’t care about you, the state of the property or any health effects the issues could have on you or your children and apparently they laugh about all tenants who ‘just moan’ in the office! We moved into our rental in Moreton Pinkney in June 2022 and we’re forced to move out last week after being evicted by our landlord under a section 21 for no reason other than what was clearly a revenge eviction as we have had nothing but issues since the day we moved in. We regularly reporting the problems from a missing washing machine (quickly purchased and replaced as the drum exploded), all windows and door glass blown so it’s not energy efficient, NO/insufficient hot water for over a year, birds nesting under the eaves, bird excrement built up on the windows sills, all over the windows inside and out, bird mess on our bed and down the walls just from having the window open, on our garden furniture and child’s garden toys, over us while sat eating in the garden, stinking sinks, slugs in the kitchen, faulty/loose cupboard doors which we couldn’t tighten up any further, tile missing on the kitchen floor, shower not working, carpets fitted badly, ceiling marked from leaking boiler that was never sorted, abusive neighbours, mice in the garden from neighbours rubbish strewn all over the floor around their bins, cannot access your allocated parking spaces due to overgrown bushes, trees overgrown around the power lines in the garden, fence damaged but eventually replaced after the dog escaped twice! A handful of these issues have been resolved as we got the floor tile fitted, boiler replaced but it still wasn’t working properly, shower replaced and carpets finally sorted but the rest of the issues have not been resolved! A few days before the end of our tenancy the property has gone back up on Rightmove, incorrectly listed with really old pictures and it’s gone up for more rent….disgraceful so please, please be careful as these people will rip you off too!
5/5
GoogleI have 2 houses managed by Stepping Stones and I highly recommend them. They are very efficient and competent. The staff are very experienced and the charges are reasonable. They have found me reliable, careful tenants and if I need any property maintenance it is always reasonably priced.
Thanks Lydia. Your kind words are much appreciated. Ben Jones - Stepping Stones Letting
5/5
GoogleThere was warm atmosphere and lovely stuff
Thanks for the nice review Balog, I am glad that we impressed. Ben Jones - Stepping Stones
5/5
GoogleThank you stepping stones your service has been fantastic the period I had the tenancy with you. Your responsiveness was incredible. Keep up the good work.
Thanks Salome, your kind words are much appreciated. Ben Jones - Director. Stepping Stones Letting
5/5
GoogleAlways ready and able to help me when I call with any issues, and always find answers to my questions quickly. Best lettings agency we've dealt with!
Thanks Jodie, Much appreciated.
2/5
GoogleSince May I have informed the agency that the boiler has a strange noise and I have to restart to start working again. The property manager has confirmed to me that he will send an engineer to investigate. In December the boiler just stopped, an engineer arrived who specified that in 2 weeks he will solve the problem and let the boiler go for another 2 weeks. I haven't had heat in the house for 2 weeks now (15 ° C). I want to specify that from May 2021 I also await the breakdown of a sliding door (confirmed repair to be carried out). What is clear is that the property manager manager is not doing his duty.NegativeProfessionalism
1/5
GoogleWhen you were their client, things were quite smooth. But my bad experience occurred when they notified my deposit deduction. At first, they claimed that they would deduct almost half of my deposit due to allegedly 8 broken panels and fee for professional cleaning to be done. For these claims, I asked for photographic evidence. At the end, they decided to only deduct my deposit for the cleaning fee, but it raised the question if they did their job accurately or not. And the professional cleaning claim was quite funny. When I moved in (this was during lockdown), the amount of cleaning I had to do myself wasn't a good indication that the flat was professionally cleaned. So, being charged to get the flat professionally cleaned for the next tenant seems unfair. Hopefully this review will be helpful for future clients and for Stepping Stones to review its client and tenant management.
5/5
GoogleBest agency in Banbury so far!
Thanks for the great review Marcelina.
5/5
GoogleI have been with stepping stones for 11 years they manage my property. All the staff in the office are very helpful and knowledgable in what ever needs to be done . I would recommend them to anyone who is looking to rent or have there propertie rented Out .i would not use any other letting agency in BANBURY..
Thank you Hazel. Much appreciated.
1/5
GoogleI strongly advise against contacting this real estate agency. I can't put into words how disgusted I am with today's phone call with one of the agents “The gentleman” I spoke to was so rude and with no manners at all it's hard to believe. My only regret is that I didn't ask for his name. Now after reading all these bad reviews, I know to stay away from this agency.
5/5
GoogleStepping Stones have always been extremely efficient and supportive with my lettings over the years. Even though I managed the property myself, Lauren, the Office Manager, would always take time to advise and help me during my tenancies. Would definitely recommend them.
Thanks for the nice review Marilyn, I am glad that we could help. Ben Jones - Stepping Stones
5/5
GoogleAll at stepping stones have been amazing at supporting me through the process of putting my property up for rent. They made a process which seems at first daunting, feel so simple and far from challenging. The staff communicated throughout every step and guided me through the process. It allowed me to put my complete trust in the company in managing my property effectively. Thank you all.
5/5
GoogleBy far my best ever experience with a lettings agent. Always contactable, personable and fair.
Thanks Sam. Much appreciated.
1/5
GoogleWe rented out our house with these people for over 10 years. I have now taken possession of the house without my ex husband ... I decided to go with Stepping Stones once again. When I met the CEO at the property couple months back I asked him if I could have a service whereby if the tenant defaulted to pay ... Stepping Stones would pay. Bens response was no chance ... you will not get any service of that kind from any estate agent ... WRONG all others do. Why would he say this ? Afterwards he ate his words as I asked another agent and they said he was talking nonsense . Before I went to see him at my property he told me I needed a new kitchen ... WRONG the kitchen was fine . I paid 568 pounds to get my garden back to a fit state. On the worksheet it said mowing .. weeding ... build a wooden hut for the future compost. My boyfriend and I went to our property last weekend to find no weeds were taken out ... the garden was a mess. Also the wooden hut wasBy even rectified ... he had taken my money but didn’t do the works. He didn’t think I would be back as I live 3 hours away. You can imagine how livid I was. Also he said we needed painting to the kitchen ceiling as we’d had a leak ... his quote was 220 pounds ... my boyfriend painted the area within couple minutes. He said carpets needed cleaning 350 pounds ...the carpets were in good order. My ex husband has always wondered where they get their figures from ... now I have experienced it first hand ... please be aware he is a money grabbing person who will have you over the above says it all. Very unhappy customerNegativeProfessionalism
2/5
GoogleNOT RESPECTING PRIVACY!! I rented a property from Stepping Stones for 5 years, only could say very good words about Kieran and Emma they are very nice, helpful and professional with the customers, if we had problem with the boiler or anything else has been sorted quickly. BUT i give you only 2 stars because: Agency has a ill-mannered Lettings manager, very unprofessional, couple of time he was coming for visit the property and came in without knock the door, just used his key. NOT RESPECTING PRIVACY!! Always been rude, grumpy and arrogant, except when we renew the contract. Last time he had appointment with the new tenant for visit the property . They didn’t email/text/phoned to us. When I asked him about it: Why didn’t you let us know we have visitors? He said, he did. I said, ‘No you didn’t. He then called me a liar and left in a tantrum. NOT RESPECTING PRIVACY!! I strongly recommend to avoid using....
5/5
GoogleI have used Stepping Stones for nearly 2 years , it was a big move in for myself and my partner as it was our first place together and moving into a different area , these guys made it easy and Lauren our rental manager was fab and I would definitely use them again should I need to rent a house , very professional and personable team. We had to move on fairly quick due to change in circumstances and they helped us and made the leave easy . ..Great team !
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