Every review we hold for the Coventry office, from every platform, shown as written. First names only.
★★★★★ 1/5
GoogleNot impressed with their customer service AT ALL! Been trying to contact them with regards to a property for rent next door to me for my daughter and family, for 3 weeks or more, we have either emailed or called and only had one reply to say there was an application currently going through for the property for someone else, 3 weeks later a 'to let' sign goes up and when enquiring I was told the application had fell through so I asked why no one had been in touch to let us know it was available again? I was spoken to very rudely as if I was being a pest! Well if they bothered to let people know what's happening with the property then we wouldn't need to make so many calls/emails! Uncaring/terrible customer service/rude...I'm surprised they're still in business!
Ruth · 28 July 2019
Agent replied
The initial application did not go through and the property was immediately let to someone else that had also been interested for some time.
★★★★★ 1/5
GoogleI wish I would've read these reviews before choosing this agency. They are a joke, during our stay there we had our boiler broken for weeks in the winter with no heating and hot water, same with the fridge that stopped working and in the end we had to get a new one cuz the landlord didn't want to pay for it. Now it's been three months since we've left the property and we didn't get any deposit back and they won't reply to our emails or phone calls...AVOID THEM!!!
Alina · 28 July 2019
Agent replied
You did not have a boiler broken for weeks, it was a matter of days for a replacement boiler. You bought a new fridge freezer and deducted the cost from the rent as authorised by the landlord and also kept the old fridge freezer in the property. As stated under Laura's reply, communication between you as a household was poor and given you were 4 adults who chose to live together we would have expected communication to have been better. You will have seen the landlord's deposit claim and the way you all left the property was unacceptable. People who leave the property as they should receive their deposits without damage deductions.
★★★★★ 1/5
GoogleThe worst experience I have ever had with an agency, we left the house in November and it’s February, we still haven’t heard anything from them and we had to raise a dispute to receive our £845 deposit back. Of course we are still going to wait a few months until they bother to explain their point of view as well in the dispute. They should be sued and not only, someone should close their agency because the things they are doing are ILLEGAL!!!! They are asking people to pay HUGE agency fees only to apply for a house and if they are not accepted they don’t get their money back which is £250!!!! Don’t even bother to ring us to let us know about the deposit. One star is too much, I would give 0 stars if possible. AVOID THEM!!!
Laura · 28 July 2019
Agent replied
Please note any deposit claim is the landlord's, not ours. Given you have caused so much damage to the property, breaking the oven which was less than a year old, not cleaning the property or removing your rubbish, not tending to the gardens and the list goes on, it is likely it will be you that is sued given your deposit damages exceed the deposit. Perhaps you should show more respect for a property when you next rent as the landlord would not recommend you. It would also be advisable to communicate as a household given there were 4 of you; we know there were difficulties given 2 left prior to the end of the tenancy but as adults communication is imperative during a tenancy.
★★★★★ 1/5
GoogleThey arranged bookings, and then on the day no one is there to take your call. Then they tell you that they’ve already let the property you wanted to view.
The person answering the phone is unhelpful and verges on the side of rude. There’s never anyone from the student’s department to talk to, and no one calls you back.
I suppose all the above is a blessing is disguise; if they can’t deal with phone calls and viewing appointments, I can’t imagine how they manage their tenancies.
Aysha · 28 July 2019
Agent replied
We have looked into this. We spoke to you on Wednesday to tell you that the property you enquired about had already been let. We asked for further details and criteria to see if we had any other suitable properties. You advised that if we did, then you would be available on Tuesday (today). We said we would call you back if we could match you to another property. No time was given, as no appointment was made, which was confirmed today during the call made by another member of your group. We hope you find a suitable property.
★★★★★ 1/5
GoogleThey arranged bookings, and then on the day no one is there to take your call. Then they tell you that they’ve already let the property you wanted to view.
The person answering the phone is unhelpful and verges on the side of rude. There’s never anyone from the student’s department to talk to, and no one calls you back.
I suppose all the above is a blessing is disguise; if they can’t deal with phone calls and viewing appointments, I can’t imagine how they manage their tenancies.
Aysha · 12 March 2019
Agent replied
We have looked into this. We spoke to you on Wednesday to tell you that the property you enquired about had already been let. We asked for further details and criteria to see if we had any other suitable properties. You advised that if we did, then you would be available on Tuesday (today). We said we would call you back if we could match you to another property. No time was given, as no appointment was made, which was confirmed today during the call made by another member of your group. We hope you find a suitable property.
★★★★★ 1/5
GoogleOkay, where to even begin.
I honestly couldn't imagine a worse estate agents if I tried, all you have to do is read some of the other reviews claiming they would give 0 stars if they could, and I would have to concur. You can also see it in the desperate defense of themselves on the reviews, slandering tenants to compensate for their own behaviour.
They are littered with incompetence, lack of intelligence and general thievery from the first minute, with their aim being to prey on students and rob them blind. Having been a tenant under them for several months, and experienced this first hand, it's truly a miracle they are allowed to operate. The list of all their woeful acts in 'service' to tenants is never ending and would unfortunately exceed google's review limit. This lack of service is disgraceful but the genuine attempts to con you of money is something else entirely. As reported in other reviews, they are withholding our deposit illegally, with the hope that we will give up and let them keep it.
This review has two goals:
1. To warn students (or anyone, really) about this agency and to urge them to consider others when choosing accommodation. Since moving out of the Castles property, I and the same tenants have rented at another Coventry based agency with no complaints; basically, Castles are the worst.
2. To get in contact with others that have problems with this agency and to compile other examples of misconduct.
The irony is, they try and sweeten up customers on first meeting then genuinely ask to be rated 5 stars on google, which I imagine accounts for why they aren't rated even lower. Though unfortunately for Castles, the more they exploit tenants, the more the bad reviews will stack up, until they are the least attractive agency in the Midlands.
I look forward to Castles' reply.
James · 25 June 2018
Agent replied
To say we are slanderous is like the pot calling the kettle black. Deposits are protected with a deposit scheme so we will not have held your deposit illegally - This is a defamatory statement made by you. If you had provided your surname then we could have looked into this matter further and been able to substantively reply to your allegations and negative review but you have not provided your surname so have not given us the opportunity to do so. This was probably your intention so that you can try and make others believe your false review.
★★★★★ 2/5
GoogleThe authorities should not be allowed to operate this agency anymoreUnfortunately, you have not come, as you have promised to change the carpet in the living room. It has been destroyed on the heads and in the door hatch there are some nails we hang. Also, the upstairs and on the stairs,carpet is worn out so much that we felt the nails in the floor(in some places) and stung in them. Because it is very old and scarce no matter how much we try to clean it,it looks dirty and old.
Also the neon in the kitchen is no longer working, we do not know why, we replaced the neon and starter with new ones and also does not work.
The heater in the big room pulls out all sorts of tough and tiring sounds and does not allow us to rest.
I also asked you to stick the wallpaper from the beginning of the year, because in some places it starts to detach and attracts the attention of the children, who, out of curiosity and ignorance, shoot and tear it. Unfortunately in some places it has been loosened and the children have pulled it out. how do we do now?
I am waiting for an answer and
please fix these issues as soon as possible. thank you !
This is from 16.11.2017 end you wait the tenancy to finish end pull out my
Oli · 25 June 2018
Agent replied
Your behaviour as tenants has been concerning hence why you were served notice to vacate. During your tenancy the landlord organised for the property to be redecorated, new carpets, new flooring to the kitchen and bathroom. You smoked inside the property burning a window sill despite it smoking being a breach of your tenancy. Your children ripped the new carpets. You did not return all of the keys and then after the end tenancy date returned to the property, thank fully the locks have been changed. At the end of your tenancy you still wanted to remain in the property and renew your tenancy but given your lack of respect for the property you were asked to leave and served notice. You have written several other negative reviews about other organisations yet fail to see where the actual issue lies.
★★★★★ 5/5
GoogleMy experience with Castles Estate Agents of Coventry was completely positive. The staff were extremely helpful in all aspects of the purchase and were supportive throughout the process. The energy and precision with which they worked was critical to the eventual transaction and I am indebted to them for the service they provided. I would recommend them wholeheartedly.
Rakesh · 28 July 2019
★★★★★ 5/5
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ßoojwah · 17 August 2023
★★★★★ 5/5
GoogleWe booked our student house for next year last month and the whole process has been quick, easy and straight forward for us. We would like to thank Castles particularly Pereen for helping us find the right house and being extremely patient and supportive throughout the whole process, you were a great help. Thanks again.
Ryan · 28 July 2019
★★★★★ 1/5
GoogleNeedless to say it is clearly evident you should STEER CLEAR of this company, based on previous reviews. Exploiting students lack of experience in house renting and all round disgusting, calculated, theiving individuals. Only benefit gained is first-hand insight into the lengths people go to for money. Trying to make the world a better place by advocating this message to any&every student I meet: STAY AWAY FROM THIS AGENCY!
L.H · 25 June 2019
Agent replied
We do not appreciate your allegations and your defamatory statement. Your review has been written following the issues with your deposit. The deposit claim was the landlord's, not ours. It is the landlord's property, not ours, and the landlord is entitled under the tenancy to have the property returned in the same condition it was at the tenancy commencement and as recorded in the inventory. You did not do this. We do not benefit from the deposit. Furthermore, the deductions from the deposit were fair as you issued a dispute with the independent deposit protection company who adjudicated the matter based on the evidence as to how you left the property and they decided on the award. This was the route you chose as you issued the dispute. Had you have returned all keys to the property, cleaned the property, not damaged the kitchen worktops or freezer trays, not spilt food or drink down the kitchen walls, damaged the blinds in the property, marked the carpets and walls, took the shower door off its hinges, stained the mattress and broke the bed base, burnt the window sill, removed items supplied …. and the list goes on, then you would have received your deposit. Perhaps you could respect the next property you rent and return it as you found it as obligated under the tenancy rather than causing the issues you did.
★★★★★ 4/5
GoogleGreat staff, was seen to by Pereen the whole time who looked after us even when half of our group weren't the most organised. I would like to thank Pereen and the whole of the castles staff for helping my friends and I secure a great house for next year.
S
Group · 28 July 2019
★★★★★ 1/5
Googlefrom the £825 deposit, there are total deductions of £275 plus the £72 check out fee giving you a refund of £478. This was in 2018 Nov, for a 80 year old property in Coventry,last furnished before I was born in 80's, worst landlord, I lived in that property for 11 months, have end up paying penalty for staying.
Madhu · 3 July 2020
Agent replied
We are disappointed to see your review given that you are clearly disgruntled at the landlord, calling her the 'worst landlord', and unhappy with the landlord's deposit claim.
The landlord's original deposit claim was in excess of £400 which we negotiated down on your behalf to £250 (you have incorrectly stated £275 and if you look back at your records this will be confirmed), at no benefit to us, yet there appears to be no appreciation for this.
The property was also not furnished before you were born in the 80's and if it was, we are sure that you would not have decided to rent it in the first place. You also stayed in the property for 16 months and renewed your tenancy during this time.
We are sorry that you have decided to place an unfair review on our page after leaving the property in 2018 which is in fact about your landlord's deposit claim that we have no control over. You did have recourse to dispute the deposit with the independent adjudicators where the deposit was protected but chose not to dispute the deposit and in fact accepted the landlord's claim.
★★★★★ 1/5
GoogleIf I could not give a star I would. This is the worst experience I have ever had with an agent. Bunch of dishonest people from, rented a property for a year and when I told them I would leave they tried to convince me to stay. But when I refused they looked for means to keep my deposit and came up with false arguments and made up proves to keep my deposit. Did check out without us and dirty the place to put it on us so as to keep the money. To be honest I think even this deposit protection guys work with this agents because I don't see why they would only consider the agents prove and not mine despite them being dated.
I must start a petition to investigate this estate agent. You can not extort money from people in this difficult times and enjoy it.
Nfor · 18 June 2021
★★★★★ 4/5
GoogleIn the 15 years I've had Castles as my letting agent I have found Karen and Jon to be attentive and helpful. I wish Karen and team every success in the future.
Doug · 29 April 2021
★★★★★ 5/5
GoogleIt has been 10 years now since my partnership started at CASTLES and it is really important to me as a 'distant' landlord that I can trust my agent to react quickly to tenant's needs, whether that be repairs, general maintenance or finding new tenants. I feel that the relationship I have with CASTLES COVENTRY allows me to feel safe in the knowledge that I am doing the best for all my tenants. I recommend CASTLES COVENTRY to any landlord wether you are near or far...
Richard · 12 March 2021
★★★★★ 5/5
GoogleI have been a landlord of Castles for over 20 years. I live overseas and have 3 properties with them. I leave the managing of my properties completely with Castles as I know they always act in my best interests. Two of my properties required updating and I was able to leave this completely with Pereen, who did a wonderful job doing both properties up. They are extremely hard working and their efforts are always noticed and appreciated. Thank you once again Castles, keep up the good work.
M · 7 February 2021
★★★★★ 5/5
GoogleEnquired about a house and Castles worked very hard to get everything sorted and move us in in just 3 days. They were very professional, helpful and accommodating and we have settled in well and have only had one issue since we moved in. This was with the fridge freezer as it stopped working. Castles talked to the landlord and managed to get a new fridge freezer delivered and installed within a couple of days of us telling them about the issue. Thank you very much for making our first letting experience a positive one, we would highly recommend Castles to anyone.
Miss · 7 February 2021
★★★★★ 1/5
GoogleHorrible staff who will lie to you and pressure you just to make a sale.
Viewed a house one Friday evening, thought it looked great and said we were interested. They insisted we come to the office right then to sort out the deposit and sign for it. We asked what the fees were and we were told £360 (more than any other letting agent we’d seen but we liked the house so we were happy to pay). We had seen a few houses and needed one quickly so we were happy to do this. We were told as it was Friday afternoon the payment would not go through so the house would not be reserved so we had to get the £360 out in cash. The whole time we were there they were moaning about it being Friday evening when they were the ones who wanted us to come to the office to sort it out now. As we were going through the paperwork I noticed that there were additional fees so the total was actually £540, around double the average fee we’ve seen, and three times the amount for the house we ended up renting. When I asked about this they accused us of lying and the woman who showed us round got very aggressive saying that I had asked what fees needed to be paid today, and that she told us all the fees that were involved. Three members of staff surrounded us having a go at this point, we said we were not interested and wanted our deposit back. At this point they said they had ‘banked it’ and would not be able to get it until the next day. I said I was not leaving without the cash back at which point it miraculously appeared from somewhere. I tried to offer feedback to the manager about being honest with customers at which point he waved me out of the shop saying he didn’t want to hear it.
Do not use this letting agent - rude staff who tried to pressure us into renting a house whilst being dishonest about it.
Niall · 24 June 2020
★★★★★ 2/5
GoogleTook frankly absurd amounts of money upfront on the basis of not letting out over the summer and 'cleaning the property'. The latter sure did not happen, and I have a suspicion the former didn't either. Administration fees falsely disguised as contract fees, which is ironic as even that wasn't done properly.
From day 1, issues with the property were reported directly in office to Castles, took weeks for some issues to be resolved, some were completely ignored - simply told to deal with mould on interior walls ourselves despite it being a property issue and a potential health risk.
Constant evasion and lack of return contact on issues throughout the year; constantly playing the blame game, and culminating in what can only describe in a deposit war thanks to inventories that unfairly put damaged items down to us even though we reported them damaged numerous times. Even more incredibly they made it out on the deposit receipt that they were ignoring some of these blatantly obvious property issues as a gesture of good will! Still not recieved my deposit as of writing, 3 months after moving out and more than 18 months after paying it. Absurd.
I'm sure some of the staff are genuinely nice people, but the business policy of Castles is beyond atrocious, verging on exploitive. Off to argue to get my deposit back again in a day or two, sure as hell hope that's the last time I ever have to deal with them.
Mike · 28 July 2019
★★★★★ 1/5
GoogleGave one star because zero wasn't an option.
Appalling communication, numerous issues reported and ignored. The claim of property visits every three months is a complete fabrication, in six year I had no more than 3-4 visits, and any issues I reported went no further to the point I had to go above their heads only to be told I needed their permission to do simple things like access the electricity meter (I was not given a key for this at any time only to find out when checking out they suddenly had one available)
Took four months to get deposit back, and only then by disputing it with the deposit company. I was told it takes a few weeks, and numerous phone calls were either completely ignored or I was fobbed off with made up excuses and lies; one particular favourite being that they couldn't contact the overseas landlord to sign off the deposit, despite them having no problem moving new tenants in a week after I had vacated the property. They also told me the deposit was essentially overseas with the landlord which was shown to be an outright lie as it is held in an official scheme.
Ended up being charged for what is no more than wear and tear to what is very cheap furniture and should be expected over a multi-year tenancy, of course this damage was reported to them and completely ignored. When the rent changed they were extremely quick to contact me to change my direct debit of course.
Avoid this company at all costs. Once they have your money, you're invisible to them.
Allan · 28 July 2019
★★★★★ 1/5
GoogleAVOID! Freshers and students beware. Possibly the worst estate agents imaginable. Moving in date was delayed as they were too unorganized to clean the place up! When we eventually got to the move in date they had just started cleaning it! Through the year, the multitude of problems we had were never solved by the estate agents. No gas or heating for 3 days as they couldn't fixed. Came the end of the year and all of our deposit was taken from us. You will not get a deposit back from these people.
John · 28 July 2019
★★★★★ 1/5
GoogleI want to rate this rubbish company with no stars but I cant. This company is an absolute waste and are so careless they promise you things but do not keep them. They have put me and my friends through hell and should pay for it. I cannot believe how they are still in business till this day, Im surprised nobody has burnt it down. If any of you reading this and want to save money STAY FAR AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY, ESPECIALLY TERENCE BROWN
Celyn · 28 July 2019
★★★★★ 1/5
GooglePlease save yourselves a lot of trouble and money by avoiding this digraceful company even one star is generous. They will do everything to take your money andonce you hand over the cash, their helpful attitude disappears. I went to them as i saw their signs outside a house near the uni and thought it would be good for my bro who studied there. We spoke to a big guy who like his collegues are scammers. He showed us a room which unknown to our knowledge had already been rented by another person. The room they ended giving my bro was in a dingy house full of mould. When you try contacting them, they will not give you any answers and will rarely call you back. Oh and to make matters worse, they gave my bro his keys two weeks after the agreed date blaming it on everything but themselves and would not refund the money that they had taken for the two weeks. They will also spring fees on you, left right and center. Even after they take you deposit and first three months rent, they spring on a retainment fee which they claim that if you do not pay you will lose all the money and the room which they do not mention at first. These people are cheats. Stay away from them
Tameima · 28 July 2019
Where the same review appears twice we show it once. We leave out reviews that name another agent or another of the brand's offices.
