Martin and Co Devon reviews

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Really wish i could give 0 stars

Really wish i could give 0 stars. Asked for viewings for a block of largely empty apartments and i wanted to see numerous different ones. I got shown 2, the estate agent didn't know the prices, whether they came with parking, furnished or unfurnished, just completely clueless about any questions we had. We decided to put a deposit down and an offer which the landlord accepted, only to be told 3 days later that they have already let it to someone else. We then got shown another property in the same block which was smaller and worse in almost everyway, we put an offer in and have heard nothing back since. Do not use these clowns, they don't have a clue.

Jake · 5 August 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Untrustworthy

We arranged a viewing on a property in Folkestone 03/08/20 when we turned up at the property we waited 10 minuted for the agent to show but ended up being greeted by the vendor which we had no problem with but were not told that this was going to happen. The vendor mentioned they had no offers as yet. We were bowled over by the property so much so we called Martin and Co straight away at 17:15 to make an offer. Unfortunately the agent had gone home but our offer was said to be passed on. The next day we were called by the office manager at 9:30 who said the offer wasn't going to be accepted as they already had 4 offers on the table - I think that's strange as the vendor wasn't aware of any offers before they opened. We loved the property that much that we put in a sizeable offer right away and the office manager said they would call our agent to understand where we were at with our sale. The offer was rejected at 16:00 to say they wanted a first time buyer with no chain. We thought fair enough, the vendor made that clear to us however we have since found out today that the call to our agent was never made so the vendor would not have had all the information presented to them. Had they called they would have realised we are 2 weeks in to the soliciting process with a first time buyer ourselves so practically chain free.Very disappointing and not a nice experience - selling a house is stressful enough!

Tom · 5 August 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Hello my experience with Martin&Co is…very upsetting

Hello my experience with Martin&Co is so strange that I still can’t believe I was trying to purchase a property in Exeter and I was contracted by Chris I really liked a Georgian Town House with the asking price of £700000 I have made an offer of £650000 amount which seller agreed to sell for My offer was turned down stating that they have a cash offer accepted Few days later I am browsing through internet and I see My property online with the new information We have received an offer of £645000 and the deadline for better offers will expire in 5 days I feel cheated and lied to I have been dismissed for no reason because I am a cash buyer I have made a clear statement that I have very large amount of money on my bank account and I will have additional money within 5 weeks and that will be double amount I would need for that property I wanted to buy this property to be close to my family after I lost my dear husband a year ago I have my children and grandchildren in Exeter I am not a property developer!!!!I feel very sad that Exeter branch is treating clients like this 03/08/2020Kind regards Dorota Newman

Dorota · 4 August 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Disorganised and Deposit scammers

Their partnership with the inventory company in bordering on fraudulent. Inventory clerk they employ lists nearly all aspects of the house as "good", irrespective of pre-existing damage, meaning we have to spend hours making amendments to the check in report. Then when checkout comes they pick out the tiniest flaws, which were already there when we moved in, and send it to the landlord alongside there original report saying everything was fine, with our edits attached in a separate document. I can only assume it is to try and keep as much of the deposit as they can, fortunately I've kept all the photographic evidence from when we moved in.Also the standard of cleaning was very poor when we moved in, when we moved out we used one of their recommended "professional" cleaners, and then they have the cheek to say it was badly cleaned on the check out report! In general they were very disorganised, with different people repeatedly asking for different bits of information. Very slow to get back to us but expecting us to reply same day to their requests!

L · 1 August 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Wast of Time

Looking to rent a new apartment. These guys had a few on rightmove but you cannot call them to speak to them, everything is a pre-recorded message, the portal they tell you to use does accept any information and surprise, you cannot call anyone to tell them.Shocking way to do business.!!

NA · 17 January 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

A company to avoid

When looking for my first rented home, I was advised time and time again not to use letting agents due to their poor reputation. Unfortunately my experience with Martin and Co WGC was not an exception to this and why I've felt it necessary to leave a review.In the time I was renting through this company, I have only had one polite conversation with various members of the team. Despite always being polite and lenient myself, most correspondence had via email and phone call has been particularly rude, unprofessional and incompetent, and not at all the standards expected of a company who supposedly prides themselves in their customer service. Working in a similar industry myself, I can understand tenants frustrations but always would respond in a professional and courteous manner, unfortunately this isn't the case with the majority of the team at Martin and Co. Welwyn Garden City.We were left without hot water on several occasions and went 3 months without a working washing machine. All requests were recorded on our part but regularly we experienced far longer delays than seemingly necessary. It was very clear they didn't want to report or deal with a lot of maintenance problems as that involved asking the vendor of the property to spend money to fix them, thereby risking upsetting the vendor and losing business. While I understand you need to speak with the landlord to handle maintenance issues, that does not excuse problems lasting for weeks, months in my experience. At one point we received an email from a team member with an accusatory tone implying we had somehow broken an electrical item in the property, even though twice the professional THEY sent out informed both us and the company that it was a fault of the model itself and nothing to do with any user interference. Any emails regarding this from here were not responded to, or again, responded to in an impolite way. Attempts to contact the team were often unsuccessful, and when they were answered there was no consistent reply as to who was the property manager, which surely would be recorded on CRM systems that a well-known company such as Martin and Co. would use. Lastly, as I imagine someone from the team will be reading this, I encourage you to retain some of your humanity when dealing with enquiries regarding major problems with the properties you manage. Please remember these are people's homes, where people spend most of their lives.  For tenants to already be trying to live around problems they can't control and then for the people that can help them to be rude and unhelpful, it's enough to make someone feel extremely uncomfortable living in their home and it is a reason we did not want to continue business with this company. I would not advise anyone looking to rent to use Martin and Co due to my experience with the company. For any new tenants or landlords I encourage you to research the rights and expectations of you and the letting company to ensure you're not taken advantage of.I want to finish by saying none of my comments are in relation to the period of lockdown/interference due to COVID-19, I can appreciate that delays during this time are completely impossible to avoid..

Emily · 7 July 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Martin & Co required proof of deposit…

Martin & Co required proof of deposit before I could view a property.I am looking for an investment property and saw an advert with Martin & Co last week. I tried to book a viewing but was told that due to new COVID rules, i had to send a Decision in Principle before I could book a viewing. I cooperated but when I asked for the reference that detailed this new requirement, I was simple sent a link to Property Mark with a reference to “serious buyers only can view a property”, there was no mention of financial assessment before viewing a property. Once I had sent through the DIP, I was then asked to send proof of deposit and this is where is drew the line. I don’t mind being financially evaluated if I make an offer, but not to view a property.

Jack · 27 June 2020

★★★★★ 2/5

Trustpilot

Disappointed

To start with I was happy with Martin & Co, the man who showed me around the flat was helpful and was nice. The property was affordable but could have been slightly more ready for me to move in as there were a few issues. The oven door was broken (which was fixed before I moved in), there were holes and marks on the kitchen and cupboard doors and the shelves in the kitchen fell down when I got there which I replaced with nice wooden shelves. It wasn't very clean on arrival either. I also had to wait over a month for hot water as there wasn't any when I moved in! When it was arranged for the plumber to come and fix it whilst I was at work, he found that the spare keys Martin & Co had for the flat were wrong so it couldn't be done! I then had to get a spare set cut for them from a specific key cutting shop they wanted which I found had been closed down and had to run around looking for a place to get a set cut for them! I finally got the hot water fixed after a month but the water pressure was still low which I told them about many times and every time a check was done in the flat, they noted it but never did anything about it. One morning when I was due to go to work, I locked myself out (the keys to the flat and my car key locked inside). I had to wait till 9:00am to ring the shop for them to tell me they couldn't help me and I had to get the key. I explained to them that my car key was locked inside and had no way of getting to them as the flat was in a village twenty minutes drive away from the shop and there were hardly any buses running. Luckily a neighbour could help me but I wasn't happy that they couldn't help me on that one occasion I got locked out. On the day of my one months notice that I was moving out, I found out that the Dover branch who I have been with from the start had been shut down (they never let me know about this) and I was going round in circles trying to get through to the right person to speak to. The lady I finally spoke to wouldn't give a straight answer to my questions and was just trying to get me to stay longer, she was also rude. She then gave me the wrong email address to confirm this with someone else. I wasn't able to get a confirmation until four days after I first contacted them. I was told that a fee of £60 was coming off my deposit so they could do the checks on the flat after I had moved out. I was told "there is no point in arguing about this as we will win as it's in the tenancy aggreement" this was in small print which stated a 'small fee' not giving an actual amount to be paid. I was also told I "WILL NOT be able to be there during the checks due to covid19 regulations" in an email when I asked if I could sit outside in my car incase they had any questions or issues. I spent two weeks before I moved out of the flat making sure it was fully decorated in magnolia and professionally cleaned. This included using a vax machine to clean all carpets and a vax steamer used on all surfaces and the oven. It was left in a much better state and more livable to when I moved in! When I asked to see the check report, I was disappointed with the results. They had complained that I had left things in a draw- things that was there when I moved in, keys that I was given by them but didn't work for anything and a small tea light candle I forgot to take out. I left the packaging which I used to clean the washing machine and oven on the side to show them what I used to clean them which they complained about leaving rubbish and insinuated that the oven was not cleaned when I did in fact scrub it twice! They also quoted the flat was left in an "average state" and the "carpets look like they have been swept". My new landlord helped me to move and his words were "this is immaculate" and "it's the best property he had seen that has been left by a tenant!"Even when I handed the keys over, the man I spoke to in the Folkstone branch described the flat as "run down" before I moved in. I was annoyed that I spent two weeks making the flat clean, tidy and fully decorated to be told it was left in an average state. I expressed this to Martin & Co and the response I got was "don't get so angry, you're still getting your money back". Which took five days to receive after it having to be confirmed with so many different people. Less than a month after I moved out, the flat has already been let out and the rent has been put up to £25 more a month than I was paying and is described as a "great little flat" including all the photos of my hard work of getting it looking nice for the next person!

Chloe · 27 June 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Hey .some one give this guys a bit of…

Hey .some one give this guys a bit of credit.ive recently moved down from the midlands.so got in touch with Martin.co from start to finish they were so helpful first of all finding me a property that I wanted coached me through everything staff very professional on the move date collected keys from office oz personally help me move got welcome package they even came to the flat with me they made sure everything was in order ..fantastic bunch people...Raymond from Lytham st Anne’s

Raymond · 26 June 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

I hope people read this and the other terrible reviews. Please stay very clear of them. Worst agent I have ever dealt with in my 20 years of being a landlord . They never respond if there’s an issue, the manager terrible and more like a bad car salesman than an estate agent. They try to worm money out of landlords by creating work for they’re workmen. They have zero communication between staff, a tenant moved out without paying, then I had an email from a staff member two months after saying would I like to renew their tenancy ! When it’s money they owe or an issue on their side they never respond. How they are still in business is a miracle !NegativeResponsiveness, Quality, Professionalism

Neil · 17 June 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

Do not do Business with Martin & Co!!!! They were very happy to show us around the flat, and the process for renting was quite easy, but as soon as you go to leave, they drag their heels considerably!!!! We agreed with the landlord we would leave early from the contract, and we would find new tenants ourselves as we had to leave because me and my partner were having a baby, and the £615 cancellation fee was quite steep. Landlord agreed a reduced cancellation fee if we found new tenants ourselves, we did this, estate agent overruled anyway. When we asked why, they said they 'didn't have to justify anything'. We spent 2 days cleaning the flat before we left, but they still took £115+ off the deposit for 'cleaning'. When we asked to see the bill for our own accounts, we were told that again, they didn't need to show us any proof of anything, and that was that. So we paid the cancellation fee, thinking that would be it over finally, but after we'd left, they sent us another bill for 3 days which we weren't even in the flat, and again had no choice but to pay. For context: We had agreed a move out date, they were charging us for 3 days the flat was empty, which we didn't agree to.... Also, good luck trying to get hold of someone to talk to about it either by phone or e-mail. They say that someone will get back in touch but it never ever happens. So in summary, Martin and Co. will happily take your money, but good luck getting anything back afterwards. Would NOT recommend!!!! I really cannot emphasize that enough.

Bevis · 17 June 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Martin & Co in Glasgow helped me and…

Martin & Co in Glasgow helped me and flatmate land our dream flat. Their constant support and help during the process was very helpful! Specially Huzaifa with his friendliness and professionalism was a big help. Special thanks to him and of course Martin & Co. Absolutely suggest them.

Seyed · 11 March 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Extremely poor experience with the…

Extremely poor experience with the Leeds branch, communication wasn't great from the start. Someone forgot about something so we didn't receive the keys on the planned date. Then they confused lead tenant with a second tenant and the deposit money went under the wrong name. They were unable to undo that. We asked several times to amend the lead tenant, no one did. Then they decided to sell the property so strangers were coming to our home for viewings, although it was much more than 3 months till the end of tenancy. When you move in with Martin & Co, please take photographs of EVERY single corner or dirty surface or anything old and worn, mattresses underneath. In our case the flat was not clean when we got the keys so there was a lot to take pictures of, now I'm rocking through gigabytes of data for dispute/court case or both. Please have a lot of evidence of the condition of the flat before you move in and plan to see any money back.

Łukasz · 31 May 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

We have two properties with them. Staff all good but Madeline is exceptional, professional and very helpful at finding the right tenants. Fees are very competitive. Would definitely recommend their services on our experience so far.

Wendy · 18 June 2018

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Mismanagement of my rental property

Be very careful. Martin and Co are just a front for a local agent. So although they give the impression you are dealing with a reputable nationwide agent they are in fact a group of individual companies. When it comes to a dispute you are on your own with the small local company. They were negligent managing my property. The local agent, JAA property, Reading, then tried to hide behind his limited company which owned the "franchise" and Martin and Co did not want to get involved. In the end I took then to court but they still refused to pay so in the end I had to send in the bailiffs.

David · 19 May 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

As a landlord I was forced to have them…

As a landlord I was forced to have them as the previous agents sold up to them. They were not allowed to tell us due to competition laws. I just got a new tenant who has been great but dealing with these people. They lost keys and the Directors words "what do you expect me to do about it" the blamed the previous agent. Put their fees up then even more due to landlords paying the fees and tenancy agreements which I support. I told them in March I was moving to another family run agent but instead of co-operating they are the opposite. Delaying everything even my tenants deposit. I have reported them to the Property Ombudsman and I will also report them to ARLA. Do not use. They handed over 4 sets of keys to a plumber I had not used before which is against ARLA rules. They have used the pandemic to make things worse for people. As a landlord they always had my permission to fix everything. But hopefully from Wed new agents never to use these people again.

Mrs · 18 May 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Highly Reccommend

I have recently moved into a Bournemouth Martin&Co property and I am absolutely thrilled. I have had such a bad experience with other agents previously and was starting to lose hope, but then I found these guys!Firstly, i'd like to mention Daniel who showed me the first viewings and dealt with the referencing ect... I must have sent hundreds of different questions and he never got fed up and answered everything in detail. I was re-assured throughout the referencing and kept informed - which made me feel at ease.Secondly, after the referencing was completed I was ready to collect keys and get the ball rolling - this is when I met Monica. She has been my main port of call and has been dealing with me pestering her constantly via email (Sorry). She dealt with the deposit/rent ect and this all went through really quickly and easily. She has been so friendly and I feel like I can approach her about anything! Everytime I email, it has always been responded to within 24 hours - the communication is amazing!Last, but no means least - David (Property Manager). He unexpectedly called me on the date I moved in and introduced himself and that he would be managing the property - which I thought was very kind and professional. I'd usually not been introduced to people, until there was a problem! After being in the flat for a while I started to notice minor problems, therefore I contacted David and reported them (bombarding him with messages/emails - Sorry). My problem was reported early morning and the contractor had been out and resolved/fixed the issue by the end of the day!! I am so happy and confident in the service going forward. I would highly recommend Martin&Co to anyone and this has been the best dealing I have had with any lettings agents. This experience has completely changed my view on renting from an agent and I am totally relaxed/excited to have a long tenancy ahead with Martin&Co.Thank you to you all :)

Hollie · 18 May 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Efficient service

Very pleased with the service I receive - my go to person is Pauline ( Stirling Branch). - always receive a quick professional friendly response and all matters highlighted are resolved which makes renting out my property easy.

Linda · 11 May 2022

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

They didn't help me when I needed it most

I like to be objective and positive but this is by far the worst company I have dealt with. I received a letter the day before Christmas Eve saying that my landlord had not paid his mortgage and there was a court date due. This was a genuine shock and I took the letter to the letting agent who promised to sort it out. Their parting line when I left the office was "if I don't speak to you before, have a nice Christmas". Well, yes of course I'm going to have a lovely Christmas knowing that potentially my 3 young children and myself could be homeless. Finally, I got a response the next day (interestingly my ex husband rang up because I was in such a state and they discussed it with him, even though his name is not on the tenancy and we do not live together) to be told that the landlord had expected his ex-wife to pay and he couldn't understand why she hadn't. Now forgive me for speaking out of turn but my rental agreement was with my landlord and not with his wife. Anyway the message was, he had paid it and it was all sorted. I felt dubious but what can I say. I tried ringing the courts, the bank and the solicitors but no one would tell me if this was true so I had no idea whether we were going to have our family home taken away from us or not, and I was in the middle of a contract so not in a position to look elsewhere.Imagine my extreme surprise (read with heavy sarcasm) when on my son's birthday (always great timing!) I received a letter from the bank's solicitors telling me that the house was going to be repossessed. You can not imagine the utter anguish I felt at receiving this letter. I don't think I slept for a week. No one would tell us anything, Martin and Co promised to phone my landlord and let me know what was happening, 1 month later and despite me chasing them up I have heard nothing.The council have been utterly brilliant giving me advice and support and helping me find alternative accommodation. I have now found another house for the children and myself and I could not ask for a more supportive landlord or more professional letting agent (very thorough, I have never filled in so many forms in my life).The icing on the cake was when I gave in my notice to Martin and Co because we managed to find somewhere else they asked me to do a video of the house for potential viewings. You have got to be kidding me, right?I’m sorry but I really can not recommend this company. As people, the staff are lovely, friendly and approachable but as a company, I have found them unprofessional and unethical. I have had the worst month of my life and whilst I realise I have the landlord to thank and not my letting agent, they have not helped the matter by keeping me in the dark. Very, very upset and disappointed.

Jemma · 27 April 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

0 star. service

We rent flat in birmingham with them, i had an issue with wasching machine they fix it after 1 month , i asked to extend 3 months my contract they asking for 60£ charges. in full pandemic, i had paid nearly 4500£. when i move in a year ago , the manager said he will call us he never called us back, they just want to charge you and in change just roodness and 0star service. , in this hard times is very sad to see this atitude

Doğan · 14 April 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

The worst rental company I have ever used

Below 0. Company which is cheating and wheedle your money. You will pay for evertyhing before you move in and when you check out. For example I have played deduction because they cleaned (I have cleaned the whole flat before move out), I left bed at flat so I needed to pay for removal ( a lot of money) I payed for check out. So if you will pay deposit you can forget about getting it back.I had problem with mices 1,5 month. I was escalating the problem to the company a lot of times to do something with it. When I was asking about the progress they told me that they are still working at it. When I cautch 4 mices by mayself and stop to asking after 1,5 month they inform me that they need to close the issue.

Piotr · 3 April 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Avoid and find a private landlord

Renting a HMO in Derby with them was a disaster. Co-tennant frequently keeping awake late mid week when I was on 6am starts and got very defensive when I asked for reasonable request of quiet after midnight after weeks of tolerating it. The heating control was hidden and controlled by landlady who was really tight. The property was often cold enough to see breath. Landlady often entered locked bedrooms snooping without permission, leaving and taking items from room as evidence, ladders and gloves. Insufficient parking for everyone meant my car needed to be parked on street not as advertised, it was vandalised several times. Wing mirror kicked, paint keyed. Martin and Co and allowed me to pay a remarketing fee around £160 to advertise the property and find a suitable tenant. In the meantime my car was targeted again causing £1200 of damage and I was kept awake an entire night the same day making my position at the property untenable. I then received a phone call clearly instructing me the landlady was taking on the room to turn into a home office with certainty and I was getting released from contract and given a set date. I secured alternative accommodation with 3 months remaining in contract on verbal instruction I was being released. Everything amicable at this point but it went quiet and m&c denied all knowledge of verbal instructions with date I was getting released and couldn’t even confirm whether the property was being taken on. I eventually found it wasn’t. I had signed alternative new tenancy on their instructions of release with another landlord. They took a viewing for someone that wanted to move in 3 months and accepted him taking it off the market. Thus leaving me with 3 months rent to pay after moving out. They constantly fobbed me off lied to me. Spoke to me rudely. They had the worst customer service attitude I have ever experienced I’ve ever experienced. Both managers were a nightmare to deal with. The less senior staff were very professional however. I’ve since found a lovely private landlord who I have a good relationship with. It’s better value and I’ve got month by month flexibility. I’m an experienced tenant and it’s much better renting direct off private landlord.

KB · 1 April 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

VERY BAD

No stars at all! This is a bunch of unprofessional people who only want your money.We were left in the middle of Covid 19 without a washing machine. We reported it months ago and they told us it was going to be replaced.Not only the problem of the washing machine. We also have leaks and we are unable to use one of the bathrooms. This is a problem existing for years already and never been addressed properly.Every time you tell them to fix something they take a long time to take action or they do not take action at all. As a result, the property gets more and more deteriorated. I would like to know if the landlord is aware about all this.Run away from this company, soecially Martin & Co Balham.

Abc · 1 April 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

This agency

This agency, especially the Balham branch have little to no regard for the health, safety or comfort of its tenants. We are in the middle of the covid-19 crisis and for months the washing machine at a property managed by the Balham branch has been without a properly working machine and leaks which has forced the entire property to use just one bathroom. Visits to the office, calls, emails have all been dismissed and a new washing machine has not been provided nor has the leaks been fixed. This has made it extremely difficult to keep clothes and indeed hands clean as is the recommendation during this crisis. It is beyond words as to why things as simple as these are not being properly addressed by this agency.

Romeo · 31 March 2020