Martin and Co Devon reviews

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Unreasonable, bad business practices

Works with lettings hub for referencing which didn't bother checking my references with employer being a new company and rejected my application within minutes - agency didn't advise on this practice and won't even refund their part of the agency fee. Wouldn't recommend unless you have the most straightforward application. Unreasonable agency.

Stephen · 2 January 2018

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Service is dreadful in Rochester High Street, Medway

Regarding the branch in Rochester High Street, Medway. Do NOT use them to sell your property, what a waste of our time!!! Our house was under offer a month ago and we paid solicitor fee to progress the sale. However we only found out today that our buyer pulled out long time ago, but they never informed us. Wasting our time, now we can't proceed with our next house purchase. The manager is rude, the emails she sent was most with rude tone of the voice, never being polite and friendly, shame for being in a service industry

Laura · 11 March 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

DANGER !!!! RUN AWAY FROM MARTIN & Co

RUN AWAY FROM MARTIN AND CO!!DANGER !!! WORST SERVICE EVER !!! SAVE YOURSELF FROM STRESS AND PROBLEMS !!!I have rented a property from Martin and Co Chelsea two years ago. So bad costumer service! They they just don’t give a f..k about their clients ! ! ! Worst services ever !!!Please avoid their property manager Rodica Sovar she incompetent, very rude and no respect at all! They just don’t care about nothing, it’s unbelievable the way they deal with their clients soon after they got your money. No respect at all!Really incompetent people!!! They should be banned and disappear from London !!!

Al · 6 March 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Belongings destroyed by mould...

Absolutely shocking company. Very helpful getting you in but once there, you're very much on your own.Been waiting for 2 weeks to be called back about my deposit - many promises to call back before the end of the day have been broken constantly and nobody seems to care. Lived in Mould for weeks on end due to structural issues. This mould destroyed some of our clothing and a £1,000 mattress. I wish I could add photos the this review to illustrate how bad it was...When we asked for the situation to be resolved, a maintenance guy was sent out and he was shocked, telling us that the mould was dangerous and that he'd advise the agency to send out dehumidifiers.Nothing happened until we chased more and more. A roofer was then sent out who informed us that the roof needed replacing...the next communication we received was from the agency telling us that we were being evicted due to a change in the landlords circumstances.Avoid these cowboys like mad - I've rented many times before and have never experienced anything like this happen.Honestly wish I'd read these reviews as I would have not used them and would never use them again - 73% of Trustpilot reviews are rated as "Bad" - Says everything it needs to really.

Shane · 6 March 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Pretend to be nice before you sign the…

Pretend to be nice before you sign the contract and pay the money. Assure you they have corrected everything needed in the property but as soon as they got your money they don’t care about you anymore. Lee always advices you to use your money to correct everything and cancelled most of the things that needed fixing. Overall company is run by a clown. Expect an auto reply to this.Sorry, they call and harass you.

Asif · 22 June 2021

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

I can not stress enough to people to never deal with Martin & co

I can not stress enough to people to stay away from Martin and Co. they are the worst estate agent and letting agent I have ever witnessed. They false advertise their buildings as brand new never lived in apartments. Yet had renters in them over for over 2 years. So when their apartments are advertised for sale as brand new, they are not! It then means you can’t sell your apartment as it’s lived in and they are bringing the market value down. They deal with dodgy builders who build these properties with none qualified personnel and you have nothing but major issues including dangerous electrical fire issues. Which the fire service have condemned. They let their properties out to drug dealers and do nothing about the havoc they then cause for families having to witness drug drops and the stench of weed in the communal areas. This is just 1% of how badly this company are! Please for the sake of your families and mental health stay away from this company!

Danny · 2 March 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

AVOID martin & co stafford

AVOID martin & co stafford. 2.5yrs lived in this property, been waiting for a council property for around 1.5 years, offered somewhere and I asked if they could deduct the remaining rent from deposit for them to send a reference off (made me pay £20 for) to the housing association that offered the 3 bed home to me as I'm overcrowded with me, 2 boys and my daughter in this 2 bedroom saying I owe the money and they wont deduct from out deposit we have with them. We paid to have brand new carpet put down in the living room costing around £240 as it was chipped laminate. Reported 7 repairs 8months ago, roof leaking/boiler leaking being 2 of them but nothing. So I paid £20 for a 'bad' reference so I have now lost the property I was offered for me and my 3 children. The house is in brilliant condition, I've always looked after my homes I've lived in, I'm absolutely livid with them!

Emilie · 26 February 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Horrendous Company

Horrendous CompanyI have worked with various leasing companies, Martin and Co is by far the worst. They just want your money and once they have it, their "customer service" immediately dissipates. When you email with an urgent matter, there is no rush to respond. The building I live in is invested with mice and break in's, however they do not seem to care. A homeless man entered into the building, and upon emailing the property manager, she said: "And your point?"Please please please beware of using this company. Do your research and avoid them.

Jillian · 25 February 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Unprofessional

Unprofessional, unhelpful and uninterested. Left with damp on walls with mould growing for over 6 months, locks not fixed, leaks left. Nobody answers the phone or tries to resolve issues. Avoid avoid avoid

Louis · 10 November 2022

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

Im contractor for martin and co and find them fantastic to work for as they’re quick with their service, attentive to the tenants needs and as a landlord also you would recommend their services Alice the property manager is always happy and a pleasure to deal with and extremely organised which makes my life easier, highly recommend

Paul · 22 July 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

I would avoid the Canterbury branch like the plague

I had the most horrific experience with the Canterbury branch who had taken over our rented property when the agency that let it to us was bought by them. They requested we end our tenancy early as we had already vacated and the landlord wanted to undertake refurbishments. We agreed. Shortly afterwards they attempted to make us pay for utilities and council tax for the period after the tenancy had ended and whilst refurbishment work was underway. They contacted us repeatedly and the tone of communication was designed to intimidate. They threatened to’ take it as far as I need to’ (I can only assume this was an implicit threat of legal action to try and frighten us) and to complete a retrospective checkout a month after we had vacated and during refurbishment work. We made a formal complaint which resulted in an apology and yet they continue to cause conflict with our landlord claiming we have taken items from the property (needless to say, we have not). We continue to have back and forth with the council regarding council tax months after vacating. It has been an incredibly stressful experience and I would strongly recommend not entering into a tenancy with them. It’s practises like this that make tenants so distrustful of letting agencies. We feel blessed that we now own our own home and will not have to deal with these sorts of businesses again.

Tara · 12 February 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

I’ve had really poor communication

I’ve had really poor communication, not contacting me or my other housemate to renew our contracts, to be told by the landlord that they only do 6 months (then my housemate was given a rolling contract) I was then told I’d had an early release from the property to then be charged for the month I’m not there and they expect me to pay for water electric etc that the current housemates are using. They’re terminology is not clear enough, and they don’t ensure you understand what your signing for. Would never recommend them!

Anon · 3 February 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Very good company until checkout and change of staff

I was a very happy tenant for 2 years with extremely nice property manager( oxford office).I vacated the property on 31/12/19, and as to this date have been chasing them (weekly emails and calls) for the check out inventory, my deposit amount. Finally, after a lot of effort, managed to get a new property manager to send me a check out report and an extensive list of deductions. Most of these major issues ( agreeing to removal of professional cleaning clause from the contract, discarding a broken glass table which was a health hazard) were discussed and agreed with the old property manager, however, the new property manager is not ready to believe the same- i have sent her the relavant email threads. Also, as per the contract, the deposit should be returned within 30 days ( and this has been more than 30 days after the check out inventory- so a breach of contract. The property had an old mattress which was stained even in the check in inventory, and the current manager has charged me for that as well. I had actually thought of leaving good reviews as they were very good when i was actually in the property. However, i dont know why team wants to spoil the good reputation made by the previous manager.The saddest part is that they dont have a complaints email id on their website, and the website only asks to email the branch ( the same people who are charging me and causing significant mental trauma)

Adarsh · 3 February 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Its not your dream home if its with Martin and Co!

Martin and Co is the single worst estate agent I have ever know, I am begging you please do not use them. I rented a house with them for 9 months and it’s the worst experience I’ve ever had with an estate agents (I‘ve lives in 8 different rented houses before this one!!) despite asking ten separate times they refused to get me any access to contact my own land lord and they even told me he would visit one day and never turned up, I never once got to speak to him. I had unbelievable maintenance issues including but not limited to: lights with no fittings, a cellar that wasn’t sealed and caused a gale to blow through the whole house, damp like you wouldn’t believe, and a shower that leaked so aggressively it was causing damage to the infrastructure of the house, I emailed about all of these and they refused to fix them, I put in formal notice to their website that they needed fixing and they refused to acknowledge them. By the time I left the house wasn’t fit to live in and despite knowing this they moved someone new in within two weeks of me leaving. I also had issues that they kept calling me while I was at work despite repeatedly telling them not to. And is that the worst? Not by a long shot! The worst by far is one of the people who works there, a man by the name Lee who was the most disgustingly disrespectful person I have ever know, I don’t know how he ever got hired! Refusing to respond to emails, lying about maintenance (as if I wasn’t living in the house and knew what was wrong with it!), being rude and speaking down to me, hanging up the phone! The whole shebang! And now, after another staff member doing an inspection of the property upon me leaving it and agreeing it was completely fine, they’re trying to take nearly £200 of my deposit from me just for the sake of it. PLEASE, PLEASE SAVE YOURSELF AND DO NOT GO WITH MARTIN AND CO!!

Benjamin · 1 February 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Don't even bother going near them

Don't even bother going near them, they can't even set up a viewing. Most unorganised company going. I set up a viewing for Friday at 4.30 and immediately after the call I wrote it in my calendar as a reminder. It got to the day and I arrived at the property, no one was there. So I rang them for the same person who set up my appointment to answer and in short tell me there was no appointment set up at all. She then proceeded to make out as though it was my fault; even asking me if I was sure I booked it through them and not another agency, even though she had my email and phone no. in the system. Massive waste of time.

Kyle · 25 January 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Very poor estate agents.

Very poor estate agents.I went with Martin & co as there agent dawn that came out said that she had 2/3 people on her books that was looking and would be interested in our house But these was lies as nothing came of it.so I was actually conned into using Martin & co By gift of the gab.Sale advert was rushed stating the house was 1 minute walk to a school then in the next sentence it was couple of minutes.Photos that was taken wasn’t good they was to Dark.I revamped the bathroom over Xmas Giving it a massive makeover and when the agent came out to do the second viewing she didn’t say that the photos on site should be updated.On our first viewing something didn’t feel right almost as if they wasn’t real buyers like a setup That the agents had arranged.Also this viewing happened after I’d raised concerns and was talking about leaving.After asking for feed back for the first viewing I was Told someone will get back to me and didn’t feel days later had past I rang again and again no communication what so ever.Asked Them for feed back from Rightmove to see how many people viewed the property they said It would take a day to be email To me but it took them 2 weeks! Told them I was giving 2 weeks notice then all of a sudden I have a “VIEWING” again this time it well they wanted second viewing came to viewing day and they didn’t come as there car broke down which is laughable bearing in mind there car wasn’t that old.Asked if estate agent would be willing to pick them up in the sign written Martin & co car to be told they would get back to me again they haven’t.They are rubbish in polite words there’s a reason why they have bad reviews.Ask yourself why is bad review at 72%?!!!Stay clear use someone else to sell your house pay a little higher on the sale fees get a better agent like w h brown do it.No communication just total crap I wouldn’t recommend these to anyone.

Daniel · 15 January 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Worst Customer Service

Worst Customer ServiceI was with Martin and Co for a year and a half and experienced some of the worst customer service I have ever known. From the start, the staff were unhelpful and uncooperative. Every issue that I experienced required my chasing despite being repeatedly told that they would be in touch the same day. From them losing my spare key to being left without a shower for 4 months, I was consistently made to feel like I was the one in the wrong. Would advise not to use them.

Pippa · 6 January 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Don't use them

Don't use them. We rented our property for 2 years as me and my partner were at college and for a 2 bedroom flat in Torry, the rent was reasonably cheap. However, when we were moving out the property we were told we had to give me 2 months notice which lead to losing our first place we looked at as 2 months for the new landlord was too long. We told Martin & Co what date we were moving out and they arrived 2 days early at 10am to say they were there to collect our keys. Outrageous! So then we got our original date back and was told that on Tuesday we had to give back our keys, but no. On the Monday we received a call which made us more angry because they said they needed the keys before 9am on the Monday when they said Tuesday, which lead to us not being able to clean the entire flat properly. Over the course of living there, we reported on several occasions that there was mold growing in cupboards and on our roof and window in our bedroom and yet nothing was done about it. The extraction fan above the cooker wasn't even a proper extraction fan as the steam literally didn't go anyway, but it wasn't even screwed in properly and ended up falling ontop of me. Lastly, since they never gave us this time to clean the flat because yet again they changed their minds, the cleaning bill just happened to come back at the EXACT same price as our deposit. So, this meant we never got our deposit back and just to top it up, they sent us an email to tell us we will be getting £0 deposit back. Absolute joke.

Amy · 8 December 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

73% BAD reviews compared to 21% GOOD reviews says it all!!!

DERBY BRANCH - USELESS IS NOT A STONG ENOUGH WORD!When signing up they advised me that when any maintenance work or electrical/gas safe inspections need to be carried out, they would contact me before with a price and give me the option of using their contractors or finding my own. They do not do this, they deducted £85 for repairing the flush of the toilet without telling me. They arrange for their own contactors to carry out gas safe inspections without contacting me first and then charge £75, when we all know it only costs around £50. The only time I had authorised any work was when the guttering needed repairing urgently and even then it took them 3 weeks to have a contractor provide a quotation, for almost £1000. Due to the extortionate quote, I ended up finding my own quote and the work was done for £150 and within 3 days of me contacting them. David McKnight is a deluded moron, doesn't listen, always talks over you, insists that they do a fantastic job when they don't. Nice enough when you have a general enquiry but a total scumbag when you have a complaint, which was more often than not. As soon as you have a complaint, that's when the talking over you in such a patronising way and lack of listening skills kick in and when you manage to get your point across and shut him down he then plays the sympathy card with illnesses and hospital visits. His staff always say they will look into enquiries and promise to get back to you, and they never do. Don't waste your time and money with this company!

A · 5 December 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

MARTIN AND CO HARBORNE AND BIRMINGHAM

If I could give this disgusting company 0 stars I would. The Birmingham and Harborne office are full of incompetent liars e.g Katie and Marie. The most useless people. Moved into a dirty flat full of dirt on walls, previous tenants hair in bath, faeces in toilet etc. First night found bed and all furniture infested with bed bugs, they then lied about when I reported this to make themselves look better. Lied and assured me that steaming beds would make the bed bugs die however then admitted later to pest control that this was just for cleaning the property. As a result of this had to spend extra money on a hotel which haven’t even seen/ heard about receiving back. Been bitten several times by the bugs and still nothing from Martin and co or landlords, requested new beds probably would’ve been better off requesting a lung from one of them as this wasn’t done until a month later as the landlords decided to go on holiday for a month and Katie did not want to contact them. 2 months in to tenancy no painting, plumbing issues, previous tenants harassing us knocking on doors and trying to get into the building, our front door is broken this still isn’t fixed although reported the second we moved in, staff have lied about contacting contractors and when I have contacted the contractor myself have said Martin and co haven’t contacted them at all, agencies threatening to enforce legal action on previous tenants as they think they still live here as Martin and co didn’t tell electricity company, council tax etc that they have moved out when they should’ve done this before we moved in. So now I have to worry about them coming to the property as well as the previous tenants threatening us. All the staff do is back each other up in all their lies and can’t face it when someone calls out their incompetence. Now ignoring my emails because I am angry and rude when anyone in the position I am in would be angry and rude understandably. Still haven’t received a genuine apology, anything from landlord all these stupid people say are they will contact the landlord and get back to me have been hearing that from the 24/09. If I could go back in time I would avoid this company at all costs. Unprofessional and useless

Angry · 24 November 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

This is the worst company I have ever…

This is the worst company I have ever had to deal with. The Plymouth office does not have a clue. This week they deducted money from my rent (I am the landlord) to pay another company without advising me and it was incorrect anyway. No one will call me back about it. I used to use a different company which Martin and Co have bought so I have been stuck with them. I am currently waiting for the tenants to move out next month so I can move to a different company.

Mike · 20 November 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

DONT use this company whatsoever

DONT use this company whatsoever. Was a tenant in a property for 4 years. Have never been late with payment. So they are happy to take your money.Have asked for various things to be done to the house and have only been told that "its been added to the list". Nothing has ever been doneBefore my contract ended they called and said that the owner wanted the house back - which of course is ok. Only gave me 6 weeks notice - even people that are evicted get two months. Found another property and requested a reference. Was then told that i "had to pay £30 before they would consider to even look at it".The new tenant fees act (2019) states:1. All Payments Prohibited Except Rent, Deposits and Three ExceptionsLandlords or their agents will no longer be allowed to charge tenants for anything except: the rent, the tenancy deposit and a holding deposit (more on these below).This means you will no longer be allowed to ask tenants to cover the cost of their own referencing. You also won’t be able to charge check-in, inventory or admin fees.House inspections get arranged and whoever turns up does so usually two hours late - without consideration to the fact you have children and routines.Glad i will never be doing business with that business again!!

Jenna · 20 November 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

MARTIN AND CO - GOSPORT

A typical company who are happy to receive your money and business at the start, but extremely disappointed with the latter parts.Alleged inspections, with no feedback - mixed and sporadic communications, seemingly easy foe them when looking to re let but elusive if making enquiries ourselves. No call backs and persistently trying to get any required information.Independent company required to Check in/Check Out has changed 3 times - which has caused lack of continuity and dispute in relation a deficiency on deposit return.Spoke with office to ask about landlords consideration and told he was reviewing everything, asking the office to relay any issues - then receive message from DPS to show a large deduction for cleaning bill. So anybody reading this, beware of being involved with a non communitive office, who are incompetent, no help and clearly have no conscience.

Tim · 16 November 2019

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Martin and Co - Stirling Branch

Martin and Co - Stirling Branch:I have been renting out my one bed flat with Martin & Co for over 8 years.Over those 8 years the customer services has truthfully been mixed.However the customer service at the moment is excellent.Especially with my main contact at the branch; Karen Clelland.Even during any historical period when the customer service wasn't as good as it is now they were always very quick to find me an appropriate new tenant.I've been very lucky to have had good long term tenants.Any queries are currently being answered within 48 hours and usually within 24 hours.As a landlord it is very important to me to have one point of contact at a letting agent and for them to be responsive.I'm okay with that response being "I don't know but I'll get back to you when I do" - it's a personal bugbear of mine to not even have my query acknowledged.Their "PropertyFile" database is also really useful.A recent example of their excellent customer service was that I suggested an improvement to their contractor invoicing system, they took it on board, discussed it and promptly changed their policy as per my suggestion. You can't get better than that!

Alan · 8 November 2019