Martin and Co Devon reviews

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Sutton Coldfield branch

Sutton Coldfield branch So I went to move in to my flat after finalising all the paper work and paying my deposit only to get there to find out there was now running hot water and no heating in the property so I contacted them to see what we could do about it and they sent a very rude contractor out who spoke to me rudely and insisted the property was up to scratch when it clearly wasn’t I contacted Martin and co to inform them I no longer wanted the property as I hadn’t even moved in when I discovered the all problems and he told me the deposit may not be returned to me because I had signed a contract after telling them a thousand times I wasn’t taking no for and answer they told me they would refund in full but the way they treat their customers is vile plus I wouldn’t even let my dog live in the property and they think they can justify treating people they way they have treated me luckily I will have my money back but please avoid like the plague

Chazz · 30 October 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Bad and unprofessional

I paid my rent one year in advance, things were broken when I arrived and they were never fixed during my year there. Although it was written in the inventory list that its broken, martin and co tried to charge me upon leaving the property. In winter my balcony was broken and open, it was stuck and open the whole time without martin and co reacting to the issue for THREE weeks. Also they showed up with strangers unannounced to view the property while I was there, with 0 emails or communication. They Are very late in replying to any issues, and it is been a month and a half with martin and co refusing to return my deposit. My advice is stay away!!!Just like a reply below, I also got fake cleaning invoice!

Le · 25 October 2019

★★★★★ 2/5

Trustpilot

Dishonest but good property

I've used my fair share of agencies and have been unimpressed with Martin and Co (Poole) due to their dishonesty and poor communication.When I asked for action to be taken against extensive black mould on a bedroom wall, I was told this was due to a 'lifestyle choice' (by which they meant showering) and that the only action to be taken was to wipe the wall with household bleach. They also told me I was wrong that the mould had previously been painted over, though a month later I received a call from a contractor who had been employed to paint over the mould in our property - Martin and Co had therefore lied to me as their tenant.All communications from them are rushed, they fail to provide confirmations of viewings (two viewings completed without prior consent), or confirmation of maintenance visits (first contact is from contractor direct).I will not use Martin & Co again for Poole tenancies, despite my current tenancy being in a well presented flat with parking and a good location.

Lewis · 22 October 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

The most diabolical agency I have ever…

The most diabolical agency I have ever dealt with. I have been renting for the past 5 years and have never experienced such inconsistency, inefficiency and disrespect. - left without hot water and heating during December/January, with no compensation paid. - everyone in the house was above the age of 23 and we were spoken to and treated like children with absolutely no respect. - If we ever rang with a problem they would promise to call me back and I would then have to spend the majority of my day chasing them. They don’t make notes of your calls. - People from the agency along with contractors attended the property Constantly with no notice and did not show ID. - Deposits took over 6 weeks to be returned. - fake cleaning invoices were provided in attempt to take money from our deposits.- the office closed early without notice most days - my shower did not work if anyone in the house turned on a tap or flushed the toilet. The agency refused to believe this and continued to lie about its efficiency. All in all, the staff working within the derby branch are rude and useless, they couldn’t care less about the safety of their tenants and refuse to accept blame of any issues in the house. If your a young person wanting to rent, steer clear of any Martin and Co owned houses in derby!!!

Rosie · 21 October 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

No stars if completely

Avoid Sutton Coldfield BranchNo stars if completely honest but there no option for that!! Received a blaize couldn’t care less attitude from this branch .We were let down at the very last minute when they were supposed to come to our house at 3.30 pm , to attend our booked appointment with 16 minutes notice by email to say they couldn’t make it as over run at another appointment. We were looking at renting out our home with them!. No apology or alternative but for us to have to reschedule., which was not convenient. Having traveled back from abroad with a very small window & a tight schedule to see them they said they couldn’t come out even though the individual concerned answered the phone at 3.40 pm ,ten minutes into our allotted visiting time . So why they couldn’t come or send someone else who knows?. We were left infuriated & very disappointed. If we can’t trust them to keep an appointment certainly wouldn’t trust them to manage our property. Glad we found out now, rather than too late.

Charmaine · 18 October 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Without a doubt the most DIABOLICAL

Without a doubt the most DIABOLICAL renting experience I have ever had. Martin and co are shambolic, their service is terrible and the staff are the most unhelpful individuals I have ever came across.To begin with when I viewed the property I was told the other tenants were proffessionals who were women and a mature student who was male which seemed ideal. Upon moving into the property I found out he was a convicted violent criminal. He had been kicked out of University for not disclosing his record and was being allowed to live in the property until his student finance ran out. I contacted Martin and Co about this to be told its 'none of my business who the other tenants are' which i find disgraceful. As a paying tenant and a young women; I have every right to know if someone who I am living under the same roof as compromises my safety. In the following three months he resided in the property he was often drunk and verbally abusive towards myself and other tenants.Maintenance reports were frequently ignored or dealt with ineffectively. For example our landlord bled the radiators and didn't increase boiler pressure, therefore we lost heating in the middle of January. Their solution was to provide 4 heaters, 2 of which didn't work and left 2 of us freezing cold. One of my housemates has thick mould grow up one wall in her room during the winter months which is clearly some kind of structural/ damp issue, their advice is to 'open a window'. They are quite frankly useless.The landlord constantly enters the property without giving notice which is a breach of the tenancy agreement.  Martin and Co do not care about this unproffessional and inappropriate behaviour.Also two days prior to me leaving the property I was putting some things in the bin when my groundfloor room door blew shut, leaving me locked out. I called Martin and Co as luckily I had my phone in my pocket, they told me I would have to walk to town to get some keys from them. I informed them I had no shoes or coat and it was a 20 minute walk to which they responded thats not our issue. Luckily I managed to open the door with other methods or I would of been locked out of my room for the forseeable future! I have been renting for 6 years both professionally and as a student and this is without a doubt the most disgraceful service I have ever recieved.DO NOT RENT WITH MARTIN AND CO

Kathryn · 15 October 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Do not rent from this company!!

Do not rent from this company!!! Or sell your home with this company. This company failed my application. Held onto my holding deposit for "failed reference".The company claim that the referencing company "letting hub" is impartial and a third party. But infact they are ran by the same director. As seen on companies House. Please check for yourselves.Another company did the referencing and found no problems. They leave me no choice in taking them to court for this to return my monies but deny me if this.I will keep this updated

Gary · 11 October 2019

★★★★★ 2/5

Trustpilot

I rented our house in Cambridge for 15…

I rented our house in Cambridge for 15 years with each tenant staying many years before moving on. Then we put it into the hands of Martins, Cambridge. Their first tenants in the house stayed 6 months, and the second tenants moved in almost immediately. The first tenants had their full deposit returned to them in spite of the garden having been left untidy and overgrown. The second tenants stayed 9 months and again Martins had not carried out correct check-in and checkout procedures. They refused to pay for damage, missing rubbish bins and the garden. I complained to Martins without much success and forced them to go to arbitration. I did receive a minimum payment from the tenant's deposit.I then changed to another local rental agency who identified damage to be repaired, garden work and bins to be replaced. This work cost me £1,471 before another tenant could be found 2 months later.I am happy with the new agency and would I return to Martins in future?

Graham · 30 September 2019

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Martin & Co in Reading manage a…

Martin & Co in Reading manage a converted house split into 3 separate flats on my behalf. They do an amazing job, particularly a lady called Anita who is super efficient and a pleasure to deal with. There are regular changes in tenants and Martin & Co work hard to fill the voids and keep on top on the maintenance. We have requested alot of extra work lately, asking for quotes to be obtained for new windows, to arrange access for an upgrade to the fire alarm system, and just recently Martin & Co facilitated in the relocation of a gas meter. Without their help we could not get these essential jobs completed and we are truly thankful and appreciative of their willingness to assist with all our maintenance issues. Highly recommended!

Paul · 27 September 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

They made us homeless

The estate agent (Jess Miles of the Manchester Central branch) called my partner up just before their office closed at gone 5pm Thursday, the night before moving, saying the flat isn't ready (something about a fire safety part of the front door not being available til Monday).She said we can move our things in, but just not stay there.By the time I finished work they were closed so couldn't speak them about it.I got the landlords details from our tenancy agreement and emailed them asking if there was any way that's it's possible we can move in still. They said yeah you can 100% move in, don't know why the estate agent said you can't.Then we spoke to the estate agent again Friday morning and she said we definitely can't.We had nowhere to go from Friday, and no money for a hotel, and we were going on holiday on Sunday so I was furious.She was useless and didn't care at all, and didn't offer any solutions.We had really bad service so asked for her managers details and she refused to give them to us and was interrogating us as to why we wanted them.She then sent us an email asking for our bank details for a full refund because 'we do not think that this is appropriate to go ahead with this tenancy'.We obviously fought this, and said we still want to move in, but she just sent another email saying she can confirm she is not proceeding with the tenancy and asking for our bank details again.She flat out made us homeless because we asked for her manager's details to make a complaint.

Keshia · 21 September 2019

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

I don’t usually write reviews however…

I don’t usually write reviews however reading some reviews on here makes me question why aren’t the other branches as good as the Banbury one? We came in last Friday, now this is the third Martin and co branch I’ve been to and yet this is by far the best one. The office is clean and tidy and the staff are warming and welcoming. I spoke to a guy named David, instantly I felt like I was being looked after. He knew what he was doing, he was extremely professional and patient. My family aren’t the easiest to deal with but he dealt with it in the best way. It’s a let down that your other branches aren’t as good, it’s a shame as it’s a good company. Hopefully David can start improving the other offices!

Laura · 20 September 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

martin an co rochdale

i would not give this company 1 star they are a terrible company to give properties to to rent out they are greedy money grabbers take rip off fees have a heating engineer who is a bankrupt who does not give recipes they have a rent garrentee through there own insurance company that does not pay out because the owner phill watson ownes it ,who lives at burswell close rochdale an if you take your properties off them because they mess up they charge you 473 pounds per property and still try to carry on collecting the rent by harrasing the tennants stay well clear of them

David · 18 September 2019

★★★★★ 4/5

Trustpilot

Good experience

Dealing with Martin & Co was relatively stress-free and they are well organised. As a new renter I was a bit worried but Grace (Banbury branch manager) was very good, friendly and accommodating. I am moving out today of the flat I rented for 18months and I am happy to recommend them as letting agents in Banbury.

Gael · 23 June 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Hanley Branch- Wouldn’t even give 1 star!

Wouldn’t even give 1 star, very unprofessional service. Booked time off work to view a house and after waiting over 20 minutes rang to ask where they were. Was told that they had “spoken to me and cancelled the appointment” although nobody had even contacted me at all! They then said they would see if anybody could come and ring back ASAP, as we were waiting outside the property, over 5 hours later and nobody has still rang. Wouldn’t even bother looking at any other houses they are selling. Avoid if possible!

C · 28 August 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Croydon Branch. Awful Customer Service!

Awful customer service! Spoke on the phone with a lady for roughly 10 minutes in which she stuck rigorously to some sort of script and made no attempt to answer my actual questions. The conversation quickly escalated to the point where she was raising her voice at me and being quite curt, I'm assuming this came from her frustration at me asking the same question multiple times and not getting an actual answer. Will not be dealing any further, I've dealt with plenty of estate agents and letting companies and they've all been happy to answer my questions. Terrible experience!

Tosin · 16 August 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Terrible customer service & communication

Struggled to book a viewing for an apartment in Manchester but eventually managed to get through to a gentleman who seemed generally very unhappy, I felt as though I was bothering him. On the day I received a phone call to say the apartment I was due to view that day had been taken off the market but he could show me a different one for let in the same building; that was fine with me. However during my 2 hour drive up to Manchester he rang again saying actually they couldn’t get access to that apartment & the tenant wouldn’t be in. I asked what could be done as I’d gone to a lot of trouble to travel up, he said he’d check with the tenant & get back to me ASAP. 3 hours passed whilst I was hanging around in Manchester waiting, I rang the office & a lady told me I just needed to wait for him to call me back. Then, at 5 minutes past the original time of the viewing, a different guy called me & asked if I would be attending the viewing?! I replied that it had been cancelled but wasn’t happy that I was getting mixed messages, he then had to check with someone else to confirm that it was actually cancelled! It’s been over a week since I was supposed to receive my urgent call back, and I have heard nothing. I have gone with a different agent who have been much more helpful than this company. Disgusting customer service towards potential tenants, I was really hoping to secure the flat I had seen with them but they do not make anything easy & are far from helpful. I would never use this company after this first dealing with them, and am so relieved that I will never deal with them again. No apology, clarification or communication at all. I would be very wary about trusting people like this to manage a property.

A · 6 August 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

I am so glad to finally say I never…

I am so glad to finally say I never have to deal with Martin & Co Manchester Central again. I've been waiting a year to write this review, purely because I wanted it to reflect every part of our experience from start to finish. From the beginning, they were terrible at communication. I had to email and chase with phone calls every issue because they were incapable of handling small things. The flat was a state when we moved in, it wasn't clean, the lights had been left on, about 10 things needed repairing (chairs, doors etc). One of the doors never got fixed in the entire year we lived there. Issues with black mould in the bathroom were ignored (there's no ventilation and when we complained that the extractor fan wasn't doing the job, they didn't bother fixing it or offering any other help). At one point during the year, we got letters saying our internet provider was being changed over. We didn't request this, so called the provider to find out. Turns out, Martin & Co had tried to move people into our flat instead of a free one they had. The staff are rude and have no care. One time, I called the person I'd been given as a contact to ask about something. She said she'll check on it and call me back in 10 minutes. After an hour went by I called back, a guy picked up and said she'd no longer be speaking to me because I'd "screamed and shouted at her". This never happened. I asked for phone recordings which they conveniently didn't have and it resulted in a full-blown complaint to the Ombudsman. Interestingly, she did end up speaking to me again, and claimed that she'd never said I shouted at her. Another example of their polite service is a guy genuinely replying to a question with "Not being funny but do you really need me to answer this?"When it got to the end of the tenancy, we asked them to let us know about any viewings 24 hours in advance. On a Sunday evening they emailed me saying there'd be a viewing "tomorrow". No time given, and I had to take a day off work. Moving out was another barrel of fun. They clutched onto our £1075 deposit for dear life. We were presented with a long document of all the things supposedly wrong with the flat (including "rubbish" being left behind, which was actually some cheap canvas prints that came with the flat, a sofa that was described as "brand new" when we moved in, and definitely wasn't). They also decided to blame the mould in the bathroom on us despite us having cleaned it fully before moving out, and them failing to fix the ventilation. When I called out all these issues and said we wouldn't be paying for them and requested invoices, they quickly changed their tune and agreed to £90 for cleaning, which we were happy to accept. Then commenced two weeks of back and forth where the manager continually claimed that the deposit couldn't be released because I hadn't sent them copies of final utility bills despite me sending them twice and her herself thanking me for them 10 days ago. After sending a final email with 6 screenshots showing that she DID receive them, she blamed it on "technical issues" and finally released our deposit. I've warned every single person I know in Manchester to avoid this company, it's not worth the hassle.

Valery · 2 August 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Before renting my house with Martin &…

Before renting my house with Martin & Co, I was told that my tenancy agreement would be long term. 3 months into my tenancy, I was told that my landlord was selling the property I was living in. Despite being told this would be a long term agreement, an estate agent from Martin & Co told me that this landlord had been thinking about selling the property for a while which was not mentioned to me before my tenancy started. I have had 6 viewings from potential buyers all in the matter of 2 weeks which I am not happy about. The majority of the investors that have been to view this property have discussed moving into this property themselves even though I was told that I would be able to continue renting with a new landlord. I moved in to this property hoping me and my 3 year old daughter would have a home to stay in long term. Now with this happening, we will have to look for another home. I have had a terrible experience with this being my first private rented home and when I have to move, I will not be renting with Martin & Co.

Lucy · 31 July 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Disgusting service. Avoid at all costs.

Would give 0 if that was an option. Having rung on Saturday afternoon to book an urgent viewing of a property, I was told someone would ring me back to arrange a viewing for the Monday or Tuesday. No such call emerged. When I rang back later in the afternoon, my call was answered and I was told they were closed until Monday - who answered the phone then I am unclear.I rang again first thing Monday morning. According to the website they opened at 8:30. I rang, was told they weren’t open until 9 but that they would pass a message on to contact me as a matter of urgency as I had a limited window in which to view the property. Again, no one was in touch. I called back only to be told I couldn’t see it that day or the next (the two days I had given my availability for on the Saturday) but could view it on the Wednesday. My partner had to take time off work to ensure we could do this.We saw the property and were told there was a viewing straight after us. We weren’t in the property for more than 10 minutes before we were ushered out. We told our “negotiator” that we wanted to go ahead and take the property. She told us she would call her office to let them know to expect a call from us.We rang the office imminently and were asked if we would like to pay to take the property off the market and go ahead with renting, which we did.Hours later I received a phone call from the “negotiator” to say she had sent the applications of mine and the second viewing’s details off to the landlords for them to decide who they would take. Confused, I said I had paid to secure the property and was answered by saying “I explained this to you at the viewing, we have to make it fair for both parties. The person you spoke to in the office didn’t know there was another viewing after you. Okay?”.I finished the conversation saying that no this wasn’t really okay but accepted what had been said. I then called back to ask that the landlord be made aware that we were misinformed and had been assured the property was ours due to a mistake between the negotiator and the office (she had not told the office she had another viewing, hence them allowing us and assuring us that we had the property). Our negotiator Kelsy proceeded to speak to me in the most vile manner, talking over me, becoming overly defensive (clearly she realised she had made a mistake), and was being incredibly rude and unprofessional, which I called her out on only to be talked over again. We ended up losing the property. I asked Kelsey for any feedback there may have been as to why our application was unsuccessful and she responded “I can’t discuss someone else’s application with you.” Not what I was asking. Needless to say I will never be going through Martin & Co. again. The practice and service were ridiculous. Perhaps this is different in other areas, but I would not recommend the Colchester branch to anyone. Be wary. I hope the branch records calls and can have a listen to how the situation was dealt with and ensure staff are properly trained in customer service and professional communication to stop enormous errors like this occurring in the future.

Turner · 18 July 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Shocking from start to finish

Well what can I say about this company and the Hillsborough office.DO. NOT. USE.Useless. Unreliable. Unprofessional. Don’t care about issues that occur. Take your money and ignore you.Handed my keys back yesterday. I await with baited breath as to whether I get any deposit back even tho I left the house in a better state than I arrived in.Wish I’d read reviews on this website before I entered into my tenancy with them. Disgusting company.

Rachel · 24 February 2021

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Last minute

I had a viewing one day before my flight back home for a property. Came one day before all the way from manchester and stayed at huddersfield then been called 30 minutes before the viewing and been told the property is not on the market anymore ! Truly been let down i would have been found and sorted another property instead of wasting all my time and going back to the next academic year without a place to stay at. Totally unsatisfied with the customer service.unprofessional people

Jack · 16 July 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Last minute

I had a viewing one day before my flight back home for a property. Came one day before all the way from manchester and stayed at huddersfield then been called 30 minutes before the viewing and been told the property is not on the market anymore ! Truly been let down i would have been found and sorted another property instead of wasting all my time and going back to the next academic year without a place to stay at. Totally unsatisfied with the customer service.unprofessional people

Mon · 16 July 2019

★★★★★ 4/5

Trustpilot

Friendly staff, some minor issues

I rented a house share via Martin & Co and all of the staff members I encountered were really friendly and helpful. I wouldn't have found such a great place to live at short notice if it wasn't for their help. I did have a couple of minor issues though:-The agent who showed me round promised me that the house share would only be rented to people in their 20s and said they were very selective about who was allowed to look round. I was therefore surprised when a man in his 60s moved in about a month after I did. Fortunately I got on with him really well and we didn't have any issues, but I did feel lied to by the agent. Also, we were never warned when someone was coming to view the house. I didn't mind too much as I was usually out when the agents came, but there was a Saturday when someone came to look round and I was still in my pyjamas. I'm not sure how the rules apply to house shares, perhaps the agents are only legally obliged to let us know if they're going into our rooms. However, it would have been polite of them to let us know in advance if they are going to be entering the house, especially at weekends.

Sophie · 14 July 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Worse house rental experience ever

Worse house rental experience ever. The staff was not helpful and friendly at all during the check in process and also throughout my tenancy, but expecting me to write a good review for them. The flat was in poor cleaning condition when handing over to m but the staff was irresponsible and ignore all my problems because she was on a trip and the others didn’t know anything. While during check out, they point out all the little cleaning problems in regard of my deposits. Overall, it was a disappointment.

Wingwing · 9 July 2019