Connells Shaftesbury reviews

★★★★★ 1/5

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Time wasters

In June 2020, I viewed a retirement flat in Watford..Price was agreed, memorandum of sales was issued solicitors was appointed. We even got to signing a draft contract when I was told by solicitors the flat is not for over 55s but for 60. Before putting an offer Connells had reassured me that this was for 55..Even after solicitors email, two agents of Connells Kyara and Scott emailed / phoned me and reassured me all will be fine. I wasted 3.5 months of emotional, physical ( note I am disable) and financial energy and had turned down 3 potential properties before putting in an offer. Connels supposededly appealed to the company many times not that I was privy to emails exchanged..I was constantly having to chase but was fobbed off with half cut explanations as to exactly why the E&M would not sell to me..And that too in very poor English. People over 55 are living in that block so I feel very much discriminated against. On the last day when Connells told me of final decision and that the sale will definitely not proceed, the agency didnt even offer their services by asking if they could help me look for other options or offer a refund of fees taken. I had paid £400 in vain. Again I had a chase for my refund. I was again told it would be paid after 3 days. I chased up after 5 days for me to get an email about shortage of staff. This was paid after 8 days. However I had lost money paid to Solicitors. If they are to be believed and vendor too was chasing the landlord, they have no doubt costed the vendor additional expenses. If only this small but hugely important details about age was in black and white from day one, this mess could have been avoided. All in all Connels is unreliable, time wasters, no diligence and definitely not recommended from a buyer's point of view

Rita · 29 October 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

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I would not recommend this company to…

I would not recommend this company to anyone. They took my deposit after assuring me I would get the apartment, fully knowing my situation. Once they had my money, the communication became almost impossible you can’t reach them after 12pm, and they completely stopped responding to messages and calls.

Kola · 3 December 2025

★★★★★ 1/5

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Beware when buying home insurance through connels

Beware when buying home insurance through their mortgage brokers.I took out a mortgage through a connels mortgage broker and was offered home insurance at the same time. I informed their agent that I required additional cover for an expensive mountian bike and asked for this to be added to the policy.When trying to make a claim for the loss of this bike I wa sinformed by ageas that the bike had not been declared as a specific item to them by connells and I would only be able to claim up to the maximum value of £1000. The bike was worth £2500 so I have been paying additioinal fees for my home insurance for additional cover that when needed hasn't paid out in full.When I made a complaint to connels the person dealing with it didn't uphold my complaint or offer any resolution. Avoid and organise your own insurance!

Alexander · 16 December 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

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This is the worst company I have ever…

This is the worst company I have ever had to deal with. The incompetence is shocking. The lack of knowledge and and disinterest from the staff to try and resolve the smallest issue is crazy. They end up costing you money and then start harrassing you for arrears rental on the 6th of the month whe your rent is only due on the 11th. Unfortunately I have to deal with them for another 11 months and then hopefully never again.

Martin · 7 December 2024

★★★★★ 5/5

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Had Simon from connells

Had Simon from connells, contacted us before hand to ask if we had any concerns about the property. Then after the survey contacted us to explain what he had found and explained what we would need to do. Survey was excellent and helped us clarify certain parts of the report. Would recommend that having a survey by people like simon was the best money we have ever spent . Thanks again

Peter · 7 March 2022

★★★★★ 1/5

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Another gazumping incident

Placed a purchase offer on of their properties listed in Cambourne, Cambridge as a first time buyer.

Mohamed · 31 July 2026

★★★★★ 1/5

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Totally corrupted being a key worker

Totally corrupted branch- Midlands branch- being a key worker , applied for accommodation two years ago , yet was totally ignored. Someone called Becky does not answer phone calls , leave voice mails and she never comes back , she comes back after 6 months after all the accommodation is gone and she received whatever benefit to dictate to you what she wants you to live in ,,,,! as s she is my partner to do so , raised a complaint about that suspicous activity , her manager Annabell did not do any , dont get involved unless you ready to give some gifts

Bbb · 27 November 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

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I wish I had read more reviews before…

I wish I had read more reviews before deciding to use Connells. The branch manager who came to value was over pushy and persuaded us to take an additional package to showcase the property. Poor quality pictures which were allegedly taken by a professional photographer. I could have done better with a mobile phone. Had to complain about the quality of the pictures and the number and one or two extra were added. Still poor quality.Description of property was initially not agreed with us. Connells wrote an initial description which we did not see. Eventually it was changed.The property has now been on the market for 10. weeks and not a single viewing. Only one call from the office during that time despite going into the office and expressing our dissatisfaction. Manager was out and has never bothered to get in touch with any suggestions on marketing. Extremely disappointing and extreme poor quality customer service.We are locked in for 6 months and already paid out money for photographs and extra marketing. A very poor company who just do not seem to care.

Neville · 9 March 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

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Julie Davies - Emerson’s Green branch Bristol.

Julie Davies was our sales negotiator for our recent purchase of our first house. Timely, helpful and efficient, Julie went above and beyond to ensure clear communication was had between ourselves and the sellers. I would highly recommend her to anyone who is looking to get on the property ladder.

Aisling · 12 January 2024

★★★★★ 5/5

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Letting experience with Nick from…

Letting experience with Nick from Connells, DorchesterJust wanted to say a very big thank you to Nick who has been great from my first telephone call to view a property, to meeting up with him to look at the property and then for helping with all the admin needed to rent a new property and meeting him again today to hand over the keys. We felt we could rely on Nick all through this process and would like to thank him for helping us to find such an awesome property.Many thanks Frank & Barbara

Barbara · 28 February 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

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Professional and Reliable

I wasn't really looking forward to engaging an estate agent again due to past experiences over the last 20 years!Well that trend has finished after dealing with Alun Graham at Connells Estate Estate Agents. Alun came across as agenuine non pushy agent, allowing me plenty of time to make up my own mind and decisions.What was really a breath of fresh air for me was that Alun knew quite allot about the surrounding areas, which helped immensely in finding the right property for me and my family.Alun, thanks for all your genuine help and support, and restoring my faith in Estate Agents. Hopefully your team are all mini Aluns'!!Thanks One and All!

Baz · 2 February 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Do not use

Extremely poor service after a rep visited to undertake a valuation on behalf of a mortgage company for a remortgage. Our house price on zoopla is showing £244,000 as the low end up to £264.000 high end. We had previously been on the open market for sale at £260,000 - £265000 and had received lots of viewings in 2 weeks, but decided to stay put and took it off the market. The agent had no interest in listening to me about all the works we’ve had done since moving in, (we’ve done a full Reno) and then valued it at £245,000!!! Practically the lowest possible! We had 4/5 previous property valuations for local estate agents, there lowest was £255,000 3 weeks ago. your rep was here maybe 10 minutes? didn’t want to chat to me about the house, nothing. This has affected our mortgage offer. He is seriously undervaluing properties clearly and this is having an affect on peoples mortgages and payments. I was even told I wasn’t allowed to appeal and ask for a second opinion so we’ve had to restart over again with another providerWhat a complete failure and waste of time

Sarah · 16 November 2024

★★★★★ 5/5

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connels peterborough

We contacted the peterborough office for a let in Bretton area of the city, our contact was charlotte, initially all went well but we hit a problem with the reference check as i am moving from north scotland to the area and did not have any proof of earning as still had to start my new job. We at this time were unable to continue without either a guarentaur or a six month deposit of rent, that left both of us feeling very stressed and deflated with our move just 5 days away. Charlotte called us the very next day to put a proposal from the landlord for less rent advance which we were able to do. I cannot stress how helpful and professional my dealings with Charlotte were. What a credit to your company.

Paul · 30 October 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

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Bunch of cowboys

Bunch of cowboys . Valuation nearly 50k less then the buyers offered. There are no houses around here for what he valued it at. House was in top condition. Even the building survey was good . Also found out the surveyor was not from around here and attended a local estate agent to gather a price .... and the estate agent actually came to my house toOffer to sell it for me ??? Something not right with this company ... Reported anyway .....

SIMON · 10 October 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

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Avoid

Lack of communication. Making up conversations, I wish I recorded them as well. Doing price reductions without permission. Avoid.

Emma · 8 July 2026

★★★★★ 1/5

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Most stupid people working in this…

Most stupid people working in this Connells agency. unprofessional. In fact, they are also Childish. Non-serious including the letting and complaint department.

Farhan · 15 June 2026

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Disgusting

Poor does not come close to the abysmal service connells provide. Reports were made for defects following their own processes however they repeatedly failed to respond to these and on one occasion left it four days before contacting me about being unable to enter my home due to a lock issue.Tennant's are harrassed into entering fixed term contracts and are charged ridiculous amounts for the priveledge of having the exact same piece of paper they had previously but with a simple date change.Good luck getting your deposit back if you do go with connells, I surrendered my tenancy three months ago, I agreed that deductions could be made and am still awaiting repayment of the agreed funds outside of their own time frames told after being told initially that this would take 7 working days.DO NOT USE

Leigh · 18 July 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

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Trevor Beasley is racist's

Trevor Beasley is racist's, AVOID HIM . Their team is a bunch of evil Satanist, who give wrong information to lenders. the moment you get its Connells surveyors , Amanda Gordon is one of the team leaders , who gives wrong information to lenders about your survey. cancel the appointment and tell bank to send different surveyor's.

Anish · 6 June 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

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At least I know which agent NOT to use in future

I have been using another letting agent who I am perfectly happy with for years. Then I got a call from Connells promising that they were better, faster and a whole lot cheaper than my current agent. I told them I wasn't interested but they kept badgering me day and night until I finally gave in and let them find a new tenant for me. That was a mistake I won't forget in a hurry.Connells were reasonably slow finding tenants, and the tenants they did find were all dodgy fraudsters. In the end I reluctantly agreed on a tenant with a CCJ. Who turned out to be less than ideal. On top of that, far from being cheaper, Connells turned out to be very expensive. As an example, they send a report every 6 months showing rent received and expenses. Any normal letting agent would do this for free. At Connells, that'll be £102 please. At least I know which agent NOT to use in future.

Dean · 27 April 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

One star is too generous for this…

One star is too generous for this incompetent bunch of nitwits. From the very beginning our experience with them was horrendous, when they or the equally terrible referencing service they use, TLC, repeatedly lost or forgot about paperwork that had been sent to them. Our guarantor spent a fortune sending items via Special Delivery more than once because Connells and TLC lost them or because they were too stupid to read what was in front of them in order to see that all the necessary details were covered in the first pieces of documentation sent. Every time they requested something, it was implied that it would complete the process and we could then move forward with renting our selected property, but then something else would be requested that they could and should have asked for in the first place. Two days before we were set to sign the paperwork and pick up the keys, we were told we may not be able to move in when planned because the landlord had not yet signed his part of the agreement. It soon transpired that the reason the landlord had been unable to sign was that Connells had still not even sent the agreement through to him. They finally agreed that, under the circumstances, they would allow the landlord to sign in retrospect in order to allow us to move in as we had already booked removals, but there was no apology or remorse, and we were not told this for certain until about 3 hours before we were due to pick up the keys - and only then because we phoned them. There was a complete lack of urgency throughout the entire process.On the day of the move, we received an email from Lauren at Kings Heath telling us our guarantor needed to visit his nearest branch with ID, and that this is usually done nearer the beginning of the process. This left us wondering why it hadn't been done when it should have been? Further to this, our guarantor's nearest branch was not just down the road, oh no, it was an hour and a half's drive in each direction! It is utterly ludicrous to expect someone of over 70 to drive that far with a couple of pieces of paper when they have already given you bank statements, pension statements and council tax bills to show who they are and what their income is. The next several months were blissful as we had no contact with Connells. The landlord was lovely and it soon became clear that both he and we were happy to continue the tenancy privately in order to save paying Connells money for old rope. The landlord gave notice, and we received a letter to say that Connells would no longer be serving as management for the tenancy after a certain date. We should make no further rent payments to them, lest they be returned to us minus a £30 'processing' fee. Cue an email yesterday morning claiming we are in rental arrears. We are most assuredly *not* in arrears as the tenancy ended over a week ago, but once again Connells do not know what they are doing. Upon phoning the Kings Heath branch to try and sort this out, my husband was told that Connells Kings Heath had been told by the landlord that he wished them to continue acting as managers until the end of the original tenancy agreement, which is due to finish at the end of this month. This is despite the many letters that have been sent to the branch by the landlord confirming that he understands the tenancy would end last month and he would be responsible for collecting rent from there on, and also despite the letter Connells themselves have sent to us saying the same thing. I am at a complete loss with Connells. I have absolutely no faith in them whatsoever and I can't understand how they have stayed in business. They are rude, unprofessional, blasé about life-changing matters, and, frankly, completely useless. I would strongly advise anyone considering using them as letting agents or estate agents rethink and use someone else, as Connells seem to be the worst of the lot.

Alison · 7 April 2019

★★★★★ 5/5

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Delivered on promises to get viewers…

Delivered on promises to get viewers into the door. I like other local agents they had a high flow of viewings resulting in a rapid sale of my house at a very competitive sale price. Easy to deal with good communication throughout and advice.

Stuart · 15 December 2025

★★★★★ 1/5

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Kevin Henry aka Sharman Quinney aka Connells - Vibrant Energy

Local agency, Kevin Henry, was taken over by Connells and my experience of renting has become a nightmare. Vibrant Energy is the same group and did my interim inspection. I'm a long-term tenant of an unfurnished property and this inspection was intrusive, including taking photos of my own belongings and me. Assessor also read my gas and electricity meters, measured the rooms of the house and asked questions about my rent - for an interim inspection? Since then, I have discovered that Connells have tried to get the landlord to increase the rent and charge commission to anybody doing maintenance on the house I've read the feedback about them changing a tenant's energy supplier and am wondering if that's why they read the meters. Communication has been awful. Sometimes they don't contact me - other times they send the same information twice. My landlord supports me. I'm a good tenant and he's a good landlord - we were both happy, but Kevin Henry/Sharman Quinney (Connells) have changed that. Avoid them if at all possible!

S · 3 February 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Waste of money

We were encouraged to select Connells to survey the property we were interested in. We bought the house based on the survey results. The level of inaccuracies which we learned about after moving was unbelievable. For example: the roof was deemed in good condition and, according to the surveyor, “only required ongoing maintenance”. In reality, we had to have the entire roof rebuilt and asbestos tiles disposed of at great cost. The surveyor hadn’t even mentioned the possibility that they could be asbestos. There were further horrors which any competent surveyor should have picked up on. To cut a long story short, we ended up paying more than £30,000 just to make the house water-tight. This was the only capital we had and which we hoped could be used to replace carpets etc. Now we’re broke!We lodged a complaint to Connells, the response to which was insulting, patronising and full of even more inaccuracies. This was taken to the very final stage, but our claim was dismissed. Our roof claim wasn’t upheld as we hadn’t taken photos of the roof at the time of the survey!? Who would even do this? There’s no way that the roof could have deteriorated from a level 1 rating to 3 in 2 months of normal weather. It seems that the surveyor doesn’t have to prove his/her case, but any complainant has to have all manner of evidence which very few of us would think of collecting during the stressful period of the move.I would strongly advise not employing Connells. In fact, rather than have a survey I’d recommend asking a roofer, plumber, builder and electrician to survey the property prior to completion. They’re the real experts!Surveyors are paid handsomely for either pointing out the obvious eg: gutters need to be cleared of leaves etc. or have so many subclauses that even if the house were to collapse, when they’d said it was fine, they’d be covered!

Sam · 1 February 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Absolutely useless, avoid

Connells took over my Tennancy from a previous letting agent and have had nothing but hassle since. They changed my Energy provider without anybody's authorisation from landlord or myself. Then were no help in resolving this. I had to deal with a miserable renewals coordinator, who has since apparently "left the conpany", she hung the phone up on me twice and told me I was at the wrong department when I phoned then didn't bother to give me any information about who I needed to call and hung up the phone. I got passed around between all kinds of connells staff ranging from senior to team leader, no one really wanted to deal with my case and at no point was any genuine apology given or an ounce of empathy about everything. My landlord and I eventually came to an agreement on contract because connells were such a liability. They hadn't fulfilled any agent duties by this point and had the audacity to ask me for a £110 renewal fee. So I'd done every bit of work for them and they'd messed me about ten fold then they asked me for money?! They kept replying with hollow apologies and eventually knocked it down £20, I paid this to finally not have to deal with them anymore. Up until the renewal contracts they sent through had misspelled my partner's name! They are absolute shambles do not give them your time or your money

Customer · 26 January 2019