Connells Horsham reviews

★★★★★ 1/5

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Having used connells through Burchell…

Having used connells through Burchell Edwards, Ilkeston. I was interviewed by the senior mortgage advisor (Rachel Cox) ...I was given a mortgage offer and on enquiry was assured the solicitor fees would average around £1000 “give or take a couple quid” without extra or hidden costs however, my solicitors bill came in at over £1800. When I asked why this was, I was informed it was due to the fact the property I was buying was a new build property being purchased through the help to buy scheme and they come with extra costs, further to this I asked why wasn’t I told this when I enquiried about the legal fees and the response I received was “ I didn’t know about it”.This left me feeling very frustrated as I had to raise extra unexpected funds due to the incompetence of a senior mortgage advisor not knowing about the product she was supposed to be an expert in selling. It would be like a car salesman knowing nothing about cars.Further frustration was experienced with the lack of communication with Burchell Edwards, conells and conveyancing direct. I’ve had to constantly chase them with emails or phonecalls to find out what was happening. Otherwise months would elapse without anything. When I did eventually get to speak to a human I was more often than not told “They're not available right now, I’ll get them to ring you back” to which these callbacks rarely materialised.When I have been lucky enough the receive correspondence from conveyancing direct at times the emails have been so poorly written it’s nonsensical and barely passable as belonging to the English language.Even the legal paperwork such as contracts and mortgage offers are inundated with spelling and grammatical errors, which considering they are supposed to be a legal binding document, astounds me.Due to delays with the builders and solicitors I have had to extend the mortgage offer which meant I incurred further charges, but I was informed this would be refunded to me. This has yet to materialise. Furthermore I was told that the retention deposit I paid to secure the plot I wanted would be deducted from my deposit towards the house, yet there is still no sign of this being true.So my advice to anyone considering connells or any of its affiliated companies such as conveyancing direct or Burchell Edwards, if you value your time and money AVOID AT ALL COST.

Karl · 12 May 2018

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

The Valuer tried all sorts of bribery…

The Valuer tried all sorts of bribery to get me to list my house for sale with them - even was offered me a job as a ‘home stager’ if I listed with them! But I had to sign a contract first!! Saw the mortgage advisor who quickly lost interest in me because I would not sell through the agent - and he did not bother to follow up my application. A big thumbs down from me . Avoid.

Joanne · 9 January 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

do not go with Connells

I would have liked to say that they were great and that they sold my house but sadly that is not the case. I had my house with them for 4 months (Headingdon branch) and I hardly got any viewers through the door. The team is young and sadly (always in my opinion) they do not get back to you on time, they do not put their out of office when they are away so you never know why they wont respond, or they simply do not email you back for the first couple of days, even though sometimes what you need is urgent. They overpriced my house by £50,000, yes you read right, no wonder why the house never got sold. When I expressed my worries I then got “why did you not tell us that the price was too high”. How am I meant to know this, you are the agency that should be there to support me and guide me through this stressful time. On the very few viewings I did have I had noticed that the agent would either not lock the door behind him or simply not bother getting back to me for feedback unless I called in to check. Finally, they make you sign the contract, tell you what you want to hear of course and then once the property is online you notice that the floorplan is not even there, that you have to pay extra for it, just like the professional photos (which were awful and very bright). I would not recommend them, they only delayed everything for me by 4 months, something I cant get back and caused me and my family a lot of stress and problems. Stay away is what I would advise!

Sara · 11 April 2018

★★★★★ 2/5

Trustpilot

The worst letting agency ever conceived

If there were awards for the worst letting agency ever operating, they would be winning every single one of them. I have heard some really bad opinions from people who used to deal with them but decided to view a house anyway, as it did seem perfect for me. First meeting - they have got the wrong pair of keys so I was unable to view it - wasted 30 minutes of my life.Second viewing, rescheduled - no one from the agency showed up - waited 15 minutes and went home laughing. Why would they ask 420 British Pounds of administration fee for jokes like this? It's a shame companies like these control so many decent houses in England, blocking the market essentially.

Ulven · 21 March 2018

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Absolutely useless

Absolutely useless. Over-priced our house to get our business then suggested a significant price drop within two or three weeks. Now claiming that they said from the start that an offer £150K less than their suggested asking price would be an extremely good one! The initial prospectus had loads of faults - listing it as a three bed when it's a four bed, for starters - and communication has been terrible. We haven't had a single viewing in the four months that it's been on the market - which is bizarre even if it is over-priced - so I've given up and taken it off. Complete waste of time - do not use this lot even if they promise to chuck in a golden helicopter and a couple of unicorns as part of the deal for selling your house.

Amanda · 16 March 2018

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Avoid wherever possible.....

Appalling communication with their own staff and with prospective buyers. They don't return calls; lie regarding receiving information requested, to the point they don't even bother to cover the fact when forwarding said information, saying they've 'just' received it but it was clearly received 1 week + before; will continue to show prospective buyers around properties and take details of offers After previous offers have been accepted whilst leaving you waiting and hoping that your offer has been accepted and all this will take in excess of a month!! When tackled about this, they will try to bluff their way through conversations, When you manage to speak to someone who usually doesn't have a clue what's going on! They obviously get paid so much commission they don't have to consider customer service for either vendor or buyer!!! If it were possible to give a minus star, I'd recommend that!

Ruth · 13 March 2018

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Never ever use Connells, cost us a fortune

Avoid them, selling our house through them, they originally quoted us a high price to get us to sign with them. This is a lie to get your business. Then after waiting and dropping the price 10%, they asked if we would take a cash buyer for £1000 less than the asking price. We accepted as long as it was a quick sale.We ended up waiting months and Connells claimed to have never said it and that it was a mortgage deal. Ended up costing us money, I would never use any of their branches ever again. The sooner these types of cowboys are out of business the better. Take your business elsewhere, you might as well use purple bricks for the little Connells did for the thousands they charged, it was everyone waiting for them that delayed the sale even further.

LJ · 23 February 2018

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

BEWARE the Connells' (Estate Agents) Mortgage Advice Service

Where do I begin? This organisation offers free mortgage "advice" up to a point, after which "lifetime broker" fees are charged: supposedly once you decide to go ahead. But what happens if the member of staff you're dealing with lies to you? In this particular case, one young lad working for Connells decided to tell a few porky pies which resulted in a £499.00 fee being deducted up front, rather than after completion of the mortgage - he said it would be charged at the end. As a result the mortgage application was immediately cancelled (within 7 days of the unexpected fee being deducted from the bank). If you can't trust people to be honest about the simple things, why would you trust them to be honest about the more expensive/complicated things? Strangely, the guy no longer works for Connells having "disappeared" a few months after the first complaint was lodged. However, something weird then happened. Connells admitted that the "broker" fee covered certain works which had NEVER taken place yet refused to reimburse it! This relates to Clacton on Sea branch. The funny thing is - when you ask staff around the country what the "lifetime broker" fee is, and what it covers - you get different answers depending who you ask. How can that be so? HQ refuse to answer the question: "what work does the fee cover"? - so much for complying with MCOBS (the Mortgage Code of Business Sourcebook): MCOB 3A.2.1 Rule: (1) When a firm communicates information to a customer, it must take reasonable steps to do so in a way that is fair, clear and not misleadingMCOB 2.5A.1 Rule:A firm must act honestly, fairly and professionally in accordance with the best interests of its customer. If a firm has caused unnecessary and or avoidable costs, as a direct result of statutory negligence, you have the right to claim compensation pursuant to section 138D of the FSMA 2000. Steer clear of this company if you wish to be treated fairly (in my opinion). If you get caught out: I hope the above info helps x

Simon · 12 February 2018

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

The most horrific experience of my life…

The most horrific experience of my life dealing with Connells. Terrible communication, rude, never apologise, they are currently withholding my money and won’t tell me when I can expect to receive it. This is renting with them in Manchester. Avoid like the plague!!

Laura · 21 March 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Getting your deposit back is a struggle

11 days after the landlord instructed them to release the deposit with no deductions, I'm still waiting. Apparently they're having IT issues and can't send an email to some team for them to release the funds. Asked what the complaints procedure was and they refused to provide it. Stay clear if you're looking for a rental property. 75% 1 star reviews says it all....

Charl · 26 July 2022

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

It's as bad as it is possible to be

It's as bad as it is possible to be. Just awful in every regard. Do not give them your card details, no matter what they tell you to get the money out of you. I cannot believe they can still operate when they behave in such an appalling manner. All their properties are advertised elsewhere, so if you see their name against a property, just keep on looking and find a proper agent to rent through.

Carter · 30 March 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

My ABC Rule, Anyone but Connells!!

Having over 20 years of property experience I have seen Connells woeful standard on numerous occasions. I had such reservations that I listed various properties for an Agent to assess then as there was a Connells Valuer with 12 years’ experience in the same building, he cast his eye over the figures, before I relayed the information to my Lender. The result a different Connells Valuer with 3 months experience saw the places and these was a total drop in prices of £800:000!!2 years on and a house was valued at £1.25 million and £1.35 million by Local Estate Agents for Connells to thereafter turn up and say £975K!! 8 months later, a different firm values the untouched property at £1.45 million. Recently 4 and 5 bed flats were valued on the same development at 650K with rents strangely being stated at exactly the same level. As the rents were years out of date, bank statements and AST’s were evidenced to the Lender who subsequently decided to ignore Connells figures who rather than accept them preferred their fiction. To further damn them they valued a further 5 bed near Fulham at £500K again with ludicrous rents. Bored with their ineptness a new firm was commissioned and surprise surprise they accepted bank statements, AST’s and quoted 10 comps in the area. Result - the places valued shot up from £500K to £650K !!So, based on my experience, if you wish people to be unreliable, make up unrealistic rents and values then refuse to change their figures and hide when they are caught out - then I strongly recommend this organisation to you.

Mr · 17 January 2018

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Really bad customer service

Requested some viewings on properties through Right Move with Connells. Promptly got a call back where I was asked about preferences and then suggestions were made in light of this. This was good and did listen to me and what i wanted in a house and made good suggestions. He then asked about mortgages and whether i had a mortgage broker already. I did explain that i already had one and had an appointment and that i had had a bad experience previously with a mortgage broker from Connells so wasn't keen to use them. The guy did get quite pushy and i did feel very uncomfortable and had to firmly say that i wanted to wait until I'd see my other mortgage broker. The next day I drove 25 minutes in bad traffic at rush hour after work to view a property that i had requested a viewing through Right Move. My partner and i got out the car, a few minutes letter, after the guy had finished texting or something he got out the car - not the best first impression. He knocked on the door of the property as apparently the homeowners would be in whilst the viewing took place. No answer. Five minutes later after still no reply, the guy said he didn't have the keys and was surprised the owners weren't in as they had been in on other viewings. You would have thought, to be prepared you that he would have the keys just in case of such occasions or phoning the homeowners the day of the viewing to remind them to be in etc... Quite annoyed as we had driven a long way in bad traffic. Luckily we had another viewing lined up down the road. Arrived there, again the guy stayed in the car a bit longer on his phone before getting out the car. As we approached the property, the guy asked why we weren't using their mortgage broker again being quite blunt, again had to tell him why. Let in the house, no information or details given about the house as we walked round!! We had to ask lots of questions such as where the parking was, price, double glazing, rooms for ourselves. he literally just said nothing at all about the house, he just followed us from room to room, quite honestly looking like he couldn't be bothered. To top it all off, on the way out the guy asked again, about booking an appointment with the mortgage broker at Connells. At this point my partner had to put in a firm word and tell him again about our mortgage broker we had already lined up. I understand they want the sale and customers, it was just the way and the amount of times we are asked - did feel like an ambush and quite uncomfortable. The guy speeded off half saying as he got into is car that he would give us a call with more properties and to re-arrange the first viewing. We have not been called back and this happened a week ago. Really unimpressed, disappointed and will avoid having anything to do with Connells ever again!!

Becky · 16 January 2018

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Absolutely avoid like the plague

Absolutely avoid like the plague! From start to finish, I have never in my experience dealt with such uncouth, absurd and depressingly unprofessional agents. At the beginning of the sale, there was an air of niceness: when I was first shown the property, everything seemed OK. All questions were clarified and answered, brochures were given and information was made available. Or so I thought...The second I offered my selling price, I was immediately hounded for solicitor details. As a first time buyer, the process of buying was incredibly new to me and so I was very miffed at this strange pressure that I was facing. Then for a short while, everything seemed OK...surveys took place, the solicitors completed all the paperwork and the vendor and I (at the time) managed to secure a solid relationship to ease the stressful nature and process of buying...All of a sudden came the day of exchange and completion. This is where things went utterly wrong and woeful. The agent that had initially shown me the property uttered depraved slander about me to my Mother (who had collected the keys on my behalf) which utterly infuriated me. But worst of all was the management. Never have I had to deal with so many lies. It's actually laughable. After nearly 4 weeks after exchange, the "for sale" sign is still outside my door. I have contractors coming in to start work and that to me just spells absolutely disastrous customer service. Throughput this whole process, it has been a trainwreck and a nightmare. The process of buying is never easy and you need an agent that can soothe and ease all your concerns. That has absolutely not been the case for me whatsoever. If there is any final advice I can give to anyone, it's this: run. Run as far away as possible because this estate agent will just use and abuse. Take it from me, if you see a property you like, do not buy through them.

Bhavna · 24 December 2017

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Look at the star rating...

Look at the star rating... it says so much From the moment I moved in, stains and filth were missed off the inventory and it took them 3 week (post moving in), to take an accurate description of the condition of the flat, baring in mind neighbours had warned me of underhand tactics The lettings management team don’t respond to correspondence, they took 17 weeks to fix a minor issue and then they’re now delaying on further more significant repairs and issuesAvoid at all costs

Jay · 11 December 2017

★★★★★ 1/5

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Skipton North Yorkshire Under valuing property trying to drive down house prices

Our business buys old run down properties, refurbishes the whole property then sells at the average value given from 3 local estate agents. Connell's were commissioned by the buyer to carry out a valuation and full survey. The survey came back with no problems but the surveyor then decided to undervalue the property by 40k. When we asked him to explain why, even though next door had sold for a higher price and had not been refurbished he would not discuss it with us and simply said its none of your business even though he had put an end to a 360k purchase. So if you have a Mr JOHN BENTLEY booked to come to your property to Survey / value your house then I suggest you cancel and ask for another company to carry out the valuation (which by law you are entitled to do) or you may as well wave goodbye to the sale. Its got to the point that if local estate agents hear he's been appointed by the lender then they cancel his appointment and ask Connells to appoint a different surveyor. Connells by law have no option but to appoint another surveyor from another company at the sellers request or buyers.

Lee · 3 December 2017

★★★★★ 1/5

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Caution should be taken if you end up in Connells

This review is based on my experience with the Weymouth branch. They are only interested in taking your money, nothing more nothing less! I have to say - and it's not often I name names - Tara in the lettings department is an outright liar and deceitful person. Unecessarily causes friction through lying and telling both parties two different stories to up her sales figures. A real shame because at the time she came across as a pleasant and knowledgeable young lady, she turned out to be quite nasty and underhanded in the way she manipulated all concerned. I wouldn't recommend connells to anybody, as a landlord or tenant. Seek your rental properties elsewhere because it will cost you stupid amounts and you will pay premium prices for rentals. Steer particularly clear of the Weymouth branch, not even worth walking through the door

Doyathink · 26 October 2017

★★★★★ 1/5

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Connells Letting Agents

DO NOT use this company. Their referencing process is poor and minimal. In my experience, they lack knowledge and training around landlord/tenancy law and seem to have little capacity to access professional advice about these issues. Their focus is to ensure a steady stream of income rather than offering an expected level of professional integrity. As a result, mistakes are made. As a landlord, this has caused me a good deal of emotional and material distress. There are some good letting agents out there and I reiterate, AVOID this organisation at all costs.

Anne · 23 October 2017

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Connells waste of space

If I could give a lower score I would. They give it all the big potatoes that they are better then anyone else when in fact they just want to take your money and run for the hills hiding behind emails and answer phones. I have reported a problem in the property we are renting and todate nothing, we have no water in the property and are getting no help at all from connells so called support services. If you are reading this think twice before parting with your money totall useless waste of time happy to allow people to struggle and suffer

Karl · 20 October 2017

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Avoid at all cost.

This company is the worse you could deal with. They would never stick to what they say. To get your deposit back even after your land lord has released it, it will take you ages. I am here calling them everyday to get my deposit back for past 2 weeks I been given lies after lies. Unprofessional service. The management on the top level is the worst. This company hasn't got a long road given the reviews it seems it's not only the bedford branch, they don't care nationwide once they have your money and tries to get away with it. Day light Robers. Please avoid dealing with this rubbish people altogether to save you from big stress in the future.

Harry · 17 October 2017

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Such a terrible experience

Such a terrible experience! Had no choice but to use them as we were buyers not sellers. Told us if we didn't take a mortgage with them they would tell the vendor not to sell with us! The vendor realised this was wrong and sold to us anyway but Connells repeatedly tried to sabotage our sale causing huge amounts of stress and money loss. Took them to the ombudsman but hard to prove as all their threats were verbal. Estate agents are mostly awful but these guys are a whole new level!

Zoe · 4 October 2017

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

travelled 1 1/2 hours to viewing and no agent to be seen....

I never have thought that an estate agent would simply not bother to turn up at a viewing . The owner was in when arrived and was invited in after 30 minutes of waiting outside, but kindly refused thier hospitality as it was awkward for both parties, and also not appropriate that the owner feels they should have to invite the viewer inside to have a look around the property without an accompanying agent. Travelling from another county taking 1 1/2 hours travelling time to get to the viewing appointment after work,... tired and then to be let down,....... no communication from the agent to at least make contact if there was a problem at any point,...and not to mention the time and money wasted to get there. The next working day made a call to the agent's and knew nothing of the appointment so was told that the agent who made the appointment would be in the next following day, and was told that they would make contact and said it appeared thier was some kind of mix up. The next day, still no contact from them. As a cash buyer,... the owner of the property may have a different perspective on who to market thier property....

LM · 30 September 2017

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Unprofessional letting agency

Absolutely useless people. Such an unprofessional letting agency. They agreed with the new tenant when he is going to move in which was by the way overlapping our contract as we payed for the whole month, and they have not even notified us about this. After realising that they messed this up these two people tried to force us to move out within 2 days. No communication, no response and 1 month later they still owe us money. I definitely take this case to the court. Not recommended!!!

Kinga · 16 September 2017

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

CONNELLS LEAVESDEN....DO NOT GO WITH THEM!!!!!!

My partner and I made the unfortunate decision to try and sell our property with Connells Leavesden (another branch in watford). First we were sent their evaluator Bee....he assured us he could EASILY sell our property for the amount we were going to put the property on the market for. We signed the contract with nothing being explained (we are amateurs as we do not have the first clue about selling a property), not knowing we were tied in for 6 months with them as sole agent. Initially we had plenty of viewings but then they slowed down alot.....we reduced the price several times at the advice of connells and still nothing. Major issues we had were that we were told by Bee that he would be dealing with this and never heard from him since signing a contract, Shorab a member of staff also did a viewing one day and left our front door unlocked and expensive blinds trapped in our balcony door. When I came back home to this after being out all day I tried to call connells but because they were closed I resulted to emailing the branch manager Max and all he did was send an email apologising....no phone call. We eventually met with Max to discuss all our issues and he agreed that he would have been unhappy with the service if he had experienced what we had and agreed to reduce the FIXED fee to 1000 less. I don't think that they wanted to get us the best price as they were getting a fixed fee and I think they knew that they were ripping us off. We then decided to give our notice....no attempt was made by Max to try and keep us and he agreed but we had to stick to the 4 weeks, we have requested as a gesture of goodwill that he allow us to leave earlier but I suspect because this is a new branch with people who don't seem to know what they are doing they will say no. BOTTOM LINE DON'T GO WITH CONNELLS LEAVESDEN IN WATFORD, STAFF LEAVE THE DOOR UNLOCKED AND DON'T CARE ABOUT SELLING FOR THE PRICE THEY QUOTED.

Emily · 3 September 2017