Barkers Leicester reviews

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

One of the worst parts of my university experience

One of the worst parts of my university experience was with this estate agents. I don’t understand how on google they have 4.9 stars. The only explanation I can think of is that in 2018 they got every member of staff to review it 5 stars because they couldn’t find anybody else to do so. This company is incompetent and treated us with little to no respect. They let us move into a uninhabitable house, complained when we would contact them about it, refused to give us any money off and told us not to contact them anymore as it’s embarrassing that we keep calling them for updates. The way that they talk to us is disgusting, especially Andrea and Ben, who have repeatedly shouted to us on the phone and have talked down to us. The house had large mould stains on the carpet and in the bathrooms, the kitchen was covered in some random sticky substance and the drains were covered in hair just to name a few. This was after they promised us the house had been deep cleaned. This is especially worrying considering coronavirus. We are currently disputing money off rent for the month our house was disgustingly inhabitable and not only is their maths wrong, but the way they are communicating with us, by being rude, is horrible. Shouting to us down the phone isn’t going to change the fact that you are wrong. We are not stupid students and we will not stand for this. I never write reviews, but I am warning anyone who wants to use this company to not waste you time, you will never have a good experience with them. Everyone who I have spoken to about them, has only bad things to say. Don’t give them your time because they will waste it and try to make a fool of you.

Libby · 7 November 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

I can’t give them zero or I would

I can’t give them zero or I would . Arrived last year to a studio flat that was ready late. Promised internet in the contract as included -which is essential for students -but over a dozen phone calls once moved in just made us realised that what they say, and what they do are two different things. We had to eventually install it and pay ourselves for the whole ten months with no thanks or even an offer to reimburse . The top floor of the property had a kitchen left as a homage to the previous tenants including “naughty shot glasses” and a fridge/freezer with an ice monster made up of the unwanted food of previous tenants. We coped and caused no problems. The fridges downstairs were mouldy and left from previous tenants x we cleaned them and didn’t moan. Once again. So we are cleaning, paying for internet, and the tenants next door whose boiler was broken, are using the shower room. We made no issue. We coped.Time to leave x we get instructions to leave by 12.00 as new tenants moving in next morning. My son contracted Covid and I had to go and help him. I told them but it was- you have To be our as new tenants moving in. Thanks to one lady with a degree of empathy I got an extra 12 hours to move him. As a professional of nursing I showed concern that they were moving someone into his room within 12 hours of him vacating but apparently that was no problem. I packed him up and brought him home where he was quite ill. Rent was taken out of his account every month and then today, Omer three months after he left he was sent the threat of a CCJ for unpaid rent. We paid for ten months of internet at 400£ and no reimbursement then today we are given 7 days to pay some doubtful arrears with no offer to pay us what they owe.To be honest, when we signed up and moved in I really wished I had read the reviews. They tell you its all about the landlord but don’t tell you that They ARE the landlord- it’s the same company that owns the houses. If you see This don’t go with them x find another letting agent and breathe easier x honesty isn’t part of this company’s policy x

TJ · 6 October 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

Consistently underperformed and failed to meet the most basic expectations of any letting agent. Fundamental lack of organisation, professionalism and an inability to action anything they agree to do. I should have walked away on the first attempt to get the keys to the rental property. After travelling an hours drive to collect the keys the agent declared that they had lost them! There was no offer to reimburse my travel costs. On viewing and agreeing to move into the flat, I asked for the flaking ceiling to be re-painted and all lights to be in working order before I move in. (The agent was in charge of the maintenance of the property) When finally moving into the property none of the requested work had been completed and 50% of the lights were functioning. Later on in the tenancy I reported that I had no hot water in the property. Instead of getting the heating looked at by a service engineer, they left me over a month without any hot water in my flat. It took them a month to arrange a call out for someone to look at our storage heater and put in a countermeasure; the route cause was a failing thermostat. After the storage heater was fixed, the agent organised 3 days later for someone to come and replace the entire storage heater unit. What an unbelievable lack of organisation and waste of money! Do not waste your time with this letting agent.

Darius · 13 June 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

Worst estate agents I have ever dealt with. Don’t do it for your own sanity 😂😂😂. I know multiple people who have had a nightmare with this company. I had to get out of my flat just to get away from them. …

Jessica · 13 February 2025

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

The most sad company out there

The most sad company out there , will overcharge you for bills as they forced you to sign multiple expensive contracts and you don’t get a choice , none of us signed a 30 pound a week bills contract , we actually signed a 22 pound one but we were forced to use a 30 pound one and now they want me to pay for both contracts as it turns out they’re using electricity from the 2nd contract ,vultures , awful payment plan timings , dirty disgusting unclean houses with weird room setups , EG fridge in the front room and terrible 2005 TV

Consumer · 12 November 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Be very careful with Student Housing

Be very careful with Student Housing. During our two year stay they never replied to any of my emails - including that we only had one key between us, and when maintenance requests were put in they were mostly ignored. House was in complete disrepair and simply unclean - not to be unexpected, sadly, in a student house - but they try and charge you for it afterwards. Such atrocities that apparently justify a £140 "cleaning fee" include a small piece of string at the back of a cupboard, and a small piece of cardboard on a windowsill (which was there when we moved in!). Anything to avoid paying for the house clean they promise their next tenants - which we didn't get - so I can only assume they pocket the £140.On top of this they snuck in a £90 "check out" fee into our renewal. That's on us - we didn't spot it in the contract, but it shows how shady they are, and they'll get your deposit one way or another.

Nathan · 18 August 2019

★★★★★ 2/5

Trustpilot

Dreadful

Dreadful! Everything was running smoothly until our move-in date. We got the keys from the estate agents and they told us to go to the property ourselves as there wasn't a member of staff available to let us in or carry out inventory for a couple of days, as it was a Saturday and they finish earlier. Arrived at the property and the previous tenant was still in there, asleep in bed - it was midday! Spoke to Humphreys immediately and told them that this was unacceptable. They said the tenant had overstayed his contract by a day and they were unaware of this. Barely given an apology and even if the tenant was due to move out the day before they should allow for a few days cleaning and checks before letting new tenants move in.They offered to refund some of the deposit understandably. Got the cleaner in for 50 mins before we were due to move in. The floors were still wet on arrival. The hot water went off a week after moving in as the boiler had to be repaired. Took over 8 days to organize this with us.The remainder of the tenancy was okay although they were never very clear at communicating things to us and didn't really have a clue who had said or done what in their team.When we moved out they took around 120 each from our deposit for "cleaning fees" which was complete joke as we all know they spend less than hour cleaning the entire property before new tenants move in. Not to mention the £90 checkout fee to leave. I complained about this and they refunded £30 each. It was a long process to get this, and I would not use their services ever again in future.

Taylor · 10 July 2019

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

My husband and I have used Barkers for a number of years. Firstly using their rental team for a couple of properties we owned. In particular worked with Jack M and Jack S who were always very approachable and gave an excellent service and good advice. They found reliable tenants and they managed the proeprties very well. About 6 months ago we then decided to sell both properties so moved onto Jessica in the sales team. She worked really hard getting the sales ‘over the line’ and without her it may have collapsed at one point! Really impressed by them over the last few years, whilst probably won’t work with me again that’s not purely because we’ve moved away from Leicester now and I would recommend them as a very good estate agents

Jenni · 14 June 2019

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

April 2018 - I’ve just completed on an investment property purchase through Barkers Queens Road. Joanna and Jessica were immensely helpful, professional and proactive throughout the process. I highly recommend Barkers, they are a great company to deal with. 👍 October 2018 - I’ve gone through the full cycle with Barkers by using them to rent out the two flats that I bought through them in April. Most importantly they did me a great deal on letting fees because of this, and certainly did not hang about in renting it out for me. Jack Savory was spot on in terms of what he could achieve, and he delivered. Highly recommend Jack Savory and his Barkers rental team! 👌

Maurice · 14 June 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

Don't waste your time with this company. Agent came out to value our property, we still had the patio and fence to finish off, and rang them to proceed when it was done. The agent didn't turn up, he was ill. Told he would ring us the following week. Phoned another 3 times since and was told they had left him and the manager our messages but still no response. Maybe they don't need the business. Poor customer service, glad we found out before we went ahead.

JAMES · 11 October 2022

★★★★★ 4/5

Google

Journey of selling my home with Barkers once valuation was completed by Jo and the broucher /advert on rightmove of the property was so professionaly designed. Victoria looked after the main sale viewing along with other staff members,I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continious support and hard work with my journey to sell my home which at times felt like an impossible task 🏡 especially to wards the end of completion of the sale when Jo put so much had work and saved the day ... thank u all and God bless you 🙏 Regards Rukhsana

Iqra · 11 October 2022

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

If I could give zero and minus minus…

If I could give zero and minus minus rating I would! DO NOT SIGN a contract with them you will regret it! It does not protect you as the tenant. They only care about £ & landlords which quite frankly are dodgy! Unclean, not fit for anything accommodation. Ignore calls , ignore issues quite frankly not bothered. Try and charge for things that are landlords responsibility and not bothered about the effects on tenants. Nothing about them is professional happy to push you to sign and then your on your own !! They need looking into. Save yourself the pain and do your homework. If you view properties do your research as once you have signed your on your own!! Invoices and figures don’t match and lip service all the way. Quite frankly they need to close their doors as not fit for purpose. RUN in opposite direction put your money else where.

Louise · 19 October 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Absolutely horrific experience

Absolutely horrific experience, WEAPONISED incompetence. I would give them zero stars if I could. Completely incompetent staff, consistently made accounting mistakes without rent payments and tried to get us to pay THOUSANDS more than we were meant to - took myself calling every day for 3 months and sending countless emails to fix this issue. The house was not clean when we moved in, and the bathroom sink was blocked which they charged us for (£150 to unclog a drain by the way) even though we'd just moved in - bet they charged the previous tenant too by taking it out of their deposit. Old, broken boiler when we moved in - didn't get fixed until 3 months into the tenancy. Consistently didn't tell us about 9 am house viewings until either late the night before or the morning of, and then sent emails complaining that it wasn't spotless despite the lack of notice. Took £560 of our collective deposit just for cleaning - even though we thoroughly cleaned the house. Prolonged the deposit repayment process - I phoned multiple times while waiting for the process to continue and every person I spoke to blamed it on someone else in their department. Again, weaponised incompetence - the length of time taken meant my house had to accept the charges as we needed the money back and they were deliberately taking advantage of the fact that we're students and don't have the money to let the deposit issue go on for as long as they tried to make it. Please please never use this company.

Ella · 18 October 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

First time ever I booked to view a property with Barkers some years ago and they simply didn't turn up. Saturday morning, answerphone on in the office. Asked what happened when passing the Clarendon Park office a couple of days later and they said that the appointment hadn't been put in the book, even though it had been booked IN the office! They didn't seem to care. Second terrible experience was when we had a viewing to see if it was worth selling our house. The woman who came was so unprofessional, she was telling us private info about our neighbours which we felt was very unprofessional. Fast forward to this past week. Third time lucky? No! Tried to book to see a property they've had on the market for some time on Knighton Lane East. Asked via RightMove if we could book to see on Saturday morning. It's now Friday evening, and we've heard nothing.

Dee · 11 October 2024

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

We wanted to say a big thank you and well done to all the team at Bakers. The customer service, support and guidance has been exceptional. We used Barkers to sell our house and we bought our new home through Barkers. Our house sold in just 5 days!! We gave Georgie a description of what we were looking for and on our first viewing found our dream home!! A 5star service experience for us and a big thumbs up. Special mention Jess, Georgie and Jack. Thank you.

Rumana · 14 June 2018

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

Excellent estate agency I met in England, we are foreigners and came here with no rental experience but they treat us professionally and carefully. They did provide lots of services to secure our safety and living condition during the year, and everything they want to do will be informed in advance. I'd love to thank staffs here, especially Jack, for helping us to deal with so many issues such as prolonging the rent, safety checks and house refurbishment works, hope that you can do better in the future, and definitely I will recommend you to my friends :)

Jinxian · 14 June 2018

★★★★★ 3/5

Google

While I'm seeing lovely reviews of Barkers as an estate agents, unfortunately as a letting agent they leave much to be desired. We've rented with them for four years, and we've finally had enough. There are issues we raised when we first moved in which still have not been fixed (one example is that there were holes in the window panes, which were listed on the inventory - we asked why they weren't fixed and had no reply). As well as these original problems, we've had a lot of issues since moving in, and very rarely have they been sorted out to our satisfaction. Often we would make the call, then have to call to chase it up up, only to be told that the person we dealt with either hadn't written it down, or had now left the company, leaving us to start all over again. Also, we had serious delays in getting basic safety work done - like the mandatory annual boiler check. Just generally shoddy - nothing nasty or particularly problematic, but just taking ages to fix issues and gave the impression that they didn't really care as long as we paid rent. We are moving out of our house soon, and are genuinely worried that we will have money taken off our deposit for issues that were there when we moved in (thank God for inventories!). Oh, and speaking of inventories, it took us chasing to even be sent a copy of ours (which hadn't been updated with our comments, just photocopied - as I noticed my own handwriting notes asking why things hadn't been fixed!), and we haven't been sent a copy of the gas safety certificate. Now I concede that some of our issues might be more to do with the landlords than the agency, but I thought it was the agency's job to be a go-between and also ensure that the landlord follows their side of the agreement - not been done. I wouldn't tell people to avoid like the plague, but I wouldn't recommend Barkers either.

Susan · 14 June 2018

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Giving this a single star but only…

Giving this a single star but only because you have to select one to leave a review. This company are an absolute disgrace to the profession. They rent at an extortionate price, ignore any online maintenance reports, allow landlords full access to properties without notice, are uncontactable and do not respond to emails or voicemails. And BEWARE!!!! They will keep your deposit stating that when you leave the property, there are repairs to be done - these are all the repairs you will have reported during your tenancy. They should be struck off and their letting licence removed. DO NOT USE THEM!!

Bunnie · 3 October 2024

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

I have recently purchased a property from Barkers and have to say they were fantastic throughout. A few problems occurred during the process however the staff mainly Fiona were there to sort everything out for me. Thank you. Would highly recommend in future.

Tom · 13 June 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

Terrible First Experience with Barkers. I was let down on my property due to 'Being new to renting'... so how do we start? From the start it seemed like their was no willingness to correspond. One of the colleagues stated to me a move in date - which really shouldn't have been said until the landlord approved my application. I had to call Barkers every couple of days to ask them if everything was sorted, to find out there was new problems, which they should have contacted me about. There was a electrical fault within the house, and they didn't have the courtesy to even tell me what it was (whether it be big or small) as it was going to be a home for the future. I kept at them regarding the property and they seemed so disinterested in arranging something. After everything whilst on my honeymoon I get a call saying sorry but the landlord has rejected your application - which I didn't believe one bit. I felt that they were hiding something especially with my probing I think they felt the need to reject it as I would be one to get my concerns resolved appropriately. Terrible Experience. I wouldn't waste my time with them one bit.

Savan · 14 June 2017

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Wimborne Branch

Wimborne Branch Terrible outfit, dont reply to enquiry forms or follow up emails. Cant wait until the bubble bursts and these cowboys go under

Adrian · 13 May 2026

★★★★★ 1/5

Yell

Genuinely bad experience.

I have had two experiences dealing with this operation, the first was average and the second exceptionally poor. The apartment rented was grossly misrepresented as a professional let, only to discover the entire complex was an out-of-control student 'pad' - they seemed to run the block without hinderence. The toilet was inoperative for six days, the apartment was dirty and the outside area incorporating the parking area was strewn with garbage in a way I have not encountered in a Western dwelling. Rectification of issues was glacially slow or non-existent. One mini-bin was provided for for the entire complex, attracting vermin - the Council was called to clean up twice and charge the landlord. I broke the lease and was charged to the letter - I am considering legal recovery of my losses. Avoid.

TomipetterB · 15 February 2017

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

I saw an ad online for 5 bed room for 1300 per month and we requested to convert one room as an lounge because we are just 4 and it was denied and they turned out to increase the rent in an hour to 1640 per month. These people are very greedy and just want to rip off students who are struggling to survive everyday. These people make their own law so even if you are on contract they will change something.. so please be careful.. and a message to the landlord.. bruh get a life stop being greedy!!!

Aswin · 13 June 2022

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Back street set up…….

If I could give this estate agents a lower rating I would. They come across like a professional outfit but you soon find out they operate like a back-street set up. Book viewings for them not to show up without any cancellation notice and run you the same line about an offer being accepted. Sounds dodgy but unless you know someone within the company or if you grease the right palms you’ll be fine if not stay away!!

Mr · 15 October 2024