William H Brown Auction Norwich reviews

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Smashed up my TV, denied it and laughed in my face

Below are a list of grievances and occasions when I believe you have deliberately mislead/not been honest with us as vendors, as well as the description of the criminal damage that has taken place at 41 Tonning Street.Upon our initial meeting Joe gave us a great deal of confidence in the sale of 41 Tonning Street. The phrases used included ‘We’ll put it at £150,000 to get people through the door’, ‘It will easily sell’, ‘we have people in bidding wars on properties’, ‘you should make sure the house is ready for viewings at a few hours notice’, ‘we understand that you are a teacher and we can contact you via email if it makes life easier for you’. Based on Joe’s confidence, we signed up with William H Brown, also trusting them as a high street name. However, it soon transpired that these were false promises. We have had three viewings on our property in three weeks, no offers and very little interest.Reflecting on the initial asking price, I believe that Joe pressured us into putting the house up for £150,000 in order to heighten the fixed sales fee at £1500 plus VAT. Instead of a realistic asking price that would’ve yielded a lower fixed fee.In addition to this, every time I call for an update, Jamie, Joe Lydia or whoever answers the phone assures me that they are talking to multiple investors and arranging viewings, however these viewings never appear. Having been arranging viewing for potential properties for myself to purchase, I know that when you call up you can generally arrange a viewing that phone call. It feels like you are fobbing us off and just telling us what we want to hear to get us off the phone.Furthermore, after a viewing on Saturday a few weeks ago, Jamie told us we would expect and offer by the end of the day. Jamie then never responded. I rang him on Monday and then Jamie changed his stance to ‘the investor was looking at one of three properties.’ The Jamie was going to ring him as soon as our call ended. However, I didn’t hear anything further.Following on from this, I was under the impression that Joe would be handling our sale but then it’s passed to Lydia, Jamie and god knows who else. I don’t know who I’m asking for when I call up, and I believe this this is done deliberately in order for William H Brown to pass clients around and deter communication.Another example of unprofessionalism is that when we had our first viewing (I think with Lydia but God knows who actually I was speaking to). We returned home to a house we had left immaculately, to find sugar all over the table as if someone had eaten their lunch or a pack of doughnuts at our dining room table and not bothered to clean up after themselves.It seams that Joe cannot commit to even the simplest promise, he took our house key to get it cut and copied with the promise that the original would be return on the first viewing. However, this was 4 weeks ago and we are still waiting for our original to be returned. We only live a 10 minute walk from William H Brown.Lastly, and most prominently, Lydia conducted a viewing on Friday, the 25th of June in which our 50 inch smart TV was smashed, by the looks of it in order to access the gas meter. This was outright denied by both Jamie and your area manager. However, my partner and I were both out of the house from 7 am until 6 pm on the days of the viewing and so Lydia and the viewing participants were the only people in the house. The comments of your area manager were, was laughing, phone the police then. I found the police who said it was a civil matter and that it wasn't a police matter. I think the way I've been treated is disgusting and the outright lies that I've been told are despicable. For future reference the correct way to deal with this is to find me a soon as it happens apologise and replace the item immediately. This would have resulted in me being very understanding as I'm aware that accidents happen. However the way that it has been dealt with is disgusting.I am utterly dissatisfied with the lack of service William H Brown have provided to use as vendors. You promise the earth and don’t even deliver a pebble. It’s disgusting and I feel taken advantage of as a first time seller.

Max · 26 June 2021

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

4 to 5 Phone Calls A Week For 5 Months To Hussle An Instruction!

This company needs to be regulated, but the problem is there is no proper body that deals with Estate Agents behaviour prior to contract, and only then will the relevant Ombudsman step in, but without teeth, and only for the vendor! Before contract William H. Brown, once they get a sniff of a property, will begin to hassle, harass, hound, and hustle to get the instruction! This will usually begin with a phone number and address being on file, as was with my case, and someone, probably the manager, will tell one of the negotiators to call the number to see if the person is still looking or has anything to sell. This usually, if selling, corresponds with a look at Rightmove or Zoopla, where they see the property is on, has been on, and with another agent. Then the calls begin.... and continue! I stopped answering my land line, and blocked their number on my mobile, as one Thursday I received five calls on each devoice during the day, and three calls on both that evening, up until 7.00pm! That is pure harassment! The only reason they do this, is to GET the instruction, by whatever means! And why? Because for every instruction a standard negotiator gets, he or she receives a payment at the end of the month. The manager also receives a payment. The area manager also receives a payment! But beware: they also have a tie in contract of 30 weeks! They will try and charge 2%. And they are reluctant to agree to multi agency, and if they do will word a contract misleadingly, so the vendor could be liable for two sets of commission! Let's say you have been hooked, as you fell for the 100th phone call! The will then all make money on a mortgage appointment with their, so called, independent, in house mortgage broker. They will push their panel solicitors, and all make commission when one of them is used, too. Oh, and before any of this, they will charge a fee, which actually is illegal, masked as ''Professional photographer, video, and EPC''. This is around £135.00, maybe more. But, of course, you can claim that back.... IF you fall for their offer of one of their solicitors! But beware there, too: they are conveyancing companies, with a huge number of faceless individuals, who are not solicitors, but handlers. This means it is a factory, but a factory that goes slowly due to staff not being at all bothered!This estate agent is guilty of harassment, and hassle, and needs to be stopped from these constant phone calls, and we all should be aware it is all based on multi layered commission, and this all should be transparent!

BlueSky · 21 May 2021

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

Fantastic experience with the lettings department. Ethan Smith in particular was incredible to deal with, always contactable, which took away all the anxiety and stress that that comes when you move and he resolved all the issues in a first class way and delivered what he said. The way my move was dealt with was fantastic and a real weight taken off my mind. Can’t recommend them enough, thanks Ethan

Edward · 24 October 2022

★★★★★ 2/5

Trustpilot

I would not recommend William H Brown

I would not recommend William H Brown. There is a complete lack of organisation between contractors and William H Brown, meaning there are long delays everytime there is a problem with the house. If you don't continually call the office they seem to end up forgetting the problem.A few problems we have had:1. Promised a removal of a bunkbed before moving in- took 6 weeks once moving in to change to single. William H Brown never removed the old bunk bed- so now we have an old mattress and wooden remains in our house.2. We were left without heating when it was snowing for 5 days. Clearly no sense of urgency from William H Brown (even after many calls)3. Monthly emails detailing that we haven't paid the rent. Every month we call and there is an error. They promise to remove this error on a monthly basis. They have not removed this error after 6 months.

Bethany · 30 March 2021

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Shocking service full of lies and incompetence

William H Brown, MildenhallBuying this house should had been straight forward, especially as the seller was purchasing an empty house themselves. However this being in September 2020 we all thought this would be complete by December 2020, how wrong were we!Recently I finally pulled out of my purchase after 6 months of constant lies, no call backs, no updates, various stories from the agent.In their own words (and this is word for word from Becky that works there) "we only advertise and hold the keys, we just leave the solicitors to it"Wow, for an industry that involves commission you would think it would be the estate agents best interest to make sure the property they are selling all goes through?!?!?!Many occasions I was told I would receive an update, however several times over a week went by before I would have to chase myself.Daryl asked for my solicitors details after 5 months into the purchase, even though he had an email trail with my solicitor....Recently I asked the question if the resident would move into a family members house or rented while the sale progressed, I was told by Daryl that he had no family nearby and renting was out the question as the owner had a child. However, a week later I instructed my solicitor to pull out and in less than 24 hours Ben (the manager) called and advised the owner would move into a family members house or would I let him rent the property from me. Somehow suddenly the owner had family locally, a lie has been told somewhere there.Ben then also made me aware that there were works taking place at the buyers house they were purchasing, this was news to me and I questioned why has this only been brought up etc, I received the reply "it doesn't matter". Absolutely shocking answer to receive!Other examples of incompetence, passing my details to the wrong solicitor twice! I had already gave my details and the purchase was underway, however 3 months later the same incorrect solicitor got in touch with me, my details had been passed over twice by William H Brown.Daryl informed me that some document had been sent twice in December to my solicitor, this was 100% untrue as the documents eventually come mid January and were in fact signed and dated January.I would never recommend this estate agent to purchase through, I wouldn't dare sell through them as it would mean paying for their 'service'.Furthermore I was purchasing this property to let out, surely the estate agent would want to give a good impression so that I would consider (not that I would) using them as a management company. On another recent occasion I asked to view an additional property for myself and my fiance. I called Daryl on the Friday who said viewings were taking place on the Saturday, however he would arrange something for me.On the Saturday my fiance called and spoke to Tom, he was only capable of taking details and message as Daryl was currently at the viewings.Wednesday came and neither of us had received a call to which my fiance called and spoke to Daryl. Apparently Daryl had no details given and no apology was given as to why she wasn't called. On the same call she was then told an offer had been accepted!As for myself, I called on the Thurs/Fri and asked Daryl when my viewing would be. Daryl seemed to had forgotten I wanted a viewing and informed me an offer had been accepted.Right there you see 2 people called for a viewing and neither were called back, 1 was told an offer had been accepted while the other had to find out 2 days later even though they had called first.Again this is clearly an example of "we just advertise and hold the keys"

Daniel · 26 March 2021

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

I would give 5 stars for the service that Zac and Olivia gave to me. Both of them are very friendly, kind and professional. They helped me to find my new home I am very grateful for them. They did the paper work very fast and helped me if I had a question.

Zsanett · 10 November 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Mildenhall office

Wanted to view a property as first time buyers, had the money to spend.. even would of gone over the asking price but the so called agent ( Daryl ) did everything possible to not let us view the property until we had spoken to “Their” broker. When we said no as already have it sorted then we was told we have to show an AIP just to VIEW the property! Which is completely false information !! I honestly thought this kind of pressure selling tactics and anything to up their commission died in the 80s along with there cut throat slimy image. Complaint has been made with head office but I don’t hold any hope of them changing ! No wonder the properties they represent in mildenhall have been up for sale for an extremely long time causing the vendors they so call look after to reduce asking prices. But this won’t make any difference if agents are blocking genuine buyers from just viewings !! Agents need to be re educated and dragged into 2021 !!

Mr · 24 March 2021

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Swaffham Branch

Cannot fault the team who handled our sale.Special shout out to Bradly and Tony.Very pleasant and professional service from start to finish.From Natasha who valued the property who convinced me our house was worth more than I thought.They sold our house to the first buyer in the door within 2 hrs of it going on the market :-)They also acted as a buying agent for us for our ongoing purchase (without charging more) negotiating on our behalf and achieving a discount and taking away a lot of the stress.Through to the property progression team who always kept us informed along the way.We were in a pretty stressful chain that unfortunately collapsed at one point due to someone in the chain pulling out at the last hour before completion, but Bradly was fantastic, speaking to the people in chain and getting everyone to take some breathing space whilst the chain was linked up again, which fortunately happened a week later.I really cannot fault the level of service that we received and would not hesitate to use them.Thank You William H Brown Swaffham

Matt · 10 March 2021

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

William H Brown Dinnington

From start to finish they provided a fast efficient professional service. We dealt with Jane and Elle and both were excellent. Our buyer was constantly contacting them with questions (daily at some points) and they handled this excellently, kept us informed and our buyer happy making the process as smooth as possible. If the other estate agents in the chain had been as good we would have had a stress free sale and purchase. Cannot recommend them highly enough. Would happily use again

Richard · 22 February 2021

★★★★★ 4/5

Google

Brian was very friendly and chatty. He got excited and enthusiastic about a quirky property he showed us. It was obvious he cared which was pleasant to see. Even helped give us some tips for where to put furniture and helped us visualise it as a home rather than just a property.

Olly · 25 October 2019

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Worse estate agent I have ever used and…

Worse estate agent I have ever used and I have used a lot. No communication or selling skills.The Valuer was great Jennifer and then she went off on maternity leave. The rest were useless.

Talenteyed · 8 December 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

Nightmare agency for students as well as incredibly expensive. We paid a £90 admin fee and deposit. Nine months later we receive a phone call out of the blue that we need to pay them more money by the very next day??? We struggled to scramble up the funds on such short notice. Edit: a year later and the tenancy is over. It's been two months of chasing for our diposits back. My house mates finally got theirs back but mine was somehow lost. It took another two weeks of daily chasers for them to figure out that my deposit had been sent to.... A house mate's father in law. Fantastic. Ended up asking my house mate for the money, so I didn't have to deal with the agents taking another 3 months to fix their mistake.

Grace · 2 January 2025

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

If you are looking to rent a house through William h brown I suggest you don’t. Serious problems with communication, genuinely every time I have to contact them I have to chase and chase and then they still get it wrong, it’s majorly stressful and I actually dread having to contact them. If I could rent my house through another agency I would.

Lou · 26 April 2024

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

My experience with this estate agent has been a good one. Firstly I'd like to thank John Feltham for allowing me to secure a property for even in the middle of Lockdown when the office was shut and it seemed he was the only one manning the Fort. I'd also like to thank Mia Barron for dealing with my very complex problem with professionalism and composure even going so far as to stay at work overtime just to make sure that my situation is resolved before the deadline I have dealt with a few people in the office and would say that their system of relaying information onto landlords could be improved. But in the whole feel that I have been in capable hands through the whole experience when when lines were busyPositiveQuality, Professionalism

Joseph · 24 October 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

An extremely professional estate to deal with. The method of viewing was top notch and the person showing me the house was very much detailed and answered all of my questions even though my viewing was pushed in the 11th hour as a favor. I had my dealing with Brian. He did everything out of the way to get a good deal for me. He even convinced the Landlord to give me 50 percent off on the property for the first month. Brian kept me updated throughout and made sure I was very well satisfied. Upon my objection on one thing he went an extra mile to go to the property ( after he finished his work!!!) and video call me even when I had seen the house physically. He is a very professional person and I will always be happy to to dealing with him as a happy satisfied client.

Ubaid · 24 October 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

I am very pleased with my experience with WH Brown whom I used to help let one of the properties I manage. John and his team were immensely helpful and professional. Once a tenant was identified, they were incredibly responsive, even out of office hours and especially during a nationwide lock-down, in order to facilitate the process as quickly and as easily as possible. I would also like to comment that John and his team showed a high level of patience as work needed to be done to the property before letting and they were happy to hold on to the keys and share with builders/workmen when necessary. I also found their fees are reasonable too, and you do not get tied to unexpected contract lengths as I experienced with other Estate Agents. I would definitely recommend and would be happy to work with them again!

Vincent · 24 October 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Would Never Reccomend

Agency was very difficult to communicate with. The person handling our case was never available and messages to them were never passed on. Our landlord told them to release our deposit in full straight away and it took them 5 weeks to get it to us. This was with many phone calls and emails inbetween which received little response. Our landlord actually moved to a different agent part way through the year because of how difficult they were to deal with. Many friends have had negtive experiences with W H Brown too so I am aware that this is not a one off. Would never reccomend.

Abi · 17 October 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

William H Brown - Norwich are a Joke...

From day one I've had a problem with them.To be honest I would rate them: ***NO STARS***1- Stereo profiling me because I'm not white.2- Lying about shredding documents.3- Calling me a lier.4- Signing up to bills that no-one wanted.5- 0/10 on customer service to be honest RUDE!.6- Can't be bothered to answer questions straight go around and around.The only nice point I can say is the Landlord was lovely.I would stay away at all costs!There are better places to go, I would rather rent from Kent not going to lie!William H Brown get your act together!

C · 24 September 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Appalling, unprofessional and uncaring - shocking service!

My 21-year old daughter and her partner wanted to rent a flat in Norwich. From the outset, William H Brown were less then helpful, only offering them a viewing when I phoned for one and explained I would be guaranteeing their contract. They were then told they were "lucky" to be given it as "doctors and lawyers" had been interested - as if that should make any difference! From then on, William H Brown could not have cared less. Paperwork was not sent to us, queries fobbed off or ignored, and when it came to the day for them to move on, we spent the morning rushing to a local office because the Norwich branch we were dealing with had mishandled ID-ing my daughter. Whilst sitting outside the flat waiting for the keys, we were told that we needed to pay money into a different account to the one we had been given, as they hadn't told us the correct information and it had been sent to the wrong account, so had to find an additional £800 on the spot, and send proof that we had done it before they would let us in. We were promised that money would be refunded within 7 working days. 5 weeks on we are still fighting to get it back, as they keep denying we have sent proof - we have sent if 3 times! Brian in the Norwich office could not give a fig about our money, and to say he has been unhelpful is a massive understatement. Had my daughter and her partner not had worldy-wise parents to guide them through what should have been a simple process, I dread to think how they would have got on. Awful - unprofessional and uncaring - a disgrace to the profession. If there were a no-star option, they would have got it.

Louise · 11 September 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

William H Brown in howden.

William H Brown in howden.I went to view a flat to rent in August, all was well, I put an application through and waited. Eager I called everyday asking if there was any news, until the 2nd of September. Which is when o got a call from the MANAGER of William H Brown telling me I had been accepted. (Baring in mind I was crying down the phone of happiness, thanking this man for the help so he could obviously see how happy I was I THOUGHT I’d got it.) Everyday after that I called asking what and when would be the next steps (again baring in mind I was asking things like when corporate do get in touch with me how long will it be until I can move in and the people at William h brown would say every time they would give me the same answer “ Corporate is now dealing with this so you will have to wait for them to call” . Until Monday the 7th when I finally called and said right this is abit silly now who is corporate and how do I get in touch with them.They then told me it goes through corporate then to a company called savilles. Savilles who where a much more professional agency then told me what was really going on and they told me I hadn’t been accepted for this flat just my application. I then called the MANAGER of William H Brown howden and he was VERY VERY RUDE! I called saying I wanted to complain as I had been lied to he rudely replied “no you haven’t cause I was the one who told you JUST your APPLICATION had been accepted if you’ve misinterpreted that that’s on you”. HE NEVER told me any information he and his team had many times to say to me “hang on you haven’t been accepted for the flat just your application” I then got angry and swore ONCE he then again was so rude and began shouting down the phone “DO YOU WANT ME TO CLOSE YOUR APPLICATION!?” Repetitively until I had to listen and say “well do you want to cancel my application because at this point it seems that’s what you want to do!!” I said to him “if you were in my position you would be acting the same way” he then rudely stopped me talking again and said “ NO YOU DONT KNOW ME SO DONT YOU COMPARE YOURSELF TO ME” as this whole conversation is going on he then again rudely stops me to SWEAR at his own staff presumably because they heard all the shouting and stopped working. This man to say he is a MANAGER was so very unprofessional! I’ve never come across such a rude, not bothered Agency ever! He also told me if I complained about him it would slow my process down to getting a flat which was a big lie!!! The only time I got any information was when I actually kicked off! And that’s only because the top company Savilles had heard of what this manager had said and they didn’t want him to represent them like that. So they took over my application and have been a massive help and very kind ever since. I CANT STRESS ENOUGH HOW RUDE THE MANAGER OF THE HOWDEN STORE WAS! He did NOT deal with the situation professionally at all! I felt I dealt with it better and I’m 23! I also had another agent from there ignore me completely as he gave me his work whatsapp contact number and just ignored me!! Very unprofessional.

RUDEHOWDENMANAGER · 10 September 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

Ethan Smith was very helpful and supportive during my tenancy agreement

Daniel · 25 June 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

William H Brown Norwich bank plain

William H Brown - Norwich bank plain are honestly horrendous - from start to finish of buying our property it’s been nothing but hard work. Reasons as below: 1) on the open day we had turned up to, we were unable to view the house due to William h brown not having the keys.2) on second Attempt - William H Brown did not turn up to the appointment which meant I had over an hours drive to and from the property. 3) we finally managed to get in! This time, but then we were met with false information on the property - such as the estate agent not knowing if the house we were looking at, had sold or not, how eco friendly it is - when it’s not, incorrect knowledge of the area - which included vital information about the potential for future developments out the back of the property. (Basically no idea about the site they were working on!!!!!) 4)we were given the incorrect postcode on the house which meant that we had a 3 week delay on our paperwork, as they couldn’t even get that right, had to resubmit this over 3 times! 5)very rude and disrespectful, very blunt, arrogant and unwilling to accept fault in causing us additional delay (on top of covid) shout out to Billy for this at the Norwich branch ;) 6) no regular communications or update throughout the process - during covid one guy was dealing with the majority of the work load which was apparent when we could not get hold of anyone (I appreciate covid, but we were still paying them to sell both our houses and purchase a new one) so they would have benefited from thousand of pounds from us!!! I would NEVER recommend using this branch for any part of your house sale, unless you want a sloppy and non existent service.

Jenna · 21 July 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Worst estate agency in England

Dear friends, AVOID. AVOID AVOIDI wanted to buy a property in Askern DN6 .I went to view a property they never told me they had an offer and advertise it at £120k and after viewing I placed n offer and now they say I need to bid over £120k if I want to buy that property . So I bid £125 and my offer is accepted . Now comes the trap .They want me to pay £1200 and use their own mortgage advisor Julie Haigh and I told them I have my own mortgage advisor and as he charges no fee from me and gets commission from the Lender I won’t loose any money because if Miss Julie haighs lender denie me a mortgage deal they won’t refund me their fees and I’m stuck with William h brown .Now as soon as I say I have my own mortgage advisor they try to scare me like “ I’ll loose the property nd will never get a mortgage from my mortgage advisor. I doubted them and checked there reviews and to my shock they have 71%. 1 star And 24% 5 star rating That tells it all.I know people will still fall in there trap like I would have but I would only tell them that please change your way of practice.Most of us work hard for money but I think most of William H Brown employees tell lies nd take peoples hard earned money . Just be honest and don’t lie to ur landlords nd customers, sellers , buyers or tenants then u won’t have a single negative review..I think the people who have given them 5 stars are there friends Untill they change the way they practise AVOID Avoid Avoi Thank uNarender

Narender · 12 December 2024

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

I’ll let my review speak for itself.

Ensured the house we were viewing was of a certain standard, clean and hospitable. “Doesn’t need new carpets or to be painted, just a quick clean”. photos of different property on the listing. They called us the day before viewing and said that there was other people interested so that we would pay the holding deposit as they knew we were desperate to find somewhere. House was vile, rotten doors, dog urine on carpet, stunk and just generally in a bad state of repair. I called the next day to ask for the deposit back. They hadn’t even seen the property in 6 months. Took about 25 minutes of them trying to make me accept the property until they finally said they would refund after I threatened court action. I’m pretty sure what they did was illegal. If not then just extremely unethical. Oh and now I’m being bombarded with numerous emails, phone calls and texts a day about the property everyday. Avoid this company.

Mr · 1 July 2020