Romans Reading reviews

★★★★★ 2/5

Trustpilot

11 months since the sale agreed yet…

11 months since the sale agreed yet they are not able to give us an exchange date. Numerous calls and emails exchanged but all we hear from them is that the deal is on but the question is when? They hurry in to putting the sold sign where as the property is not sold yet? My new sofa(meant for the new house)has been occupying my bedroom for months as they told us exchange will happen in August. Complete harassment and disappointment. Hope they resolve this matter soon.

Akki · 11 December 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Misleading of the property and not fully managed when it states it is!! Romans Farnborough

1st complaint is the virtual tour, misleading!! Did not show the cracks in the walls, damages at the property or the work that needed doing, if we saw this we would have never made an offer and moved in. 2nd complaint is the property management at Romans Farnborough. We moved into the property in May 2020 and honestly ever since that day there have been issues. First it was internet issues, cracks in the bathroom window and the hob was not working ( this was resolved 2 months after reporting). Then boiler issues, dampness and mold and leaks in the ceiling which damaged our property, none of these were addressed until we threatened legal action, even then all the issues are still not resolved.Took 4 months to fix boiler ( they repaired it a day before we left, we had no heating or hot water). Leaks from the bedroom ceiling ( damaged our personal property) , someone came to take photos of damages after over a month of chasing and complaining, this is all that was done.Mold and dampness started in the hallway and has now spread to the bedrooms, bathroom and hallway and they have the audacity to blame us for this ( after being told the landlord was aware of mold before and still done nothing)We paid a full deposit and 6 months upfront to live here and the whole 6 months has been nothing but problems! This property is supposed to be fully managed but nothing gets done unless you threaten legal action. We are going to a small claims court due to the misleading of the state of the property and all experienced whilst living here which has affected our health. (we have evidence to prove everything mentioned in this post).We have images of the state of the property before we moved in and images/ videos of how we left the property, the landlord is now trying to blame us for mold growing, cracks in the walls and damages which were present when we moved in which is stated on check in inventory report!!) We seeked advice and we were told to vacate early if possible, everyone I spoke to deemed the property not livable. We were tenants of 17A cove road Farnborough. Whether the landlord couldn't be bothered or whether the issues were ignored, no one should have to live in those conditions!! it simply felt that as soon as we paid no one cares, we had to fight and chase constantly for problems to be delt with and now we are in a fight to get our deposit back because we are being blamed for damages not caused by us. I would avoid using them!!!!

Nadine · 28 November 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

We cannot praise Romans enough

We cannot praise Romans enough. The team in High Wycombe worked extremely hard during the Lockdown period to ensure that the viewings we had on our property and the subsequent purchase went well. In the Liaison Manager, Lyndsey, they have a star. Without her acting as go-between and advisor we could have easily gone mad. From sale to completion she, and the others, were amazing which is more than can be said for the agent that our buyer’s buyer used. We are so glad that we chose Romans and not Wye.

Steve · 16 November 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Unreliable. Never again.

I viewed an apartment with Romans Reading. Liked it, wanted to make an offer, the agent never return my calls I had to go to their office to find out what's going on.Eventually I got the information I needed and I made the offer. Landlord required to interview all potential tenants, it was unusual but I went anyway. They said there were other offers landlord needed to interview more people but they will get back to me asap. It was a Friday, I assumed I will hear something by Monday or Tuesday latest. No news till Thursday, I checked Rightmove and found the flat was gone.Roman could've had the decency to call or email just to inform me about the flat. Glad I found somewhere with a much better estate agent in the end.Romans - Never again!

Rebecca · 10 November 2020

★★★★★ 2/5

Trustpilot

Poor communication and lackadaisical

Poor communication and rather lackadaisical in completing tasks. I have called Romans directly countless times and never once have I got straight through to the person I'm after. Usually you're promised a call back that never comes. Until you've requested it a few times over. Staff come off a little rude and standoffish at nearly all times. Kind of a school teacher feel. When criticising the company, I was asked not to, to save peoples feelings. But can honestly say that there was nothing personal or insulting at all, never mind aimed at an individual. I merely expressed my dissatisfaction for Romans processes and contradictions. I just find dealing with them a chore and their attitudes towards myself makes me less willing to cooperate with their requests.

Ross · 18 April 2024

★★★★★ 5/5

Google

Romans are first class, never had an issue with their service and I can't the same about other Reading estate agents. Things are sorted punctually and professionally. Jessica, our property manager is absolutely brilliant and a huge asset to the company. Makes us feel like we have someone in our corner with any problems we have.

Jack · 23 October 2023

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Excellent service from beginning to end…

Excellent service from beginning to end from Ben. Thanks for keeping me up to date and informed every step of the way. Ben went above and beyond in preparation for my new tenants to move in. I would highly recommend

Jaz · 23 October 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

Very poor service, no support to tenants. They will paint the house to hide the mould issues and give you painted house. If you raise the mould issues with them then Romans will not send any contractor to repair the apartment OR resolve the issue. You will only hear the new date. Also will not help tenants to break the contracts. Eventually you will have to stay for minimum 6 months in health hazardous property. Not trustworthy. Very poor service and would not recommend anyone.

Pravin · 23 October 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

Rented a property through Romans, intially the process was easy and the lettings negoiator was entirely pleasant and could not do enough for us . Then we moved in...... When you rent through Romans everything is on their terms and your just a "tenant" Was a Saturday morning and I got a leak through the kitchen ceiling, the water was not dripping but pouring!! I rang the repairs number as it was coming through the light also. 45 minutes later no one had rung me back, 1 hour later I finally get a call to say that I need to ring British Gas and arrange a call out. Okay, no great but also if its not an issue to do with the boiler I will be responsible for the call out fee! I was flabbergasted to hear that I should have to arrange all of this myself. I made several more phone calls to Romans and finally someone sorted out a maintenance man. They came a couple of hours later, by which time I have isolated the power and water. The maintenance man attended and found the issue (which 2 months later is still only half fixed) the issue was not a plumbing issue but a fault with the seal around the bath. The man left and the issue remained with the additional advice of not using the bath. A fortnight later and the fault was not fixed. I therfore witheld rent until the issue was resolved. I then got a phone call from my property manager, he said that if I paid the rent the landlord would be willing to address the fault. Anyway I transferred the rent, and got no phone calls for a repair. I chased this up a few days later and was informed the landlord and not accepted the quote for the work and they was trying to find someone cheaper to do the job. I finally get a call a few days later and someone called and resealed the bath and "fixed" the issue....... A week later and I am preparing supper and I can hear flooding.... guess what the cheap old repair was ineffective and it was leaking again. (Pay peanuts get monkeys and all that) I emailled Romans again and they eventually arranged for a proper repair man to call over, he did do a through job and repaired the seal. However the damage to the ceiling in the kitchen remains including the large hole left by the surprise water feature. With all of these issues and quite honestly getting sick of Romans and always chasing them I asked to be released from my tenancy. I am very unhappy with them. I was informed that I cannot be released and if I choose to leave they will take me to court for the full cost of my tenancy. This is despite all of the issues in the house (way more issues than just the flood) Unfortunately over the Christmas period I lost my Father unexpectedly and due to funeral costs I was struggling to meet this months payment. I explained this issue in full and asked for a couple of weeks grace. Well I was told they would leave me for a week whilst I sorted out arrangements at home etc, this was not the case. I was emailled, called and texted almost daily from Romans credit control and threatened with section 8 notices of legal action and eviction. Despite what I was going through and despite all of the issues in the house I was getting all of this. Fair enough you have to pay your rent and I have no issue with that but funeral costs etc on top of Christmas just left me without. I had offered to ensure a double payment at the end of January. Not acceptable by Romans and I will now be evicted and face legal action just for a 2 week over due rent. What will be will be!! Alongside this we get a visit from a previous tenant over Christmas to collect her post, she infomed us she had lived here for 4 years and 1 month, I asked her about her experinces with Romans and she did not hold back. Long story short after a 4 year tenancy under which they landlord had done no maintenance she lost her entire deposit or wear and tear problems around the house. They charged her for all of the issues and and fixed hardly any of them!! The ones that have been fixed have been bodged. Romans do not care about Tenants just making money. Do not let them get hold of your money! AVOID them!

Kesby · 23 October 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Google

We should have looked at the reviews before renting with Romans! As a lot of the reviews state we were charged for damages and cleaning that were from no fault of our own and its by far the worst rental experience we have ever had. The staff didn't even check inventory reports and we were accused of many damages that were previously at the property. We arrived to a very poor quality flat and then if we wanted to dispute the charges at the end of the tenancy it would cost us £120 for an adjudicator! The no deposit option is terrible and a scam, do not rent with Romans stay away! The mistake we made was to believe this was a reputable company.

Frazer · 23 October 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Brilliant service from Christine…

Brilliant service from Christine Lancaster from Swindon branch,she did everything she could for me sorting the problem that I had with the rent,Christine was very professional and helpful and all got sorted very quickly.Thank you Christine for all the help much Appreciated.

Catherine · 31 August 2023

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

I want to express my sincere appreciation

I want to express my sincere appreciation for the exceptional customer service I received at Romans Winchester. Ash went above and beyond to assist me, displaying professionalism and attentiveness throughout. His willingness to help made my experience truly outstanding. Thank you for the excellent service!

Mrs · 5 June 2023

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Special thanks to Taylor

Taylor was so helpful with letting my property, made the process super easy and stress free.

Lucy · 2 March 2023

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Excellent mangement!

Thank you Kimberley, i really appreciate her mangement. I really appreciate her professional and well organised work. You are the best in management.

Ishu · 30 May 2022

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

They use forgery and break the law!! Stay away!!

We are thinking about taking Romans and our landlords to The Property Ombudsman (but preferable the court) after they now are using edited photos and fraud to try and take money from our deposit (but first of course we will go to the TDS, but that will only cover our deposit money). Luckily we got advised to get an independent company (on top of the ones Romans pay to do help them and the landlords get the deposit money) to do the check out report. The independent company said everything in the house was in the same condition - or better and cleaner!! - as when we moved in (we got the same company to do a check in report). Romans tried to frame us for so many serious and expensive things, but whenever we proofed them wrong, they added new items to the damage list and raised the price on the things already there. Eventually they ran out of things to charge us for, and then gave us the impressions that they had new photos from their own check out report that had not previously been shown to us, so we needed to pay additionally £250. Then it turns out these photos have been made up to discredit us, and have nothing to do with the check out report or us. First Romans told us, it was the landlords fault, and that the landlords supplied the falsified pictures - which is plain out FORGERY, now they are saying, that they will support ANYTHING the landlords supply - even if it is falsified, as they are merely the third part, and do not judge the landlords (but the law does!!). This after we paid £575 to have the house professional cleaned, because we were threaten that if we did not use a company recommended by Romans, they would not accept the standard of cleaning and we could not get access to the house again, but would have to pay a Romans' recommend company to come out and clean once more. On the other hand, if we used the super expensive cleaning company, Romans in return promised that we would not be charged additionally for cleaning, since they could come back with Romans blessing and clean it again. We also had the carpet and the windows professionally cleaned to be on the safe side. But nothing helped!! We were also specifically informed, that if we did a no show or tried to change the check out date, Romans would charge us £144. Romans changed the check out TWICE - and one time I was already in front of the house waiting, but apparently Romans do not need to follow their own guidelines about changing the check out - only tenants need to pay. We moved to England from the US, and hoped to find a house to live in for 2-4 years. Romans convinced us to take this house (even though knowing it had already been sold, and the landlords was just waiting for the buyers to complete a “chain”). We stayed in a serviced apartment for 5 weeks with our furniture in storage, since it was more than two months before the house was available, but for us we thought it would be worth the wait (and the extra cost), to then get to live in this house. Then three months after we moved in and got our children into new schools here, we got a notice from Romans, because the buyers of the house had completed their chain. We never even thought about, that this could happen to us. And the list of the horrendous things Romans and our landlords have put us through goes on and on. It is Romans in Camberley and the company they used for their “own” check out report is called “Oakley and Jane” - NEVER let them in your house is my advice. We have been told by more people now, with the exact same experience - with the exact same companies, that this is the way Romans does all their business all the time, but are wondering why no one tries to stop them? I am sure that if more people teamed up we could actually stop some of this madness, maybe even get a court ruling to support this! A company like this should not be allowed to do business and harm more people. And to the bot Mandy, who Romans have replying all of these - no need give me a phone number, I already have it....- but Romans only cares about money - STAY AWAY.

RT · 2 October 2020

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Very prompt and helpful

Very prompt and helpful . Property manager Isabella York is excellent ,prompt and top of any issues reported an ideal example

Rakesh · 25 August 2022

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Very happy with service from Romans

I have been very impressed with Joshua in putting my house on the market, he is very helpful and very prompt in replying to emails. Prior to deciding to sell my property with Romans, I was going to let it. I was dealing with Shevaughn, who was extremely professional, courteous and helpful and she gave me great faith in dealing with Romans too.

Sarah · 1 April 2023

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Great service

Great service, very helpfulEveryone at Romans Woodley was very professional and helped to make my house hunt successful!Thank you Andreea!

Pedro · 4 October 2022

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Christine Lancaster

Christine Lancaster is my property manager in Romans Swindon branch. She has always been diligent, professional and very efficient in all our dealings. I trust her knowledge and advice. She is also very personable.

Peter · 28 February 2024

★★★★★ 5/5

Trustpilot

Kimberley Jons is amazing person.She…

Kimberley Jons is amazing person.She look after are property and what ever is need to be done is always done...Thank you

D · 23 August 2022

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

SHARKS…. please be aware

I have been in the property industry as both an investor/developer and a landlord for 30 years. I have used Romans for both and my professional feedback is as follows;When selling with Romans, I was not a client but a pound of flesh, my property was very poorly marketed with a lot of key information missing. Within a couple of weeks the agents focused on getting me to reduce my price, without putting the same effort into finding the right buyer, I would have been able to sell the property. In respect of letting, they say things verbally and renege on promises and assurances that they have made. One word sums them up.... 'Sharks' I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. Their contracts are designed to lock you in, so please read them carefully.

Kam · 21 September 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Shocking practices

Shocking practices. Offer a property for rent at one price however ask what your ‘best offer is’ - This is wrong and appalling behaviour. If you advertise at one price it should be offered to EVERYONE at that price. Not letting people out ‘rent’ each other. Very bad service. Complaint logged with Ombudsman/ CAB and trading standards for this to be looked at.

RossiFan · 28 March 2023

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Without doubt the most unscrupulous estate agency around

Without doubt the most unscrupulous and unpleasant Estate Agency I've ever had to work with as a tenant. Having never had a bad experience previously over a decade of renting properties, Romans:1. Charged extortionately for a lesser service;2. Retained moneys beyond the legal limit (when required by government to refund some of the colossal deposit they'd taken);3. Repeatedly lost my records and subsequently wrote threatening messages demanding that I hadn't paid rent that had in fact been provided weeks previous;4. Maintained no communication with me, and didn't make appointments that they had promised the landlord;5. Never apologised or showed any humility for any of the above, instead suddenly going silent once they'd finally accepted blame. If you can avoid having to work with them then I compel you to do so. I would certainly consider not taking a flat if you find that Romans are managing the letting.

S · 16 September 2020

★★★★★ 1/5

Trustpilot

Absolutely awful company will never…

Absolutely awful company will never rent from them every again. We have had nothing but problems since we moved in to the property, which took 7 months to resolve, they are now saying we owe them money which in fact we don’t but we are the people that have to prove otherwise. Just a greedy company that only cares about money and not about their tenants. I wish there was an option for 0 stars as that is all they deserve.

Abi · 14 September 2020