Martin & Co

Reviewed by delpino on 4th June 2009

Services: Lettings (Prospective customer)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  No
IP address: 9QX.JXV.JEX.93Q

Martin & Co Canterbury - made us pay 500 pounds, 250 referencing and 250 deposit before we've seen the tenancy agreement. Lots of hidden costs which were revealed later (like insurance, check-in fee). We decided not to go for the flat then.. after that ignored our email when we asked for our deposit back. They were friendly at the beginning but later it was very disappointing.

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Reviewed by WHAT_A_JOKE on 14th May 2009

Services: Lettings (as a Tennant)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  No
IP address: SZ7.UZL.UMN.ULU

Martin & Co Nottingham - what a joke!! Lies upon Lies!! Don't call back!! Don't give sh*t about you! Just create hassle to do with everything you try and call them about! then 2days later when you call them back they don't even remember you or the phone conversation! So ridiculous!!! worst service I have seen! As Simon Cowel would say "Your possibly the worst act I've ever seen!" Don't use them!

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Reviewed by Omda on 10th May 2009

Services: Lettings (as a Tennant)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  No
IP address: SZT.SUD.S77.UM9

If you pay the deposit, you are in big trouble.

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Reviewed by Zora on 9th May 2009

Services: Lettings (as a Tennant)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  No
IP address: S9T.UGT.UGM.U7T

We've been renting a house through Martin & Co. in Littlehampton, West Sussex and we' ve lost more than a thousand pounds of deposit with them. For about two months after moving out, they were saing that the house needs cleaning and they will call us when everything is ready. They never did. Later, after the house was rented out to someone else, they said that we won't get any money back because house was very dirty and they paid more for cleaning it than we paid deposit. They said: how dare you ask for the money after leaving the house in such a state. I must add that we cleaned the house thoroughly before moving out. They were very rude and arrogant. I would never recomend this agency to anyone.

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Reviewed by Stressed and broke on 14th March 2009

Services: Lettings (as a Tennant)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  No
IP address: 3P5.WKK.AYK.3BC

Martin and Co in Reading are liars.
If you ever want to see your deposit again, DO NOT give them your custom.
Any advice anyone can give me about the best way to go about retrieving my money would be gratefully received

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Reviewed by tractorboy on 13th March 2009

Services: Lettings (as a Tennant)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  No
IP address: JBF.EIB.EJF.9EE

We rented an appartment from their central Nottingham office. Helpful and polite to begin with, the moment we signed the contract their attitude changed to complete disinterest. Amongst other issues, we were unable to access our parking space in the car park for over a month as the key was broken. This obviously made moving in much more difficult as we had nowhere to park the van.

When we moved out, they informed us that they would withhold half the deposit for cleaning, repairs and decorating. This despite the fact that we clearly indicated on the original inventory that the property had not been cleaned properly, and that there were numerous marks etc on walls and doors that had not been noted by their inspection. Thankfully, the deposit was lodged with the Deposit Protection Service, although this is a very lengthy process.

They are at best incomptent and unhelpful. At worst, actively trying to rip us off. I would advise any potential tenants to look elsewhere based on my experiences of dealing with them.

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Reviewed by lak3909 on 27th February 2009

Services: Lettings (as a Tennant)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  No
IP address: TUL.UD9.UUU.UGN

Milton Keynes branch - Martin and Co

Their charges are unreasobale £400 for refrence checks. No guidelines to even verify as tenants if this charge is legal. Lack of clear information within staff - one agent says different charges from the other. They seldom keep promises. Very rude and unprofessional. They appear polite when you are a potential customer - as ssoon a you sign up with them they extract as much as posisble.

Would recommend this agency to no one.

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Reviewed by 1978 on 12th February 2009

Services: Lettings (as a Tennant)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  No
IP address: EJ3.9BR.EER.93V

Martin and Co were completely unprofessional and incompetant from initially veiwing the property to the day we picked up the keys and moved in. We asked on numerous occasions the total costs invloved of moving into the property and on four following instances hidden costs seemed to appear from nowhere! Even as far as false advertising - a bond on a property was advertised on their website as £500 ( one months rent) and when we went to pay agency fees the staff member told us it would now be a £600 bond. When we questioned this and the fact that they have it advertised at a different price (which had previously been verbally agreed) the employee relpied " yes , I know but thats just how much it is and there's nothing i can do about it".

Instances similar to this happened every week throughout the month that we were waiting to move into the porperty. The final straw was on the morning we arrived to pay first months rent and bond, the contract term was completly wrong from what we had agreed! We had to wait to sign the lease until the landlord could be contacted to check if they were happy to alter the term of the let!!

All of this poor adminstration and organisation made our whole experience of dealing with Martin and co a complete nightmare! The staff were all very rude and on one occasion implied that I was lying about a conversation that had occured with them in the previous week, again resulting in them attempting to add hidden costs. The staff don't seem to communicate with each other at all so don't expect any messages you leave with them to be passed on. Never ever use this company.

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Reviewed by vianila on 26th January 2009

Services: Lettings (as a Tennant)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  No
IP address: 9QX.JV3.JEE.9JB

It it the WORST agency i ever work with. From the beginning they are not solving any problems only create more. They braek contract and doesn't contact us in emergencies. We cant solve problems with electricity because of them. Their agents are very RUDE and give a sh... about other people. Keep away from them - they make our life here a hell !!

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Reviewed by The Tired Tenant on 13th January 2009

Services: Lettings (as a Tennant)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  No
IP address: 9FJ.9QB.JQQ.9IE

(Wolverhampton Branch)

Fees, fees, fees.
The service is terrible. Communication is non-existant as they never return your calls or emails.
They attempt to charge you for everything, even the landlord inventry checks before you move in.
They never fix things, we were without hotwater for two weeks because they refused to pay up for a decent engineer to rectify problems.
Most things never get fixed but they'll still point them out during your check out inspection.

They make it very difficult and unsettling when you attempt to leave and you spend alot of time having to run around getting things done yourself.

Martin & Co are unpleasant and unprofessional.

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Reviewed by Financiallyscrewed on 9th December 2008

Services: Lettings (as a Tennant)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  No
IP address: 9QX.JVJ.ERV.9XQ

Martin and Co are a joke. From the moment we moved in there were problems with the flat from fans not working to cracked ceilings. It took months to fix anything however small and in some cases they didn't fix it at all!

Money wise they are very tight fisted. You have to pay a fortune to start living in the flat and when you want to leave they make it very difficult for you and don't want to help you what-so-ever. I was ending my contract with them as I had to move home (im a student) to look after my mum and family and gave them 3 weeks notice. They refused to understand and charged me and extra 2 weeks off my deposit (which is not normally allowed) without telling me and they refuse to back on their decision. Also, I had to pay a 'check out fee' which was used to pay for a 3rd party to review the flat and produce a inventory. This was never done and we never saw nor signed anything. I raised this issue with them around 10 times over the course of they year and the mystery inventory was never produced. Once we moved out they used this inventory to check the flat! I never even got to see it!

Don't ever use martin and co - they just look out for themselves and steal money off hard working students!! A joke

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Reviewed by pie on 24th June 2008

Services: Lettings (as a Tennant)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  No
IP address: S9M.U7N.SMU.U9L

Martin and Co are rubbish. Apart from lying about the mode of heating before moving in ("No, it is not a storage heater - it looks like one but its not - its the most efficient heating source") they are very poor at getting things fixed - had a cracked bedroom window for over 6 months now, fan in bathroom packed in 3 weeks after moving in, called numerous times, no joy.

When we moved in the agent put on the emersion boiler, didn't tell us that he had, or how to switch it off. Only noticed when recieved completely ridiculous electicity bills and phoned the utility provider to complain. Thanks Martin & Co.

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Reviewed by anon on 16th June 2008

Services: Lettings (as a Tennant)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  No
IP address: JEQ.EBV.EER.9EE

Never use Mongs & Co. and if you do, don't say you weren't warned. I used the Nottingham branch but the whole company oozes scum so I can guarantee all branches will be just as bad.
They lie continously, they had the cheek to call me stupid because aparently it's unreasonable to assume that 2 months is long enough for them to clean an apartment. They take money and then do nothing, claiming they haven't received it. They ignore letters, they act like they have never spoken to you before, they mock you, you can never talk to who you want to, they are rude... the list goes on.

If anyone here says they had a good experience with them then there as a few reasons for that
1) The haven't tried to move out and get their deposit yet
2) They only act friendly to lure you into their money grabbing trap, once they have you thats it
3) The property they are in just doesnt have any problems... yet
4) They dealt with someone who had just started working for them and hasn't had chance to turned to the dark side yet.
5) It wasn't actually martin and co, it must have been mountain and co, or something very close.

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Reviewed by cam on 30th May 2008

Services: Lettings (as a Tennant)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  Yes
IP address: S9T.TUZ.UZL.UUG

I have found the staff at Martin & Co Nottingham really helpful. They try their best but often its not their fault and its just the landlord being tight fisted. We've had two properties off them in the last 15 months and would give them my vote.

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Reviewed by p*ssed off! on 12th May 2008

Services: Lettings (as a Tennant)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  No
IP address: S9T.SM9.TGZ.TD7

AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL.......!! would never ever rent from them again! Please take my advice and dont do it....! They are all out for themselves and dont care about you....! You email them about stuff and they take ages to reply..! We are waiting for our deposit back and they are making it VERY hard!! They expect us to dropt the keys off and then discuss the deposit...they think we're mugs! So they can go and make a few marks and then say were not getting our deposit back.....whatever! No deposit...no keys! They are also really arrogant, really arrogant!

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Reviewed by Fergie on 13th April 2008

Services: Lettings (as a Tennant)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  Yes
IP address: S9U.UDU.ULZ.U9U

The staff at Martin Co are good but its the landlords who are always penny pinching and never want to fix anything. I rented a flat in Horley for 3 years through Martin Co and they were always really helpful they even helped get all my deposit back within 2 weeks.

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Reviewed by avenger on 10th April 2008

Services: Lettings (as a Landlord)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  No
IP address: 9QJ.JII.JFR.9BF

We are taking legal action so anyone else wishing to do so should note their details on this site and keep us updated.

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Reviewed by Jamie on 10th April 2008

Services: Lettings (as a Landlord)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  Yes
IP address: S9U.S9M.SM7.UU9

I use Martin & Co Crawley for both my rental properties - they are always let - at the right price and with great tenants - what more could a landlord ask for!

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Reviewed by Angry ex tenant on 20th March 2008

Services: Lettings (as a Tennant)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  No
IP address: SLL.SZM.SLM.T7M

Martin & Co in Gatwick are the worst estate agency I've ever come across. They rent out dodgy properties and never want to pay back any deposit given to them. The manager is very rude and an arrogant man. They are liers. They owe me a lot of money but they do not want to pay it back and I am really angry with them.

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Reviewed by pammee on 31st October 2007

Services: Lettings (as a Landlord)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  Yes
IP address: W0C.C55.W0C.C55

I have allways found the staff at the Martin & Co's Ringwood branch very helpfull.

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Reviewed by Kit on 3rd October 2007

Services: Lettings (as a Landlord)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  No
IP address: UBR.UBR.W0R.5NE

Worst estate agent ever. Martin & Co lie and cheat to get you to go with them, even down to stealing the same potential tenants from other estate agents making you incure finders fees. If you try and pull out of Martin & Co's deal, they charge you anyway for not doing anything.

They advertise the property for less then has been agreed and then push up the price once back to what it should be, giving the tenants the option of paying more then what they agreed with Martin & Co or being homeless.

The Watford branch is very unethical and has a bad business manner, trying to blame the landlord for everything if it doesn't go his way... almost childlike.

Would never use them again and would recommend people to stay away if they don't want to be stung by unnecessary cost which they don't tell you about.

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Reviewed by T on 31st August 2007

Services: Lettings (as a Tennant)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  No
IP address: R4R.I4Q.LFK.LGG

Very rubbish. I won't advise anyone to rent a property through them.

I am still renting a flat in Marco Island through them and it is a headache. First they have this inspection every year for which last time they didn't turn up, after I took leave from my job and spent all the day waiting for them. They even didn't bother to give me a call to let me know that they won't come. In the end I had to re-arrange it for another day.

Then we had problems with our dishwasher for which I made at least 10 calls leaving messages and no one was returning my call.

They are very ignorant and rude, never apologise for their mistakes.

These are just some problems we had, not to mention in the start they promised the blinds will be installed in our apartment before we were supposed to move in - which wasn't done. Only after calling them again and again someone finely came and installed them.

We had a small crack above the window which is still there... still waiting for the second year for someone to come and repair it. I am afraid to think what will happen next...

Never ever think to let through them.

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Reviewed by Carrie on 24th August 2007

Services: Lettings (Prospective customer)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  No
IP address: 800.0B5.800.0B5

I went to the Martin & Co office in Reading and it wasn't even open!! No note on the door explaining, no nothing. Good start!!

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Reviewed by saraar on 5th October 2006

Services: Lettings (as a Tennant)
Property: Residential
Experience: Would you use the agent again?  No
IP address: 700.000.B4H.DS5

My experience of Martin and Co. (Nottingham branch) as a letting agency is very poor. They seem to work very short days and have long lunch breaks, so it is difficult to get through on the telephone. When I did get through, they always told me it was somebody else I needed to speak to who was always busy, out of the office or on the telephone, and that they would phone back (which of course they never did).

The property I rented was repossessed by the mortgage company due to a breach of mortgage conditions by the landlord. I received very little help from Martin and Co. on this matter and felt they didn't consider it seriously. After receiving a rigorous credit check to become a tenant I wonder whether they do the same with their landlords? When informing them about the eviction by bailiffs I'd been threatened with, I was informed that they had seen many of these kinds of letters before!

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