Martin & Co
Harrogate, HG1
3.8/5, 19 reviews
68% recommended
100% sales valuation accuracy
100% sales fee satisfaction
67% lettings valuation accuracy
71% lettings fee satisfaction



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“I rented a property in Harrogate, Martin & Co were the ......”

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Dec 29,2014
Minithumbdown
By: 'A.'
Dec 29,2014
4 people found
this helpful
I rented a property in Harrogate, Martin & Co were the managing letting agent. The directors of this franchise are husband and wife duo Louise & Mark Anderson.

I had an extremely unpleasant time on a number of occasions when dealing with them. The worst incident occurred one winter when the central heating packed up. I contacted Louise Anderson at Martin & Co and was told that there was nothing she could do as the engineers they used were busy! The property I was renting was extremely cold getting down to 3C at one point.

After multiple phone calls, she agreed to ring round to see if there was anyone else that could deal with it. I heard nothing from her for over 24 hours so I checked into a hotel as I was literally freezing! I called their office and emailed them to advise I had checked into a hotel and would be looking to recover the cost of this as they were liable to fix the problem given that they are the managing letting agent. At this point, Louise Anderson miraculously discovered that she could find a temporary heater and offered to bring it round. I advised her that I had already paid for my 3 night stay in the hotel and couldn't get a refund.

I was without heating and hot water in the middle of winter for 4 days in a property that I was paying a lot of rent for. Martin & Co of Harrogate were awful. I was paying nearly a £900 per month in rent and couldn't live in it! They refused to pay my hotel bill and didn't even have the decency to offer me an apology.

When my tenancy agreement was due for renewal, Martin & Co had the audacity to call me and ask ¢â‚¬Ëœhow would I feel about a rent increase'! You can imagine what my response was. They also accused me of a number of other petty and downright stupid things such as:

¢â‚¬Â¢ Using my washing machine too late (it was never used past 7pm)

¢â‚¬Â¢ Making excessive noise on the stairs

¢â‚¬Â¢ Running the Kitchen taps too long whilst washing up

¢â‚¬Â¢ Charging me three times the going rate for light bulbs on check-out

¢â‚¬Â¢ Wanting to use contract cleaners for the property when I vacated it, even though I cleaned it thoroughly

There was also a time that a newspaper misprinted the address of a person, they used my address in their article in the local news paper. Martin & Co were quick to investigate this and accuse me of having people living with me and wanted to come round to do a spot inspection.

If anyone is thinking about using Martin & Co in Harrogate for renting or selling their property, I would go elsewhere, your tenants will have a very rough ride. If you're thinking of renting in Harrogate, find a property not managed by these Mark and Louise. Quite frankly I'm surprised they are still in business.

At the time of writing, they have not joined the transparent agent scheme either, says it all!

Here are their review scores against other agents in the area:

17 out of 221 in the Martin & Co League Tables

4 out of 30 in the Harrogate League Tables

2,730 out of 21,821

Overall, this puts Martin & Co of Harrogate in the bottom 10% of all estate agents in the UK. Well done Mark & Louise!
What agent could do to change your mind?
Simple, they need to start doing the job that they get paid for.
Attached Filesnbsp;
Comment on agent fees
Hopeless at valuations and the disrepair of the property made in inhabitable at times.
Was this helpful? Yes
By: Horrified Consumer
Jan 20, 2015
The response from the agent here is disgraceful and if I were the subject of the reply would consider legal action for data protection violations.

Mark, you are (supposedly) a professional yet this is the least professional response I have ever seen and I work as a compliance officer for a national company overseeing the complaints we handle.

If I found out anybody had responded in a way like this either through work channels or in a public forum disciplinary procedures would be carried out for gross misconduct with the very likely outcome being dismissal.

I hope many of your potential customers see your attitude and use another agent as you are an abhorrent person.
By: M
Jan 19, 2015
What a terrible response from Mark Anderson, I would definitely never use Martin and Co now.

Thanks for your honesty which obviously brought out the nasty, pedantic and true side of that man.
By: Mark Anderson
Jan 12, 2015
Hello Stephanie,

It is you isn't it? We have never had a tenant called A. Brians and I recognise the circumstances that you describe. So it must be you.

It must be 4 years since we last spoke and since you were in the flat. It was that very cold winter when many condensate pipes from boilers froze up rendering lots and lots of boilers inoperative in many properties. There was a period of a couple of weeks where it was very difficult to get same day service from heating engineers due to the huge amount of unexpected boilers with frozen condensate drain pipes.

This period was the first really cold spell after a set of regulations were introduced and many installers didn't really appreciate how to install these drain tubes so that they wouldn't freeze hence all the problems.

When you called our office to report the issue, we didn't tell that there was nothing we could do. We told you that we couldn't get an engineer to you that day but that as we understood that the flat was cold and therefore we would deliver some electric heaters to you which we did on the same day. I would make the point that just because you were paying more rent than perhaps someone in a more modest property, it did not mean that you jumped to the head of the queue as there were some very urgent cases where young children were being affected in a similar manner. It is true that you made several telephone calls to us Stephanie but these were mainly attempts to bully us into paying your hotel bill and jump the queue for heating engineers.

As your flat was 2nd floor, access to the pipe in question was very difficult and it did take a couple of days to get this problem sorted for which we are sorry. However I don't believe anyone could have done this any faster and we did give you some electric heaters to heat the flat with so that you wouldn't be cold.

It was of course your choice to go to a hotel instead of taking advantage of the free heaters that we provided although as you requested, we did ask your Landlord if she would contribute to your hotel bill but sadly she refused because well, there was no obligation for her to do so because we had supplied an alternative means to temporarily heat the flat and because there was no obligation for her to do so under the tenancy agreement or indeed under any laws in this Country. It was certainly not our decision to not pay for your hotel, but your Landlord who we take our instructions from.

Similarly it was your Landlord who asked us to ask for a rent increase. You had signed up as a sole tenant in this property and yet it was clear that you had at least one and perhaps more other occupants living there without permission. We noticed a newspaper report which showed illegal activity had taken place allegedly at your address. Naturally your Landlord was most keen to establish if this was true which is why we were instructed to investigate this. I am pleased to say that we found no evidence to back up the newspaper report however surely you must understand that it was not possible to ignore this?

We certainly received a number of complaints about noise coming from your flat from below and next door. Maybe these were unfounded but it is not possible for us to ignore these matters when brought to our attention.

I would like to make it clear that all of our checkouts are done by an independent inventory clerk. This means that we don't make any decisions about whether a property has been cleaned properly at the end of a tenancy. This is all done by a completely independent person who is qualified to do so.

This means that our tenants are protected from spurious claims on their deposits by rogue Landlords and that we can give deposits back where ever and when ever it is possible to do so. Unfortunately if a tenant does not leave a property in the condition as it was when they moved in then it is inevitable that they will not be happy because money will have to be deducted from their deposit in order to bring it up to the standard that existed at the start of the tenancy.

Any tenant who believes that money is unfairly being taken can dispute this with the Deposit Scheme in use. If an Agent cannot prove that the deductions are justifiable then the tenant gets the money. You agreed with the deductions at the time Stephanie.

Finally we get to this web site.

This web site which is loved by complainers like you Stephanie, was set up as a forum for reviews good and bad. I am pleased that due to the many good reviews Martin & Co in Harrogate have four out of five stars and have not been placed in the bottom 10% of agents as you suggest, but in fact we have been the top placed letting agent in Harrogate for the past 2 years running.

If I recall correctly Stephanie, you are a Commercial Pilot where accuracy and arithmetical ability amongst other things are paramount for the safety of your passengers. You need for instance to be able to understand which way is up and which way is down.

17 out of 221 in the Martin & Co Table means 17 from the top

4 out of 30 in Harrogate means 4 from the top

2,730 out of 21,821 means 2,730 from the top - this is a national figure

the figures which are not Martin & Co group specific also include sales Estate Agents whereas our reviews are for lettings which as I mentioned puts us at number 1 (which is at the top) in Harrogate.

I have complained to Allagents about this review because I consider that it is abusive and personal in several areas. I don't expect Allagents to do much about this as I don't have a lot of faith in their sense of fairness, which is why I won't pay money to them to join their 'transparent agent scheme'. We are already members of ARLA, The Property Ombudsman Scheme, Safe Agent and we have client money protection, all of which afford our clients a high degree of security and confidence.

Mark Anderson Director

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Opening Hours
Address

Martin & Co
5 Raglan Street
Harrogate
North Yorkshire
HG1 1LE
01423 565556

Performance statistics
Services Valuation Accuracy Fees Satisfaction Min Price of property reviewed Max Price of property reviewed
Sales 100% 100% £260,000 £260,000
Lettings 67% 71% £515 £900
Review statistics
From Landlords From Tenants From Vendors From Buyers Other
7 0 5 6 1 0 0 0 0 0
Areas covered
Services offered
  • Sales
  • Lettings
  • Block Management
  • Surveys
  • Conveyancing
  • Mortgage Advice
Members of
Latest Properties

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“Run far away... very far away......”

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Jul 02,2020
Minithumbdown
By: 'Vivienne'
Jul 02,2020
4 people found
this helpful
Where to start? I rented with Martin and Co Harrogate for a couple of years. This ended with my partner attending a mental health course due to sleep deprivation and stress. That may sound extreme, but we were plagued with noisy, drug using neighbours that ...
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Was this helpful? Yes

“Vicious...”

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Mar 25,2019
Minithumbdown
Mark
By: 'Nevis'
Mar 25,2019
4 people found
this helpful
Hardly surprised by some of the negative reviews about the Management team [Andersons]. It speaks volumes. They tell untruths and are good at twisting complaints that are made. The worst agents we've come across....
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Comment on agent fees
Bad
Was this helpful? Yes

“Excellent service...”

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Oct 11,2018
Minithumbup
By: 'Tim'
Oct 11,2018
0 people found
this helpful
We chose this agent because Susanne had personal experience of a similar property and so was very confident in how the property could be marketed and to whom it would appeal. The property sold very quickly and Susanne was professional and very helpful throughout the ...
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Comment on agent fees
Fees were reasonable and agent was willing to negotiate
Was this helpful? Yes

“I would like to thank Louise, Mark and the team ......”

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Nov 05,2015
Minithumbup
Louise
By: 'Paul'
Nov 05,2015
0 people found
this helpful
I would like to thank Louise, Mark and the team at Martin & Co in Harrogate for providing an excellent service as managing agents for my property in Ripon during the past four years. All staff have always been friendly, helpful, thorough and efficient in ensuring ...
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Comment on agent fees
Good value for money.
Was this helpful? Yes

“We have rented a flat for 5 years with Martinco. Throughout ......”

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Jun 05,2015
Minithumbup
Louise
By: 'Tom'
Jun 05,2015
0 people found
this helpful
We have rented a flat for 5 years with Martinco. Throughout our tenancy we have found them to always be helpful and considerate. If there have ever been any issues they have been resolved swiftly and professionally and without any disruption to our lives. We have ...
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Was this helpful? Yes

“I rented a property in Harrogate, Martin & Co were the ......”

Share on :
Dec 29,2014
Minithumbdown
By: 'A.'
Dec 29,2014
4 people found
this helpful
I rented a property in Harrogate, Martin & Co were the managing letting agent. The directors of this franchise are husband and wife duo Louise & Mark Anderson. I had an extremely unpleasant time on a number of occasions when dealing with them. The worst incident occurred ...
read full review
What agent could do to change your mind?
Simple, they need to start doing the job that they get paid for.
Attached Filesnbsp;
Comment on agent fees
Hopeless at valuations and the disrepair of the property made in inhabitable at times.
Was this helpful? Yes
By: Horrified Consumer
Jan 20, 2015
View all comments (3)
The response from the agent here is disgraceful and if I were the subject of the reply would consider legal action for data protection violations. Mark, you are (supposedly) a professional yet this is the least professional response I have ever seen and I work as a compliance officer for a national company overseeing the complaints we handle. If I found out anybody had responded in a way like this either through work channels or in a public forum disciplinary procedures would be carried ou ...

“This review is written in light of comparison with another ......”

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Dec 08,2014
Minithumbup
By: 'Stuart'
Dec 08,2014
1 people found
this helpful
This review is written in light of comparison with another Lettings Agent that I was using until recently in Lichfield, Staffs. The contrast between the 2 Agents is extreme: When we acquired the property in Harrogate it required a lot of work doing and Martin & Co (...
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Comment on agent fees
Again in comparison to that Agent in Lichfield very favourable. I am happy.
Was this helpful? Yes

“I first encountered Martin & Co in Harrogate whilst searching for ......”

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Oct 02,2014
Minithumbup
Susanne
By: 'P.S.'
Oct 02,2014
0 people found
this helpful
I first encountered Martin & Co in Harrogate whilst searching for a suitable property as an investment & for buy-to-let, and was very impressed indeed with them. They were generous with useful advice as to how to proceed with finding a property, even being willing to give ...
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Comment on agent fees
Reasonable & value for money.
Was this helpful? Yes

“We feel that Martin and Co understood the fact that ......”

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Aug 07,2014
Minithumbup
Louise
By: 'Michael'
Aug 07,2014
0 people found
this helpful
We feel that Martin and Co understood the fact that the Tenants were important - not just the Landlords - who were their actual clients. We felt that Louise had a sense of fairness - and respect for the tenants plus the ability to deal ...
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“Letting out properties with 70 pages of tenancy agreements to sign ......”

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May 08,2014
Minithumbdown
By: 'Annoyed'
May 08,2014
5 people found
this helpful
Letting out properties with 70 pages of tenancy agreements to sign on the day so no way can negotiate Unfair terms within agreement as determined by the office of fair trading Landlords not held to account for not abiding with their obligations Letting out properties with ...
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Was this helpful? Yes
By: Mark Anderson
May 09, 2014
View all comments (1)
I am disappointed that this tenant has chosen to review us on here. Our involvement with this was limited to finding a tenant and we had no involvement with managing the property after the tenancy started. She moved into the property in June 2011 and signed a 21 page tenancy agreement. She read this in advance of coming in to sign it and we have an email from her to say that she was happy with it. Our tenancy agreement contains no unfair terms and every potential tenant is given the oppor ...

“Very professional. Found tenants that were easy to get on ......”

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May 07,2014
Minithumbup
By: 'James'
May 07,2014
1 people found
this helpful
Very professional. Found tenants that were easy to get on with and respected the property. Always found the staff in the office to be very useful and happy to help. Martins & Co were quick to help with any work that needed undertaking at the property. ...
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“Excellent service. Valuation spot on and house let very quickly. ......”

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Jan 23,2014
Minithumbup
By: 'Sam'
Jan 23,2014
2 people found
this helpful
Excellent service. Valuation spot on and house let very quickly. Good knowledge of local market and very helpful with gas checks/law etc etc. Felt well looked after. Appointments all arranged at my convenience. Very trustworthy and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them....
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“I would like to commend the whole Martin & Co team ......”

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Nov 28,2013
Minithumbup
By: 'James'
Nov 28,2013
1 people found
this helpful
I would like to commend the whole Martin & Co team in Harrogate for an excellent service over the past five or six years. I have been an accidental landlord and, I have to say, the team removed all of the potential stress from the process, ...
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“From the beginning, the staff have been very professional, understanding, ......”

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Jul 24,2013
Minithumbup
Louise
By: 'Caleb'
Jul 24,2013
2 people found
this helpful
From the beginning, the staff have been very professional, understanding, and with the best customer service and people skills. We rented a property with them and their response to any inquiry or issue was resolve almost immediately. They care for the customers and their well ...
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“From viewing the property to collecting the keys, the whole ......”

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Jun 06,2013
Minithumbup
By: 'Bev'
Jun 06,2013
1 people found
this helpful
From viewing the property to collecting the keys, the whole process was handled smoothly, effeciently and quickly. Amy and Suzanne were a pleasure to deal with and I would definitely recommend, and use, Martin & Co in Harrogate again....
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“Very impressed with this Estate Agents after my dealings with ......”

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Apr 08,2013
Minithumbup
Amy
By: 'Claire'
Apr 08,2013
2 people found
this helpful
Very impressed with this Estate Agents after my dealings with other Estate Agents in the area. Friendly staff. Very efficent. Very organised. Good communication & sorted any problems on the same day. Would deal with them again & would highly recommend to anyone other tennants wanting to ...
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“I have used Martin & Co Harrogate for several years now ......”

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Feb 28,2013
Minithumbup
Louise
By: 'SarahJane'
Feb 28,2013
1 people found
this helpful
I have used Martin & Co Harrogate for several years now and I can honestly say I am very pleased with the outstanding level of service they have provided me with over the years. Being a landlady can be complicated at times but the consistent level ...
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“Although it started well with the company, when I went ......”

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Jan 21,2013
Minithumbdown
By: 'Alison'
Jan 21,2013
2 people found
this helpful
Although it started well with the company, when I went to sign the tenancy agreement I was quite amazed by how many hidden extras they have - paying for the inventory, paying when your tenancy agreement runs out. These things should be pointed out before ...
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Was this helpful? Yes
By: Rob S
Aug 20, 2014
View all comments (2)
Has your policy on inventory fees changed? Whilst perhaps not hidden it wasn't made very clear at the start of the tenancy that we'd be charged £60 for a "check-out" fee, which I presume is an inventory fee! Also, £60 every 6 months as "renewal" fee which as far as I could see just involved you sending us some paper work, so hardly value for money when we were good long-term tenants! No problems with your business as far as managing the property was concerned, but I've never come across these ...

“Management Visit - they should inform their tenants before visiting. ......”

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Oct 16,2012
Minithumbdown
By: 'LuckySeven'
Oct 16,2012
5 people found
this helpful
Management Visit - they should inform their tenants before visiting. They paid a sudden visit saying they had sent email to me which I didn't receive. I complained about it, then the person paying the visit complained back that it cost her to visit!...
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Was this helpful? Yes
By: Mark Anderson
Nov 27, 2012
View all comments (1)
At Martin & Co in Harrogate we give all of our tenants at least 2 weeks notice in writing before visiting. We are flexible if a tenant wants to move the appointment and we do not pay sudden visits without proper notice. If this tenant would like to get in touch with me and raise a complaint with us I will be happy to address it. Mark Anderson Director ...
No fees information available
Kindly note that legally, letting agents need to publish information about their tenancy fees, government-approved redress schemes and client money protection schemes on their website and on third party websites (on which agents are listed). For properties to lease/rent in England, agents need to keep this information up to date and precise on allAgents or specify within the property description.

Complaints Procedure

No procedure available.

Awards won by Martin & Co, Harrogate HG1 1LE



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