0% lettings valuation accuracy
0% lettings fee satisfaction
...left to get your reviews in for the
2024
allAgents People Awards
Apr 02,2012
Apr 02,2012
6
people found
this helpful
this helpful
My experience with Martin and Co initially began reasonably well with a viewing of a well presented property I soon made an offer on and will be leaving in the near future. As such the process was relatively painless until I was handed a few additional documents to sign, one in particular detailing that a person signing may not remain at the property beyond the agreed tenancy period without an agreement between themselves and Martin and Co. Another document detailing that they would attach the exact details of the scheme into which my deposit would/had been placed. Information legally required within 14 days that I have never seen, rather illegal.
Contract law allows a contract to exist beyond the length of the contract given that the terms of the agreement are pertained to by all parties involved. After further investigation this is clearly a method by which Martin and Co attempt to enforce continued signings of lease agreements, read into that what you will.
The rental period itself went without any issue until Martin and Co decided that they would ignore the terms of their own agreement, specifically that they will 'verbally inform' a tenant of any viewing with a minimum of 24 hours' notice.
Instead they determined that they would only use e-mail, which given the mere couple of days' notice I do not see to be acceptable means of direct communication. Furthermore the arrogance of staff to assume that they could simply ignore my wishes and the availability of the property for viewing was extremely insulting.
The staff that dealt with the matter refused to withdraw the viewing despite my having advised them that they would be disturbing me (I was working night shifts at the time) and that I could not allow anyone into the property without my presence as some of my possessions are restricted by law and I am bound to ensure their safety and location.
I was forced to paint the situation very obviously to them and remind them that they do not have right of way and that they should have consulted me verbally beforehand rather than approach the matter with the ignorance of assuming that they could behave as they wished and make an appointment with a potential new tenant that they could not in all reasonableness had committed to without my prior involvement, all this despite my offering to make the property available at a later date which would have caused me financial loss due to my working arrangements.
As such I made the prudent steps (ironically on moving in) to ensure that an internal surveillance system was installed, something they seemed to ignore at the time and I would have made use of in the event of them entering the property without my prior agreement.
This behaviour alone is disgusting and not an attitude I have ever experienced from another letting agency or land lord, and I have been renting for over a decade. That was not the end of the sordid affair however as I had made the acquaintance of the landlord during the rental period and had discussed remaining in the property beyond the date of the rental period, an extension if you will.
The landlord had agreed to this verbally and we do share a cordial acquaintance as I have allowed him into the property, he has observed, and commented upon, that I have maintained the property well and has been most glad of this. He was especially helpful when the boiler partially failed and ensured a timely repair.
Not being a landlord I do not know where the power of the letting agent begins and ends but as such I would have expected an agency to discuss with the landlord if an extension would be granted or not and if the landlord consents to such things.
As such they ignored the landlords wishes and denied a single months further extension to my rental period, the landlord had agreed to this and he was forced to inform them (again by e-mail, they don't appear to like two way conversations) to extend the period, all after they had tried to book a 'checkout' for me. Again without sufficiently informing me of the details (e-mail once again).
That ranks somewhere between utter incompetence and total bare faced arrogance. As such I will never use this dire excuse for a supposedly professional letting agency ever again and urge anyone reading this to severely reconsider any association with this branch, who seem to be obsessed with finances and nothing more.
So to finalise this review you may have noticed I have highlighted e-mail a lot, I have also pointed out the inability of these people to contact a tenant via the contractually specified means of a verbal method. Well in fairness they did call me, once, ever since beginning the tenancy.
The purpose of the phone call as to mention that my rent had not been paid as my original direct debit had expired as I was staying beyond the original length of the tenancy agreement. No problems there I made the payment immediately and had it all tidied up within two hours (bank transfer).
So they know how to contact me, they are legally bound to maintain records of client details and they seem to be able to use them also, when it suits them.
I have also noted that this group has not supplied with me with details of the scheme that my deposit is in either, so in conclusion:
In conclusion I urge all tenants to avoid Martin and Co Whitefield at all costs for illegal practices and total disregard of contract.
Contract law allows a contract to exist beyond the length of the contract given that the terms of the agreement are pertained to by all parties involved. After further investigation this is clearly a method by which Martin and Co attempt to enforce continued signings of lease agreements, read into that what you will.
The rental period itself went without any issue until Martin and Co decided that they would ignore the terms of their own agreement, specifically that they will 'verbally inform' a tenant of any viewing with a minimum of 24 hours' notice.
Instead they determined that they would only use e-mail, which given the mere couple of days' notice I do not see to be acceptable means of direct communication. Furthermore the arrogance of staff to assume that they could simply ignore my wishes and the availability of the property for viewing was extremely insulting.
The staff that dealt with the matter refused to withdraw the viewing despite my having advised them that they would be disturbing me (I was working night shifts at the time) and that I could not allow anyone into the property without my presence as some of my possessions are restricted by law and I am bound to ensure their safety and location.
I was forced to paint the situation very obviously to them and remind them that they do not have right of way and that they should have consulted me verbally beforehand rather than approach the matter with the ignorance of assuming that they could behave as they wished and make an appointment with a potential new tenant that they could not in all reasonableness had committed to without my prior involvement, all this despite my offering to make the property available at a later date which would have caused me financial loss due to my working arrangements.
As such I made the prudent steps (ironically on moving in) to ensure that an internal surveillance system was installed, something they seemed to ignore at the time and I would have made use of in the event of them entering the property without my prior agreement.
This behaviour alone is disgusting and not an attitude I have ever experienced from another letting agency or land lord, and I have been renting for over a decade. That was not the end of the sordid affair however as I had made the acquaintance of the landlord during the rental period and had discussed remaining in the property beyond the date of the rental period, an extension if you will.
The landlord had agreed to this verbally and we do share a cordial acquaintance as I have allowed him into the property, he has observed, and commented upon, that I have maintained the property well and has been most glad of this. He was especially helpful when the boiler partially failed and ensured a timely repair.
Not being a landlord I do not know where the power of the letting agent begins and ends but as such I would have expected an agency to discuss with the landlord if an extension would be granted or not and if the landlord consents to such things.
As such they ignored the landlords wishes and denied a single months further extension to my rental period, the landlord had agreed to this and he was forced to inform them (again by e-mail, they don't appear to like two way conversations) to extend the period, all after they had tried to book a 'checkout' for me. Again without sufficiently informing me of the details (e-mail once again).
That ranks somewhere between utter incompetence and total bare faced arrogance. As such I will never use this dire excuse for a supposedly professional letting agency ever again and urge anyone reading this to severely reconsider any association with this branch, who seem to be obsessed with finances and nothing more.
So to finalise this review you may have noticed I have highlighted e-mail a lot, I have also pointed out the inability of these people to contact a tenant via the contractually specified means of a verbal method. Well in fairness they did call me, once, ever since beginning the tenancy.
The purpose of the phone call as to mention that my rent had not been paid as my original direct debit had expired as I was staying beyond the original length of the tenancy agreement. No problems there I made the payment immediately and had it all tidied up within two hours (bank transfer).
So they know how to contact me, they are legally bound to maintain records of client details and they seem to be able to use them also, when it suits them.
I have also noted that this group has not supplied with me with details of the scheme that my deposit is in either, so in conclusion:
In conclusion I urge all tenants to avoid Martin and Co Whitefield at all costs for illegal practices and total disregard of contract.
What agent could do to change your mind?
They could not have changed my mind after the events detailed in my review. The behaviour and attitudes demonstrated are unacceptable in any industry and I sincerely hope that Martin and Co Whitefield are held to account in as many areas of misconduct and incompetency as possible.Attached Filesnbsp;
Was this helpful?
Yes
Yes
Agent Response / Add a Comment
You can use this form to reply to the above review or a displayed comment on the above review.
Browse popular links for estate agents, letting agents and properties nearby
Latest Reviews
Featured Review
a
reviewed by 'Mark'
10th Sep 2015
reviewed by 'Unhappy'
7th Jul 2015
reviewed by 'Dave'
2nd Apr 2012
reviewed by 'Disgusted_Tenant'
Opening Hours
Address
Martin & Co
84 Bury Old Road
Whitefield,Manchester
Greater Manchester
M45 6TQ
0161 773 0949
Performance statistics
| Services | Valuation Accuracy | Fees Satisfaction | Min Price of property reviewed | Max Price of property reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lettings | 0% | 0% | £425 | £1,100 |
Review statistics
| From Landlords | From Tenants | From Vendors | From Buyers | Other | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Areas covered
Services offered
- Sales
- Lettings
- Block Management
- Surveys
- Conveyancing
- Mortgage Advice
Advertise on
Members of
Rankings
Overall
Overall
Latest Properties
No Properties
Featured Review
a
Feb 12,2015
Feb 12,2015
18
people found
this helpful
this helpful
I used Martin & Co letting agents in Feb 2014 and was shocked at the level of service from them. The nightmare all started when my cooker handle broke on my oven after a couple of months, was a very old oven when I moved into the ...
read full review
read full review
What agent could do to change your mind?
Still waiting for my deposit back!Attached Filesnbsp;
Comment on agent fees
Still waiting for my deposit back!
Was this helpful?
Yes
Yes
Sep 10,2015
Sep 10,2015
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
I am a great tenant if I say so myself, I pay everything on time if not up front and always improve the condition of the places I live in. I have left Martin & Co after my tenancy ended purely because of their customer service ...
read full review
read full review
What agent could do to change your mind?
Extortionate fees for everything you can imagine.Attached Filesnbsp;
Comment on agent fees
Extortionate fees for everything you can imagine.
Was this helpful?
Yes
Yes
Jul 07,2015
Jul 07,2015
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Were unwilling to confirm that I was a tenant at the property without me paying a staggering £35 reference fee. When questioned, they claimed the terms were 'put in front of you for you to sign'.
This may be true, and yet violates the Consumer Protection ...
read full review
read full review
What agent could do to change your mind?
They will attempt to slap your tenants with grossly bloated fees at every turn for every little 'service' rendered no matter how minute. A ‚£35 fee to give a reference, a ‚£50 fee to renew a tenancy etc. Whilst you as a landlord may not be financially affected by these, it speaks to their company ethos and I wouldn't be surprised if the same situation occurred in your own dealings with them.Attached Filesnbsp;
Comment on agent fees
They will attempt to slap your tenants with grossly bloated fees at every turn for every little 'service' rendered no matter how minute. A ‚£35 fee to give a reference, a ‚£50 fee to renew a tenancy etc. Whilst you as a landlord may not be financially affected by these, it speaks to their company ethos and I wouldn't be surprised if the same situation occurred in your own dealings with them.
Was this helpful?
Yes
Yes
Jul 16,2012
Jul 16,2012
2
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Martin & Co are without doubt the worst lettings agent I have ever have displeasure of dealing with. Having rented for 15 years, I have extensive experience of being a tenant and have found most of the lettings agents and private landlords we have dealt with to ...
read full review
read full review
Was this helpful?
Yes
Yes
Apr 21,2012
Apr 21,2012
6
people found
this helpful
this helpful
The worst landlords I've ever dealt with. Never resolved a *single* problem, even when to do with issues as serious as water leaks, mould, or broken boilers. Increased the rent year-on-year after hiking it by £100/month AFTER we had signed the papers and paid the ...
read full review
read full review
Was this helpful?
Yes
Yes
Apr 02,2012
Apr 02,2012
6
people found
this helpful
this helpful
My experience with Martin and Co initially began reasonably well with a viewing of a well presented property I soon made an offer on and will be leaving in the near future. As such the process was relatively painless until I was handed a few ...
read full review
read full review
What agent could do to change your mind?
They could not have changed my mind after the events detailed in my review. The behaviour and attitudes demonstrated are unacceptable in any industry and I sincerely hope that Martin and Co Whitefield are held to account in as many areas of misconduct and incompetency as possible.Attached Filesnbsp;
Was this helpful?
Yes
Yes
Feb 21,2012
Feb 21,2012
2
people found
this helpful
this helpful
As an oversea's Landlord I can only give this Martin & Co office the highest praise. After speaking with Mr Hyman the Owner I knew I was dealing with someone who knows what they are talking about. Great local knowledge of the market place and left ...
read full review
read full review
Was this helpful?
Yes
Yes
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.
