My experience during my tenancy was fairly standard for a letting agent, unresponsive and generally unhelpful. To be expected. However my experience trying to get the deposit back has been far from normal. John Shepherd are happy to send unsubstantiated claims for large sums of money but when pressed on why these deductions are being made are unable to provide a breakdown for the costs. This is of course in breach of the The Property Ombudsman (TPO) Code of Practice and ARLA Propertymark membership both of which they are bound by. This has halted deposit deduction negotiations and thus the proper return of my money in a timely fashion. I have raised these breaches of the Code with both Tina Margetts and Chris Blick but as of yet neither have even acknowledged receipt of the advice or complaint respectively. While they may have the logos of both ARLA and TPO to assure customers of their professionalism this could not be further from my experience when dealing with this organisation. I would urge others to read the TPO Code of Practice for Residential Letting Agents so you know exactly what service you should be receiving and ensure you are not being inadvertently mistreated by this organisation. Consumers have far more rights than letting agents would have you believe.

This is probably the worst letting agency in the city. The staff is extremely unhelpful, arrogant and ridiculously rude. I let an apartment in Jewellery Quarter with them and I have ended up with the worst possible experience in my 5 years in the U.K. I would not recommend that you use these guys to deal with anything from sales to lettings to maintenance. Abhorrent service.

The worst office, their fraud is ridiculous without exaggeration, and they are exploitative in a hideous way, and by God, it is something unimaginable. They withdraw money from you over the most trivial person, they do not respond to emails to the point that I have to go to their office, they charge you with bills that are not yours but the owner's, so stay away from them. But in general, you are forced to photograph the apartment you are in on the first day from every angle and comment if it is not clean or if there is rust or mold and send it to them by email to confirm the date. Because the day comes when they try to take your insurance from you, this will be your evidence. Other than that, make sure that the insurance is with the (TDS) tenancy deposit scheme. These are third parties who hold the money, but this office takes advantage of the scholarship recipient’s lack of knowledge. What is useful in this information is that tomorrow, if they say that we will take from your insurance for trivial matters, you will go to TDS and file a complaint against them, and they will return your money to you, or at least 75% of it. Good luck.

Misleading information on

An awful experience. Lots of misinformation both on website regarding the properties to let & inaccurate pictures. Once viewed misleading information about the property. In my opinion, avoid at all cost.

The worst agency ever. They have posted it and straight away I was calling regarding the property and the lady who managed it she was not available the whole day. Next day I called in the morning and she told me she already has 6 views and it is fully booked. How it is this possible? And the attitude is horrendous!!!! Definitely not ever rent or buy a house through them and I will make sure all my friends and family will know about them. L.E: after reply If your check the logs you can see that I have called more than few times since yesterday morning and all the time she was unavailable and no one could get through the lady. Please listen to the recordings. I don’t need excuses for bad services. It is a shame what is happening and is true, bad employees can mess up a company’a reputation.

I called to view a flat to rent and the person on the phone put me on a waiting list because the property wasn't accessible yet. Later in the day I get a text from them confirming my viewing was booked for the next hour! They gave me one hour notice for a viewing! I managed to get there on time and no one showed up. I called their office and a guy on the phone told me that the property wasn't accessible. I asked then why they booked me in and he said that he also sent me a voicemail to tell me that the viewing was canceled. I had my phone next to me on my desk at work (yes, I was working and I had to leave early, which means I lost money because of them) fully available, I would have heard it ring and he wouldn't have had a chance to leave a voicemail. In fact, my voicemail was empty. Mistakes happen, lies don't. I would have appreciated if they admitted I was booked by mistake. Lying to customers and wasting their time and money. I've dealt with many unprofessional estate agents, but this goes to the top of my list.NegativeProfessionalism

Trying to deal with these agents is impossible. I’m a landlord at a flat on the ground floor below a flat they are agents too. They have had a major leak in the flat they are agents too and basically told me they are getting a humidifier . What a joke. My tenant says the ceiling is about to collapse as in the pics attached and Julie at John Shepherd tells me the issue is fixed. No urgency what so ever on behalf of their tenants . The plumber they used used 3 different explanations for the leak and none of them are accurate. If this is how they respond in emergency’s they are not proper agents and show absolute no duty of care to their tenants and to the other people they are affecting .NegativeResponsiveness, Quality, Professionalism

LILLY JOHNSON I have had the worst experience with this member of staff and the way in which John Shepherd has dealt with my first potential rental experience. I offered an additional 25 pounds for a flat I was very interested in which she was quick to accept. Then I paid my holding deposit which which she once again took without informing me that it wasn't necessary to pay until everything was sorted. After everything went through, she sends me an email at 13.11 today to inform me that my tenancy has been cancelled without a reason. She then immediately puts this property back on the market for 50 pounds less than what I was offering, still without me cancelling. After this, she sent me a harsh text claiming that she had called me "five times" when in fact I was called once. To end this, she claimed that it was I who declined the move and now refuses to return my holding fee which amounts to just over £138. I have never experienced anything of the sort. Please stay away as you will never be given the contact details of who or where to complain or be offered any help. In response to the reply below... I was only called ONCE today and you had cancelled my contract even BEFORE getting to speak to me!!!! I have the timings on the emails, texts and calls to support this and I am more than happy to share these. Lilly's attitude was wrong from the off and it continued throughout the process. I forgot to mention that staff tend to be in "meetings" anytime a serious concern needs addressing.NegativeResponsiveness, Quality, Professionalism, Value

Trying to deal with these agents is impossible. I’m a landlord at a flat on the ground floor below a flat they are agents too. They have had a major leak in the flat they are agents too and basically told me they are getting a humidifier . What a joke. My tenant says the ceiling is about to collapse as in the pics attached and Julie at John Shepherd tells me the issue is fixed. No urgency what so ever on behalf of their tenants . The plumber they used used 3 different explanations for the leak and none of them are accurate. If this is how they respond in emergency’s they are not proper agents and show absolute no duty of care to their tenants and to the other people they are affecting .NegativeResponsiveness, Quality, Professionalism

We have been fatally scammed by this "agency". WE DO WARN EVERYONE before proceeding with them, as the problems never arise before signing the contract. It has been an absolute nightmare since barely a year ago decided to move somewhere else. Our minimum stay was over by then. They have completely stolen our deposit, leaving us in a critical financial situation after having a baby and both of us lost our jobs because of Covid. As an example, they quoted £900 for a job that can be easily done for £100 (we indeed found many contractors that can prove this). We have been completely helpless. Please, stay away from these unethical and heartless people, they can ruin your life as they did to us.NegativeResponsiveness, Quality, Professionalism, Value