I just wanted to give you a heads up about my downright terrible encounter with Martin and Co, the lettings agency. Trust me, you'll want to think twice before renting a house through them, especially if you're an outsider like me. The main issue that really got me riled up was their sneaky way of withholding the deposit. Can you believe it? Instead of giving it back to me like they should have, they came up with some bogus cleaning services and charged a whopping 80% of my deposit for it. Talk about a rip-off! And here's the kicker: I can't even fight back! They've already got my deposit, and I'm left feeling like a helpless victim. Losing 60% of my hard-earned money is no joke, and it's infuriating that they get away with it. I just want to make sure you all don't end up in the same boat as me. Please, please be super careful when dealing with Martin and Co. Their shady practices and refusal to do the right thing have left me feeling utterly cheated and powerless. To sum it up, my experience with Martin and Co has been an absolute nightmare. The financial hit I took is no small matter, and the fact that I can't do anything about it only adds insult to injury. I genuinely hope that by sharing my story, I can save someone else from going through the same ordeal. Do yourself a favor and explore other rental options before getting involved with these guys.

Nathan started to be helpful, turned out randomly he started to ignore messages and phone calls! Still awaiting our first HOLDING DEPOSIT refund as we get let down through no fault of our own. Shambles of an estate agents can’t get viewings on time, tenants don’t open doors. Avoid in my opinion.

Be Aware! This rental agency is extremely unprofessional. Many of their positive reviews are likely because they require them in advance. They list rental properties at lower prices to attract potential tenants, then essentially run an auction by informing you that other tenants are offering more, and asking if you’d like to match these higher offers to increase your chances. This happened to me more than four times, so it’s not a coincidence. If you don’t believe, go ahead and try for yourself. Very, very unprofessional behaviour.

I urge you to avoid this agency if you’re considering renting your property. Here are the issues I faced: 1. Severe Undervaluation: They drastically undervalued my property to secure an easy income, ignoring its true market value. 2. Profit-Driven Tenant Selection: Despite multiple interested tenants, they selected a tenant who paid 12 months' rent in advance, allowing them to invest the money in their personal or family-run business accounts for their benefit without consulting me. 3. Delayed Payments: Even with 12 months' rent in their account, they consistently made late monthly payments, forcing me to chase them for my money. 4. Extortionate Maintenance Fees: Their maintenance charges were exorbitant, often double what a typical maintenance person would charge. 5. Excessive Transfer Fees: After deducting the first month's rent as a tenant-finding fee, they charged over £140 monthly just to transfer rent from their account to mine. 6. Rude and Unresponsive Staff and Manager:The branch manager and staff were extremely rude and unresponsive to my complaints and emails, treating me as if I worked for them. 7. Greedy and Mismanaged Contract End: They approached the tenant for another 12 months' rent in advance without consulting me, ignoring my decision on whether I wanted to rent my property or increase the rent. 8. Delayed Release of Tenant's Deposit: Despite my instruction to release the tenant's deposit in full, they delayed the process. 9. Trespassing Post-Contract: Even after their contract ended and I terminated their services, explicitly instructing them not to enter my property, they trespassed, causing significant distress. Martin & Co Harborne offers nothing but fraud and stress to both landlords and tenants. This agency consistently disrespected my authority as a landlord and pursued their interests at my expense. Avoid them to prevent similar issues and stress.

Booked a viewing, spoke to the office twice informing them I am on the way and also around parking suggestions they had. Turned up and called to notify them I am here only to then be told it is cancelled. Absolutely wasted my time.

WORST ESTATE AGENTS EVER. They are rude on the phone, aren't helpful with emails and try to do their best at ripping you off. Would tell everyone to stay clear of them.

The contract and services are one sided towards the landlord. The turnaround time to resolve issues typically more than 3 months with constant chasing via calls and emails. AVOID MARTIN&CO. AT ALL COST. UNFORTUNATELY MY LANDLORD IS FROM HELL, AVOID B15 3EE GATED COMMUNITY, INCONSIDERATE NEIGHBOURS!!!

DO NOT BOTHER GOING TO OR CALLING THIS LYING AGENCY!! This is the most unerious and ridiculous estate agency staff I ever spoke with! When you request viewing for a property, they always say the person for the viewing is not in the office and they will call back, of course they never call back! Recently tried to book a viewing for a flat they listed, spoke on the line with Dan/Sam who confirmed two times they booked me in for a viewing, however they never sent me confirmation email, or called me before the viewing to say I haven't been booked and to cancel it! They mislead tenants, asking for property offers higher than the price on the listed advert, which the landlord wants. What do you do with the rest of the money?? Do you keep it for your pockets?? All of the customer service is absolutely awful and you can barely book a viewing, you would be lucky if you book it for the next month. Awful agency.

One of the worst experiences I have ever faced thanks to Martin & Co Harbourne. The property management team lacked basic manners and professionalism especially Shanti Bailey. Boiler stopped working and after reporting it on the online app, I had to wait 5 days just to be told they will call every day until I had to get someone out myself to fix the issue. Found out also that they ended the tenancy despite agreeing a price just so they could increase the price further, this I found out from an employee there. Lastly when I'm finally done with the agency the deposit took 7 weeks to return to which they tried to charge me for things that did not warrant any charge. After complaining to escalate this with the property ombudsman, they conveniently returned the deposit within a few days. I would not recommend this agency to anyone, the worst property management team I have ever experienced which is a shame as the lettings team is really good however once you are in it is a nightmare.

Martin and Co- have to be the worst agency in the UK. No heating for 4 days- classed as a emergency if no heating in 24 hrs- 2 kids 4 years old and 9years.. rooms are cold- they can’t play upstairs .. one small fan heater between us to warm up the whole house. Neither the agency or Landlord have offered heating appliances .. sent engineer- only to come back and not be fix the problem… But same boiler has issues for 2 years.. Water leak- corridor light not working- paint coming off in the bathroom - bedroom door not working- front window lock not working - the list is endless.. Increase rent and still aren’t fixing things- so now next step is court ….. also, cheeky agency - listed a problem in July via app for water leak had the email notifications that they received it- only now for them to go and delete the job .. and say I never sent it… Why can’t they do the job they get paid for - is it so hard…. Landlord is not even better…. Wants the rent but wont fix issues around the house..