Referencing procedure by Martin & Co - Be very CarefulReview: Marin & Co -Newport Subject: Return of referencing feeReason: Was not made aware of procedure/mislead by agent Note: The property was listed as detached- it is detached but you have someone living next door.It's like calling a block of flats detached, yes the building is but you still have people living next door.Be very careful when paying for referencing, ask them exactly what the referencing companies criteria is. To make it clear...1. If you are self employed and have been trading for less than a year ( and have no audited accounts ) they will not take into consideration any income generated by said company, even offering bank statements, invoices and proof of income they will not accept it.2. If you are paid any bonus, linked to your annual income , they will only accept 50% of the bonus, even if guaranteed.3. You must be able to prove income of £25,000 or over, if you cannot you will fail the process.They do not and did not make the criteria clear and are refusing to refund the referencing fee of £275.00. It would also be useful to get a break down of this 'fee' and how they get to this amount, ask them before agreeing to anything. From what I can see the referencing company sends out a few emails and very basic forms to employers and current landlords ( my landlord stated that it is very basic ) Also be careful not to tick the boxes that Martin & Co include on a very poorly scanned document that is emailed over, the boxes relate to them getting commission from utility companies who will then contact you to discuss switching.Also, to date I have received 8 sales calls from Homelet who conduct the referencing, asking me if I would like insurance from them for the new property I am moving into!.My advice...use another agency, with so many around do not risk utilising Martin & Co, the process is poor. The manager of the Newport branch that I have been in touch with regarding this case, has also felt the need to give me lessons via email on business accounts, mortgages and HMRC, thus deflecting away from the main issues that I have bought up. The profile on the Martin & Co website states:"he knew he could offer landlords and tenants a better service than they were currently receiving."Not once has he phoned to discuss in person, says it all really.OCT 2018

A friend called Martin & co to view a flat . The team didn’t no how much the bills were and weren’t interested in finding out . I called to speak to a manager who never returned my call. We found out who much the bills was ourselves. He waited 10 days to view the flat .He viewed it ( after they turned up late )he wanted to rent but was told there was other people viewing later .the paper work was done ( no credit check ).5 days later they send him a email to say someone else is getting the flat If they were open and honest in the first place it would have been so much easier. My advice before using them to rent or sell call them arrange viewing on another place to see what they are like

They need a slot on Rogue Traders. Rented. The house had numerous issues that were never fixed. Hole in the floor covered up by carpet. Kitchen regularly flooding because of bad plumbing which when we approached the agents about they said “we can’t justify getting a plumber out for that when you can buy a stopper for a few pounds at B&Q” no problem love we’ll just keep our washing machine in storage shall we? We didn’t, the kitchen kept flooding we kept forking out for drain unblocker and the floor underneath is now falling apart from all the water damage Kitchen tap snapped Wall paper sellotaped to the wall Door frame also sellotaped Snapped spindles on the stairs fixed with masking tape and then painted over. Also our 3 year uses the spindles to help him down the stairs, one day one of them literally fell out and he nearly fell through the stairs. £££ more money to fix that issue. Toilet seat cracked and eventually broke, we bought a replacement. Couldn’t replace the damn thing because cowboys boxed in and tiled over the back of the toilet. They got our paper work so wrong that we were have e-mails and calls saying that we were over due on our rent and when we tried to resolve this we were bounced all over from company to company told it was resolved then the same issue the next month and the same issue of no one wanting to take responsibility or our phones calls or respond to our e-mails. 4 times this happed until we moved out and got told that we owed rent after spending 6 months telling every person we spoke to that we did not even SEE the keys for that house until 7 days after you are claiming we owe you rent for. When we moved out then, we went to the property to drop the keys off and then were told “okay thanks we don’t need you now” huh? But we’ll send you your check out inventory by Friday” OF COURSE that was a load of bull and we never received a single communication about the house disputed numerous calls by myself and my partner. Eventually I got to the end of my rope after trying to get hold of Sarah. I called Martin and co asked to speak to Sarah, got told the usual “she’s on the phone can I get her to call you back” I said “no thanks I’ll hold” I got put on hold for 10 mins and got hung on. I called straight back and got hung up on straight away this was repeated about 4 times before I rang a last time asked to speak to Sarah and she had now “gone home” I the end £100 of our band had been taken for not mowing the front lawn which is the size of a toddlers paddling pool not old Trafford and “marks on walls”. I find it laughable that they wanted all that when they literally did absolutely nothing to fix anything in the house before we moved in and I know for a fact nothing was fixed for the tenants that are in there now. Since moving we have been in contact with the previous tenants who were only there for 6 months and moved out for pretty much the same reasons. The staff are rude, obnoxious and highly unprofessional and the landlord is just as bad

They need a slot on Rogue Traders. Rented. The house had numerous issues that were never fixed. Hole in the floor covered up by carpet. Kitchen regularly flooding because of bad plumbing which when we approached the agents about they said “we can’t justify getting a plumber out for that when you can buy a stopper for a few pounds at B&Q” no problem love we’ll just keep our washing machine in storage shall we? We didn’t, the kitchen kept flooding we kept forking out for drain ... Continue reading

We requested a viewing on a property online, 5 days later they came back to us and said it was due to them being short staffed the call backs had been delayed, they arranged for us to view the property telling us we would be the 1st to view but could not get us in for for 48 hours ( basically took them a week to get a viewing in the diary ) so myself and my partner both took the morning off work only to get a phone call 1 hour 30 mins before the appointment saying the property has now gone: What happened to being the first people to view the property, we were clearly lied to regarding the the next available viewings. Awful service

Would never recommend anyone. Had a very bad experience before becoming their tenant.

Would never recommend anyone. Had a very bad experience before becoming their tenant.

This company appears to be the worst estate agents I have ever come across. Unprofessional, rude, one member of staff even had the audacity to have an argument with me on the the driveway of a property after me insisting the house wasn't available for viewing. Find yourself an estate agent who knows how the law works rather than making up the rules as they go along.

Absolutely awful , oddly the phones always play up on friday afternoons, they don't even have the courtesy to reply to emails, refunded ALL of our rent in advance to the landlord even though they'd been told to refund it to us by the landlord, then don't bother to release the deposit as requested. Total attitude of the newport office is can't be bothered. Also no idea about confidentiality as when we went to pay the deposit even though there were other non staff in the office, thought it was perfectly alright to state from across the room how much we were about to pay.

DO NOT GO WITH THIS ESTATE AGENT!!! MARK IS A USLESS PIECE OF SHIT THAT DOESNT NOW HIS HEAD FROM HIS ARSE! ASKED IF PROPERTY HAD CENTRAL HEATING WAS TOLD TO ME AND AN ANONYMOUS FRIEND THERE WAS YET BOOKED DAY OFF AND FOUND THERE WAS NO CENTRAL HEATING!!!!!!!!! WAS HAPPY TO TAKE TENANCY FEES YET NOT ONE PERSON IN THIS SHITHOLE KNOWS HOW TO DO A REFUND!! MONEY GRABBING SCAMMERS!!!