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Martin & Co Welwyn Garden City

A selection of reviews/testimonials by highest rating
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1.00 /5

Just finished my tenancy with these guys and I have to say I've not really been impressed throughout the 2 year tenancy. When we started the tenancy they presented us with a 30 page contract (yes. 30 pages.) and the agent was then dismayed and irritated when I insisted on reading every page before initialling and signing it (as you would - seeing as my previous contracts have been as short as 4 pages of A4). This was because they wanted to get out on time at 4pm on a Friday - You'd think being paid the fat end of £2.5k would warrant an extra 15 to 30 minutes in the office right? Right from the start of tenancy we had issues with the garage door opener which didn't work and it took them nearly 7 months to get us a replacement remote which actually worked. This was despite us chasing them weekly and even contacting the manufacturer ourselves to get the right spec - this definitely is above and beyond what I as the tenant should be doing. During the tenancy they wanted to conduct regular inspections - I have no issue with this but they were VERY uncooperative on when these inspections happened. Me and my housemate are both NHS healthcare professionals working shifts and they point blank refused to accommodate our shift pattern into their inspections because "they are very busy" and at one point even woke me up between nightshifts at 11am just to peak into my bathroom. (She was also surprised by me when I woke up with a start meaning that it clearly wasn't communicated to her that would be post-nights/sleeping either!) Around midway through the tenancy we encountered an issue with our utility supplier because we had been giving them readings from the wrong meter - when we asked M&Co where our electricity meter actually was, they wanted an £80 call-out fee to come and show us, even though the meter we had been taking readings from was the one they stipulated on their inventory documents. Thanks to assistance from other residence in the building, the actual meter was discovered behind a locked door which I was not provided a key for - in the end I had to go get one cut (oh and they refused to reimburse me for this too). This brings me on to the final issue with M&Co. FEES. Every single little thing has a fee attached to it and frankly, I've never known anything like it and I've rented a couple of times in different places around the county. So lets run though it: Set up fee: £225. Additional tenant fee: £75. Tenancy renewal fee: £75. Checkout fee: £120. Oh and call out fee: £80. (others that I thankfully managed to avoid paying include Guarantor Fee: £90, Amendment fee: £450 and out of hours service: £60). So for two people staying 2 years is a minimum of £495 in fees alone which I found to be unacceptable. (Oh and all of these are in addition to whatever they are charging the landlord - so good luck to the landlord here..) Another small niggle is that they are very sluggish to reply to emails which when they do reply, include lack of basic grammar and email etiquette. Written communications sometimes included one line and even one word replies - frankly its unprofessional. Your tenants are just as much your customers as your landlords are. Show some care and respect! I will given them that beyond the above, our tenancy ran smoothly and the property was lovely - but frankly I can't give them more than 1 star for this because these are the basics! There was no effort made on their part to improve the service they gave and frankly, when you're paying just short of £500 for something, I want it gold standard - this isn't. Sorry guys - You did ask for a review!NegativeResponsiveness, Quality, Professionalism, Value

Reply from agent

Dear Tom We appreciate all comments and feedback from our clients as we are constantly trying to improve the customer experience for both tenants and Landlords alike. In most cases we do get it right, but for you we fell short in the level of service and for that we are very disappointed and I can only apologise. Given your comprehensive feedback I reviewed all the notes pertaining to your tenancy to get a better understanding of what transpired during the tenancy. So, I was a little surprised to see many exceptionally pleasant emails throughout the entire tenancy between you and the staff here in the office, this certainly runs counter to your comments above. Regards the tenancy agreement - I agree there are a lot of pages! However with the increase in legislation, compliance and in keeping with industry best practice our tenancy contracts are indeed comprehensive, but this is to protect both landlord and tenant. Our contracts are sent electronically but you had trouble signing these via your laptop so we then sent them hardcopy in the post, this gave you many days to review and question anything that was unclear before signing. You did come to our office to read through and sign the contracts but our offices close at 5.30pm on a Friday (not 4pm) and it would not have been unreasonable to expect you to leave at 5.30pm. If you called into a bank I do not think they would allow you to stay on aftering closing time. Regarding our fees - these are all published and in the public domain and if you thought them unreasonable at the time you did not have to rent through us. To remain competitive I continually monitor our fee structure and we are at the lower end for Welwyn Garden City. Some of the fees quoted by you are simply incorrect, but for clarity I would urge potential tenants to see our website. I have shared your feedback with the team and they too feel deeply disappointed as nothing throughout your tenancy would suggest we were not providing you with our usual high standard of service. Again thank you for your feedback Kind regards Stephen Dooley Principal

Contact details
Sales Phone:

01707 334576

Opening hours

Unknown

Address

16 Howardsgate, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, AL8 6BQ, UK, AL8

With over 29 years' experience in property and as a landlord himself, Franchise owner Stephen Dooley, opened the Martin & Co Welwyn office in 2011 and in March 2017 moved to new high profile premises, where he and his team deliver exceptional service to the community. Located in the prestigious Howardsgate, the multi award winning team* at Martin & Co Welwyn specialises in property sales, corporate lettings and property management. We can include - aerial video photography, professional internal and external photographs, including video tours, floor plans and premium and featured listings on all three property portals. Martin & Co advertise your property on our 24 hour window display Touchscreen, in additional we advertise online with several of the Broadsheet Newspapers, as well as Social Media advertising on Facebook & Twitter. You can also track sales progression via our web portal and of course we will provide a very personal service. So whether you have a property for sale or a Landlord with a property to let or you are looking for a home to rent in the area, please do get in touch with a member of our dedicated team who would be delighted to help. For all property enquiries or to arrange a valuation please call Martin & Co Welwyn Garden City on 01707 334576 *WGC Business Improvement District Awards 2018 Overall Business Winner for Customer Service Excellence 2018 Winner Best Estate Agent for Customer Service 2017 Winner Best Estate Agent for Customer Service

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