We accepted an instruction to market properties for a developer and were asked to market the properties in advance of completion based on their expectations. Unfortunately they were unable to deliver due to a number of setbacks. We communicated all updates that we received to applicants and were transparent throughout. We understand that this has caused some of our customers a lot of stress and we sincerely apologise for this. As a result we took the decision to remove the advertising and to only do so once each plot was completed.

As the name used in the review does not correlate it was not easy to identify who wrote this review however I am now aware of the author. You complained about the “hardness” of the carpets which the landlord agreed to replace (at a cost of £1,700) and on the evening before the contractor was due to fit them you cancelled and you have not contacted us since to rearrange. You reported an issue with the oven and hob on a Sunday and we had an electrician instructed to come to you the next day. Unfortunately (and outside our control) he could not attend and therefore we instructed a second electrician that met you at the property on Wednesday. He could not diagnose the issue and so we instructed an appliance engineer to contact you the same day. He has told us that you could not make yourself available until the following Monday. He went to the property as arranged and fixed the issue – a new element. Whilst the second issue was ongoing you called the office and screamed at my team. I understand that you were frustrated however I am not sure how you expect to achieve anything by being so disrespectful. We are more than happy to help. Good tenants are a pleasure to accommodate so why would we do anything to ruin a relationship. When people shout and swear at my team I am more than happy for them to terminate the call, why should they have to tolerate such behaviour? If that means we are rude then so be it. It is a shame that we cannot leave reviews on tenants. We act and are paid by the landlord. Notwithstanding this we have a duty of care to tenants and we will always go the extra mile to try to help. However sometimes tenants can look to avoid their obligations and will often blame agents or landlords to get their own way. Sometimes we have to point out to tenants that we cannot simply acquiesce to requests that either we have no power to decide or that Kevin Hall Director – Martin & Co (Ashford)

I am aware that you are one of the applicants that have applied to rent an apartment at the Riverside development. Martin & Co were appointed some time ago acting as sub agents based on the delivery of specific apartments at set dates. Unfortunately for a number of reasons the developer and main agent have been unable to provide the promised apartments at or close to their scheduled time. We have pushed the developer constantly for more information so that we could keep all interested parties updated and passed that information on as soon as it became available however eventually we took the reluctant decision to pull the properties as we believe this to be in the best interests of the applicants and to refund any monies. We did this because we could not be satisfied that the developer could keep to their revised promised delivery date and we did not want this to cause applicants further problems.As and when the apartments are completed and available to let then we will of course give first choice to existing applicants however we will not offer these until we hold keys. I know that the situation has been difficult and we are genuinely sorry not to be able to supply the home that you wanted. As sub agent we, like you, are very much at the behest of others and with hindsight we would have done things differently. We have acted on previous developments and delivered properties to applicants without issue and we certainly did not foresee this. Martin & Co apologies unreservedly and can assure you that we have also wasted a great deal of time and money for which we will also not be recompensed. If you would like to discuss this or if I can assist then please do ask to speak to me personally – Kevin Hall - Director