A tenants perspective - from a year at a flat in Harborne, Birmingham. Slow to reply to emails. Passive aggressive during correspondence. Unhelpful and frequently 'out of office'. Aloof and will not chase matters with the landlord. Appalling lack of courtesy in providing updates. When trying to book viewings post-covid we had frankly disgraceful service, outright rude staff operating the phones, promising to return calls and ignoring you. They were saved by Janusz - he was the only member of their team with any manners, replied swiftly, was friendly and helpful - thank you Janusz! Once in the flat, they clearly had not cleaned or even inspected it - with the flat littered with rubbish, previous tenants items, cobwebs and an actively leaking ceiling. They were also distinctly unhelpful throughout the tenancy, for example we waited over 2 months for them to replace our broken washing machine - they tell you what you want to hear over the phone / email and then do not action anything. We thought we wouldn't have to deal with them anymore at the end of our tenancy but we are still awaiting our deposit back after ending the tenancy 2.5 months ago. No disputes, just emails asking for our payment details then silence for weeks on end. We've had to submit a dispute which will hopefully get this resolved. Would definitely not recommend their company to friends or colleagues. An absolute disgrace to the services sector in the UK.

Rented a property in Harborne for one and a half years. Overall I have to encourage people to avoid John Shepherd. The general state of the property we rented before and during our tenancy was extremely poor. Windows leaked, shower leaked. Poor communication and buck passing from everyone meant we were left living in unsanitary conditions for months. Been in touch with new tenants and house still in state of disrepair with rent increased by £200 a month.

This is probably the worst letting agency I have ever used in my life. I have been renting for nearly 7 years in the UK and I definitely had the worst possible experience. The staff is extremely unhelpful, arrogant and ridiculously rude. I had no water in the flat when I moved in, missing letter box keys, fob is not working, broken wash machine, the flat was dirty, messy and not even been cleaned! It took them weeks to fix the problem, definitely wasn't a livable condition when I moved in!!! When I moved out, they tried to charge me £180 for cleaning fee, and blamed me for broken items which were already broken when I moved in and the flat was dirty on arrival! I can guarantee that the flat was 100% cleaner when I moved out compared to when I moved in! I would not recommend that you use these guys to deal with anything from sales to lettings to maintenance. Inaccurate descriptions, lack of timely support, manipulative practices, disrespectful and disgusting services!

The worst agency. Their scams are blatant and exploitative, it's unbelievable. They'll take money from you for the most trivial things, they don't respond to emails, so I had to go to their office. They'll even give you bills that aren't yours but the landlord's, so stay away from them. But generally, if you're forced to use them, take pictures of the apartment you're renting from every angle on the first day and note if it's unclean, rusty, or moldy, and email them to document the date. Because the day will come when they try to take your deposit, and this will be your evidence. Also, make sure your deposit is with the TDS (Tenancy Deposit Scheme). They're a third party who actually handles the money, but this agency takes advantage of students' lack of awareness of them. The important thing is this: if they try to take your deposit for trivial matters, you can go to the TDS and file a complaint against them, and they'll refund your money or at least 75% of it. Good luck.

TO ANY CURRENT OR FUTURE TENANTS!! BEWARE!! They will try charge you for every speak of dust and every little issue or item they can when you leave! When you move in look at the apartment or house with a fine tooth comb and mention (in writing) the differences between your place and the inventory they send you, because if your a chilled person that doesn't mind if your blinds don't tilt or if theres a label missing from your mattress they will try charge you for it even if it wasn't you who damaged or removed something. So just be as analytical as they are and contest things if it really wasn't you who damaged something and your likely not have to pay what they are trying to con off as your fault! Other than that while your living in the place they are fairly responsive and good agency, just when you leave they will try squeeze every penny out of you.

REPOSTING AS THEY REMOVED MY PREVIOUS REVIEW AVOID THIS COMPANY! - AVOID 17 CITY HEIGHTS 85 OLD SNOW HILL I am actually outraged by the audacity of these people. These letting agents are essentially money hungry robots and I should have known from the red flags I got from the company that I should have searched for an alternative apartment. To make it clear, the pictures I attached show the state of this property on the first day I arrived. And let me tell you I was shocked at the outdated, dirty appearance of the place which I unfortunately did not view before I signed this lease which was my mistake. The place is disgusting, the walls are dirty, the carpet is worn down and very discoloured, there were missing furniture parts, the amenities barely work, there are COCKROACHES in this place, the mattress is SOILED you will have to buy several mattress protectors, the tiles in the bathroom are BLACK, the toilet must be from the 70s, the flooring in the bathroom and kitchen are also worn down and extremely discoloured, there was NO cleaning done on my move in date, microwave - dirty, oven - 2 had to be replaced as stoves did not work, the cupboards were horrific, the FRIDGE EITHER FREEZES FOOD OR DOES NOT WORK, the natural smell of the apartment stinks, THERE ARE NO LOCKS ON THE DOORS, MOST OF THE HEATERS DO NOT WORK IN WINTER YOU WILL BE FREEZING, ceiling lights ARE LOOSE AND DO NOT WORK, the windows are DRAUGHTY, the couches are OLD, to conclude it was damn right EMBARASSING to even bring someone to this place without explaining this is a temporary situation. They also had the audacity to increase the rent and ask whether I would like to extend my stay. But the worst part of all, is upon leaving this place, this company attempted to charge ONLY ME £1000+ worth of damage even THOUGH I lived with an unhygienic flatmate who had been there for 3 years. The charges got brought down to £320, but they have made unauthorised payments on my card - and NOT ATTEMPTED to contact the other tenant. Keep in mind, the things they attempted to charge me for, I.E THE WALLS and MISSING CHAIRS, were ISSUES they had before I signed. I will put this down to inexperience, I will definitely take more serious note of red flags when dealing with such money hungry agencies who are quick to charge tenants and slow to fix problems of their own property. Rajak Ali and Melissa Canon I found to be really unhelpful and dismissive of my complaints about this place. They obviously showed no compassion or care as it was not them who had to live in a disgusting property like this. They are more interested in making their jobs easier and brushing off concerning issues. As a new tenant, I have been made to pay all charges for this unfortunate place. I have yet to hear back on why the have not pursued the other tenant either. The bright side is that I will no longer need to deal with this inhumane money-thirsty company and I have learned a valuable lesson. To avoid the hassle, avoid these people. I will make sure to continue spreading the word so as many people know.

Edit again. For those also having difficulty it is worth noting that there is an ongoing case being built against them by other tenants in the same boat via local government. Contact your MP! I hope you do not read this too late. Edit. Now being evicted. This is exactly why I waited within my statute of limitations. Whoever rents from them avoid like the plague, they also put me back in touch with the abusive staff member today. The worst experience I've had renting and this is the fifth property I have. Go to literally anyone else. They have lied from the very start of our tenancy. It's very obvious we are being moved to avoid necessary work being done on the property that should have been highlighted previously but JS did not do their jobs. I know for a fact the landlord has been qouted considerable sums to bring the property to a decent standard. Whoever moves into Friday Bridge be warned. Original post - Firstly have to say absolutely no issues with the lettings team however the block management has cost myself and partner hundreds due to them not meeting their own agreements. My contract details explicitly that all appliances must be checked and working before we move in, they were not and I even have in writing that they never check these despite contract, the worst one being the Fridge Freezer which instantly destroyed the £50 worth of food I bought from my old property and all the food I bought first day as it in fact heated the space instead of cooling. We reported this two days later as we discovered this 24th Saturday night and it would have cost us on the out of hours service to do report on the weekend. Baring in mind, this should have already been checked as detailed in black letter of the law, they are out right ignoring that despite the contract terms stating with no doubts that it should have been working and inspected prior, the contract also details that the landlord should cover any costs incurred from this not working, I believe JS should cover these costs as they have not met the landlords agreement of maintaining his property, I am writing to him myself with a list of multiple failures and I hope he demands some of his payments back as what he has paid for has not been provided. So far JS have ignored their own complaints procedure and insultingly only offered £50 reimbursement after already being offered prior £10 per day per person, whilst refusing to acknowledge their own contract terms and how they have failed myself and the landlord by incurring these charges. They also have no sense of reasonable timeframes. Apparently 12 days is an acceptable wait for replacement key item that should have been provided with the property, despite finding multiple same day delivery options myself also. It would have been considerably cheaper for me to buy a brand new fridge freezer given the costs of eating out and takeaway that they are refusing to cover despite contract and advising to do this as costs would be supposedly covered. It is by no means acceptable, they aren't even offering to cover 50% of the charges and have openly stated they do not meet their own contract terms. They have also left this complaint so long despite stressing urgency that I now will not be able to pay my bills incurring further charges and due to those being council bills auto summons will no doubt be issued also. It is at this point I am glad that I have legal cover as it will definitely be needed if I am summoned and I will stress chain of causation based on failure of contract. Edit. Having queried this with the legal advice provided with by insurance I am advised to take further if the response is unacceptable. My case is in their words straight forward and supported by their own supplied inventory, the staff email stating they don't follow contractual checks on any property yet alone mine, and contract terms not being met are all challengeable. I was also advised to raise to ombudsman which I have already began the process of.

Very bad form John Shepherd! Made a service request back on 19th November 2022 and still awaiting their response over 6 weeks on (and this was to their management team)! Calling this agency dynamic and responsive would be a gross exaggeration. You've got my emails and telephone number so don't be shy and call me!

Edit again. For those also having difficulty it is worth noting that there is an ongoing case being built against them by other tenants in the same boat via local government. Contact your MP! I hope you do not read this too late. …