One of the worst and rude letting agent I have experienced so far. We had a viewing arranged for a flat in Colchester and the agent was rude in all of his responses. E.g. We asked if there's a dishwasher in the house and he answered "Why can't you wash it by hands", an appropriate answer would have been a simple 'No'. And there were many inappropriate questions about me which were certainly not needed at that stage I don't think the whole agency is like this, but the agent that we have seen certainly not someone whom I'd recommend in any of the viewings or lettings discussion Thanks

The worst estate agents. So unhelpful & useless - do not bother with lettings

Martin & Co apparently, according to their website, opens at 8:30am. So how come when I call them at this time, I get diverted to an answering service. Maybe it's time Martin & Co updated their website to show what time they start answering the phone, rather than the time they open.

If I could put 0 stars I would. Absolutely outrageous experience and I haven’t even been to view a property yet. As someone who used to work in the lettings industry, and used the same referencing agency as Martin & Co I know exactly what the requirements to pass referencing are. My partner called their office to book a viewing, to be told we cannot view because there is no parking and we have a car. Now I can understand the reasons behind this decision, as it would be a waste of time, HOWEVER, they didn’t give her a chance to explain we already had parking and told her to “come back when we had sorted it”. I then called the office, to then find out it was actually because they had decided we didn’t meet their affordability criteria, 30 times the rent as per homelet, so £21,750 per year. My partner has earned well above this already this year and it isn’t even the end of the tax year! I spoke with a lady called Corrine, who made me feel extremely patronised, and was just down right rude, not even an inch of sales in her voice and she works in a sales office, laughable really. Both my partner and I felt like we were brushed aside because they have their sights set on a more “ideal” tenant. No wonder they are absolutely nowhere near their close competition in the market. Terrible terrible terrible.

Dishonest letting agency. I do not recommend.

Property photos on the advertisement were outdated and apparently it was an error where they put the photos from 2020- before the last tenant moved in. Information on the ad was also incorrect and outdated as it stated the property was to be redecorated/ new carpets put in which wasn’t going to be the case. Found this very sloppy. The garden looked immaculate in the photos yet when I got to the property it was overgrown and the shed had been removed due to rotting. I drove all the way down to view a property only to be told afterwards that the landlord didn’t want to accept my offer based on my financial situation. Surely financial situation which the agency was aware of prior to me viewing should have been discussed with the landlord rather than wasting tenants time and showing them around the property if you don’t stand a chance of getting the property? Is that not what the tenant questionnaire is for after all? I have never had a problem renting before or securing more expensive properties but according to this agency your savings aren’t considered? Would personally avoid as they don’t mind wasting prospective tenants time and advertise properties wrong.

We are tenants in a property managed by Martin & Co Colchester. In the 3+ years we have been in the property, we have had numerous serious maintenance issues. In most instances, it has taken weeks and sometimes several months for the repairs to take place. At present we have a significant leak from our upstairs bathroom which has caused major damage to the ceiling in the lounge. This is also preventing us from being able to use the bath/shower in our family bathroom. The fence in our back garden is falling down and we have numerous broken planks in our decking in the garden. We had a new back door fitted to the property several months ago after waiting several months for a replacement. It had to be replaced as the previous one could no longer close/lock which caused security issues. The new door is the wrong size and does not function properly. Martin & Co have been notified of these issues as soon as they occur, but are very slow to respond. We have had to phone and email regarding issues repeatedly to get any response. Yesterday (and again today as we had no reply to our email), we notified Martin & Co that the oven has stopped functioning. Their reply was that they would arrange for an engineer to come out to look at it, but it might not be until next week. They said that there was no guarantee that this could take place before Christmas. We are good tenants who have always paid our rent in full and on time. We believe that as we pay £1480 per month in rent, we should be entitled to have a house in good order and repairs should take place promptly as a priority. Very dissatisfied with our experience with Martin & Co.NegativeResponsiveness, Value

Colchester branch run by children. Would give a zero if I could. Poor communication, mentioned issues during tenancy and had poor response, some emails ignored. Billie head of sales and lettings has zero communication skills. No idea how he obtained that role. Never responds to emails. Tried to air my issues with deposit deductions that were proposed without anyone asking if I would be attending or sending on a checkout list but responsed with generic policy and procedure answers that I could have received from a robot. Not had a good experience with anyone here. They just want the rent money and they will deduct what they can from it on leaving. If you can avoid using I would. I've rented for 15years and I'd say these are the worst agency I've dealt with. Unprofessional!!!!

The worst estate agents. So unhelpful & useless - do not bother with lettings

If I could put 0 stars I would. Absolutely outrageous experience and I haven’t even been to view a property yet. As someone who used to work in the lettings industry, and used the same referencing agency as Martin & Co I know exactly what the requirements to pass referencing are. My partner called their office to book a viewing, to be told we cannot view because there is no parking and we have a car. Now I can understand the reasons behind this decision, as it would be a waste of time, HOWEVER, they didn’t give her a chance to explain we already had parking and told her to “come back when we had sorted it”. I then called the office, to then find out it was actually because they had decided we didn’t meet their affordability criteria, 30 times the rent as per homelet, so £21,750 per year. My partner has earned well above this already this year and it isn’t even the end of the tax year! I spoke with a lady called Corrine, who made me feel extremely patronised, and was just down right rude, not even an inch of sales in her voice and she works in a sales office, laughable really. Both my partner and I felt like we were brushed aside because they have their sights set on a more “ideal” tenant. No wonder they are absolutely nowhere near their close competition in the market. Terrible terrible terrible.