Saw a property come on rightmove on 7 Jan and sent a communication about it on 8/1 no response for a viewing so rang late on 9/1 and a lady took my details to pass on and said someone would ring me next day, no contact so on 12/1 I sent another rightmove enquiry, later on that day after hearing nothing I rang and spoke to a member of staff who after quite a strained call said someone had tried to call me but, as I advised, I checked my call history prior to ringing and nothing. Subsequently I missed the opportunity to view and purchase this property due to this whole scenario. I am extremely disappointed with this total lack of communication after a total of 4 attempts on my part.

I was genuinely interested in purchasing a property and had almost 40% of the deposit saved, with a full-time job, side gig as an Uber driver, and a small business. Additionally, I had an AIP (Agreement in Principle) from Barclays of £99k. However, my experience with this agency was extremely disappointing. I felt as though I was treated as though I was wasting their time. They didn’t ask for any details or attempt to understand my situation; instead, they repeatedly requested my name and contact information, promising a callback that never came. Despite my efforts to reach out the following day, my calls went unanswered. I can’t help but wonder if this treatment was related to my age, which is a shame as I was serious and financially prepared.

Poor communication / dishonesty. Semi salvaged by branch manager Lee. Inaccurate information has been given to me from start to finish by various staff members. E.g. “vendor will take £350k” the next day “vendor won’t entertain any offers below £360k”. A lack of communication is also an issue. Offers were made with no feedback until I called the branch. After my latest offer was seemingly ignored by the branch, I wrote a review on trust pilot. Branch manager Lee called me to discuss (which was good of him). He took the time to inform me that the house wasn’t advertised £100k over the market value to deceive people (see previous review) it was actually to test the market. This insight was very useful in understanding how MS operate). Eventually he did inform me that my offer wasn’t accepted and that the vendor was in receipt of significantly higher offers. Whilst not ideal, at least I now know where I stand, as previously the staff member had advised me that my offer of £330k was good as It’s cash. I would have gone higher and not wasted anyone’s time had I known the vendor was sitting on a better offer. Regardless, I now know the best way to get hold of MS is via these means. Still interested in the property.

These are the type of properties that Sarah mains let their tenets stay in

I had an extremely poor experience selling my property through Xact Homes. The buyer delayed the process for months, and it only later became clear they were waiting to qualify for a Lifetime ISA bonus. This was never disclosed upfront, and I believe the agents were aware but chose not to be transparent. Despite repeated red flags, I was told the delays were “normal”. Xact continued booking unnecessary viewings with the same buyer and showed little interest in protecting my position as their client. When the buyer finally admitted the real reason for delaying, they then dropped their offer by £25,000 during the quiet Christmas period — just before exchange — leaving me in a very difficult position after months of having the property off the market. Communication was equally disappointing. Roz in particular was abrupt, constantly interrupted, and spoke in a condescending, dismissive tone. She showed no empathy and made an already stressful situation much worse. I understand that some buyers can be difficult, but Xact’s failure to properly vet the buyer or manage the process made things far worse. At no point did I feel supported or represented. I would not recommend Xact Homes to any seller looking for a professional or trustworthy estate agent.

The software works fine but be very aware of the small print. We signed for a 3 year agreement and when signing via docusign, they do not include the t&c's in the docu-sign documents or in any correspondence between initial enquiry and signing of the contract but then send it via email after everything is signed. Towards the end of 3 year term, you have to serve 3 months notice or the contract auto-renews for another year! During the whole 3 year term we not approached once to say we were coming to the end of the contract and then suddenly we were provided with an invoice for the additional year, no words in the email, just here is the invoice. We wanted to switch to another supplier but when we contacted them they stated they 'had contacted us' by sending us generic 'how are we doing' surveys. In one exchange it was stated 'as there was no indication that you were unhappy with service it is fair for us to assume you were happy to stay with us', which is so far removed from decent customer service it is laughable. Yes, putting an auto-renewal for a year on the back of a 3 year term, not reminding customers that the renewal is coming up and sending an invoice without any prior contact is within the law but certainly not acting in good faith and completely underhanded. Please scroll through the 5-star reviews which are aimed at individual staff members and take a read of the numerous 1 star reviews about the company itself and their aggressive terms.

We had a disappointing experience with this estate agent. We placed an offer £14,950 (3.4%) below the asking price, which was a reasonable move given our situation. However, the response we received was unprofessional and dismissive. They …

The software itself is quick and easy to use. A 3 year contract requirement is far too long a commitment. Particularly for new companies with no knowledge of whether they'll even be trading in 3 years. They allow notice to be served for a 1 year exit, so long as you remember to give that notice by the expiry of the 9th month. If you are 1 day out, you have to pay for an additional 27 months (in my case, had I not remembered to give notice would have cost me an extra £2500) Having to guess how many credits will be required providing a non transparent pricing strategy making companies gamble on spend and credits with no ability for a refund or rollover if unused at the end of the year. Poor customer service, emails not responded to, delays for calls to be returned, multiple staff changes in the 9 months I have been with them making for lines of communication to be fractured causing delay and frustration in the day to day running of a business. Called at 5:02pm once and was unable to reach anyone or leave a voicemail. Nowhere online or by voicemail are opening hours stated. Terms and conditions changed without warning by pop up when using the services one day. Changing to a flexible charging arrangement whereby the costs can change at any time "to meet inflationary costs etc etc". Confusing wording, when I asked for clarity on the new terms, I was simply sent a copy of the terms which I needed help understanding in the first place which was unhelpful. On my welcome call I was advised that if I used up all my AML credits, I would able to top them up to see me through the year. It was a very different story then, when they were looking to secure my business, as I now find myself in a situation where I have used all my credits but as I have given my notice in, it would appear as an act of spite, they are now requesting a minimum spend of £524 for just 6 weeks extension. This is a clear change of position from what I had been told and continues the lack of consistency and professionalism which I have been subject to at various points through this working relationship. I will be taking my business to Hipla who provide the same service, included via my Propertymark Company Advantage membership, I just hope others think twice before engaging with Smart Search or have remembered to give notice before the expiry of the 9th month of their agreement. I am also making a formal complaint to the recognised trade body to ensure future customers are treated consistently and fairly.

stop cold calling me