I visited this real estate agency in Kingston looking to rent an apartment and was assisted by Alfie from the rentals department. Unfortunately, his attitude was dismissive, condescending, and unprofessional. Instead of providing helpful information, he made me feel unwelcome and looked down on me as a potential client. This kind of behavior reflects very poorly on the agency and is not what anyone expects when actively looking to rent a property. Based on this experience, I would think twice before doing business here.

DO NOT RENT A PROPERTY WITH MANSONS IF YOU ARE A STUDENT! As a house of four students living in Jesmond this year, we had an extremely poor experience with Mansons. When we collected the keys in August 2024, we immediately complained via email about the property’s cleanliness, as it was not in a satisfactory condition for move-in. This complaint was completely ignored. Throughout our tenancy, we had a recurring drainage issue with the shower. Despite raising this multiple times, Mansons failed to resolve it properly. The problem eventually became so severe that water leaked into the kitchen, creating a serious risk of the ceiling collapsing. We were repeatedly misinformed about when contractors would attend, often missing lectures and waiting at the property all day to no avail. When repairs finally took place, we were left without a working shower for over a week and forced to live in a dusty, loud, and unfinished environment in both the bathroom and kitchen. As this was the only shower in the property, some tenants had no choice but to temporarily move out just to properly wash. At the end of our tenancy, we faced further issues with the return of our deposits. A professional deep clean had been carried out prior to check-out, leaving the property cleaner than when we arrived (which was particularly frustrating). The pre check-out inspector even told us it was the cleanest he had seen the property, giving us a false sense of security that there was no major issues. Yet, in the post check-out inspection, a number of alleged “cleaning issues” suddenly appeared, resulting in significant and entirely unjustified deductions. When we raised this with Debbie, who was handling the deposit return, she claimed the inspector never said this, and if he did, it was because he was unfamiliar with the property. This felt like we were being misled and taken advantage of as students, paying full rent for a property that had already caused repeated disruption and stress. The contradictions between the pre and post check-out inspections, coupled with the misleading explanations from Mansons, made the deposit process feel like an unfair attempt to recoup money from students. Debbie’s communication throughout was dismissive, unhelpful, and often untruthful. She showed no understanding or empathy for the numerous issues we faced and never offered an apology. At one point, she even denied that we had ever complained about the lack of shower facilities, the leaking kitchen ceiling, or the dust and building noise throughout the house during the works carried out! If you are a student renting with Mansons, take photos of everything, record all phone calls, and keep detailed notes of every interaction; otherwise, any evidence may be disregarded. For example, our email complaint in August 2024 listing issues of the properties cleanliness was disregarded because we didn't provide specific photos. Overall, our experience with Mansons was unprofessional, negligent, and completely lacking in any kind of accountability. We strongly advise any students considering renting in Jesmond to avoid Mansons entirely!!

AVOID *** Terrible experience as students and we completely feel as though we have been taken advantage of! Communication was always unhelpful and maintenance issues always took months to be resolved. Full deposit was never returned as they stated it was left unclean even though the inspector stated it was in the best condition he had seen. Make sure to take thorough photos of the property’s condition/ cleanliness when you move in — if you don’t, like us, they’ll use it against you at the end of the tenancy. They quite frankly try to make money out of you as and where they can.

Very dodgy company, they avoiding repairs in their overpriced and mouldy properties , contact you only when they are benefiting from it and worse part they playing up when comes to return YOUR deposit money. Avoid if you respect your money, time and health

I was a tenant via this letting agency for 18 months, while waiting to buy a new home, and had a series of negative experiences. 1) The home I rented was in poor condition throughout. 2) The garden was overgrown and it was my responsibility to address upon moving in. 3) When I raised an issue with poor ventilation leading to mould in the bathroom, I was asked if I could just 'live with it' (despite pointing out I had two young children). 4) A leaking roof took 2 months to repair. 5) A dryer took 2 months to replace. 6) It would take weeks for Dobson's to reply to e-mails, yet harassing e-mails for rent would be received several days before it was due (despite the fact my direct debit was always scheduled for the same time every single month) 7) When I attempted to serve notice at the end of my tenancy, an attempt was made to 'haggle' me into staying longer. 8) Following moving out, the estate agent retains £1230 of my deposit and has failed to even reply to requests for its return. Overall, I would strongly avoid using Dobson's.

I had a very bad experience on February 2022. After agreeing a property I paid the deposit and advance they refused to give the property and to refund the amount I had to fight to get it back....

I encourage all tenants to familiarise themselves with their legal rights. Always request written documentation, keep a record of all communications, and do not hesitate to seek advice if something feels unfair or poorly handled. Your peace of mind and well-being matter.

THIS COMPANY IS A SCAM. Be careful. They are extremely unprofessional and biased. The way they operate is by doing a superficial check in report and the check out report they try point out as much as they can, even making up topics that are not true and were not reported in the check in. You should have your photos and videos as back up proof, because they will try to take your money as much as they can.