Start of tenancy: We are new tenants with Manning Stainton. We had mainly dealt with Jan during the viewings, Kimberley/John during the referencing process and Kay during the key collection. I found Jan to be very lovely and friendly during ALL our viewings with Manning Stainton. She was very accommodating and even made us laugh! Kimberley and John were really helpful, clear & prompt with their responses during the referencing process; which made made me feel at ease. Five stars! During tenancy: We have been living at the flat for almost 3 years. We have ongoing maintenance issues not sorted, they arrange irregular inspections, they initially screwed up registering our deposits and the property managers who were supposed to care for us during this time have horrific terrible communication between them so far. End of tenancy: The landlord had tried to take my whole deposit for damages in my flat when I decided to leave. Being lucky enough to have experience with the DPS system and having evidence (photos & videos) sent to the managing agent & DPS of all the repairs that had not been sorted throughout my tenancy, I had fought my case against this and had managed to get back 2/3 of my deposit. Given I had tenanted the flat for 5-6 years there were naturally some damages which I put some of my own money towards from the deposit. Overall, manning Stainton weren’t good at looking after the flat in general. Poor communication with the tenant and amongst themselves, also not efficient enough when carrying out any repairs to the flat.

5 attempts to organise a viewing, over 4 days with repeated promises to get back with confirmation. After I had to chase i eventually have the displeasure of talking to “Rupert”. One of the most arrogant and sleazy sounding estate agents I have ever spoken to. He made excuses in a tone of voice I would expect from an SS Officer. I will not use this estate agent ever again and recommend you do the same.

Not good at all, phoned twice to view a property and never received a call back, very poor service.

AVOID. Specifically avoid Suzanne Moss who is a partner at Fine and Country East Horsley & Surrey Hills. Firstly, she is an extremely pushy sales agent who came up with a story about Russian billionaires being ready to take on a rental property if I didn't go ahead with her proposed deal (the deal was nothing special and even involved all rental monies being paid upfront). Secondly, when things don't go her way (in my case due to me pulling out of a deal unsigned by the landlord) she will threaten you, consistently and persistently. She complained as she was very upset as she had 'the Russians' ready to move in but furthermore she was unprofessional to the point of making legal threats to myself and my financé. She stated that the landlord of the property in question was the former owner of Purple Bricks, an online estate agency and she stated he was a 'very powerful and rich person' and that they would be looking to cause me significant legal issues should I not go ahead with the deal. The main reason I pulled out of the deal was due to Suzanne's pushiness and not being happy with some areas of the property as well as the deal itself. Generally, your holding deposit will be slashed (I already paid ~£2.5k deposit) and made my offer in good faith. I didn't once asked about my deposit as I understand estate agencies have costs in terms of listing and viewings (for the record the property was never taken off the market as promised and is still listed till now). But no - this estate agency and specifically Suzi Moss is exactly what you wish to avoid if you want to have a smooth and pleasurable experience when it comes to a stressful time such as moving home. Suzanne has caused considerable stress and inconvenience with the tone of language, pushy behaviour and sales tactics as well legal threats made to me as well.

The worst agency I ever dealt with

Completely unprofessional. A nearby property went up for rent and they put a friend of theirs in it before even putting the information on the website. Landlord was never even given the chance to consider other tenants and see if they would make a better offer. Moreover they were happy to waste my time for over a week pretending that they were just too busy to arrange a viewing. They found lying and stringing me along easier than admitting that there was no chance I was even going to view the inside of it. Don't waste your time with these crooks, look elsewhere. Update/ Response: Please see their response below that confirms in their own words my story that they arranged to have a person with whom they had a pre-existing relationship installed into the property before bringing it to the open market, and notice how they do not deny at any time that they pretended there was a chance I could arrange a viewing regardless. Potential tenants! Take Note; these people will waste your time. Further, please notice how despite leaving an anonymous review of the business, they have chosen to use my name in their response in an attempt to intimidate me into removing or altering this review. They know my name only because I provided it to them for the express purposes of arranging viewings of properties, as a company this makes them a data controller of my personally identifiable information. They have chosen to make this information public for a purpose that did not have my express consent and this is a breach of GDPR. Ask yourself as perspective clients of this company if it is worse that such is done from malice or sheer incompetence. Personally I will be seeking legal advice on escalating this matter if my name is not removed within 48 hours.

Steer clear of this so called letting agent. All we had was lies for nearly 5 years. The worst experience I had was with a director called Richard Hall which I had to insist he left the premises after the way he spoke to my partner then surprise surprise an eviction notice was given to my 12 year old daughter in an open envelope two weeks later. I'm surprised Richard Hall can direct himself home at night. I'm sure they will respond to my honest review with more lies. STEER CLEAR. update to your response, why would the landlord move back in when he lives next door and I've not seen any for sale adverts for the property. You have just proven you tell lies. my advice to anyone steer clear and i suggest searching the one star reviews before doing anything. Yet another update as the house has now gone up for sale on elm dale road, so much for the landlord moving into it MR L&A LETTINGS. Please anyone thinking of using this so called letting agent DONT just save yourself as these idiots nearly put me and my family on the street over Christmas. oh not forgot about you MR HALL.....

If they treat their tenants the way they treat their prospective tenants then we’ve dodged a bullet. Lied to me on the phone and then never called us back. Previously offered callbacks never upheld. Shockingly ran, and from speaking to other people in the Whitley Bay area they’ve had similar experiences. Steer clear.

Wanted to charge £100 just to value the house! Hanging the charges in nice and early! why use them when others will do it for free?