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1.00 /5

Incompetence doesn't even come close. Thanks to appalling customer service myself and my four fellow housemates were within six hours of being homeless. Martin and Co have put me off moving for life. If I could give them a worse 'star rating' I would. It took nine and a half weeks to go from our initial email saying we would like to sign for the house to actually signing the contract. Countless unreturned phone calls and emails sent from all five of us. Not only were they hopelessly bad at returning calls and emails but they were rude and obnoxious when they did reply. After failing a guarantor check we were shocked that all we received was a one sentence email explaining the problem: "I’m afraid that the referencing for x & her guarantor has come back as a fail on the affordability side of the report. I cannot now proceed with either the tenant or the guarantor." There was no word of what to do next or an apology just a simple, rude email. Further to this once we all did sign (a day before we were due to move in) we received no email or phone call thanking us for signing. Nothing. Genuinely the worst customer service I have ever had the displeasure to witness. Please do not trust these people.

review by David Lewis

Reply from agent

Dear David, Thank you for your review and thank you for visiting the office recently to discuss this. As we have explained to you and your fellow housemates, the tenant swap procedure that you are referring to did indeed take longer than ever anticipated however this was through no fault on our part. Due to the inaccuracies from your fellow housemates regarding guarantors we encountered issues that could have been otherwise avoided. As you are aware the summer season is extremely busy for letting agents, so whilst we are sorry we that at times we were unable to respond to every telephone call received from your party, it is wholly inaccurate to suggest incompetence in this matter and certainly not when it is borne out of frustration with the process we follow. It is equally inaccurate to suggest a lack of trust would exist in this case. Time consuming it might have been but the swap was completed successfully. We follow this process to ensure the swap is done properly and that our client is completely protected at all times. It is fair to say that the process involved in tenant swap is not overly straight forward and it absolutely becomes more time consuming when more that one person is involved in the swap, such as in the case of New Cross Road. Clearly it is and has never been our intention to delay matters as we are equally as keen to brings things to a satisfactory conclusion as quickly as possible. This is not always possible. We wish you all well with the remainder of your tenancy. Kind Regards Martin & Co Oxford

1.00 /5

Incompetence doesn't even come close. Thanks to appalling customer service myself and my four fellow housemates were within six hours of being homeless. Martin and Co have put me off moving for life. If I could give them a worse 'star rating' I would. It took nine and a half weeks to go from our initial email saying we would like to sign for the house to actually signing the contract. Countless unreturned phone calls and emails sent from all five of us. Not only were they hopelessly bad at returning calls and emails but they were rude and obnoxious when they did reply. After failing a guarantor check we were shocked that all we received was a one sentence email explaining the problem: "I’m afraid that the referencing for x & her guarantor has come back as a fail on the affordability side of the report. I cannot now proceed with either the tenant or the guarantor." There was no word of what to do next or an apology just a simple, rude email. Further to this once we all did sign (a day before we were due to move in) we received no email or phone call thanking us for signing. Nothing. Genuinely the worst customer service I have ever had the displeasure to witness. Please do not trust these people.

review by David Lewis

Reply from agent

Dear David, Thank you for your review and thank you for visiting the office recently to discuss this. As we have explained to you and your fellow housemates, the tenant swap procedure that you are referring to did indeed take longer than ever anticipated however this was through no fault on our part. Due to the inaccuracies from your fellow housemates regarding guarantors we encountered issues that could have been otherwise avoided. As you are aware the summer season is extremely busy for letting agents, so whilst we are sorry we that at times we were unable to respond to every telephone call received from your party, it is wholly inaccurate to suggest incompetence in this matter and certainly not when it is borne out of frustration with the process we follow. It is equally inaccurate to suggest a lack of trust would exist in this case. Time consuming it might have been but the swap was completed successfully. We follow this process to ensure the swap is done properly and that our client is completely protected at all times. It is fair to say that the process involved in tenant swap is not overly straight forward and it absolutely becomes more time consuming when more that one person is involved in the swap, such as in the case of New Cross Road. Clearly it is and has never been our intention to delay matters as we are equally as keen to brings things to a satisfactory conclusion as quickly as possible. This is not always possible. We wish you all well with the remainder of your tenancy. Kind Regards Martin & Co Oxford

1.00 /5

Helpful and friendly while they're getting you to sign up to the initial contract, but terrible service following on from that. We've had a tenancy with Martin & Co for the past 2 years and the bullying tactics they use at renewal time are disgraceful. They are generally unhelpful, unfriendly, and don't reply to emails. At one point they readvertised the property after we'd agreed to renew the contract and didn't bother to warn us that this was happening – the first we heard was when we got 24 hours notice that a viewing was going to take place, over the weekend.

review by Ryan Brooks

Reply from agent

Hello Ryan, Many thanks for your review. Clearly it is never our intention or desire to want to re-market property when a tenant expresses a desire to stay in the property, however from the letter sent to you dated 5th August 2015 it makes our process very clear in writing. I also note emails sent to you chasing your potential renewal for a decision from your property manager Lily. Wording on the letter to you as follows: 'If we have not received the agreement by this stage we will automatically begin re-marketing on our landlords instructions. This may lead to property viewings and the landlord potentially considering other offers from new applicants.' Clearly I am sorry that this may have come at a shock to you and as stated it is always our intention to renew to good tenants that indicate a desire to stay. In this case and as per our strict guidelines for renewal and from our landlords instruction we reached a point where the property had to be re-marketed to ensure minimum risk to our client. Until we are in receipt of your firm intentions, along with a signed tenancy agreement, the potential risk of a void period will always remain. This is what we must guard against. I am of course now very glad to see that your renewal has been completed and wish you all the best during your tenancy term. Best regards Richard

1.00 /5

Unfortunately I happened to have terrible experience with Martin Co. Initially before signing the contract the agents were eager to help with my property search and soon I chose a suitable flat. The flat required some maintenance (The showers/baths had incredibly unpleasant stains) and cleaning of the outer balcony, I was assured that these issues would be fixed ASAP and as a result made a decision to sign the contract. As soon as I became the tenant the agency completely lost interest in the situation and kept responding that the things will be fixed in the near future. So far almost three months have passed with no sign of improvement. As a result of the above I cannot recommend Martin Co and would suggest to seek other agents. I will happy to provide additional info to those interested.

review by Stan Sokol

Reply from agent

Dear Stan, Thank you for your recent review. As you outline above, the pre tenancy details were confirmed by your landlord prior to your tenancy commencing but unfortunately he did not fulfill these before you moved in. We do not have authorisation to instruct contractors to carry out these works without having confirmation from the landlord. We have asked contractors to attend and quote for the requested works but due to the nature of the external clean where you cannot get a van near to the premises with an external supply of water the job is proving quite specialist. We have also been in contact with the block management to see if there is an external tap to run a water supply from but we are yet to hear back. We do understand that it is frustrating that your problems seem unsolved but please be assured we are working on this issue to try and get it resolved ASAP. Kind regards, Martin and Co

1.00 /5

Helpful and friendly while they're getting you to sign up to the initial contract, but terrible service following on from that. We've had a tenancy with Martin & Co for the past 2 years and the bullying tactics they use at renewal time are disgraceful. They are generally unhelpful, unfriendly, and don't reply to emails. At one point they readvertised the property after we'd agreed to renew the contract and didn't bother to warn us that this was happening – the first we heard was when we got 24 hours notice that a viewing was going to take place, over the weekend.

review by Ryan Brooks

Reply from agent

Hello Ryan, Many thanks for your review. Clearly it is never our intention or desire to want to re-market property when a tenant expresses a desire to stay in the property, however from the letter sent to you dated 5th August 2015 it makes our process very clear in writing. I also note emails sent to you chasing your potential renewal for a decision from your property manager Lily. Wording on the letter to you as follows: 'If we have not received the agreement by this stage we will automatically begin re-marketing on our landlords instructions. This may lead to property viewings and the landlord potentially considering other offers from new applicants.' Clearly I am sorry that this may have come at a shock to you and as stated it is always our intention to renew to good tenants that indicate a desire to stay. In this case and as per our strict guidelines for renewal and from our landlords instruction we reached a point where the property had to be re-marketed to ensure minimum risk to our client. Until we are in receipt of your firm intentions, along with a signed tenancy agreement, the potential risk of a void period will always remain. This is what we must guard against. I am of course now very glad to see that your renewal has been completed and wish you all the best during your tenancy term. Best regards Richard

1.00 /5

I rented a flat with Martin & Co rently recently. Their service is very bad, and they try to find any reason to charge you when you move out or renew the contract. Definitely, I would not recommend this agent to my friend.

review by X Jin

Martin & Co Oxford

Martin & Co Oxford

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