Landlord tried to claim for damage that was recorded in agent's check-in report. Agent showed no effort to stop it. Had to enter into an dispute with them on DPS. I won. Rediculously obvious mistake.
If you're looking for a property to rent I wouldn't ever recommend Martin and Co. The Negotiators are great at finding you somewhere and doing the viewing and move in, but the property managers are very bad and just don't care, took over a … More
We rented a property from them for the last 3 years. Besides the long and expensive referencing procedure the tenancy was good. Most problems were attended to and fixed fairly promptly. Throughout the tenancy we did have a damp problem in the top two bedrooms - they made no effort to fix it, providing two dehumidifiers and asked us to use them daily. Prior to departure we cleaned the house thoroughly, following this an external company which they used to survey the property stated that the property needed to be cleaned professionally. The landlord then attempted to take part of our deposit. As the agency did not take an inventory there was no proof of the initial condition. Luckily the deposit was stored in the DPS and we were able to get it back 4 months after leaving the tenancy.
We rented a property from them for the last 3 years. Besides the long and expensive referencing procedure the tenancy was good. Most problems were attended to and fixed fairly promptly. Throughout the tenancy we did have a damp problem in the top two bedrooms - they made no effort to fix it, providing two dehumidifiers and asked us to use them daily. Prior to departure we cleaned the house thoroughly, following this an external company which they used to survey the property stated that the property needed to be cleaned professionally. The landlord then attempted to take part of our deposit. As the agency did not take an inventory there was no proof of the initial condition. Luckily the deposit was stored in the DPS and we were able to get it back 4 months after leaving the tenancy.
Having lived at 168 Citadel Road under the stewardship of Martin and Co, where the landlord is a director of Martin and Co, I can confirm that they are the worst
Do not be fooled by the good reviews. If 0 stars was an option that’s what they’d be getting. If you are looking to rent a sub standard property, then not get your deposit back at the end of the tenancy then this is definitely the agent for you. Whilst it all starts off nicely, after you view a property and agree to take it, that is when the promises start being broken. Moved into a property with mould and damp after having been promised a complete redecoration by the person that showed me round. Never happened. Then a professional clean. Never happened. After a few months most bits were sorted however mould remained after more and more leaks and did so until 1 week before I moved out. A year later. Then trying to get a response to get my deposit back was like pulling teeth, and is still outstanding despite the property being in far better condition now than when I moved in. Apparently can’t get confirmation from the landlord to release the deposit even though they have re-let this substandard property to some other poor tenant who will inherit the damp and mould problems with the house. Communication is shockingly bad, their property management department take ages to come back to any form of enquiry and trying to get essential repairs done took weeks and in some cases went on for months. I’m sure however if I decided not to pay the rent they’d have been in contact straight away. Would advise based on personal experience using any letting agent other than them. A terrible customer experience every step of the way that could easily have been avoided with better communication and fulfilling promises
They never respond to your enquiries about properties. 5 times I've been ignored now. Very unprofessional.
Not usually one to leave bad reviews, however my experience with this agent has left me very disappointed. I left a rented property 26/01 and only received my deposit back today (22/03) 8 weeks later. Communication from the agents and landlord was terrible. I would only receive updates when I chased on email/phone and no one else was willing to help in the absence of the agent we had. Never once did i get an update without chasing. I received an end of tenancy assessment dated 29/01 which wasn’t sent to me until 22/02. This advised all areas were in good condition and clean. However on 11/03, I was told that the report was wrong and I will be charged for a clean! The new tenants had been in the property for a month by this point! I was given false promise after false promise of when it would be resolved. I was told the following at least 4 times “I’m chasing the landlord, this will be resolved today, I’ll update you later”. This never happened once. I received my deposit back on the day that I would’ve been able to file a complaint via ombudsman which seems a funny coincidence. I will definitely avoid using the services of agency in future.
I would rather get an STD than have to deal with Martin & Co again. Edit: In response to the managing director who takes their time to respond to all the one star reviews but not to someone who wants to 'genuinely' speak about their 'experience' with Martin & Co... because, I did try, but, unfortunately, I was told on numerous occasions that they were not available to speak... perhaps because they were too busy replying to the one star google reviews. I'm not sure of why that you know the letting staff are practising safe sex(???!!!) but I would suggest that you should be as concerned with their terrible business practices, which you can read about if you click the 'lowest' button in Google reviews... which you definitely have done because it's literally the only place I've ever seen your input in.
27 Mutley Plain, Plymouth, Devon, PL4 6JG, PL4
Website:
http://martinco.comHere at Martin & Co Plymouth we provide Sales, Lettings and Investments. We offer the advantages of being an independent, family run business, whilst being part of the big national Martin & Co franchise and all the support it brings. Directors, Chris and Merolyn, have been landlords themselves for many years and look to be the agents they have always aspired to find themselves - reliable, efficient and trustworthy. With competitive rates, great customer service and real integrity, we like to think we're not just your average agent.