Our house finally sold! There were a few mix ups and I'm not sure if PB were at fault of if it was just one of those things. At first we found Karen impossible to get hold of - whenever we phoned, she would be "in a meeting - out of the office - on another call" etc etc. It started to feel like this was the stock answer for anyone who phoned for her! However once we realised that she preferred to do business via email she was very efficient...keeping us up to date an emailing at any hour and even on her day off!

Whereas they did manage to get potential buyers through the door at the point of valuation I was told I would not have to do any viewings. This lasted a week and then I had no choice but to show the couple who turned out bought our house around. This wasn't what I had paid for but as we needed to sell I had very little choice. Karen was attentive and understanding I felt she was working for our buyer and not us which was disappointing.

Disappointing

After Preston Baker took over Bairstow Eves, the service from the lettings team was pretty good. As a landlord I would be kept updated, payments were on time and correct, and I felt they were providing a good service. Unfortunately since then the quality has steadily decreased. Communication became poor, even when I was promised an update, payments had mistakes in them (including one time not paying a rent increase) and I was having to do more and more myself. I have since moved my property portfolio to a competitor, and am enjoying a much better service for the same cost.

Do Yourself a favour,.... steer clear of Preston and Baker, York, with the exception of Helen who did try her level best to bring our sale to a favourable conclusion , they are by far the worst Estate Agents we have ever had to deal with in York... Our house sale was stressful and not made any easier or helped by staff that simply did not have the clients intrest at heart and could not even communicate with each other confidently.... They were happy to pass the blame on their collegues at the drop of a hat , Truly shameful agency. Even though we raised concerns via Telephoning /emails we received no apoligies or even a reply from the branch Manager, truly dreadful experience....

Rating as a buyer.... Arranging a viewing and pre-purchase sale discussion was good (Angela from memory). Once the purchase was transferred to a sale negotiator, I felt that the lady who did deal with the purchase was not interested and she came across as rude on more than one occasions. As part of my job, i do deal with a number of estate agents and i do feel that the one lady who was the only person i could speak to made me not want to buy through them again. If i have had known what i know now, i would have selected another agent as the property was listed with two different agents. We had a strict time scale and at no point was i given updates when the seller had issues. This was a purchase under another persons name ("JC") as we did this as part of my family business and if this had been my dream home or a first time purchase, i would have been upset. Cannot rate as 1 star as everyone pre-sale was really good, it's just a shame that one person can spoil an entire property purchase. It's a shame i had to leave feedback as i was not given any other way to ask how the sale went.

As a tenant I would not recommend Preston Baker at all. They are very bad at returning your deposit. So if you are leaving property soon don't even bother to clean it or getting it cleaned by any professional as they are definitely going to deduct money from your deposit. Tried buying housing through them and again it was a disappointment. Lowest level of customer services.

Avoid Stirling Ackroyd London Bridge if you are renting. Our tenancy went relatively smoothly, but the real issues started when it came time to return our deposit. The agency tried to charge us for an issue that was not mentioned in the check-out report. When we asked for the check-in inventory to compare the property's condition, they admitted they no longer had it and were unable to provide it. Despite having no evidence in the check out report, no check-in report, and no invoice, they still asked us to pay. After weeks of chasing with no proper response, we were forced to open a formal deposit dispute. It has now been three months, and the agency has simply gone silent. They have not even responded to the dispute process. The lack of documentation, transparency, and communication is extremely concerning. Asking tenants to pay for damages without evidence or invoices is unacceptable. If you rent through them, be prepared for serious issues when it comes to getting your deposit back.

Worst agency in the UK. If I were you - I would stay away. Following a flood, we were thrown in the streets by the agency with no where to go. They refused to provide any alternative accommodation for us and refused to call us even though we reached out to several numbers, including the manager of the agent we were dealing with, the reception and head office. After telling us to book our own accommodation, they refused to reimburse us for the costs incurred even though we followed their instruction. It is now the weekend, we have nowhere to go as we cannot afford to keep paying for hotels, the agency refused to call us and told us we would have to figure out our own situation going forward. I have never come across such greedy, unprofessional and incompetent service. This company should not be allowed to be in business. We have reported them to the relevant redress scheme and taken legal action, which we are confident will be positive news. However, as a precaution, do not use their services for safety reasons. They do not follow the law. The complains teams have told us they will get back to us in 3 weeks time so you cannot even reach out to them. This has costs us thousands and not to mention the mental burden. Stay away