100% lettings valuation accuracy
91% lettings fee satisfaction
Aug 25,2014
Aug 25,2014
4
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This review is long overdue but I felt it is vital i posted this so that you can avoid this so-called Estate Agent as well the incompetent Lettings Negotiator we dealt with.
We received an absolutely appalling service from the Lettings Negotiator, Sarah Edwards. Please see a copy of the complaint letter I sent to Benham & Reeves below:
"The process of going from offer to agreement was horrendous and we were constantly battling with Sarah Edwards' questionable tactics and uncommunicative manner. We viewed the flat on Monday 2 September and made it clear to Sarah we needed to move in by the following Saturday. She was slow at relaying our offer, rude on the phone, and failed to respond to emails and messages. She eventually said the landlord agreed to our revised offer and associated conditions but by this point we had made alternative arrangements for the weekend and changed our offer conditions to require a move-in date of 11 September. Sarah relayed that this was acceptable to the landlord and the referencing process commenced.
Despite wanting to get the tenancy agreement signed by the Friday - enabling us to make appropriate arrangements for the move the following week - Sarah showed no sense of urgency. She promised the agreement on Friday and then, when it failed to turn up, we were told not to worry as it would be sent on Saturday. Needless to say this was also a lie, as Sarah wasn't even working that Saturday. We even chased the referencing company and made sure everything was in order so that the agreement could be sent on Friday; effort that was made all for no reason.
The agreement was eventually sent on the Monday, however, we noticed that Sarah craftily and sneakingly changed the tenancy start date to 10 September (even though we had made clear - on multiple occasions - that our required move-in date was 11 September) without telling us (presumably hoping this would go un-noticed and to get an extra day's rent).
We agreed - as a gesture of goodwill - to sign the agreement, because we had given up communicating with Sarah and knew that we would have to wait days for a revised agreement to be sent out. A clever tactic and I hope not one your business employs regularly. After this, once again, Sarah constantly failed to respond to phone calls and email enquiries and arranged a check-in for 3pm on 11 September despite us making clear we required an appointment in the morning. She had days to organise this so I fail to accept that no appointments were available, it's crystal clear she left it until the day before and that's why it was booked up.
Upon moving in (one day later than the tenancy start date) the check-in agent was shocked at the poor quality of the flat clean and said we should call the agency and get the cleaners back out. Yet another inconvenience and indicative of your poor service that you can't even arrange a new-tenancy clean properly.
One very simple condition of our offer was that headboards for the two beds be provided prior to our move-in date. Not a particularly complex request and one that was explicitly agreed by the landlord. Sarah failed on this, and her service following our move-in has been absolutely shocking.
I contacted her on the move-in date to ask where the headboards were. She said they were "out of stock" but would be delivered and installed by Friday "at the latest". Friday came and - needless to say - no headboards arrived. Sarah then conveniently went off on annual leave so I was forced to contact the office on Monday and explain the whole situation to Vince (Sarah failed to notify anyone of this situation or hand over the matter to another team member; what kind of business lets staff go off on holiday with zero attempt to let colleagues know of required cover for ongoing issues?)."
AVOID THIS ESTATE AGENT AT ALL COSTS!!!
We received an absolutely appalling service from the Lettings Negotiator, Sarah Edwards. Please see a copy of the complaint letter I sent to Benham & Reeves below:
"The process of going from offer to agreement was horrendous and we were constantly battling with Sarah Edwards' questionable tactics and uncommunicative manner. We viewed the flat on Monday 2 September and made it clear to Sarah we needed to move in by the following Saturday. She was slow at relaying our offer, rude on the phone, and failed to respond to emails and messages. She eventually said the landlord agreed to our revised offer and associated conditions but by this point we had made alternative arrangements for the weekend and changed our offer conditions to require a move-in date of 11 September. Sarah relayed that this was acceptable to the landlord and the referencing process commenced.
Despite wanting to get the tenancy agreement signed by the Friday - enabling us to make appropriate arrangements for the move the following week - Sarah showed no sense of urgency. She promised the agreement on Friday and then, when it failed to turn up, we were told not to worry as it would be sent on Saturday. Needless to say this was also a lie, as Sarah wasn't even working that Saturday. We even chased the referencing company and made sure everything was in order so that the agreement could be sent on Friday; effort that was made all for no reason.
The agreement was eventually sent on the Monday, however, we noticed that Sarah craftily and sneakingly changed the tenancy start date to 10 September (even though we had made clear - on multiple occasions - that our required move-in date was 11 September) without telling us (presumably hoping this would go un-noticed and to get an extra day's rent).
We agreed - as a gesture of goodwill - to sign the agreement, because we had given up communicating with Sarah and knew that we would have to wait days for a revised agreement to be sent out. A clever tactic and I hope not one your business employs regularly. After this, once again, Sarah constantly failed to respond to phone calls and email enquiries and arranged a check-in for 3pm on 11 September despite us making clear we required an appointment in the morning. She had days to organise this so I fail to accept that no appointments were available, it's crystal clear she left it until the day before and that's why it was booked up.
Upon moving in (one day later than the tenancy start date) the check-in agent was shocked at the poor quality of the flat clean and said we should call the agency and get the cleaners back out. Yet another inconvenience and indicative of your poor service that you can't even arrange a new-tenancy clean properly.
One very simple condition of our offer was that headboards for the two beds be provided prior to our move-in date. Not a particularly complex request and one that was explicitly agreed by the landlord. Sarah failed on this, and her service following our move-in has been absolutely shocking.
I contacted her on the move-in date to ask where the headboards were. She said they were "out of stock" but would be delivered and installed by Friday "at the latest". Friday came and - needless to say - no headboards arrived. Sarah then conveniently went off on annual leave so I was forced to contact the office on Monday and explain the whole situation to Vince (Sarah failed to notify anyone of this situation or hand over the matter to another team member; what kind of business lets staff go off on holiday with zero attempt to let colleagues know of required cover for ongoing issues?)."
AVOID THIS ESTATE AGENT AT ALL COSTS!!!
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18th Oct 2021
reviewed by 'Daria'
26th Oct 2017
reviewed by 'Lorena'
18th Sep 2017
reviewed by 'Victorua'
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7th Dec 2015
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Opening Hours
Address
Benham and Reeves Residential Lettings
2nd Floor,Harbour Exchange 5
Canary Wharf,London
Greater London
E14 9GE
020 3468 2018
Performance statistics
| Services | Valuation Accuracy | Fees Satisfaction | Min Price of property reviewed | Max Price of property reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lettings | 100% | 91% | £375 | £2,500 |
Review statistics
| From Landlords | From Tenants | From Vendors | From Buyers | Other | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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Oct 18,2021
Oct 18,2021
0
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1.wanted to take a commission for renewing the lease.
2. The pipe has been leaking since December 11th. No one has fixed it yet.
3.Moved out from that apartment four months ago, but our deposit has not yet been returned. Now they are trying to write ...
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Oct 26,2017
Oct 26,2017
0
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I felt the need to leave this review as the service from English brokers is usually so poor, they are interested when you make an offer but after that leave you high and dry. Well this is absolutely not the case with Jomar who has ...
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Comment on agent fees
Fair for the excellent service - you definitely get what you pay for in London
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Feb 07, 2018
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Thanks Lorena, glad to see your positive review of our Canary Wharf lettings team. Hope you are enjoying your tenancy. Thanks again, Marc von Grundherr, Director ...
Sep 18,2017
Sep 18,2017
0
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Very helpful agent - Sarah was always happy to conduct evening views and was so flexible to be sure we had made the right decision and selected the perfect place. Rosie handled the paperwork and was super efficient. Rosie was really prompt and proactive and ...
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Sep 18, 2017
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Hi Victoria, thank you very much for your kind review. Our Canary Wharf lettings staff are long-standing with the company and its good to hear from you that they are maintaining such good service levels. kind regards, Marc von Grundherr, Director ...
Sep 12,2017
Sep 12,2017
0
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Very efficient people. I rented one of their flats and it was honestly the best service I have had. Sarah and Rosie were amazing and very helpful at all times even though they were not managing the property. I wish they were - when I ...
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Sep 11,2017
Sep 11,2017
1
people found
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this helpful
I am incredibly GRATEFUL to Sarah and Mark and the whole team at Benham who have managed my property over the past 5 years. They have always been SO PROFESSIONAL and HELPFUL which gave me peace of mind as I live overseas. The accounts and maintenance ...
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Sep 22, 2017
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Hi Mrs Moore, it was a pleasure to read your review and know that we are retaining your business because of the good letting and property management service we are giving you, thank you for taking the time to tell us. Best regards, Marc von Grundherr, Director ...
Dec 07,2015
Dec 07,2015
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Having a bad experience with a certain large London agency (I have never expected). Benham & Reeves a rude estate agent in entire UK, I have ever met and a poor customer care service. They charge you to pay a deposit,ASAP!Without payment you can ...
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Feb 19, 2016
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All our procedures were followed and you read and signed all the relevant paperwork with a member of our staff present. We have very stringent procedures in place to protect tenants and all our staff are trained to explain our practices thoroughly. I have investigated this fully and found our staff to be exemplary in their communication with you and am sorry you have felt it necessary to write such a disagreeable review which does not appear to represent the full facts. ...
Dec 11,2014
Dec 11,2014
1
people found
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this helpful
Great and efficient service. Viewed the property on a Friday and took possession the following Friday - perfect and would certainly recommend....
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Dec 09,2014
Dec 09,2014
2
people found
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From the initial point of contact through to the inventory and handover of keys this was a first class service. I was particularly impressed with the professionalism of Sarah and Rosie and the speed of reply to any queries. Whilst I am a tenant in ...
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Dec 11, 2014
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Thank you David for taking the time to review the service you received from Sarah and Rosie at our Canary Wharf branch. We do invest a lot in training our staff so its great to have such positive feedback about the customer care you received. Many thanks, Marc von Grundherr, Director ...
Nov 18,2014
Nov 18,2014
2
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Sarah is a good agent. She was very proactive throughout the whole process of renting the apt.
Whenever I had any questions I could drop her a line and she would response immediately. That's what I expect from an agent.
Thanks again Sarah!
Kind regards
...
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Nov 13,2014
Nov 13,2014
4
people found
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this helpful
Our overall experience with Benham & Reeves so far has been nothing short of exceptional.
From the first contact we had with Sarah, she was accommodating, extremely responsive (replying to most emails with 5-10 minutes), friendly and very professional. She was empathetic and practical throughout the ...
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Nov 17, 2014
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Hi Siobhan. Thank you so much for your feedback. We really do appreciate your comments and it is such welcome news to hear that our internal procedures and training help to match and exceed our tenants and landlords expectations. Thank you. Marc von Grundherr ...
Aug 25,2014
Aug 25,2014
4
people found
this helpful
this helpful
This review is long overdue but I felt it is vital i posted this so that you can avoid this so-called Estate Agent as well the incompetent Lettings Negotiator we dealt with.
We received an absolutely appalling service from the Lettings Negotiator, Sarah Edwards. Please ...
read full review
read full review
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Sep 03, 2014
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Hi Jamil
I have looked into this and Sarah informs me that you have just renewed the tenancy at this property last week without any outstanding issues. Your points relate to the tenancy in 2013 and I am not sure why you didn't escalate your complaint to a senior manager or director at the time rather than posting it online nearly a year later. If you are still unhappy about your tenancy, please email me [email protected]. Marc von Grundherr, Director ...
Jun 10,2013
Jun 10,2013
9
people found
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this helpful
Sarah was fantastic in helping me secure my apartment in Canary Wharf. Of all the agents we worked with, she persevered and kept in touch and found us that river view we wanted and then helped us get everything signed quickly so we could move ...
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Jun 10,2013
Jun 10,2013
9
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I could not have been more impressed by the work of Sarah and Rosie at Benham & Reeves. Very organised, exceptionally helpful and they combined that rare quality of professionalism with the personal touch. I would highly recommend their services....
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Jun 10,2013
Jun 10,2013
11
people found
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Sarah was the first agent we have ever found who really seemed to work for us as tenants rather than solely for the landlord. We had some issues in regard to the move in date and Sarah worked hard to ensure that we were able ...
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May 30,2013
May 30,2013
9
people found
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Sarah and Rosie have been excellent in looking after my property. I have always had prompt and efficient service from all the various contacts in B&R. Maintenance requirements are reported and dealt with quickly and the process of vacating the properties and bringing in ...
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May 27,2013
May 27,2013
11
people found
this helpful
this helpful
My experience with benham and reeves has only been positive. Sarah helped me to find a flat.
She listened to what i was looking for to rent and offered exactly that.( she did not just show me a selection of things that did not match), ...
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May 24,2013
May 24,2013
12
people found
this helpful
this helpful
I have been using Benham & Reeves for over 5 years and their service has always been brilliant from the very start.
We initially met mark who came to view our flat and help us set a letting price and found our 1st tennant within a week.
...
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May 24,2013
May 24,2013
12
people found
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this helpful
We only have glowing compliments for Sarah Edwards. She is in our opinion, without reservation, the most proactive lettings agent I have ever dealt with. She always responds expeditiously to each of our queries and concerns with the utmost professionalism. That is especially reassuring when ...
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May 23,2013
May 23,2013
14
people found
this helpful
this helpful
I have been renting from Benhams for over 8 years, they are excellent in every aspect, professional, friendly and know what they are doing. The management department run by Paul Giggal is a pleasure to work with - very quick which gives me peace of mind ...
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May 22,2013
May 22,2013
1
people found
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This is the worst experience I have ever had with a property manager in the US, UK, and Hong Kong in over 15 years.
They do not address critical maintenance issues. The hot water heater was broken in the building and my unit went for weeks ...
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May 22, 2013
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Dear Sir. I am Lettings Director at Benham & Reeves Lettings and am very disappointed to read your review. Our 60 year heritage has been built on exceeding expectations and maintaining good relationships with tenants and landlords alike which is why 67% of our business comes via personal recommendation. I would like to investigate your points personally to explore ways of improving our service.
The issue relating to heating and the door fob are clearly building issues which are clearly out of ...
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Kindly note that legally, letting agents need to publish information about their tenancy fees, government-approved redress schemes and client money protection schemes on their website and on third party websites (on which agents are listed). For properties to lease/rent in England, agents need to keep this information up to date and precise on allAgents or specify within the property description.
Complaints Procedure
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I have looked into this and Sarah informs me that you have just renewed the tenancy at this property last week without any outstanding issues. Your points relate to the tenancy in 2013 and I am not sure why you didn't escalate your complaint to a senior manager or director at the time rather than posting it online nearly a year later. If you are still unhappy about your tenancy, please email me [email protected]. Marc von Grundherr, Director