100% lettings valuation accuracy
0% lettings fee satisfaction
Oct 28,2014
Oct 28,2014
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
My partner and I rented a property from Russels on a year long tennancy. It is well known that the majority of lettings agents in Cambridge have a great number of fees but Russells managed to outshine the rest. There are a great number of 'admin', 'check out' fees which accumulate to a significant amount over the term of the tennancy. For these costs you recieve little in the way of good customer service. A number of times we reported faulty appliances and recieved either a delayed reply or no reply. It would seem that Russells mainly cater for the unemployed as their checking-in, mid-tenancy checks and checking-out can onyl be carried out Monday-Friday 9-5. This obvioustly is not convinient for those of us who work, particularly when following the checking out inspection they proceed to deduct around half of your deposit. We were charged 'outstanding rent' which had been paid on time, as always a fortnight previously; £120 cleaning cost despite fully cleaning the house before hand. Upon inspection of the itinarary it seemed this was mainly for dust which will have accumulated in the week between us having to move out, because of inflexibility with their inspection appointments, and them actually carrying out the inspection. Russells were also not particularly forthcoming in providing us with an itemised breakdown as to what exactly cost £120. There was also a £50 charge for a burn to the carpet which was present when we moved in.
All in all it would seem that Russlls put their back account first and their tennants last.
All in all it would seem that Russlls put their back account first and their tennants last.
What agent could do to change your mind?
Not so much the agents specifically. The two agents who actually dealt with our property were very helpful and when we could get hold of them on the phone got things done promptly. The issue is having to send emails thaty are not replied to because of being at work through the day and the greater Russells management charging extortionate amounts for little service.Attached Filesnbsp;
Comment on agent fees
Extortionate and unjustified
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Latest Reviews
25th Sep 2015
reviewed by 'Stephen'
21st Sep 2015
reviewed by 'Al'
21st Jul 2015
reviewed by 'Neil'
13th Jul 2015
reviewed by 'Budgiesmuggler'
10th Feb 2015
reviewed by 'modeltenant'
Opening Hours
Address
Russell Residential
60 High Street
Sawston
Cambridgeshire
CB2 4BG
01223 493420
Performance statistics
| Services | Valuation Accuracy | Fees Satisfaction | Min Price of property reviewed | Max Price of property reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lettings | 100% | 0% | £695 | £1,150 |
Review statistics
| From Landlords | From Tenants | From Vendors | From Buyers | Other | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Areas covered
Services offered
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- Conveyancing
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Sep 25,2015
Sep 25,2015
0
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Worst experience of my life. They quite literally do not know what a contract is and charge ridiculous fees for 'admin' but provide nothing in return. We had awful tenants and had to do all the work ourselves. What did we pay Russells for?!...
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Sep 21,2015
Sep 21,2015
2
people found
this helpful
this helpful
I don't usually write online reviews and in a way I'm not entirely sure if our views actually make a difference, however I have been compelled to make an exception in this case, and express my disbelief at the incompetence and inefficiency of Russells Estate ...
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Jul 21,2015
Jul 21,2015
0
people found
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I can only echo what other tenants have said. Fees were ridiculously high, rent increased every time the tenancy was renewed, hardly ever responded to emails or phone calls. In addition they occasionally failed to pay the landlord the correct rent, then contacted us when ...
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What agent could do to change your mind?
Communicate with tenants, communicate with their colleagues.Attached Filesnbsp;
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Jul 13,2015
Jul 13,2015
0
people found
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Unfortunately I cannot leave worse than 'terrible' above. The are wholly Incompetent on every single level. Their communication is horrendous and they are bi credibly good at avoiding probing questions. They are very quick to chase and request fees that, realistically, are not required but ...
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What agent could do to change your mind?
Do the opposite of what has been done and you may be getting somewhereAttached Filesnbsp;
Comment on agent fees
Fees were outrageous. Nothing more to add.
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Feb 10,2015
Feb 10,2015
0
people found
this helpful
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Wanted to warn other tenants away from Russells - they are very grasping in terms of fees, and they habitually lost paperwork I returned to them or ignored emails. The final straw was the massive delay in returning my deposit....
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Comment on agent fees
Rent was reasonable, if steep, but all the admin & tenancy renewal fees were extortionate.
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Oct 29,2014
Oct 29,2014
0
people found
this helpful
this helpful
We completely agree with these negative reviews. Russells are absolutely atrocious and their professional standards are appalling. We are in the process of raising a dispute through the HM Court & Tribunal Service and have launched a campaign to question the ethics of this organisation and ...
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What agent could do to change your mind?
To remain impartial and not to favour the landlord over the tenant. To provide pertinent and legal documentation in good time and to listen to the tenants and address queries that are raised.Attached Filesnbsp;
Comment on agent fees
Extortionate in comparison to others.
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Oct 28,2014
Oct 28,2014
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
My partner and I rented a property from Russels on a year long tennancy. It is well known that the majority of lettings agents in Cambridge have a great number of fees but Russells managed to outshine the rest. There are a great number of ...
read full review
read full review
What agent could do to change your mind?
Not so much the agents specifically. The two agents who actually dealt with our property were very helpful and when we could get hold of them on the phone got things done promptly. The issue is having to send emails thaty are not replied to because of being at work through the day and the greater Russells management charging extortionate amounts for little service.Attached Filesnbsp;
Comment on agent fees
Extortionate and unjustified
Was this helpful?
Yes
Yes
Jul 10,2014
Jul 10,2014
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
We had no significant problems until the company was taken over by Countrywide. We were advised by more than one contractor that services included to the landlords had been reduced and this was leading to a reduction in maintenance the properties - such no longer ...
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Comment on agent fees
There are fees for everything and it is not made very clear when these will be incurred. the renewal of tenancy fee kept going up.
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May 15,2014
May 15,2014
2
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Russell Residential is the perfect example of the estate agents to avoid, the obvious incarnation of profit before people. They don't reply to emails or phone calls but you can trust them to always be there to grab the money where they can get it. ...
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Oct 02,2013
Oct 02,2013
4
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Russell's have gone swiftly downhill since they stopped being an independent and became part of a chain of estate agents.
Russell lost me thousands of pounds in the poor handling of a new tenant resulting in the loss of the tenant and at least two ...
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Sep 01,2012
Sep 01,2012
0
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Warning for both landlords and tenants!
I am a professional who owns two properties and have two tenants myself and due to work situation rented a house through the agency a year ago. I found out in the last year that they can not be ...
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Dec 30,2011
Dec 30,2011
3
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Very good agents. Reliable and trustworthy. Always keep me up to date. Properties being well cared for and administered. Would recommend them. Never had any bad experiences and have been with them many years....
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Dec 26,2011
Dec 26,2011
4
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Ive been renting a house with russells residential for 2yrs,and must say they have been excellent with dealing with issues with the property,not waited any longer than 24hrs for repairs,they even come round to put my curtain poles up! very friendly in ...
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No fees information available
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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