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Sep 21,2015
Sep 21,2015
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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 Agents in Cambridge.
We were intending to move to Cambridge to take up new jobs in the Summer at which point we made appointments to see some properties to rent. We were shown a place by a representative from Russells and decided to put a deposit down, this was 3 weeks prior to agreed date of moving in. We felt relieved that we had found something and that it was all arranged as we were moving up from the South West of the country we could now concentrate on planning moving our furniture and applying for schools for our child etc...
Anyway, 2 days before we intended to move in, Russells call informing us that the landlord had pulled the let, maybe this was genuine or something else was going on between the landlord and the agent that I was unaware of, we will never know. However, during the 3 weeks I had repeatedly sent emails to Russells requesting information and just to check to see that all was going ok with our reference checks. If something had been going on with this property then it would have been nice to have been informed by the agents sooner, however this was not the case and we heard a measly 2 days before our initally agreed date. In the meantime, our child had been accepted into the local school, we had bought the uniform, had our furniture booked for delivery, taken out home insurance and other preliminary stuff one normally does before moving into a new property. We are still even now 3 weeks after the event feeling the repercussions as our child is still on the waiting list for a new school which is causing a tremendous amount of stress emotionally and financially. In addition, at that point of discovering we could not move into the property, we were essentially homeless in Cambridge, not a very nice start, out of necessity we had stay in a hotel for a week while we frantically tried to find a place.
Although one representative from Russells took ownership of the situation and actually spent a whole day with us trying to find something, the stress we experienced was so great, in particular as I was about to start a new job and was still staying at a hotel, it just wasn't enough to cushion the blow. And this is why I feel that Russells has to be one of the worst estate agents I have ever had to deal with. I have rented all over the country and abroad and I have never come across agents like this, they are truly remarkable. Even in the new place we have moved into we have problems, unfortunately it is still with Russells, this is purely because our original deposit was with them and they had already done the reference checks, being essentially homeless forces you to make things happen quickly. The new place has water leaking under the sink and it has been a week and still no response.
These estate agents are riding the crest of that wave where the sheer volume of people moving into the area keeps them afloat, and I doubt that anything I say or anyone else will make much of a difference. Their fees are the highest I have ever had to pay, £622! For what I don't know. If they provided an excellent service I could probably accept the £622 in fees, but it is the worst service you could imagine. For what it's worth, if you are considering moving to the area, whatever you do avoid these guys like the plague. Even if you think,
We were intending to move to Cambridge to take up new jobs in the Summer at which point we made appointments to see some properties to rent. We were shown a place by a representative from Russells and decided to put a deposit down, this was 3 weeks prior to agreed date of moving in. We felt relieved that we had found something and that it was all arranged as we were moving up from the South West of the country we could now concentrate on planning moving our furniture and applying for schools for our child etc...
Anyway, 2 days before we intended to move in, Russells call informing us that the landlord had pulled the let, maybe this was genuine or something else was going on between the landlord and the agent that I was unaware of, we will never know. However, during the 3 weeks I had repeatedly sent emails to Russells requesting information and just to check to see that all was going ok with our reference checks. If something had been going on with this property then it would have been nice to have been informed by the agents sooner, however this was not the case and we heard a measly 2 days before our initally agreed date. In the meantime, our child had been accepted into the local school, we had bought the uniform, had our furniture booked for delivery, taken out home insurance and other preliminary stuff one normally does before moving into a new property. We are still even now 3 weeks after the event feeling the repercussions as our child is still on the waiting list for a new school which is causing a tremendous amount of stress emotionally and financially. In addition, at that point of discovering we could not move into the property, we were essentially homeless in Cambridge, not a very nice start, out of necessity we had stay in a hotel for a week while we frantically tried to find a place.
Although one representative from Russells took ownership of the situation and actually spent a whole day with us trying to find something, the stress we experienced was so great, in particular as I was about to start a new job and was still staying at a hotel, it just wasn't enough to cushion the blow. And this is why I feel that Russells has to be one of the worst estate agents I have ever had to deal with. I have rented all over the country and abroad and I have never come across agents like this, they are truly remarkable. Even in the new place we have moved into we have problems, unfortunately it is still with Russells, this is purely because our original deposit was with them and they had already done the reference checks, being essentially homeless forces you to make things happen quickly. The new place has water leaking under the sink and it has been a week and still no response.
These estate agents are riding the crest of that wave where the sheer volume of people moving into the area keeps them afloat, and I doubt that anything I say or anyone else will make much of a difference. Their fees are the highest I have ever had to pay, £622! For what I don't know. If they provided an excellent service I could probably accept the £622 in fees, but it is the worst service you could imagine. For what it's worth, if you are considering moving to the area, whatever you do avoid these guys like the plague. Even if you think,
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25th Sep 2015
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13th Jul 2015
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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 |
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Sep 25,2015
Sep 25,2015
0
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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 ...
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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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Jul 10,2014
Jul 10,2014
1
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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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