67% lettings valuation accuracy
32% lettings fee satisfaction
Jan 22,2018
Jan 22,2018
1
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Definitely would not recommend to anyone
We recently had the misfortune of selling our house via Morris Dibben in Southampton. The whole process was a comedy of errors and, put simply, we would not recommend them to anyone. In any other job, I would have no doubt that several of the staff would be disciplined for incompetence and for their appalling level of service. Whilst there is no single outrageous lapse, below we detail our experience with Morris Dibben so that you can get an idea of what to expect if you do choose to sell your house with them. We raised these issues repeatedly with Morris Dibben throughout the process but didn't see any improvement at all. They were full of empty promises and if we pushed them on why they weren't delivering a) what they'd promised or b) communicating with us when there were problems, they actually became quite rude/unfriendly.
It all started out well. The Morris Dibben agent was actually the person who sold us our house and so he appeared to know much more about our house and the area than other agents. Morris Dibben valued our house at £295k and this had an associated fixed fee to them of just over £3.5k, this was compared to other agencies who valued at £285k with a fee of about £2k and £275k with a fee of about £1k. We had a house in mind and so mentioned that maybe going on the market at £285k would be better, but the Morris Dibben agent was very clear that he thought going for £295k was the right thing to do and said we should have an offer near there within two weeks. In hindsight, it is now clear that the agent was over valuing to up the fee which is based on a percentage of the valuation price and was exaggerating the pace of the market by a long shot. We did get interest in the house and offers within two-three weeks, but all offers were far lower than the valuation at around £280k and both buyers vanished after we accepted their offer (which we often only found out when we repeatedly chased Morris Dibben to find out what was happening).
Interest in the house started to wane and Morris Dibben said we should drop the price to £285k, which we did. We were still worried about the lack of viewings, but Morris Dibben said âAugust is always a quiet monthâ. However, they had not warned us about this beforehand (we signed with them late July) and if they have, we never would have gone on the market at £295k as we wanted to encourage a quick sale given we had an offer accepted on another house. Morris Dibben advised us a couple of weeks later to reduce the asking price again. In the end, we sold at £275k â over £20k less than the Morris Dibben valuation, and they charged us £3.5k (calculated as a percentage of the over ambitious £295k) instead of the £1k other agents would have cost.
For the extra £2.5k they cost us, did Morris Dibben give us better service? No â not at all. It is not possible to capture everything Morris Dibben did wrong in this review, but here is a snapshot:
1) Morris Dibben told us the house was not getting interest because we insisted against the agent's advice to go on at £295k â This was a blatant lie and the complete opposite of what happened.
2) The knowledgeable agent that won our confidence and knew our property was barely involved in our sale. Typically, we were bounced between 4-6 different members of staff, none of whom knew what was going on and all of whom would promise to call us back and generally didn't. We spent a LOT of time calling and getting passed around/told we'd be called back.
3) After two viewings, they left our front door unlocked â we had told them about it on the first occasion.
4) We repeatedly asked them to either email us to call me (as I am more able to answer the phone during a working day). They ignored this and kept calling the number we had told them not to use.
5) We had to chase them. Constantly. At no stage did they phone us to give us updates â if we wanted to find out what was going on (i.e. if a buyer had been a bit quiet, or if we had any viewings booked etc) then we had to phone them and find out.
6) They double charged us. Not only were they the most expensive agent, they sent an invoice to us, and another invoice to our solicitors. Both invoices were paid and so Morris Dibben had over £3.5k that they were not entitled to. It took Morris Dibben two months to return this money to us and, again, we had to keep chasing and it was only the threat of a formal complaint which got them to actually action this.
7) When we asked about their complaints procedure and how to escalate complaints to higher levels, they were not forthcoming with these details.
The list of issues we had with Morris Dibben goes on, and was very different to the experience we had with the agents managing the sale of the house we bought (and the one we were trying to buy which fell through due to all of these delays). For example, for the house we purchased, every time we phoned up we dealt with a single member of staff who was in charge of that sale. As the sale was solely their responsibility, they were very knowledgeable about the process. Unlike Morris Dibben, the agent we bought from used our preferred contact and would leave a message or email us if they missed us. They put Morris Dibben to shame and we would never do business with Morris Dibben again.
We recently had the misfortune of selling our house via Morris Dibben in Southampton. The whole process was a comedy of errors and, put simply, we would not recommend them to anyone. In any other job, I would have no doubt that several of the staff would be disciplined for incompetence and for their appalling level of service. Whilst there is no single outrageous lapse, below we detail our experience with Morris Dibben so that you can get an idea of what to expect if you do choose to sell your house with them. We raised these issues repeatedly with Morris Dibben throughout the process but didn't see any improvement at all. They were full of empty promises and if we pushed them on why they weren't delivering a) what they'd promised or b) communicating with us when there were problems, they actually became quite rude/unfriendly.
It all started out well. The Morris Dibben agent was actually the person who sold us our house and so he appeared to know much more about our house and the area than other agents. Morris Dibben valued our house at £295k and this had an associated fixed fee to them of just over £3.5k, this was compared to other agencies who valued at £285k with a fee of about £2k and £275k with a fee of about £1k. We had a house in mind and so mentioned that maybe going on the market at £285k would be better, but the Morris Dibben agent was very clear that he thought going for £295k was the right thing to do and said we should have an offer near there within two weeks. In hindsight, it is now clear that the agent was over valuing to up the fee which is based on a percentage of the valuation price and was exaggerating the pace of the market by a long shot. We did get interest in the house and offers within two-three weeks, but all offers were far lower than the valuation at around £280k and both buyers vanished after we accepted their offer (which we often only found out when we repeatedly chased Morris Dibben to find out what was happening).
Interest in the house started to wane and Morris Dibben said we should drop the price to £285k, which we did. We were still worried about the lack of viewings, but Morris Dibben said âAugust is always a quiet monthâ. However, they had not warned us about this beforehand (we signed with them late July) and if they have, we never would have gone on the market at £295k as we wanted to encourage a quick sale given we had an offer accepted on another house. Morris Dibben advised us a couple of weeks later to reduce the asking price again. In the end, we sold at £275k â over £20k less than the Morris Dibben valuation, and they charged us £3.5k (calculated as a percentage of the over ambitious £295k) instead of the £1k other agents would have cost.
For the extra £2.5k they cost us, did Morris Dibben give us better service? No â not at all. It is not possible to capture everything Morris Dibben did wrong in this review, but here is a snapshot:
1) Morris Dibben told us the house was not getting interest because we insisted against the agent's advice to go on at £295k â This was a blatant lie and the complete opposite of what happened.
2) The knowledgeable agent that won our confidence and knew our property was barely involved in our sale. Typically, we were bounced between 4-6 different members of staff, none of whom knew what was going on and all of whom would promise to call us back and generally didn't. We spent a LOT of time calling and getting passed around/told we'd be called back.
3) After two viewings, they left our front door unlocked â we had told them about it on the first occasion.
4) We repeatedly asked them to either email us to call me (as I am more able to answer the phone during a working day). They ignored this and kept calling the number we had told them not to use.
5) We had to chase them. Constantly. At no stage did they phone us to give us updates â if we wanted to find out what was going on (i.e. if a buyer had been a bit quiet, or if we had any viewings booked etc) then we had to phone them and find out.
6) They double charged us. Not only were they the most expensive agent, they sent an invoice to us, and another invoice to our solicitors. Both invoices were paid and so Morris Dibben had over £3.5k that they were not entitled to. It took Morris Dibben two months to return this money to us and, again, we had to keep chasing and it was only the threat of a formal complaint which got them to actually action this.
7) When we asked about their complaints procedure and how to escalate complaints to higher levels, they were not forthcoming with these details.
The list of issues we had with Morris Dibben goes on, and was very different to the experience we had with the agents managing the sale of the house we bought (and the one we were trying to buy which fell through due to all of these delays). For example, for the house we purchased, every time we phoned up we dealt with a single member of staff who was in charge of that sale. As the sale was solely their responsibility, they were very knowledgeable about the process. Unlike Morris Dibben, the agent we bought from used our preferred contact and would leave a message or email us if they missed us. They put Morris Dibben to shame and we would never do business with Morris Dibben again.
Comment on agent fees
Awful value for money. Hugely exaggerated fees.
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Latest Reviews
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Performance statistics
| Services | Valuation Accuracy | Fees Satisfaction | Min Price of property reviewed | Max Price of property reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lettings | 67% | 32% | £575 | £1,800 |
Review statistics
| From Landlords | From Tenants | From Vendors | From Buyers | Other | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0 | 5 | 14 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
Areas covered
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- Sales
- Lettings
- Block Management
- Surveys
- Conveyancing
- Mortgage Advice
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Dec 09,2024
Dec 09,2024
0
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We let approx 6 residential properties through Morris Dibben London Road Southampton per month. The lettings team of Sam, Anais, Amelia & Liam find tenants for our properties normally within 4 weeks. The admin team of Amelia and Megan ensure the paperwork process is smooth.
I would recommend ...
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Dec 05,2024
Dec 05,2024
0
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Morris Diben Southampton, were brilliant in selling my flat, provided good valuation and brought lots of potential buyers. My overall experience dealing with staff at London road brunch was great especially and Nerinda were very helpful and responsive to my enquiries....
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Sep 21,2024
Sep 21,2024
0
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Stay away from Morris Dibbens if you want to get your security deposit back
I rented a house in Southampton through Morris Dibbens and when I moved out of the house at the end of the lease, they told me that my security deposit was ...
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Jul 16,2024
Jul 16,2024
0
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We use Morris Dibben for our lettings in Southampton. They are an efficient, professional office with friendly personnel....
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Jul 16,2024
Jul 16,2024
0
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Anais has been supper approachable and professional throughout my tenancy. I can't thank her more. She walked extra mile to finalise my new agreement with insurer. Will definitely recommend her....
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Nov 13,2023
Nov 13,2023
0
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Selling our flat was traumatic however if it wasn’t for Narinder doing most of the work we would of given up. Both parties solicitors were useless . Narinder kept pushing forward . We are grateful for all her help and determination....
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Oct 09,2023
Oct 09,2023
0
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If someone was wanting to sell their property and already had solicitors they wanted to use, I would have no hesitation in strongly recommending the Morris Dibben London Road team - Very helpful (particularly Narinder) and communicative, from valuation all the way through to completion. ...
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Aug 09,2023
Aug 09,2023
0
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An excellent experience of buying a property as a first time buyer. Narinder and the team were polite and courteous throughout, offer good, clear advice and keeping me updated at every step of the way....
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Aug 08,2023
Aug 08,2023
0
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Perfectly satisfied by the standard of service.
Narinder Rai was always helpful and communicative;
she evidenced her professionalism and commitment from beginning to end. Many thanks to her and the team....
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Jun 17,2023
Jun 17,2023
0
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Very Unprofessional Agency and its agents.
There's plenty more agents who will provide a proper service in this industry.
Choose wisely or you will be disappointed.
Anais is one particular very rude agent.
I am very displeased with this agency....
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“Morris Dibben used to be a reputable company... then they got bought by Countrywide....”
Apr 26,2023
Apr 26,2023
3
people found
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this helpful
I won 2 cases against them with The Property Ombudsman in the short time I rented from them. Countrywide seems to be oblivious to the code of practice and legal requirements that they are supposed to work by.
Countrywide run the maintenance and property management. They ...
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Mar 06,2023
Mar 06,2023
0
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Absolute rubbish agents, VERY unprofessional & lie to tenants about prospectivr work being carried out before tenants move in. Maintenance team have are rude and have no for tenants and leave a mess....
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Feb 01,2023
Feb 01,2023
0
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We had a very smooth process in renting with Morris Dibben. They were very professional throughout the process. The agent was always available whenever we needed them....
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Dec 20,2022
Dec 20,2022
0
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I had a very smooth service.
First I rented the flat then they helped me to buy the flat I live in already.
Especially Narinder Rai! Always keeps in touch with you and doesn't let the issue unsolved.
Thank you for your service....
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Sep 02,2022
Sep 02,2022
0
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The agents are highly unprofessional and they hang up the phone on you. They provide misinformation that they will call you for arranging a viewing but will never call back. They wont even give you a chance to view the property and will let it ...
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“Renting - nightmare - horrific communication - takes advantage of young renters/students...”
Aug 20,2022
Aug 20,2022
1
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We rented a property with Morris Dibben, and from the get go, the organisation and communication from them was horrific. We had a property with no floor in the living room for 4 weeks and a shower that was out of use for 3, and was not ...
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Jul 06,2022
Jul 06,2022
0
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Worst estate agent in Southampton. Let out a property no fire alarms, broken doors, filthy state . Had to report to fire service. Estate agent said it “was just students living there” as a justification for such a horrible state of the property. What an infringement ...
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Feb 16,2022
Feb 16,2022
0
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There's a reason that this shambles of a company has an average rating below 2.
As a tenant I was lied to, repeatedly, about a variety of issues. I couldn't get my application deposit back, despite now occupying the property as "it is a fee, not ...
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Jan 17,2022
Jan 17,2022
0
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I saw an ideal place to rent on their website and phoned them twice requesting a viewing. Both times I was told their system was down and somebody would call me back. However this never happened and the property is now let. A shambles of ...
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Feb 25,2021
Feb 25,2021
0
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Had a great letting experience with Morris Dibben. The team were really helpful and quick to respond to queries.
Robbie who did our house viewing was very helpful and quick to talk to the landlord.
Can't fault the service or team!...
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Oct 16,2019
Oct 16,2019
5
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The estate agent I dealt with at the London Rd office was unprofessional and unpleasant to deal with. Consistently ill-informed, obtuse and discourteous. She clearly had no concept that the success of their business is based on customer service. I have bought and sold properties ...
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Sep 24,2019
Sep 24,2019
4
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Utterly abysmal service to tenants. Having been paid to provide a clean flat, no noticable cleaning had been done. Filth and mould all over the flat, dirty curtains and years of dust and dirt over windows, curtain rails, doors, skirting boards, light fittings etc. Having ...
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Jul 18,2019
Jul 18,2019
0
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Amazing customer service from the London rd branch. In particular Aisha has been so helpful with emailing across documents and chasing things up. I was stuck in motorway traffic the day I had to collect the flat keys and the office were so helpful and ...
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Jun 18,2019
Jun 18,2019
0
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COULD NOT SELECT ZERO STARS BUT ONE IS TEN TOO MANY!
Morris Dibben: Southampton Branch, 53 London Road, Southampton SO15 2AD
COMPLAINT RE: 5 OXFORD MEWS
I am writing with reference to my telephone conversations with ***e and Narinder on Monday 17th June 2019, in relation to 5 Oxford ...
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Comment on agent fees
Not applicable.
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Jul 16, 2019
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(1)
Good Afternoon,
I hope you're well.
I wanted to get in touch as the Sales Manager who contacted you to discuss this situation after you requested a manager contact you. I have found the email I sent to you at 13.47 on Tuesday 18th June. Attached to this email was the complaints procedure and the following message: 'Good Afternoon, I have received an email through from you regarding making a complaint. Please see the attached complaints procedure. I’m sorry to hear that you wish to complain i ...
Jun 16,2019
Jun 16,2019
0
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What a joke!!!
Had an appointment for viewing at 11am yesterday. Lauren the estate agent turned up late.
On the same day, had a 12pm appointment with their mortgage consultant, and was told the appointment was double booked.
What a shambles and a waste to ...
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Jul 16, 2019
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(1)
Good Afternoon,
I've just seen your review.
Please get in touch to discuss further.
Kind Regards,
Rachael ...
Oct 19,2018
Oct 19,2018
0
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Myself and partner have just completed the sale of our property through Morris Dibben in London Road Southampton. We cannot thank Stephen Henry enough for the hard work and effort he has put in to make this sale happen. From the moment the sale was ...
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Comment on agent fees
Very good
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Feb 21,2018
Feb 21,2018
6
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If I could give them a negative star review I would. ***Proceed with extreme caution if you are selling or buying with this branch***
I'm a first time cash buyer and never again in my life will be in this position. I can say hand ...
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Comment on agent fees
The fees were acceptable
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Jan 22,2018
Jan 22,2018
1
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Definitely would not recommend to anyone
We recently had the misfortune of selling our house via Morris Dibben in Southampton. The whole process was a comedy of errors and, put simply, we would not recommend them to anyone. In any other job, I would have ...
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Comment on agent fees
Awful value for money. Hugely exaggerated fees.
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Feb 22,2017
Feb 22,2017
3
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I am not impressed in the slightest. Lied about the condition of the flat which could potentially put me back in hospital (explicititly explained to the estate agent), flat was disgustingly filthy when I moved in (mouldy food in the oven), lied and construe their ...
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Comment on agent fees
Awful, paying for what? A dirty flat, lies and a poorly managed estate agent.
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Jul 08,2016
Jul 08,2016
3
people found
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Disorganised. Lack of communication and knowledge of properties.They take ages to get things done. Not professional at all. It took them 4 months (we paid the agency fees right from the start), just a few days before we have to move in to get the ...
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Comment on agent fees
They certainly do not deserve to have that amount of agent's fees for their competencies.
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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
No procedure available.
