93% sales valuation accuracy
93% sales fee satisfaction
100% lettings valuation accuracy
85% lettings fee satisfaction
Aug 06,2019
Aug 06,2019
2
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I rented a 'fully-managed' property via Townends for two years.
I am sharing a review as, had I known about the quality of service offered to tenants, I would have avoided them. I could write an essay, but will try to keep it brief.
EMPLOYEES
- It was difficult to keep track of who our contact point at Townends was, so frequently did it change. Three either quit or were fired in the first few months (one, impressively, was fired in the first week) – alarmingly, rather than any sort of handover, I only ever learned this when my emails started bouncing (“Oh really? She left before Christmas” etc).
- Camilla was appalling and felt absolutely no responsibility to do anything.
- Francesca was good and made the effort to visit us. She was the best by far.
FEES. Extortionate, wanted almost £700 for a one bed flat.
RENT INCREASES. We were repeatedly asked for something like a 5% rent increase because of the landlord’s increasing costs, Townends saying he had requested it. When I rang him, he’d said no such thing.
CHECK IN. Failure to inspect our fully-managed property by Townends meant we could not move in for five days. No one had visited the property between tenancies.
LANDLORD. They refused to provide contact details for the landlord. The council had to be involved before they would give me a name and email address.
MAINTENANCE. It took seven months before action was taken on water leaks and consequential mould issues (largely thanks to the council’s involvement).
It is ‘company policy’ for the management team to not visit their managed properties, even when there are serious problems. The 'maintenance' product does not seem to include any 'maintenance' of properties.
We eventually gave up and dealt directly with the landlord. Much easier, and cheaper for the landlord to get maintenance completed.
PROPERTY MAINTENANCE PORTAL. Seemed more like a way of stopping tenants contacting Townends directly, never had a response to anything uploaded to the ‘property portal’.
COMMUNICATION. Emails often took 2-4 weeks for a response, this was ‘company policy’. The phone at head office was unanswered – I once rang 80 times over a week and no one answered the phone. On the handful of occasions I did get an answer, I was told someone would call back. They never did.
It is made extremely clear to tenants that the landlord is the agency’s only responsibility, and the employees I spoke to were largely arrogant, dismissive and rude to us.
Tenants need to be very aware of what they’re told verbally vs. what is in writing – if it isn’t in writing, it isn’t real, and you may find it is denied later on.
COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE. I submitted a formal complaint to Townends, and they failed to respond to it within the timeframe they gave themselves. After chasing yet further, they concluded there was nothing more than a series of accidents (!) in a short email dismissing everything I’d said.
I barely had any contact with Townends for the final 12 months of my tenancy, they were causing far too much stress. Reading the other reviews online, I see I am not the only one who had issues.
I would not recommend this agency to either landlord or tenant, I am astonished they are still in business.
I am sharing a review as, had I known about the quality of service offered to tenants, I would have avoided them. I could write an essay, but will try to keep it brief.
EMPLOYEES
- It was difficult to keep track of who our contact point at Townends was, so frequently did it change. Three either quit or were fired in the first few months (one, impressively, was fired in the first week) – alarmingly, rather than any sort of handover, I only ever learned this when my emails started bouncing (“Oh really? She left before Christmas” etc).
- Camilla was appalling and felt absolutely no responsibility to do anything.
- Francesca was good and made the effort to visit us. She was the best by far.
FEES. Extortionate, wanted almost £700 for a one bed flat.
RENT INCREASES. We were repeatedly asked for something like a 5% rent increase because of the landlord’s increasing costs, Townends saying he had requested it. When I rang him, he’d said no such thing.
CHECK IN. Failure to inspect our fully-managed property by Townends meant we could not move in for five days. No one had visited the property between tenancies.
LANDLORD. They refused to provide contact details for the landlord. The council had to be involved before they would give me a name and email address.
MAINTENANCE. It took seven months before action was taken on water leaks and consequential mould issues (largely thanks to the council’s involvement).
It is ‘company policy’ for the management team to not visit their managed properties, even when there are serious problems. The 'maintenance' product does not seem to include any 'maintenance' of properties.
We eventually gave up and dealt directly with the landlord. Much easier, and cheaper for the landlord to get maintenance completed.
PROPERTY MAINTENANCE PORTAL. Seemed more like a way of stopping tenants contacting Townends directly, never had a response to anything uploaded to the ‘property portal’.
COMMUNICATION. Emails often took 2-4 weeks for a response, this was ‘company policy’. The phone at head office was unanswered – I once rang 80 times over a week and no one answered the phone. On the handful of occasions I did get an answer, I was told someone would call back. They never did.
It is made extremely clear to tenants that the landlord is the agency’s only responsibility, and the employees I spoke to were largely arrogant, dismissive and rude to us.
Tenants need to be very aware of what they’re told verbally vs. what is in writing – if it isn’t in writing, it isn’t real, and you may find it is denied later on.
COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE. I submitted a formal complaint to Townends, and they failed to respond to it within the timeframe they gave themselves. After chasing yet further, they concluded there was nothing more than a series of accidents (!) in a short email dismissing everything I’d said.
I barely had any contact with Townends for the final 12 months of my tenancy, they were causing far too much stress. Reading the other reviews online, I see I am not the only one who had issues.
I would not recommend this agency to either landlord or tenant, I am astonished they are still in business.
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Latest Reviews
17th Apr 2020
reviewed by 'Anonymous'
6th Aug 2019
reviewed by 'RM'
25th Apr 2018
reviewed by 'Razghamanesh'
30th Mar 2018
reviewed by 'Razghamanesh'
2nd Jan 2018
reviewed by 'Henry'
3rd Nov 2017
reviewed by 'Zaky'
Opening Hours
Address
Stirling Ackroyd
240 Blythe Road
Brook Green,London
Greater London
W14 0HJ
020 7602 5666
Performance statistics
| Services | Valuation Accuracy | Fees Satisfaction | Min Price of property reviewed | Max Price of property reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales | 93% | 93% | £308,000 | £930,000 |
| Lettings | 100% | 85% | £1,200 | £2,405 |
Review statistics
| From Landlords | From Tenants | From Vendors | From Buyers | Other | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 0 | 21 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
Areas covered
- W6
- West Kensington
- W10
- Westbourne Grove
- W11
- Earls Court
- W12
- W14
- SW6
- Brook Green
- Hammersmith
- Holland Park
- Shepherd's Bush
Services offered
- Sales
- Lettings
- Block Management
- Surveys
- Conveyancing
- Mortgage Advice
- Home Builder
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Rankings
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Latest Properties
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Apr 17,2020
Apr 17,2020
1
people found
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Poor service, worst experience in 20 years and 17 flats rented over 4 countries.
At some point I was left more than 10 days without hot water.
When large cracks appeared on the walls and ceiling, they sent a Salesman and never came back with any update.
Too many ...
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Aug 06,2019
Aug 06,2019
2
people found
this helpful
this helpful
I rented a 'fully-managed' property via Townends for two years.
I am sharing a review as, had I known about the quality of service offered to tenants, I would have avoided them. I could write an essay, but will try to keep it brief.
EMPLOYEES
...
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Apr 25,2018
Apr 25,2018
0
people found
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Great service offered by well mannered staff. Highest form of etiquette and exceptional telephone manner. I was looked after my chap called Navid and he made the process of finding a suitable propert smooth sailing. Thank you!...
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Comment on agent fees
Fair
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Mar 30,2018
Mar 30,2018
0
people found
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Great service offered by well mannered staff. Highest form of etiquette and exceptional telephone manner. I was looked after my chap called Navid and he made the process of finding a suitable propert smooth sailing. Thank you!...
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Comment on agent fees
Fair
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Jan 02,2018
Jan 02,2018
0
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I had previously rented a property with Townends with great service.Louis Byrne explained every detail and show us around the property, It also made me feel that I had a reliable, proactive and knowledgeable person, that supported me all the way through, There is ...
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Comment on agent fees
Agent's Fees was good
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Nov 03,2017
Nov 03,2017
2
people found
this helpful
this helpful
One of the worst agency in London. Their employees are totally unqualified and unable to manage properties and offer a serious customer relationship. In our experience they left us without a working fridge in the premises for over a month ignoring completely our claims.
They ...
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Comment on agent fees
You pay normal agent fees, the only problem is that you get back no service.
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Jul 13,2017
Jul 13,2017
0
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I am usually the type of person who loathes moving and dealing with estate agents... however, this time I was completely surprised. Not only did Louis and Daniel come up with amazing suggestions for flats that were exactly to my taste, they also made the ...
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Comment on agent fees
Standard. The deposit was competitive with other estate agencies. In fact they took less.
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Jul 11,2017
Jul 11,2017
0
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Excellent service by Daniel. He is a star. He is a real goodwill of the company. He is very very good guy....
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Comment on agent fees
Good
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Apr 25,2017
Apr 25,2017
0
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Very fast process allowed us to move in just when we wanted.
From day one Louis was very helpful and efficient....
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May 20,2016
May 20,2016
1
people found
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Sold my flat in Shepherd's Bush with the Blythe Road branch. Overall I was very pleased with the standard of service. Regular updates and helpful, friendly service. Knew the area and the block well and were able to give relevant and frequent advice. I would ...
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Comment on agent fees
Seemed very reasonable.
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May 20,2016
May 20,2016
2
people found
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Excellent service provided by both Myles and Sophie; very professional throughout my property purchase. Both were extremely efficient and delivered what they said they would! Highly recommended!...
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Mar 31,2016
Mar 31,2016
2
people found
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Mohamed was very professional with helping us find the right property. We registered with our preferences and he matched us to view a number of properties which matched our criteria. Within a week of our offer we had moved in with no hiccups. I would ...
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Comment on agent fees
Good
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Mar 23,2016
Mar 23,2016
2
people found
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We have been very grateful for all the support we have received from Sophie and Myles for the purchase of our first flat. Our main contact was Emma Western from Townends Move Team. She was extremely efficient and pro active. The whole team worked well ...
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Mar 10,2016
Mar 10,2016
0
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I was very impressed with Townends Estate Agents, Sophie and Myles, were always very professional, responsive and helpful. They kept all stakeholders informed and up to date with information....
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Mar 10,2016
Mar 10,2016
2
people found
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We have recently completed on a lengthly and complex purchase of a house ( 4 separate flats) with Myles and Sophie as our contact agents for the Seller. I am pleased of the support they both provided during the months it took to complete on all the ...
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Feb 29,2016
Feb 29,2016
1
people found
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This was our first ever property purchase. Sophie and in general Townends have supported us throughout the process, providing us with regular updates and keeping the lines of communication open between us and the sellers. For this reason following our purchase we decided to get ...
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Feb 04,2016
Feb 04,2016
2
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We had previously rented out our property with Townends for 6 years, with great service. We felt confident they would also do the same with the sale. Sophie was always a pleasure to deal with, and very efficient and communicative with regards to viewings/ feedback. The ...
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Comment on agent fees
Standard
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Jan 04,2016
Jan 04,2016
2
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I rented my flat with Townends for 15 years and they never let me down. When it was time to sell the flat it made sense to stick with Townends. I have been delighted with the service they have given me. I felt in extremely safe ...
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Comment on agent fees
The Agency fees were fair and competitive.
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Nov 11,2015
Nov 11,2015
2
people found
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Mr Myles Moloney was most professional to his approach explaining the best way of pricing and marketing the property; which brought excellent results and the sale of the property.
Ms Sofie Sterling was very professional giving information on the process of the sale and most ...
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Oct 31,2015
Oct 31,2015
2
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A big thank you to Sophie and Myles at Townends. They were very diligent and helpful. They supported the lengthy process of our purchase which was delayed due to a sitting tenant. We were delighted to buy our flat with their support....
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Oct 12,2015
Oct 12,2015
1
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Townends were very helpful in pursuing a very long drawn out process of sale, and I would use them again in the same circumstances....
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Oct 06,2015
Oct 06,2015
1
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Myles and Sophie were brilliant at moving the sale along liaising with both sets of solicitors and the vendors. They responded very quickly giving clear information. Highly recommended....
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Oct 06,2015
Oct 06,2015
1
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The guys have been great to work with in securing the purchase of our new home.
I would definitely consider them in the future for selling/buying a new place.
They responded really quickly to all our queries and most important managed to built a ...
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Sep 04,2015
Sep 04,2015
1
people found
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I found both Sophie and Myles very helpful from the start of the sale process, they did the bit extra that was needed to push this sale along, even at one point being willing to go the property to get documents late at night. They ...
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Aug 12,2015
Aug 12,2015
2
people found
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this helpful
Both Sophie and Myles were extremely helpful and a pleasure to deal with, while always remaining focused on driving our purchase forward...
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Aug 10,2015
Aug 10,2015
2
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From day one Myles and his team understood the potential of our property and quickly found our purchaser, we have now exchanged contract on the sale all within 5 weeks. We have been kept informed every step of the way and received rapid responses to all ...
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Jul 21,2015
Jul 21,2015
3
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Sophie and Myles at Townsends were incredibly helpful throughout the whole arduous process of purchasing our house in Brook Green. They were always on hand to answer any queries, were prompt with requests and delivered on their promises. Thanks again for all your help....
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Jul 17,2015
Jul 17,2015
2
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Anton is consistently good at renting this property out quickly at market rent. He's a great guy to deal with, quick & efficient....
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Jun 14,2015
Jun 14,2015
2
people found
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Anton Neil has been outstanding with the service he delivers to me as a tenant & to the landlady.
The flat got on the market on a Saturday and my offer was accepted on a Tuesday.
He has fantastic people skills. He matched me, the tenant, ...
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Jun 11,2015
Jun 11,2015
2
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Anton was an absolute pleasure to deal with. I was very impressed right from the beginning through until move in. Anton was very easy to deal with, explained everything clearly, he responded to emails very quickly and everything was handled very professionally. I would have ...
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Last updated at 2:24 PM 21/11/2017 by allAgents
