100% sales valuation accuracy
100% sales fee satisfaction
33% lettings valuation accuracy
57% lettings fee satisfaction
Apr 03,2014
Apr 03,2014
6
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Connells Ashford, Kent ¢â‚¬â€œ Avoid!
I'll try to make this as brief as possible.
1) Sellers
If you are selling your house you are forced through their preferred solicitor to get your valuation. This solicitor is based somewhere up north. This solicitor is also extremely incompetent. Shoosmiths. You will not be able to push anything through, you will struggle to get answers, you will end up paying more than if you went to a local solicitor who you can walk your ID and paperwork to free of charge.
The estate agent is also incapable of filling in standard documents correctly first time delaying the sale of the house! Unbelievable.
My advice after our experience: there are a couple of local estate agents which aren't part of a big chain. They offer a better fee and a far better service. They will tell you the correct times for people viewing your house for example. You won't have families turn up @ 1pm when you've requested 5pm-8pm viewings. You also won't have to pay upfront fees with these Estate Agents as they don't fob you off with lifetime memberships etc!
2) Buyers
If your dream house has appeared @ Connells, it's almost worth waiting for one to appear with another estate agent.
Firstly you get asked if you are going to take up the mortgage advisors services. If you say no, you are told you will not have your offer accepted until certain things are completed. You will then also have the house remain on the market with the potential of some gazumping. Connells are known to tell you your accepted fee has fallen through even if it hasn't just so they get someone through their mortgage advisor, an online search will show many cases.
After our first 2 meetings with our mortgage advisor I received a letter from Connells showing they had sent our details to Blacks Solicitors and the sellers Solicitors. When questioning this they said they had allocated us a solicitor, it would be beneficial as they could contact both as they are very close companies. I went home and contacted local solicitors and received quotes. Blacks then phoned me asking for money to start searches, I asked them for a quote first, they came back more expensive and were based in Leeds. I declined their offer and went local, the best thing I could have done as my solicitors based down the road have been fantastic.
We opted to take the mortgage advisors advice as we really wanted this house. Upfront fee of nearly £500 for their ¢â‚¬Å“Lifetime Membership¢â‚¬Â. Marvellous. They have found a loophole which many local estate agents are disgusted with. They are having you pay an unnecessary fee before the completion day which is when they will ask for fees. It also took 3 visits to our mortgage advisor for him to tell us he gets his mortgages from a small selection of banks and building societies. When I told him about a mortgage at HSBC I had found he confessed he cannot access HSBC. Too late for us, we had paid for a lifetime membership.
You may be lucky and meet your Estate Agent. We weren't. We met our Mortgage Advisor who continuously ensures us he is not part of Connells Estate Agents, he is part of Connells Mortgage Consultants or some other rubbish. When asking to speak to our Estate Agents they are unable to tell us. Our solicitor was also unable to get a name of our Estate Agents.
When we were set to move we found out that our Mortgage Advisor/Estate Agent filled in some paperwork incorrectly which delayed the process by approx. 3 weeks as well! We couldn't believe they could be any more incompetent, but they proved to be.
Connells are an untrustworthy Estate Agent who try to push both sellers and buyers to things they don't want. Avoid them if you don't want as much stress as most people get from moving!
I'll try to make this as brief as possible.
1) Sellers
If you are selling your house you are forced through their preferred solicitor to get your valuation. This solicitor is based somewhere up north. This solicitor is also extremely incompetent. Shoosmiths. You will not be able to push anything through, you will struggle to get answers, you will end up paying more than if you went to a local solicitor who you can walk your ID and paperwork to free of charge.
The estate agent is also incapable of filling in standard documents correctly first time delaying the sale of the house! Unbelievable.
My advice after our experience: there are a couple of local estate agents which aren't part of a big chain. They offer a better fee and a far better service. They will tell you the correct times for people viewing your house for example. You won't have families turn up @ 1pm when you've requested 5pm-8pm viewings. You also won't have to pay upfront fees with these Estate Agents as they don't fob you off with lifetime memberships etc!
2) Buyers
If your dream house has appeared @ Connells, it's almost worth waiting for one to appear with another estate agent.
Firstly you get asked if you are going to take up the mortgage advisors services. If you say no, you are told you will not have your offer accepted until certain things are completed. You will then also have the house remain on the market with the potential of some gazumping. Connells are known to tell you your accepted fee has fallen through even if it hasn't just so they get someone through their mortgage advisor, an online search will show many cases.
After our first 2 meetings with our mortgage advisor I received a letter from Connells showing they had sent our details to Blacks Solicitors and the sellers Solicitors. When questioning this they said they had allocated us a solicitor, it would be beneficial as they could contact both as they are very close companies. I went home and contacted local solicitors and received quotes. Blacks then phoned me asking for money to start searches, I asked them for a quote first, they came back more expensive and were based in Leeds. I declined their offer and went local, the best thing I could have done as my solicitors based down the road have been fantastic.
We opted to take the mortgage advisors advice as we really wanted this house. Upfront fee of nearly £500 for their ¢â‚¬Å“Lifetime Membership¢â‚¬Â. Marvellous. They have found a loophole which many local estate agents are disgusted with. They are having you pay an unnecessary fee before the completion day which is when they will ask for fees. It also took 3 visits to our mortgage advisor for him to tell us he gets his mortgages from a small selection of banks and building societies. When I told him about a mortgage at HSBC I had found he confessed he cannot access HSBC. Too late for us, we had paid for a lifetime membership.
You may be lucky and meet your Estate Agent. We weren't. We met our Mortgage Advisor who continuously ensures us he is not part of Connells Estate Agents, he is part of Connells Mortgage Consultants or some other rubbish. When asking to speak to our Estate Agents they are unable to tell us. Our solicitor was also unable to get a name of our Estate Agents.
When we were set to move we found out that our Mortgage Advisor/Estate Agent filled in some paperwork incorrectly which delayed the process by approx. 3 weeks as well! We couldn't believe they could be any more incompetent, but they proved to be.
Connells are an untrustworthy Estate Agent who try to push both sellers and buyers to things they don't want. Avoid them if you don't want as much stress as most people get from moving!
What agent could do to change your mind?
Explain the terms and conditions before having you see their "advisor" numerous times, including which banks they do and don't use for mortgages. Don't try and force a solicitor upon people. Don't force you to use their advisor for a mortgage and charge for a lifetime membership which we don't want.Attached Filesnbsp;
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Latest Reviews
3rd Apr 2024
reviewed by 'Chris'
9th Aug 2023
reviewed by 'Anonymous'
18th Jun 2022
reviewed by 'Shelley'
25th May 2022
reviewed by 'Sam'
26th Feb 2021
reviewed by 'Alex'
Performance statistics
| Services | Valuation Accuracy | Fees Satisfaction | Min Price of property reviewed | Max Price of property reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales | 100% | 100% | £240,000 | £250,000 |
| Lettings | 33% | 57% | £850 | £2,500 |
Review statistics
| From Landlords | From Tenants | From Vendors | From Buyers | Other | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Areas covered
Services offered
- Sales
- Lettings
- Block Management
- Surveys
- Conveyancing
- Mortgage Advice
- Home Builder
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Apr 03,2024
Apr 03,2024
0
people found
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We do not recommend renting through Connells at all! They have failed to provide a refund of our deposit of nearly £3,000 and we are simply not progressing at all.
We have rented several properties through several agents and Connells are by far the worse for ...
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Dec 04,2023
Dec 04,2023
0
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I send a short review, just expressing my grateful thanks to the rental and letting department of Connells. In particular Georgia who handled the marketing and letting providing top quality professional advice from the outset, her communication skills were 2nd to none, and I was ...
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Aug 09,2023
Aug 09,2023
0
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5 star…. the team are brilliant. The overall experience was seamless and professional.
I would highly recommend Conells they are one of the best in Ashford....
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Jun 18,2022
Jun 18,2022
0
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Cannot fault the service at all. Georgia is fantastic, from the start so helpful and made me feel at ease and confident with the process....
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May 25,2022
May 25,2022
0
people found
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Easily the best estate agents I’ve worked with in the whole of Ashford, police, respectful, timely and helpful - we’ve had very bad experiences with other agents but Georgia really helped us out with everything we needed...
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Feb 26,2021
Feb 26,2021
0
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We had a brilliant experience with Connells at Park Farm.
Raife, Charlotte and Leah were all fantastic people to deal with, they were always very helpful, knowledgeable and a delight to speak to.
The sale of our property went really smoothly, and viewings were easy ...
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May 22,2019
May 22,2019
0
people found
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I am happy to wholeheartedly recommend Connells, Ashford Park Farm branch if selling a property.
My property was allocated to Ms Cheryl Turner, senior sales negotiator, I could not have asked more of Cheryl. She was friendly, helpful, approachable, she kept me fully informed at ...
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Comment on agent fees
Fair.
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Jan 27,2017
Jan 27,2017
2
people found
this helpful
this helpful
I came across with Carrie Caldecourt in Connells in Maidenstone branch. She was helping my property in Panorama for Property Maintenance issues. She has a golden touch. She maintains a list and conclude them to their results. Once she started working on my property, all ...
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Jul 11,2016
Jul 11,2016
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
A very poor relationship with Connells Letting has come to an end and it could have been much worse if it was not for Lyndsey Posey. She has assisted us with a difficult and unpleasant situation which could have been avoided completely if Lyndsey's proactive ...
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Feb 10,2016
Feb 10,2016
5
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Would not recommend this agent one bit. Attitude of staff is terrible. Threatening behaviour towards prospective tenants. No interest in resolving issues rather give/send you the complaints procedure. Pushy and rude. Expensive, certainly would not give them a penny of my money. Avoid at ...
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What agent could do to change your mind?
Expensive!!! Con artist.Attached Filesnbsp;
Comment on agent fees
Expensive!!! Con artist.
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Nov 04,2014
Nov 04,2014
4
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Avoid this branch at all costs..... I have never come across such an incompetent bunch. They never respond to messages left, they deny any knowledge of having received messages, when you do manage to speak to one of them they fail to act upon any ...
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What agent could do to change your mind?
Learn to effectively and professionally manage, communicate, deal with customers, act with honesty and integrity and just do your job........Attached Filesnbsp;
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Oct 01,2014
Oct 01,2014
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Absolutely shocking service or rather no service at all. Mortgage application was made in March and was made incorrectly in the first instance. Then when it seemed to drag on my calls were not returned and had no answers to whether the application had been ...
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What agent could do to change your mind?
Something.Attached Filesnbsp;
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Apr 03,2014
Apr 03,2014
6
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Connells Ashford, Kent ¢â‚¬â€œ Avoid!
I'll try to make this as brief as possible.
1) Sellers
If you are selling your house you are forced through their preferred solicitor to get your valuation. This solicitor is based somewhere up north. This solicitor is also extremely incompetent. Shoosmiths. ...
read full review
read full review
What agent could do to change your mind?
Explain the terms and conditions before having you see their "advisor" numerous times, including which banks they do and don't use for mortgages. Don't try and force a solicitor upon people. Don't force you to use their advisor for a mortgage and charge for a lifetime membership which we don't want.Attached Filesnbsp;
Was this helpful?
Yes
Yes
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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