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Review summary
John Shepherd Estate Agents receives consistently positive reviews. Customers particularly appreciate service and professional, though some mention concerns about communication and customer service.
One of the worst experiences I had with this agency. I rented a house from them and verbally agreed and emailed confirming my extension of my stay. But suddenly the agent left the agency and the landlord changed his mind and evicted us by using no fault eviction. Not only that, they rented the place for less than what we were paying. It's a scam to get your deposit money. They charged us £1700 for property damage but the court ruled in our favor and we got our deposit back. Be careful.
I had a great experience with Lauren Foster from the John Shepherd team as she helped us with arranging to have a pet in our tenancy. It can be a bit nerve-wracking asking for a pet but from the the first interaction Lauren was friendly, supportive, and helpful in her approach and was just as enthused when our Landlord agreed as we were!! Our emails were responded to quickly and she was able to pass on all information efficiently. An absolute star 🌟 and we hope to have more interactions with her in the future
Centrick used to manage my property, and I never had any issues with them for 7 years. Once John Shepherd Birmingham Branch took over my property, the experience was very different. So, if you are looking around for a letting agent, please refer to all the one-star ratings on Trustpilot. There must be a reason why landlords/tenants are so upset with John Shepherd. If John Shepherd is your current letting agent, I will advise landlords to be more hands-on, even though you are paying a full management service fee for John Shepherd to manage your property. As I used to be very hands-off when Centrick managed my property, I had a very costly lesson when my property was managed by John Shepherd. To be fair, their senior management staff (Chris, Stuart, Julie, Jack) are all very responsive and professional. They gave me their full support during the formal complaint process. I was just very unfortunate to bump into a very absent-minded property manager. Just to name a few - he forgot to deduct the final month's utilities from my last tenant's deposit; forgot to inform Ginger Energy of a new tenancy, and all expenses were charged to me; forgot to sign on a Section 21 notice and when my eviction consultant would like to submit court papers to apply for a possession order, the unsigned Section 21 notice was invalid and the whole process had to re-start again; forgot to inform the Birmingham City Council of a new tenancy and I received a huge bill for council tax. As a landlord who is paying a full management service fee, I don't expect that I have to check the work done by my property manager. Those are just their "bread and butter". Right? I can't imagine so many things can go wrong. So, if you are looking for a letting and management agent, please read all the 1-star ratings on Trustpilot. I think comments on Trustpilot are very reliable. When I was very desperate to look for an eviction company last year to evict my tenant, I read comments on Trustpilot and found a very good eviction company with all 5-star ratings.
Grateful for the outstanding service provided by Caitlin MacDonald, managed to close multiple cases in timely manner.
Additionally showcased great professionalism and communication, also flexible during her time off.
Wish her a successful career and would be more than happy to collaborate with her in the future.
Very much appreciated
Paul
Appalling service from this lettings agency - our original agency transferred hands so I was expecting a step up in our service but absolutely nothing happened. They are withholding our deposit without real reason and I would prefer to just be done with this agency altogether.
I contacted this company about a flat for sale in Burton on Trent. No answer, so contacted again, left a message, odd response saying they were Aquire? No answer. I looked at the advert, odd that its a Derby number for a Burton Estate Agent. So I looked up the Burton number, they said they dont deal with sales, I will be contacted. They didnt. So rang again and I was put through to sales after hearing they were Aquire again?
So spoke to sales and asked about the flat.
The email response had a Birmingham number?
So I checked to see if they were registered as an Estate Agent in Burton on Trent, they were not, I checked on here, no reviews under the drop down to which branch to review.
I was suspicious, I had seen so many numbers, so few answers.
I checked out the company, looks like a company (Aquire) just sold to a larger company John Shepherd) although only having one property for sale?
I was now very suspicious.
So checked some more, looks like they are a letting agency and sales are handled by other branches if they have any. Derby had 4.
The company is part of the Lombard group the trading name for Chianti holdings, then some connection to Chianti Bidco and one director who had been associated with directorships of 109 previous companies in 18 years.
On checks with company house all appeared legal although they are not registered as Estate Agents in Burton on Trent, so I checked with National Trading standards asking about their legitmency
Here is part of their reply
I have checked the details you provided for your agent using the online property agent checker Search the Property Agent Checker - National Trading Standards and this does not find any current redress membership for Acquire Sales & Lettings.
Acquire would however appear to be a trading name for John Shepherd Lettings Limited who, in turn, appear to be owned by Lomond Property Lettings Limited, registered in London. Lomond are members of The Property Ombudsman Scheme.
Given the complexity of the corporate structure, I will refer the matter to The Property Ombudsman and ask for their views on the membership position.
So in order to check this company out I had to go through that. Even then there is no direct answer and they appear to be a letting agency.
I had meanwhile offered on the flat they had. I was then asked to pay for my ID check? While I understand that an Estate Agent has a legal obligation to check IDs it was the first time I had been asked to pay and I really was very suspicious.
I refused to pay although had supplied my ID information. They meanwhile said the property had another offer which despite me having received an acceptance of offer letter was taken. Normal phrase is gazumped.
I just dont trust companies like this. I felt suspicious and nervous throughout.
I use John Shepherd to let a flat in Nottingham. Some times they are ok, but just seem to make simple mistakes like moving tenants in without getting all meter readings. they also try to double charge for move in/out.
They often ignore emails.
Communication is just non-existant. Had a tenancy fall through and they did not even tell me. also had them move tenants in without confirming with me. I also don't think their vetting process is acceptable - I had a tenant not pay rent for 6 months. what can they do about it? nothing.
TLDR; I would strongly recommend looking for a different letting agent. I will certainly be moving my business at the end of this tenancy.
EDIT: Changing to 1 star as they simply don't respond to emails.
Tracy Savidge has been supporting me with all manner of queries since taking up tenancy with Tassi (recently acquired by John Shepherd) in 2021. I've been the grateful recipient of combined experience, dilligence and geniality throughout. Repairs are always promptly arranged. I've rented a number of properties over the years and I've never known more masterful dominion over contractors.
Most recently Tracy's been a dependable advisor as I come to the end of my tenancy. I couldn't in good conscience let the great work through the years go unsung.
I've had a property on the market with John Shepherd for 3 months. We've had no viewings arranged at all. Today I found out that their office is now a café and the office is closed. My emails and phone calls have not been answered. Beware.
The service was pretty good, email responses were very quick which is really good. I did however have to ask for updates along the way when things fell quiet for a period of time. It would be useful to receive at least 1 update every 2 weeks to keep people up to date. Everything else went well. Thank you !
Fantastic service.
Samantha Follows very professional and helpful and always there to answer all questions that I had and replied in a swift manner.
Rianne Smith another fantastic and professional person keeping me in the loop of everything going on.
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