We've been renting through Lewis Wadsworth for the last 5 months and find them horrendous. Their atitude seems to be that they're doing us one big favour.

For example, yesterday I stayed in all day waiting for a property visit which never happened. I rung them today to tell them, and apparently the guy's appointments over-ran and he couldn't get to us.

I suggested a courtesy call to me might have been helpful but all I got was "our office closes at 5pm, we wouldn't have been able to tell you". No apology whatsoever. Every person I have delt with in their city centre office has a foul attitude with an excuse for everything.

I know I'm ranting but has anyone else experienced this kind of thing with them? Maybe I've just been fortunate to rent through decent letting agents before?

We're buying a house now and will, on principle, not look at a house on the market with Lewis Wadsworth.

Tossers!!

Crikey, are you a bit cross?!!!!

Having seen threads over the last few months about useless letting agents in Sheffield I'm rapidly coming to the conclusion there isn't one who does a decent job. I know people who've had bad experiences recently with Jolly's and Blundells. There's a business opening here for someone who takes the trouble to find out the relevant information about a property before they offer it for letting, reply to phone calls, even answer phone calls, keep appointments, and charge a justifiable fee for doing it. It doesn't seem too arduous a task does it? Must go now, the flying pigs need letting out.

we have recent experience with Lewis Wadsworth. we tried to buy a house that they were marketing and i have to agree... they do act as if they are doing their customers one huge favour. i found them generally unhelpful and the standard of service we received was below par.
we ended up withdrawing our offer because of all the messing about they put us though, it made us worry that any sale agreed would be unsafe i.e. gazumping. when we withdrew our offer they acted like they couldn't have cared less. they were so bad that had the vendor lived in the house we were wanting to buy, i would have gone round there and told them how appauling their estate agency was.
we are now buying through ELR and the level of service couldn't be higher, even though we are only purchasing a relatively cheap property :thumbsup:

letting agents are crap full stop. if you want to rent or rent your property use the paper or diy - much cheaper. they're scum and they know they are - use sites like the forum.

I've had a run in with Reeds Rains today actually. I'm just about to move house as the landlord is selling up and Reeds Rains want to come and show someone around the same day i am moving out.

I told them in a polite manner that there will be boxes lying around the place and the house will naturally be a bit of a mess but she sounded like she wanted me to move some other day so that the house could be spotless. Personally it just sounded selfish asking someone to put their life on hold like that. That's just my opinion though.

P.S. Don't get me started on Saxton Mee

We rented from Lewis Wadsworth, and they were crap too. They refused to give prospective tenants contact details in case they would not be able to make it, and so we had to cancel a few outings waiting for someone who would never turn up. At the end of the term, they came up with some crap about how the carpet was filthy, when we got industrial cleaners to come sort it out............................................... ..................

I have used Lewis Wadsworth in the past to find a tenant for my house. It hasn't had a tenant for 3 mths now and I have today told them that I am withdrawing it from them. They don't seem to be making an awful lot of effort to find me a tenant and I wouldn't recommend them.

Originally posted by DT77
We've been renting through Lewis Wadsworth for the last 5 months and find them horrendous. Their atitude seems to be that they're doing us one big favour.

We're buying a house now and will, on principle, not look at a house on the market with Lewis Wadsworth.

Tossers!!

Thanks for that information, we were going to view a place they have on offer....needless to say we wont be bothering now :thumbsup:

Perhaps I was being a little harsh on LW? The reason I say that is that, during this house buying experience, we're coming to the conclusion that all Sheffield agents are as bad as eachother!!

We really don't want to play this "best and finals" game - we've missed out twice - but wonder if it's just an evil necessity...

Our latest scenario is we saw a house early Sat evening and put in an offer on Mon morning. Bearing in mind that the vendors had told us they were very keen to sell and had had good but unproceedable offers, how they liked our position of being in rented on a month to month basis now, knowing that we have all our finances in place, it was somewhat surprising to be told by their agent on Monday morning that they were considering an undisclosable cash offer way above the asking price.

This happened all since Sat evening? Call me suspicious, but...

Anyway, just about to ring the agent to see if this cash bid has been accepted. If not our intention is to get another viewing and talk turkey with the vendors face to face.

AM I PARANOID?!?!?

Thanku Dt for highlighting this problem as i thought it was just me who receieved this horrendus service, in a funny way im relieved but feel what you are going through....read on!!!

I have rented form Lewis wadsworth for 1 year now, I am happy with the house I live in but DESPISE paying them the money due to endless problems and an attitude that makes me wonder how come they arn't reported for bad service.
In my first 6 months of living in the haouse they tried to up the rent by £25.
I then had a problem with my boiler - i reported it, the next day no phonecall as promised, I rang again and had TO ARGUE with the girl as she kept saying 'you havnt reported it, its not here'
I then witheld my rent for 2 months to get this problem sorted out.
I have had NOTHING BUT PROBLEMS WITH LEWIS WADSWORTH, they want to check my house every three months - i dont mind but other letting agents have never done this.
My privacy feels invaded and when i need them they arnt there!!

They will not let me share the tenancy and all this from Lewis Wadsworth makes me want to leave the house as I cannot cope with them any longer.

Pity My landlord only gets around £410 out of the £500 I pay - £90 a month Lewis wadsworth gets for the COWBOY service I receive.
I have now had to BEG my landlord to go with another letting agent...or i just cannot live here any longer.

My overall advice is.........STAY AWAY FROM LEWIS WADSWORTH as their image and new letterheads are all they are bothered about!!

a very unhappy tenant!!:( :( :(

I am surprised you are not aware that they have gone into recievership.

I think it is the house selling side that has gone into administration. We enquired, as they were handling a house for us, and were told that the letting side is secure.

I am not sure, I know about the house selling side?

I have to say we have found them to be one of the best agents to deal with, so it is a shame really and frustrating that the others who are really careless cn carry on.

Lewis Wadsworth are the WORST letting agents I've ever had the misfortune to use! They want "admin fees" from you for every little thing and their search fees are an absolute joke (the agents we are with at the moment were over £100 cheaper!). I'm still waiting for my bond back and despite the house being spotless they are now saying they want the house "professionally" cleaned...I'm sure this is a scam to cream off my bond. Absolutely dreadful. I might recommend them to someone I didn't like but to everyone else I'd say avoid at all costs even if you are desperate because something else will turn up with someone else who will treat you better!

Strangely amusing that this thread has come back to the top of the board.

In the last fortnight I have once again had reason to become absolutely FURIOUS with Lewis Wadsworth.

I shan't go into details cos it'll make me too angry again!!

i have also used lewis wadsworth, found the insurance they make you take up annoying and the communication poor.

but letting agents are all the same and dont really care so long as they get the money. better to communicate with the landlord if you can.

i rented in london and found the same sort of things with fees etc.

renting privately has been the easiest for me, just get a contract drawn up.

They are abysmal! gswift - re: the insurance - they make it seem like you have to take theirs - they do this because (no surprise) they get commission from every policy sold - one of the guys at Let Sure told me that!!! Seems a bit unethical to me. DT77 - every time I think about Lewis Wadsworthless I get furious myself...I didn't need a crystal ball to predict that I would have trouble over the bond. I'm livid :mad: I'm thinking about lodging my complaints / concerns with the ombudsman. It's hardly surprising that the sales end of the company went down the toilet - let's hope the rest follows soon. Sorry to go on but I also found the Sheffield staff to be rude and patronising...I rented in Reading for nearly 2 years without the slightest bit of trouble or being ripped off left, right and centre with fees (except for the rent :D ) Anyway, enough of my little rant for now. I expect you'll hear more on after the weekend when the landlord is going to look at the house inspection report. Don't expect it to be nice :( Apologies for the rant!

I agree with previous posters that the staff are at best incompetent and at worst extremely rude.

Our land lord is possiby the one getting the worst deal as we have lived here for 9 months now and they have only come 1ce in that time to do an inspection.

We too had a boiler break down and followed the instructions that we had been given by them. It transpired that the Landlady was also paying a maintainence contract, which they ommited to tell us about and there is now a dispute over who will pay the bill. I n the end I am sure we will capitulate as we are leaving at the end Of Sept and wish to have our substantial (over £1000) deposit returned to us in full. I anticipate that this wil involve a fight but it will be one that I am not prepared to lose as I have kept notes of all conversations, all the missed appointments and all of the correspondence that we have had from them and, a solicitor standing by in the wings.

The fact that the Estate agency side of their business is in administration is of no surprise to me and I expect the letting side will follow shortly.

A note to the directors of the company- It would have been a good idea to invest in some customer service training for your staff and to foster an atmosphere of helpfulness and efficiency instead what you have got is a surly and obstructive workforce.

I feel better for that!!!!

You do that lobster_8! I intend to fight tooth and nail to get my deposit back in full too! I am extremely sceptical of them asking for any money at all...still waiting to hear if the landlord signed off the report, but obviously I have no idea what's in the report in its entirety and what they will say to maybe dissuade him from signing it off! Am I being too cynical? They've just really left a nasty taste in my mouth :(

We rented from LW for two years and also found them to be rude and inefficient. I also know someone who rented out a house through them and found them to be totally rubbish too. I wouldn't touch them again with a barge pole.

I'm renting a house from Lewis Wadsworth at the moment, not for much longer though as they've been absolutely useless, the staff are unhelpful and uncooperative and it's a nightmare trying to get them to sort repairs out.

Best avoided.

argghhh...trying to find a letting agent with a good reputation is impossible! I trying to find somewhere to rent at the moment and I have stayed well away from M Jolly after reading the posts on this forum. I have just booked to view a house with Lewis Wadsworth and have seen all the comments here!! Think I'll cancel..

Also cancelled a viewing with Martin and Co due to their fees. I know all agents know how to charge but they told me it would be £215 for myself and my partner. When I told them the reason for cancelling, the lady seemed to think that they certainly weren't the most expensive...well, that's the worst I've found so far!

I recently moved to Sheffield and viewed properties with LW, Blundells, Saxton and Martin & Co in Hillsborough and ended up with Martin & Co. I presume it was 215 in total and not each??!! If so, I think you were charged 215 because there were two of you which I have to admit does seem expensive but for me it was worth it, they said that they would refund the 135 admin charge if my references weren't successful (I have a pretty bad history!) and no other agent offered me this. I think they only opened recently and told me that they are determined to be the letting agent that gave the best service. When it came to moving in, they met me at the shop and even drove me to the property to check me in! So far I've had no problems to report to them but I'll update the post to let you know how I get on if I do. I guess you get what you pay for.

Well I hope it works out for you. I know someone who rents with them and they said the service has been great so far.

You're right - it's a question of weighing up the costs and the service. I just can't afford to pay £215 when other agents are charging half that. Shame really as the house looked really nice..

Hi Folks

I've read this thread with great interest as we are putting our house up for rent soon. We've got someone coming from Martin & Co to give us the information and valuation for renting, so I'm glad they've had good feedback so far. We've already had someone from Reed Rains, what do you all think of them?
What I want to know is the perspective of the person renting a property, as we have never rented out before. What do you expect from the letting agent and the landlord? (Other than repairs done as soon as possible) Also what is the £215 charge for?

I didn't use Reed Rains so I'm not sure but Martin & Co were the first agent to respond to my email and were happy to show me the place in the evening which was good as I work during the day. I'm not sure what the £215 was for in detail but basically they said that £135 was for admin and then £40 per person for references. The references were a bit of a pain as they wanted lots of info and my employer was a bit slow with retuning them but they chased them every day until they got them back. They were the only agent that said that if my references failed they would refund me the £135 as there would be no contract to set up which I thought was pretty good. Like I said above, I've not had any issues for them to sort out yet but will let everyone know how I get on if I do. Good luck with renting your house out!

Thanks for that widget21 :thumbsup:

I had a terrible experience with Lewis Wadsworth a few years back. I was moving back to Sheffield and had a week to find somewhere to live. Towards the end of the week I hadn't seen anything I liked and then came across a flat with LW. I arranged a viewing, and went along one evening, where the current tennant showed me around. The flat was lovely, the price was right, and the tennant said only one other person had seen it over a week ago, so it looked like I was in luck. I called at 9am the next morning saying I wanted to make an application, and they told me without apology that it had already been let. They then hung up on me! I rang back and they claimed to have a problem with their phones, I asked when it had been let and they told me that an application had been received the previous day. I asked why they had let me go to the viewing when it had been let and they said that because it was a tennant-led viewing it didn't flag up on their system to cancel it! What a load of bull. They then hung up on me again. They were rude and completely unapologetic, and I was left with just one day left to find a flat. Thankfully I did manage to find one through Castle Estates - but the woman there wasn't exactly helpful - she tried to convince me that a major damp problem in a bedroom was caused by the flat being unoccupied for a few months and that it wasn't actually damp.

I have been very lucky to rent my last two houses from private landlords who were both brilliant. Now I'm looking for somewhere else and feel really daunted by the prospect of letting through an agent.

The £215 I mentioned earlier was £135 fee for contract, inventory, etc, together with £40 each for reference checks for myself and my partner. It's true that the £135 is refundable if your application is unsuccessful - however, this only really seems beneficial if you lose out on the house in which case you are still £80 out of pocket and have no place to live.

I have found that most agents charge potential tenants in the region of £100 - £150 for an application - this includes the big agents such as Haybrook, Blundells and Saxton Mee.

I think what I want most out of renting a place is to actually feel comfortable living there. Obviously a speedy response when any repairs are required is really important, but I have personally been put off properties by the 'regime' I would have to adhere to to live there. My current landlady summed up what I'm trying to say when she told me that while I pay money to live in the house, and as long as I don't trash the place, I should feel that it is my home.

I've also been a bit freaked out by the stories of landlords/agents withholding bonds for no reason - in fact, we went to see one house where the agent repeated several times that they could keep the bond for this and that - felt like I was being set up for a fall!

Wow....this house hunting lark is driving me mad!

I have been very lucky to rent my last two houses from private landlords who were both brilliant. Now I'm looking for somewhere else and feel really daunted by the prospect of letting through an agent.

The £215 I mentioned earlier was £135 fee for contract, inventory, etc, together with £40 each for reference checks for myself and my partner. It's true that the £135 is refundable if your application is unsuccessful - however, this only really seems beneficial if you lose out on the house in which case you are still £80 out of pocket and have no place to live.

I have found that most agents charge potential tenants in the region of £100 - £150 for an application - this includes the big agents such as Haybrook, Blundells and Saxton Mee.

I think what I want most out of renting a place is to actually feel comfortable living there. Obviously a speedy response when any repairs are required is really important, but I have personally been put off properties by the 'regime' I would have to adhere to to live there. My current landlady summed up what I'm trying to say when she told me that while I pay money to live in the house, and as long as I don't trash the place, I should feel that it is my home.

I've also been a bit freaked out by the stories of landlords/agents withholding bonds for no reason - in fact, we went to see one house where the agent repeated several times that they could keep the bond for this and that - felt like I was being set up for a fall!

Wow....this house hunting lark is driving me mad!

After the feedback so far, I'm thinking of letting the property myself instead of using an agent. The very thing they say they are charging me for is exactly the same thing they are charging you guys for!! Only I will be paying them every month!
I suppose I'm worried because it's the first time we've let a property, and you hear some scary stories, that I thought the agents would be there to fall back on but it seems not.