Shepherd John

My experience during my tenancy was fairly standard for a letting agent, unresponsive and generally unhelpful. To be expected. However my experience trying to get the deposit back has been far from normal. John Shepherd are happy to send unsubstantiated claims for large sums of money but when pressed on why these deductions are being made are unable to provide a breakdown for the costs.

This is of course in breach of the The Property Ombudsman (TPO) Code of Practice and ARLA Propertymark membership both of which they are bound by. This has halted deposit deduction negotiations and thus the proper return of my money in a timely fashion. I have raised these breaches of the Code with both Tina Margetts and Chris Blick but as of yet neither have even acknowledged receipt of the advice or complaint respectively.

While they may have the logos of both ARLA and TPO to assure customers of their professionalism this could not be further from my experience when dealing with this organisation. I would urge others to read the TPO Code of Practice for Residential Letting Agents so you know exactly what service you should be receiving and ensure you are not being inadvertently mistreated by this organisation. Consumers have far more rights than letting agents would have you believe.

The worst agency ever. They have posted it and straight away I was calling regarding the property and the lady who managed it she was not available the whole day. Next day I called in the morning and she told me she already has 6 views and it is fully booked. How it is this possible? And the attitude is horrendous! Definitely not ever rent or buy a house through them and I will make sure all my friends and family will know about them. L.E: after reply If your check the logs you can see that I have called more than few times since yesterday morning and all the time she was unavailable and no one could get through the lady. Please listen to the recordings. I don't need excuses for bad services. It is a shame what is happening and is true, bad employees can mess up a company'a reputation.

Had a viewing with Megan Johnson and loved the flat she straight away made sure i got it and was so speedy with the processing. All moved in within 1 month since the viewing. Thanks again Megan! X

Megan is our coordinator and she arranged everything easily to make us to move letting and she is also very polite and kind.

Pleasant and smooth experience! Saw the apartment, booked it/agreed, all documents and verification were done online timely. Moved within 20 days from viewing. Nice and detailed documentation, inventory, continuous support and assistance. Special thanks to Megan Johnson. Post move support was excellent and always got reply and response from John Shepherd. An all star experience indeed. Location: Birmingham, UK

A mention for Gita, whom has looked after my property interests competently in every way. Nothing is too much trouble and she clearly has her clients best interests at heart, professional through and through. Keep up the good work Gita!

Trying to deal with these agents is impossible. I'm a landlord at a flat on the ground floor below a flat they are agents too. They have had a major leak in the flat they are agents too and basically told me they are getting a humidifier. What a joke. My tenant says the ceiling is about to collapse as in the pics attached and Julie at John Shepherd tells me the issue is fixed.

No urgency what so ever on behalf of their tenants. The plumber they used used 3 different explanations for the leak and none of them are accurate. If this is how they respond in emergency's they are not proper agents and show absolute no duty of care to their tenants and to the other people they are affecting.

I took the flat off the market and within days you had found me a tenant and an increased rent. Well done. Thank you Lily for excellent and speedy service. I couldn't ask for more. Very much appreciated.

I called to view a flat to rent and the person on the phone put me on a waiting list because the property wasn't accessible yet. Later in the day I get a text from them confirming my viewing was booked for the next hour! They gave me one hour notice for a viewing! I managed to get there on time and no one showed up. I called their office and a guy on the phone told me that the property wasn't accessible.

I asked then why they booked me in and he said that he also sent me a voicemail to tell me that the viewing was canceled. I had my phone next to me on my desk at work (yes, I was working and I had to leave early, which means I lost money because of them) fully available, I would have heard it ring and he wouldn't have had a chance to leave a voicemail.

In fact, my voicemail was empty. Mistakes happen, lies don't. I would have appreciated if they admitted I was booked by mistake. Lying to customers and wasting their time and money. I've dealt with many unprofessional estate agents, but this goes to the top of my list.

As a tenant, I have met many many agents in Birmingham, and I would like to endorse the professionalism and friendliness of Megan and Lily from John Shepard's. Megan showed me a few flats, and unlike most of agents, she never pushed her interests, she remained silent to let me do my evaluation, she agreed with flaws, she was punctual and polite. I worked with Lily in a difficult situation, and she showed dedication and professionalism.

At the end, in the current structure of tenant-property owner-agent, the agent is on the side of the property owner, however, these people try their best to consider tenants as well. I hope John Shepard's appreciate their values.