Bairstoweves Reviews 

I'm leaving this review to thank Henry, Folkestone branch for being lovely showing us round a property more than once and ringing us to wish us luck when we couldn't find a house with him. A lovely young agent.

The following is a summary of my recent transaction managed by Ian Merchant and Ellie Lynch.

Based on my experience, in my opinion, the conduct throughout the process raised serious concerns about transparency and ethical standards, and the way the transaction was handled left me questioning the honesty and integrity of those involved.

In summary, Bairstow Eves advertised the property with multiple inaccuracies, including:

- Listing the property as Share of Freehold (with leasehold title) when the property was Leasehold only.

- Stating the lease was 994 years when it was actually 78 years.

- Indicating the property had a basement, when no basement was registered on the title.

- Claiming the property measured 153.8 sqm when it was in fact 89 sqm according to the EPC.

- Advertising no service charge despite a material service charge being applicable.

Further issues included:

- Misrepresenting their referred conveyancer as being in-house, and claiming the seller was using the same conveyancer (which was not the case), presumably to secure a referral fee.

- Not disclosing a referral fee arrangement for their recommended mortgage advisor.

- Providing inconsistent explanations for the disappearance of key information during the transaction. It seemed to me that the information provided was intentionally misleading.

- Failure to disclose material charges on the property’s title.

- Failure to disclose the Council Tax band.

- Engaging in negotiation practices I found to be unfair, such as offering buyer benefits to the seller for leverage and using expired bids to pressure decisions.

- Representing the property would be emptied of contents, when it was not.

- Not providing their internal complaints procedure or the Ombudsman’s Code of Practice, and failing to display the required logos as stipulated by the Code. And, after complaining about this, It seemed to me that the explanation provided was intentionally misleading.

- Not adhering to their own complaints process.

- Leaving their "sold" sign up well beyond the legal timeframe and only removing it after being prompted.

Their complaints process was particularly disappointing, rather than addressing the concerns raised, it appeared focused on denial and deflection, without taking accountability for the issues identified above. In my view, this response fell far short of what a professional and responsible agency should deliver. At times, it felt as though those handling the complaints process were unfamiliar with the very procedures they were meant to follow.

The above has all been submitted to the Property Ombudsman where I look forward to their consideration of these clear failings.

We had a fantastic experience with Bairstow Eves Stratford in the purchase of our first house. And we want to highlight the exceptional service provided by Vasco, Edina, Paige and Sibel.

The team was extremely professional, responsive, and supportive throughout the entire process, making everything smooth and as stress-free as possible.

A special mention goes to Sibel Sumbul, who was truly outstanding as our mortgage advisor. Her knowledge, patience, and dedication made a real difference—she took the time to explain all our options clearly and helped us find the best solution for my needs.We would highly recommend Sibel to anyone looking for expert mortgage advice. Her support was invaluable and greatly appreciated.

Thank you to the whole team for making the experience such a positive one!

Bibi & Michael

Very unprofessional rental agent. Very doggy. Said I failed my reference when after just 2 days. I provide 2 bank details which one was my salary account and they intentionally did use the salary account. Came back and said the other accounts doesn't have trace of income.They told me the Landlord is going with someone else. Please for anything you do, don't use them except you want to lose your holding deposit or they might make life a living hell for you even if they give you the house. They can do anything for money these lot.

They take ages to respond and solve any problem occurring in their property
You just email and email them with no idea when will the issue be reolved.
It’s been a month I complained about my machine not working and still not fixed and no deadline to when it will be fixed

I have had yet again another miss call from Bairstow Eves - I have not ever contacted Bairstow Eves Grays Branch about selling or purchasing a property I have told them numerous times to take me off their mailing/calling list and yet it is still happening

Very pushy and spam you constantly, was told we was just looking for now but they spam call us and email us at least twice a day.

Leave voicemails saying things like sorry the house you want to view is sold just for me to ring up and confirm and be told no its not...don't communicate at all.

Had a meeting with a mortgage advisor who told us to send him the houses and he would look into them etc just to find out he's out of office for 4 days so whats the point.

Apparently the average house viewing time is 15 mins? we was rushed around a house within 10 minutes then expected to be at an appointment 5 mins later that's a minimum 15 min drive.

After a very unforgettable 16 week contract with Bairstoweves to market and sell our house….
We had two viewings which was of course very disappointing.
We signed a contract on the 20th of January this year, I specifically asked their agent when she valued our house if she was certain she could sell it at her market value..A Sound YES within I wanted (12 weeks) she argued they would need 16 week with a higher valued house..
This was agreed.
Viewings were dismal so basically Bairstoweves did not keep to their contract.
There office lad called me just over two weeks ago asking to lower the house price…I reminded him of the valuers promise….so I refused.
I asked the lad to get the boards removed at the end of the 16 weeks..which he duly did..
TODAY they have emailed me siting contract fees…..
As far as I’m concerned We’ve had a very shoddy service from Bairstoweves , Their member of staff told me the date that the contract ended and checking dates …we were both correct on end dates….

Bairstow eves were dealing with the property I was purchasing and the service was ok but please do not use Muve Conveyancing if they recommend using them!! They are the most incompetent company I’ve ever dealt with and ended up costing me £3,500 with additional stamp duty and various other issues from multiple failed completion dates. There were 3 people in the chain (one first time buyer and one going into rented so very straightforward chain), 2 of us were using Muve and it ended up taking over 5 months to complete. They are also based in Sri Lanka as confirmed by Sheron, my 3rd case handler (something which was not made clear at the start of the process) so talking on the phone to anyone is extremely difficult. I called and waited on hold for 20 minutes then when asking to talk to a manager, they suddenly couldn’t hear me and hung up. Also due to the time difference, you will get about 1 email a day at best.
The reviews on Trustpilot are not genuine so please do not be fooled with the 5 star reviews they must make internally!!
PLEASE DO NOT USE MUVE!!

I find this company very incompetent, they can’t follow simple instructions, all I asked of them was to close all blinds as the property was empty which they repeatedly failed to do and on one occasion they left the conservatory door wide open and left site, if I didn’t have security cameras fitted around the building that door could have been open for a week!!
I called them to come back and close it, this incompetence is unforgivable, will never use this company again.

Terrible costumer service all my questions had an answer: I don't know!! this is not a service is just someone answer the phone without any knowledge!!!

I would just like to say that I have the best service from senior letting agent Sophie Buckthrope from the Nottingham branch .. she is quick to respond to emails clear and polite and she basically gets the job done !!

Booked to view 3 properties a week in advance. Cash buyer. Estate agent didn’t turn up to the viewings nor think to call me I had to call them! Avoid at all cost! When I spoke to them they told me they lost the keys and forgot to call me!

I’ve had a terrible experience with Bairstow Eves (North Finchley), particularly with property manager Moshe Ben-Zion. His lack of professionalism and poor communication has made the end of our tenancy incredibly stressful.

Despite moving out of the property almost two months ago, we have still not received a penny of our deposit or the rent we are owed. A £502.20 fee was introduced only after we moved out, with no prior mention and no explanation of what it was for. When asked, Moshe claimed it was a “set company charge” but admitted he couldn’t break it down—even though we found the replacement tenants ourselves.

We’ve sent multiple emails and made several calls, most of which have gone completely unanswered. It was only after opening a formal dispute with the deposit scheme that we received any response at all.

This kind of service is unacceptable. I strongly advise others to avoid renting through this branch.

Darcy is a massive credit to baristoweves Nottingham she dealt with our application and we met her on our viewing she’s a delightful hard working person, went above and beyond for me and my partner should be proud of the work she delivers to what only I can imagine is what she does each and every day

Many thanks for everything Darcy

Mediocre service/no comms/obnoxious clueless staff
So i signed up with Bairstow Eve Norbury, CR7 to market and sell my flat in early Nov 2024.
By Christmas 2024 still no viewers, perhaps just one phone call saying i might have to reduce my asking price and that was when I called them to ask if I could see a very nice looking flat up the road from me which they were also marketing.
I arranged a viewing and waited outside at the allotted time, the external was a series of dark, dank, filthy passageways only leading out onto an unlit car park or a short set of steps to the main road. It stank of urine, several rough looking people went past me making me flinch with fright at my bag and phone!
The agent waved at me in the distance some 10mins later complaining I had been stood in the wrong place, with it being early Jan and pitch black I obviously did not want to stand at the back of the building isolated.
We walked past filthy broken smashed in front doors which had been poorly fixed, thumping music coming from some, up and down passageways and stairs attempting to find the flat in the badly designed block.
We were met with a waft of smell of dirt/cooking, kitchen was filthy, cupboards hanging off/doors of cabinets missing. No light at all in the bedroom. There was duct tape on electric sockets, the whole flat was terrible!
The vendors wife was there and I asked how much the service charge was. She said her husband took care of all that and it was his flat which he'd lived in since he was young.
The agent gave me the most angry look and said "outside"!
He more or less gave me a reprimand for having had the audacity to ask the vendor as opposed to him.
This flat was in a terrible state, when i looked at the ad once more it was blatantly clear the photos had been photoshopped to make it look wonderful. It was not even worth 190 let alone 220. Yet they made me reduce my price and still did not pro actively find me anyone interested in seeing my flat.
Time went on and they brought me a viewer-just the one in all that time- more than 2 months at this point, this lady came in and went out within a few minutes, they barely described or knew anything about my flat.
I chased them via email a load of times asking if she was likely to make an offer, never got any response. Eventually after around 3 weeks they said her plans had changed.
I looked at the ad they had for my flat on Rightmove and noticed it was directed only to buy to let customers. I emailed them about this, again no response.
oh but he did add the words "would suit first time buyer" when i called after having emailed them idk how many times-only at a push though, he appeared very indignant at it.
They arranged another viewing-actually thinking back i am guessing the 2nd viewer only interested as a result of the wording changes i instigated, the person came and went, again no feedback nothing nada zero zilch, still waiting 2 months on.
They never responded to my email asking them what would happen regarding my contract, if it could go on a rolling basis once it was up or not and never responded to any questions I had about their service.
They left my ad up as well despite having finished the contract with them. They only took it down because my new agent got them to do so.
I think I would still be trying to sell 3yrs later if I stayed with them. The guy was very obnoxious too, having a go at me because i've used quite a few agents now. They really don't like people do they?
What was that my colleague said they used to refer to them as "barefaced thieves" lol

😡Billie-Jane Maidstone Branch😡
Very unprofessional rude behaviour
Uses “whats app” to inform
You of completion dates when the conveyancing solicitor is unaware of any such dates

DO NOT USE THIS ESTATE AGENT!

This is a review for the Hucknall branch.
I had been looking for a property to rent and just couldn't find anywhere suitable in the area I wanted. In the end I viewed a property that was slightly out of area but once there it was not for me. Jodie immediately picked up on the fact that the property was not suited to me and remembered a property that had just come up, in the area I was after. I viewed it the same day, loved it and consequently moved in.
I cannot thank Jodie enough for all that she has done for me. She is amazing and intuitively knows her clients wants and needs. An absolutel star!
Jodie, from the bottom of my heart, thank you! <3

Bairstoweve Walthamstow branch recently arranged a new rented property for me. They include a clause whereby your energy supplier become OVO automatically upon signing the tenancy unless you request not to. I requested a different supplier and they ignored me, seemingly on purpose because OVO pays them commission.

They have refused to apologise or take responsibility for providing my data to OVO who set up an account in my name without contacting me until 9 days into the tenancy. Luckily a small amount of money is owed but it’s incredibly unethical. OVO recently were forced by Ofgem to pay £2.4M in damages for its treatment of customers and incorrectly assessed bills.

Avoid Bairstoweve Walthamstow and other branches if you can: they broke their own contract terms and wont acknowledge it.

Bairstoweves recently acted on my behalf for the sale of my property. I had an overall good experience with the staff who were great at attracting potential buyers. Staff were professional, friendly and supportive all the way through to completion. Thank you Ian, Ellie, Edina, Vasco, Scott and all the Team at Bairstoweves Stratford for all your help, much appreciated! Joy (and Nicky)