John Shepherd Estate Agents - Birmingham Reviews 178

Been renting at fabrick square for 3.5 years. Initial moving in process was brilliant which is what the extra star is for, otherwise it’d be 1 star.

I Was put on a rolling contract after my initial year had expired. Then after 3 years I needed to reapply to live at the property I’ve lived at for 3 years already. This process was highly frusting and long.

Upon renewal my rent went up by £200pm. Their excuse was they hadn’t raised prices for 3 years! I also needed to pay an addditional deposit on top of my initial deposit!

On top of that, gaining entry to my property was difficult during the last 6 months of my tenancy. The fob entry system has not worked for 7 months and temporary door codes ceased to work.

They say things will get repaired but don’t or when they do they are only temporary fixes.

Avoid

I have four flats managed by John Shepherd in Birmingham. Inevitably, there is always something going on. Previoudly, life with Centrick comprised an information void. Since dealing with Caitlin MacDonald, the quality and timeliness of the service has changed beyond all recognition. She responds quickly and professionally whenever there are issues and I couldn’t speak more highly of her service ethic. Thank you, Caitlin.

Caitlin was amazing. We had some issues when we moved in to our flat, we reached out to Caitlin and her responses were fast. Every issue was attended to without delay and she followed up with us. Thank you Caitlin!

Natasha Watkins was my agent in the sale of my apartment. She was very helpful and efficient in all aspects. Great service. Recommend.

Were really helpful during the whole purchase transaction - keeping things moving and keeping me informed

Caitlin took the stress out of sorting out a Coucil Tax issue with Birmingham City Council on my behalf, with great efficiency. For me this demands five stars! Thank you!

I have spent two months chasing this company to get an issue fixed. Time after time I am ignore for weeks on end. Their lack of communication and regard towards tenants is a joke.

This company is a scam. They fail to respond to basic requests, they make threats on which they deliver, and offer atrocious basic services. Frankly I'm suprised they're still in business and can only imagine that the positive reviews are posted by their staff members.

I am extremely disappointed with the unprofessional service provided by John Shepherd, particularly by Kai-Ewan Rodney MARLA and his team. As a tenant, I rely on my property agent to handle issues promptly, but my experience has been nothing short of a nightmare.

For over 1.5 months, I have been waiting for my washing machine to be repaired, and despite my numerous efforts to get this resolved, nothing has been done. I’ve sent multiple messages through the Fixflow portal, followed up with emails, and made countless phone calls. Each time, I either receive no response or vague reassurances that lead nowhere. Even when I know Kai-Ewan Rodney is in the office, I’m told he is “unavailable,” which feels like a blatant disregard for tenant concerns.

What’s worse is the complete lack of accountability and transparency. I’ve been left in the dark with no clear timeline, and this issue has severely disrupted my daily life. Their neglect shows a complete lack of respect for their tenants and demonstrates how little they care once they’ve secured your business.

This level of incompetence and indifference is unacceptable. I will be sharing my experience widely and leaving reviews on platforms like Trustpilot to warn others about the poor service and lack of professionalism at John Shepherd. If you’re considering using their services, think twice—dealing with them has been nothing but frustration and disappointment.

These guys are uncontactable. They are not available for urgent repairs. I have contacted them 4 times. Never use them.

Great service from Hannah Britten who is my property manager for 2 apartments that I own. My properties were let quickly, and the service provided has been great. Thank you.

It is a terrible experience when using the services of John Serpherd because they are habitually not to honor the agreement between them and the Landlord, and suddenly asked the Landlord pay a bill more than £600 without the prior consent or approval or informing the Landlord for the work that is not of emergency. I would definitely lobby complaint to The Property Ombudsman. It is a company that you can not trust.

Caitlin MacDonald has been fantastic throughout our entire tenancy and during the finalisation since leaving too.

She’s always been on hand with the correct advice or has gone above and beyond to find out any question we have asked!!

Fantastic service, credit to the company!

Yoko henry is so far the best person I seen come on board I think she should get some promotion from whatever role she is johnshephard is managing the property that I been living in for years now and who ever was in charge I wasn't getting much done but yoko is number 1

I have been working along side John Shepherd for a few months now after an introduction from Caitlin Macdonald, I can say I enjoy working along side all the property managers, they are efficient with their job to ensure the landlords and tenants get a great service.

Be warned and stay well away. For context, they were advertising apartments in a block and we were told not to be concerned about the flat number itself when signing the paperwork as they're "all exactly the same" and are going quicky so the number you are given may differ depending on the time the contract is drawn.

Here is a drafted email which sums up my experience:

Hi [John Shepherd Property Manager]

Previously, I had been lied to about the property through the false-advertising as well as verbally (with the property being advertised/listed online as having 2 bathrooms, being told I am paying for two bathrooms, being shown 2 bathrooms during the viewing, but being given a number 7, a flat I was never shown with 1 bathroom on move-in day) but for which I have not pursued legally due to the contract stating flat 7 at the time of signing and for the sake of minimising stress. I did already bring this up on move-in day, first via phone-call and then via email to one of your colleagues.

The advertising, as well as the organisation told me I would have on-site parking. You are now accepting that this too was another example of false advertising and mis-selling as my particular landlord for the property you chose to give me in the end does not have a parking space associated. This again shows a lack of transparency and that all the flats are not the same misleading me again.

I have attempted to be extremely reasonable despite the opaque responses and misinformation involved, and find myself being pushed into taking further action.

I know you may not personally have been involved some of what I have mentioned above, however you are managing the property and representing your organisation.

Please also let me know in writing if there is nothing further you are willing to do as an organisation to resolve the matters stated above without the involvement of external parties.

Kindest regards,
[Name hidden]

Do not rent a property from them! The worst lettings agents in the country! Nor should you trust them to look after your property.

A very bad experience.

I rented my apartment from the Birmingham office in January 20, 2023. I moved in and discovered the boiler and heating was not working. It took two weeks to get it fixed after reporting on the office channel and contacting the office several times. I had to stay in a hotel after paying for an apartment to protect my minors from catching a cold and cold related illnesses. A compensation was promised in the form of discount from my landlord but till date, I have not received a dime.
All through my stay at the property, the heating in the house never worked properly, the rooms were infested with mould, even after using mould spray opening the windows regularly, mould was and is still a recurring issue in the apartment. I reported to my property manager, someone came and inspected the property. I was told it would be treated from its source and that was the last I heard about the mould.

I got fed up with all of the issues with the apartment, I gave the company two months notice as stated in our letting agreements, followed the checkout procedures stated by my property managers Kai Roodney and Caitlin Lemon, did the cleaning with the company approved cleaning company and a report was sent.
An email response and pictures was sent to me by my property manager Caitlin Lemon stating that the property was ok and was waiting for a partial contribution from the landlord.

From August since I moved out till date, I have been waiting for a response after that email, I am yet to receive another email. I have called the office several times, emailed the property managers involved. I also copied Drew Sawdkins who was the letting manager that finalised our letting contract and was also the person who received my keys at check out. As we speak, I am yet to get an email response after sending several, my property manager and supervisor are yet to respond to any of my calls after promising to respond as they are always in a meeting or too busy to respond. I have had to wait for 10, 15, 20, 30 minutes and more to speak with them. The call logs can be checked if my calls have been returned. No email has been sent saying where we are and when my deposit will be refunded. I guess it’s because I am of ethnic minority that I am being treated this way.

My advice to any intending tenant to rent a property from John Shepherd is a big NO, ABORT. Take your time and money elsewhere as they are not worth the trouble.

The process of booking a viewing and the viewing itself was perfect from start to finish. Very responsive and knowledgeable.
The young estate agent that met me there Turkay was warm, welcoming and made us feel at home.

I don’t leave reviews very often but John Shepherd West Bridgford deserve one. I am absolutely disgusted with this unregulated letting market, trying to remove deposit money for 2 small plastic cracks in a fridge freezer and saying they will need to replace both from our deposit money. Furthermore saying they will need to have it re-cleaned despite us paying £180 for two cleaners to spend 3 hours cleaning it professionally. Prior to this when we lived in the flat we had a low water pressure problem which took them over 4 months to fix, they came up with excuse after excuse before finally offering to fix it a few weeks before we moved out (only because we had to get the council involved to sort it). We then moved into another property with them where the oven had not been cleaned (see pictures attached) yet was told it was just cleaning residue. Also the dishwasher that did not work, we were originally told to try to fix it ourselves? Thirdly in our contract it makes reference to a washing machine, yet no washing machine was present and we had to spend hundreds to buy our own. I cannot believe what these agencies try to get away with, I highly doubt they would even replace the fridge and freezer for such a small crack and new tenants who will soon move in, they just want money money money! Disgusting.