Shipways Reviews 104

Lost over £500 in solicitor and mortgage fees because I was lied to by these for nearly 6 months about the progress on my purchase - until I took things into my own hands and called up to check and found out the seller is in a serious dispute and they’d never release docs - meaning he’d never sell the flat!!!!! Waste of time and money!!!!!!!!!! If I was rich I’d sue you even though it’s for £500 and not more. You ruin peoples lives!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don’t waste your time. The communication is non existent. Tried to sell my property with them and had no luck, which was fine, decided to take the property off the market for a while and then back on the market with another agent. They then proceeded to reduce the property and re advertise without permission and consent. Even though I had already taken it off the market with them for a few months. Do not recommend.

Just to say a massive thank you to Demi Leek at Shirley branch. I have to say Demi you been amazing and the amount of support you given us has been outstanding. With the amount of emails I have sent you always responded and guided us in the right way. I just want to say a massive thank you for been brilliant and supportive thanks again Mrs O'brien

Awful company both from a rental and buyer. We had constant issues throughout our tenancy and were just told that they act on behalf of landlord not us! When it came to buying it was made very clear that if we wanted priority with the vendor we had to mortgage with them, which is completely illegal! Don't know how they aren't investigated by the ombudsman for there dodgy practices and shocking customer service!

I booked an appointment with the kidderminster office for a valuation on Sept 2nd . It was confirmed by a phone call in the 4th . On the day of the appointment no one arrived . I rang they had no record of the appointment. It was explained that some how it had been written down on paper but not recorded any where else . What a way to run a business.

It’s sad to see that when you try look for an affordable place with these and other agencies but ur unemployed at the moment your automatically judged and pushed to the side , you don’t even get a chance to prove yourself or even find a place to so you can get a job or better yourself. It’s like they would rather have you homeless than deal with anyone unemployed.

Customer of Kidderminster Branch. Landlord for 8 years. Never received good service. Agent doesn't manage that property properly. Poor response rates. Staff don't seem to stay long. Overall not worth the money. I will be changing on renewal of lease contract.

They are refusing to submit offers to vendors if the prospective buyer doesn't go through their own mortgage advisors. So just the king about withdrawing an offer on a property. If you struggle to sell that's why....

asked to view a property and was told they would arrange and let me know . I was the asked to register my details which i did. Then asked if i would like a valuation on my property which i declined as another agent was dealing with my sale. Never got a viewing and never contacted again WASTE OF TIME

Awful service, rude and there might be a racial discrimination practice going on there!!! Stay away

I wanted to view a property for rent, and i was a bit late. I tried to let them know and they did not pick up they never pick up the phone. The guy who was at the viewing called to ask where we are. I said stuck in traffic due to peak hour, coming quickly. He kept on poking in a negative way saying that “don’t you know your meeting is at this time, there is no peak hour now.” It was quite intimidating, he kept on saying not in a polite way “ i was there i reached here by 10 mins how come you are taking so long”. His tone was very intimidating and very rude and he spoke to me as if i was lying. I think that is very unprofessional. You can leave the property but there is no need to be rude. Why will i lie!!! No etiquette at all. Once i reached there he and the landlord didn’t seem interested much and mentioned that the property will be rented at a higher price now than was previously posted online. Either they just deceive people or illegally increase the rent or they just bluffed us with the higher rent so that we don’t come back. I have never seen a property agent increase the rent without posting and when we go for a viewing.

Don’t know about the company but the agent should learn some manners.

Really bad service, sell your house with someone else!
We had sold our house, (thankfully with another agent) and were looking for somewhere to buy, after looking around and and finally finding one we liked, we made an offer lower than the overpriced asking price, we negotiated and finally had an offer accepted.
We tried to arrange a second viewing because there was work that need to be done on the property so we wanted another look, finally got a viewing booked, and after arriving early and waiting 15mins outside the property we were told that the vendor had cancelled because they had to leave urgently, and that the person from shipways had had to leave to go to another viewing. The vendors car was still on the drive and there was clearly someone home, and no other cars had come and gone in the time we were parked outside the property. This BS was confirmed when we spoke to them the following week and were informed it was because they were short staffed, then when speaking again later that day they repeated the same story the told us on the day of the viewing.
We tried to rebook again and they then said we could only view on weekdays before 2.30pm. Which is impossible for two people who work for a living! (And odd as the previous appointments had been on weekends)
Then 6 weeks after chasing for the vendor to put their solicitors paperwork in so we could progress they called us out the blue saying the vendor no longer wanted to sell the property (and even made the comment “we thought they might pull out a few weeks ago”) with no mention of this to us!!! A complete waste of time and money, due to the incompetence of the Shirley staff in particular Rosie and their Manager James.

I am looking for a property at the moment and Amber is the only agent that has called me back, which she does on a on a weekly basis. Amber has even arranged to canvas the areas I am looking in. Now for those of us looking to buy at the moment we all know that most agents are too busy to even return a call never mind make a point of trying to find a house for a buyer. Thank you Amber.

I'm looking to buy a house for 4 months and every time I like a house to view wich is posted on website for 1h is telling me its already fully booked and can't accept any viewing this bulshet I will not recommend them.

Unhelpful, unprofessional, tell you what you wants to hear, we have been theirs customers and you don't treat your customers like that!!!! Shocking!!!! Kidderminster brand its waste of time!!! More training need it!!

Had my house on the market with the Shirley office for over 3 months and over 30 viewings, not one offer, could not get any feedback from the office until I had to chase them all the time.

Do not use this company paid for a video but all it was a slide show of the pictures that were taken.

People were viewing the property that was not looking for that style of house found out they get commission for each viewing, they also used the same excuse several times for not being able to provide feedback.

Check each agent out before you go with them. Don’t waste your time with this company.

Very professional!

My wife is a retired chartered surveyor, with nearly 40 years experience in residential agency having been a director of a well established firm of Estate Agents and Chartered Surveyors. Being used to training staff, she and I have exceptionally high standards.

The negotiator who took our initial enquiry for a market appraisal answered the phone promptly, was polite, enthusiastic (without being “over the top”), friendly and knowledgeable. Faultless. That told us how she would deal with potential purchasers and an eventual sale, so we were impressed.

The market appraiser, Winnie, arrived promptly and had the same qualities as her colleague.

As a retired residential valuer my wife had already done her homework, so knew what to expect from any decent agent we used, from comparables to valuation. Again, faultless. We know it isn’t the name of an estate agent business that is most important but how good the individual staff members are.

Winnie did not disappoint us in any way. Her enthusiasm, friendliness, knowledge, presentation of the their services and overall professionalism were first class. We would have no hesitation in using Shipways, Harborne office for a house sale in the area.

I wouldn’t recommend taking them on as an agency. They promise a lot but they won’t deliver anything. A complete waste of time. They couldn’t progress the sale of my flat.

Based on our experience of the Harborne branch in Birmingham. We are first-time buyers looking to secure a mortgage. We had a meeting with the mortgage services consultant who was lovely and seemed very well-informed - no problems there. However, over the next 3 months we found it virtually impossible to get in touch with the consultant. Emails were unanswered for weeks at a time and they were never available to speak on the phone. It took over 3 weeks to get our mortgage agreement in principle - something that should take 1-2 working days at the very most. We did not have any documents or confirmation of the AIP, just a screenshot from the consultant. We did not even know who the lender was and it took another 4 weeks to find out this information. We rung Shipways multiple times and were always promised a call back which inevitably did not occur. The level of support and information we received throughout was unacceptable, especially as first-time buyers that need a bit more help. After 3 months of this we went directly to a bank to secure our mortgage and found the kind of professional service that we should have had from the start. Within 2 days we had a mortgage application completed following a proper consultation. If you're a first-timer buyer, or any buyer for that matter, avoid Shipways at all costs.

Shocking service from Hagley Branch , tried to book a viewing on an empty property for which they held a key and had to chase to view with no reply . Offered on an apartment in Hagley village , Haybridge Mews , offer only 5 K below asking price , no feedback on offer , unsure if vendor even received it and property still in market four months later after my offer , no offer acknowledged in writing. Appalling service , pity their vendors who have no idea it’s impossible to buy a property from them as a purchaser. Since bought and completed on other property in the area while still waiting for Shipways to confirm a viewing !
Now cold calling for custom as lockdown hits , how the tables turn !
About to report to the ombudsman.

Severely incompetent at Redditch branch
Wasted months on a supposed buyer who didn’t have his mortgage in place despite assurances from the branch staff that he had been checked
Don’t trust a word they say, thanks to them assuring me that I had a buyer for my property I lost money on a survey I had carried out and solicitors fees.
Do not use them !