John-Paul Stevenson
★★★★★
Since posting this review, Joseph has been in direct contact with me. He was understanding, professional, and took the time to properly listen to my concerns. He apologised for the initial experience and offered to resolve things personally, which I genuinely appreciated. While my original experience still stands, it’s only fair to recognise the effort made afterwards to put things right. Overall, the follow-up service was very good, and based on this, I would recommend ensuring that you speak to Joseph directly for your valuations to avoid any miscommunication. Everyone makes mistakes, but it is how they are put right that counts, hence why I agreed to give Joseph a future opportunity in a different area, after which I will update the review again. ----------- My experience with HoldenCopley was disappointing, particularly when compared with several other local agents I had dealt with over the same period. To be honest I was surprised as they have great online reviews and I suppose, I expected more from them. I contacted them to arrange valuations for my uncle’s properties during a difficult family situation, where accuracy and a professional level of service were important. Unlike the other agents, they were not willing to visit the properties and instead only offering what they described as a “desktop valuation” which would be conducted by their sales manager Joseph. Liv was my initial point of contact. While she was polite and professional, the service felt less attentive than the others to which I had spoken. Despite explaining that one of the properties would be going to market just as soon as the solicitors cleared it and that accurate valuations were important, I was still only offered a desktop valuation. I agreed to this, although it was with some hesitation, as this is not something I had come across before and expected a more thorough approach. My gut instincts told me that I could perform a desktop valuation using Zoopla or one of the other online housing sites. Because of this I was left feeling anxious about it, so I said that I would provide information on each property to assist them in making a more accurate valuation. I completed this the same day and emailed it over. It then took close to a week for the valuations to be returned, and unfortunately they were very basic and lacked the level of detail I had received from other agents despite the fact I had provided them with extensive additional information about the properties to help improve their accuracy, but it didn’t appear to have been fully considered. I emailed Joseph to explain they fell short of expectations and why. To be fair he replied very quickly and professionally to my follow-up email in which I had explained why the figures provided were significantly off the mark compared to other valuations and how they lacked the same level of detail and were ultimately not suitable for the purpose required by my uncle’s solicitor. Joseph was always courteous, professional, and prompt in his replies, but overall, the service fell well short of expectations. When compared directly with four other agents, the difference in effort, detail, and overall service level is quite clear. He replied by saying “Sorry that you felt the valuations were inaccurate. I have tried my best to give you the most honest valuations for the properties. Without visiting it is very difficult to confirm exact market value, as I can see you have had several agents visit and we would welcome the opportunity to do the same, rather than to undertake 'desktop' valuations.” And that he liked “to leave clients happy and that they have had a good level of service.” While I appreciated this, it also left me frustrated. I explained that Liv only offered the desktop valuation despite my explaining what we needed and why, that originally I expected the same level of treatment as the other estate agents had provided only to be left feeling anxious and dubious about the potential outcome. He did offer to come out but by this point it was too late.