Allen and Harris Reviews 218

BARRY BRANCH

I would strongly caution anyone thinking of using Allen & Harris in Barry to think twice before signing up.

The most fundamental job of an estate agent is to price your property correctly from the outset. Allen & Harris overvalued my property which sounds flattering until reality kicks in. When the inflated asking price attracts no interest, it has to be reduced, which flags the property to prospective buyers as a “problem” listing. Nothing kills buyer confidence quite like a home that’s been sitting on the market with visible price cuts. It also wasted 20 weeks of my time.

It’s a strategy that serves no one except perhaps their desire to win your instruction in the first place.

Compounding this is the branch manager, who appears to have very little interest in actually doing his job. Although he is keen to tell everyone he’s been doing it for 15 years. Chasing updates, following up on viewings, proactive communication, none of these seem to be his priorities.

You are largely left to manage the process yourself.

Getting anyone on the phone is a feat in itself. Calls routinely go unanswered, and voicemails are simply ignored. How buyers are expected to make enquiries or arrange viewings is genuinely unclear. In a market where speed and communication matter enormously, this level of unresponsiveness is simply not acceptable.

And if you think the problems end when your contract does, think again. Rather than issuing invoices for costs such as an EPC during the contract period, as any organised business would, they simply don’t bother.

Then, well over a month after your contract has expired, you receive a threatening letter from a debt recovery agency demanding payment. No prior invoice, no courtesy call, no attempt at straightforward communication, (what did I expect to be fair) just an immediate escalation to debt collection. It is a fittingly shabby end to a thoroughly poor experience, and says everything about how this branch is run.

If you want an agent who will price your home realistically, communicate promptly, and actually manage your sale, I’d recommend looking elsewhere in Barry. Daniel Matthew Estate Agents fit this bill as a local, experienced and importantly independent agency.

I employed this company to sell a house. After 6 months and no sensible offers, I terminated their contract. A few months later, I sold the house through another agent, who were brilliant. However it turned out that the eventual buyers had seen the house originally several months before through Allen and Harris. The next thing I knew was their high powered solicitors demanding full payment of their selling fees, which according to their contract I have to pay indefinitely after they have sown anyone the house. This is criminal and they should be ashamed of themselves putting a clause like that in a legal contract. So beware, read all the small print. Don't use Allen and Harris as they are absolutely useless.

Avoid in the Swindon area, completely untrustworthy and useless. Can't be bothered attitude.

Booked in a valuation, they offered me a time and I accepted but explained my timeline for decision making very clearly on this topic.

Let me down on the morning of the valuation with some pony excuse. If this is how they treat me pre contract how on earth will they treat prospective viewers and myself once signed up. Avoid at all costs just go elsewhere

Really poor experience with Allan & Harris Roath. I had a house valuation booked, and because I’m away on business, a family member took half a day off work to attend. Just a few hours before the appointment, they cancelled by email with no phone call, no proper explanation, and no attempt to rearrange.

Cancelling last minute is bad enough, but not even having the decency to call or acknowledge the inconvenience caused is unacceptable. It shows a complete lack of professionalism and zero respect for people’s time.

I went to Allan&Harris on Albany Road, during my visit, Liam Tresilian made some racial comments to me that he clearly thought were humorous. He was laughing while delivering his inappropriate remarks, seemingly oblivious to the discomfort he caused. Instead of fostering a welcoming atmosphere, his comments only served to highlight the insensitivity that can sometimes be present in social interactions. This experience left me feeling deeply ashamed and very uncomfortable, as I couldn't help but question why such remarks were deemed acceptable in any context. It was disheartening to encounter such ignorance, especially in a setting where I expected to feel safe and respected. I believe that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and kindness, and it was disappointing to witness such a lack of awareness regarding the impact of words.

I’d honestly give zero for Stoke Gifford office in Bristol if this was possible. The HQ needs to support the branch and the staff - as a buyer, having tried to call maybe 5 times on different days, you can’t speak to anyone and diverts to voicemail. I wonder if Sellers know? Perhaps they should try calling and see for themselves.

We entrusted the selling of our own home and the purchase of a new home with the Allan and Harris Team in Irvine . This was a very positive experience ,the staff in particular Liz ,Katy and Jocelyn who we had most contact with were so supportive and helpful. We had a difficult time time with a buyer and the team helped us navigate this ,they were patient, kind and understanding . We wouldn't hesitate to advise others to use their services.

the one in bristol never answer their phone for enquiries (it was end of january, maybe busy period?). Even if you leave your name + phone number twice, they do not give call back.

Hope to never have to deal with this company again. This company work only for their own self-interest and not for their clients. Purposefully deceitful in order to bump up offers and sabotage accepted offers that they aren't happy with. Avoid.

We previously used Allen and Harris to market our property and had a terrible experience. Today, we arranged to view a property marketed by them. I had reminder text messages confirming the viewing and when I arrived the owner said he accepted an offer 4 days ago and he was told Allen and Harris would inform anyone who had arranged to view - which they did not. Total waste of time and confirms my views.

I rang their rose hill branch to let them know a property they are managing has a sofa outside which is causing an eyesore and was put through to the manager. She spoke to me so rudely, refused to help and hung up on me.

Lauren in the Penarth Agents is just plain rude. Shocking service. Just wanted to have a query handled. Never ever using them again!

Absolute clown show.

First of all, they told me to make the landlord 'an offer'. I made the offer and it was accepted. Went back and forth for a while asking for the paperwork so we could sign it off due to the move-in date being imminent. They kept fobbing me off and I got the impression they were buying time for some reason. It turned out I was right - the day before the move-in date, I got a call from them saying they had another party interested and they asked me to 'make a bid' to the landlord. I had already made an offer and it had been accepted, yet they wanted to start a bidding war less than 24 hours before I was meant to be moving in?

This felt totally dishonest and exploitative - someone in a worse position would have been forced to choose between overpaying or being made homeless.

Keron Boultif was repeatedly dishonest and evasive and had he even met the most basic expectations this all could have been avoided. I think Keron is a great example of why letting agents offer no value to society and need stricter regulating.

Great helpful team! They did a really great job and provided the best service for me and my mother. We had a thousand questions, and found a thousand and one answers.
Special thanks to Matthew Wyeth and Tyler Corr for making our searching experience so comfortable and resultive!

They assured me it was a good tenant. When I received the referencing it turned out she wasn't earning enough to pay the rent, had lied about her job and salary, had seven addresses in eight years. I only learned this three days before she was supposed to move in. I stopped the deal and decided to sell. Allen and Harris still want their fee. The demand is £300 more than on the contract. Total incompetence.

Bristol / Bath / Chippenham

I'm a tennant, I had a leak from a burst pipe between the floorboards, first I knew of it was water coming from the lightswitch. Reported it straight away on the 29th of September, didnt have anyone come out until the 8th of October by then the damage is substantial and the electrics were tripping.

PAISLEY OFFICE

What went wrong well everything did what I was promised never happened first time buyers didn't have a mortgage in place which I was told wouldn't happen!!!! The mortgage wasn't approved and they didn't have the decency to inform us unbelievable then because of the delay I had to fork out for another home report which had to be a special way never heard of it and the company they got gave it to another surveyor who weren't approved I mean you couldn't write this!!! Then another surveyor sent and he said he would have it sent the next day 23/9/25 and today 25/9/25 no call I've been in bed very ill all week and this helped to contributed it once again I had to call them to find it was done on Tuesday 😡I mean what does it take to inform your client you charge enough for no communication shocking
I have sold more houses whilst they were children and never ever had anything like this happened before and always was kept in the loop so all in all I'm really disgusted with the service and would never use them again

Definitely recommended! Tried PeterAlan first to sort my mortgage and after almost 9 months and wasted over £1000 I just gave up. Very disappointed! Thanks to Liam Tresilian at Allan&Harris Albany road who managed to sort my mortgage within a week. very pleased!
Thank you Liam

Throughout a long and extended sales process, the team at Allen & Harris, Irvine were always friendly and continually kept us updated and informed. Liz, the branch manager was always prepared to go the extra mile to secure us a buyer. I can’t praise her and her team enough. Thanks once again.

Corey Airey needs a big thank you for being very helpful and patient in relation to renting our property