Spark & Sons Reviews Summary

Customer Service

Pros:

• "He replied quickly to our queries and made sure things were sorted out when they needed to be."
• "Spark and Sons were extremely helpful with both renting out my property and finding me alternative accommodation."
• "Outstanding service from a professional, knowledgeable business owner."
• "Our flat was a basement flat that, although refurbished, had some teething issues and Oliver and the team ensured the issues where sorted within a matter of days."
• "Very happy indeed with Sparks. Found them efficient and helpful at all times."
• "I felt very supported throughout my tenancy."
• "I have had a really positive experience with this letting agents. Incredibly kind and informative."

Cons:

• "They put the property back on the rental market and would regularly let themselves into the flat without an invitation."
• "They never even fixed the lock to our front door after constantly emailing them for several months."
• "None of their staff know how to navigate a bloody email inbox to look for emails sent only a few days prior."
• "They are ridiculously hard to get hold of, they never reply to emails."
• "Very rude staff and didn't do any repair on our property, even after multiple complaints."
• "I'm not usually one to leave bad reviews but I have never experienced such appalling service."
• "The staff are rude and uninterested. It's basically impossible to get anything sorted as they never reply to emails or phone calls."

Maintenance and Property Condition

Pros:

• "Before I moved in I complained that the windows needed locks on... They then installed double glazing and new doors at the same time, which was more than I had requested."
• "Oliver has responded and sorted them straight away."
• "We have dealt with many housing agents in the past and found them to be impersonal and unhelpful. Oliver at spark and sons is quite the opposite always happy to resolve any issues."
• "Our experience renting with Oliver, from Spark and Sons, was very good! He exceeded our expectations for an agent."
• "Would definitely recommend."
• "We have recently rented a newly renovated flat through Oliver at Sparks & Sons. Oliver was friendly, helpful and good-humoured throughout."
• "An enormous thanks to everyone at Spark & Sons for being so patient, professional and helpful over the last couple of years."

Cons:

• "The lower sash in the front (my) bedroom is jammed and the bottom rail has rotted allowing the glass to slip within the frame producing a 1cm gap at the top."
• "The sash window pane was warped and rotting and the gutters were full of moss which caused a terrible damp and mould problem."
• "The kitchen window lower sash was jammed open."
• "Homes left without smoke alarms and with fuse boxes full of paperclips!!!"
• "Awful agents won’t do any work on the flats they are given mould all in my daughters room which they haven’t sorted got emails proving this and my daughter coughs everytime she’s in the room."
• "The entry system does not work so it is impossible to release the main door to the building from the flat."
• "Awful lettings agent with terrible fire safety standards."

Financial and Administrative Handling

Pros:

• "He is very transparent in the explaining the fees and providing updates when necessary."
• "We have moved out recently in December,2022 and received the deposit back in a month of moving out."
• "Spark & Sons are the best agency I've used. We got our deposit back very quickly and Adam, Peter and Oliver were always very nice and helpful."
• "Sparks and son sent us a load of photos of the interior. Organised someone to come in and spruce the place up and found someone to move in in two days!"
• "Thank you, Peter, Oliver Adam for ten years of great service."
• "Our experience with Dan has been amazing. He showed himself really supportive and understanding during all the rental process."
• "I have been with spark and sons for the past 8 years and I felt like part of a family."

Cons:

• "They charge you over £50 per person for this displeasure with OLIVER arriving 25 mins late and caused me to get a parking ticket."
• "They took over a month to send me half of it back and then held on to the other half for 'water rates'."
• "They refused to return our deposits back to us, even though they emailed saying that the property was left in perfect condition."
• "They treat students appallingly and will take most of your deposit when you leave."
• "Expect hidden charges and fees."
• "It took them over 6 months (since first week of May until 20th October) to give me back my deposit."
• "Finally, when returning the house, our deposit was held up for 1 month. And a considerable amount was deducted as cleaning and damage charges."

Professionalism and Integrity

Pros:

• "I rented an apartment from Sparks&Sons for over ten years and, feel more qualified than most to judge their conduct."
• "Dealt with Oliver while looking for a new flat to rent. He found me a place that I didn't even go to look at initially which was great!"
• "Peter was superb is making us feel at ease with the whole process of letting."
• "Our experience with Sparks and Sons has been very good - we had Oliver as our primary agent and he was friendly and helpful from the first viewing to getting the keys, and still in touch via email."
• "A very helpful company, Peter was kind and helpful... I had to move quickly at a very difficult time, and they processed the paper work with ease, were kind and great at communication."
• "We let our flat through Spark & Sons for 10 years and recently sold it through them."
• "I can say with certainty that Oliver is the best agent I had in my 4 years living in Brighton and that he brings the literal spark in Spark and Sons."

Cons:

• "AVOID THIS BUSINESS I'd go as far as to say these people are scammers."
• "These people are complete con artists and scammers, AVOID AVOID AVOID!"
• "This company possesses deep inside criminal energy. Stay away!!!!"
• "Absolutely disgraceful! Not upholding fire safety in their properties."
• "STAY AWAY!!!!"
• "The worst estate agent I have ever dealt with.. very unprofessional and they would do anything in the beginning to get you to sign the contract and after that they would not care about the property you're in nor about your needs as a tenant."
• "Absolutely HORRENDOUS. My son and his girlfriend were due to move into a flat rented through this company today, but have not been able to do so due to the disgusting state it was left in."