John Payne Residential Reviews 155

I had an extremely disappointing experience with John Payne Estate Agents during the attempted purchase of a property at Grayswood Avenue, Chapelfields, Coventry.

After five months of preparation, correspondence, and costs, the sellers (she knows who she is) abruptly withdrew from the agreed sale, leaving me with significant financial loss and distress. Throughout the process, I acted in good faith and even agreed to pay 50% of a survey on a cracked bay window in their property, despite having no obligation to do so, simply to keep things moving, and because the seller literally begged for help, putting her solicitor, the intermediary, in a very uncomfortable position.

Communication from the seller to her solicitor was consistently slow, with responses taking up to a week at a time. The seller initially had a house to buy, but that fell through. She later said she would still proceed with the sale and stay with a family relative, but this option also failed. My suggestion for a short-term rental arrangement after completion (to help both parties complete and give her family accommodation during the festive season) was apparently never passed on, according to her solicitor, which only added to the delay and confusion.

Most concerning was the behaviour of Vanessa Millward, one of John Payne’s representatives. She was unhelpful, dismissive, and lacked basic customer service skills. In one call, she openly stated that the sellers’ withdrawal, and her lost commission, were my fault, which was both unprofessional and inappropriate. I told Ms Millward I didn’t like her tone of voice; when she asked what I said, I repeated that I didn’t like her tone. From our first interaction, her attitude was cold and, at times, arrogant rather than supportive.

The entire experience felt biased toward the seller and left me questioning the firm’s professionalism and impartiality. I have since raised a formal complaint with Mr John Payne himself and the Coventry Branch Manager but have not heard back. I also requested reimbursement for the costs I incurred due to their mishandling and poor communication, but there has not even been the courtesy of acknowledging my dissatisfaction.

In my opinion, John Payne Estate Agents failed to act with fairness, care, or transparency. Based on my experience, I would never use or recommend this agency again.

We would highly recommend John Payne estate agents who helped us sell our property. They kept us well informed at every step in the process and provided good counsel throughout the different stages. We really felt like they cared which made a huge difference to us !

Wow! Excellent!!! Just want to thank all the team for their continuous hard work with selling our house and working for a quick sale. The team are so lovely! Each and everyone works so hard to get everything moving and keep you in the loop. Thanks so much for everything!!

Fantastic work from Chris and Alexandra at the Lee branch. Really efficient service, and found tenants for my rental property at short notice. Great professional service too from Alice in their Pre-Tenancy team. Very pleased, and would definitely recommend over other Estate Agents.

Appreciated Karen from John Payne support navigating a tricky market and some complexity with our property.
In the end we had 2 offers and have just closed our sale, which Karen supported until the end (not easy given a not very good solicitor in the mix - Karen had to play more of a role than an estate agent usually would).
Recommend a John Payne for Blackheath sales.

The chaps at the John Payne Lee office are tremendous - in particular Will. Always on time, courteous and attentive, Will showed us multiple properties until we found the one we ended up buying. He took the initiative to suggest properties we may like, followed up after viewings and was generally always there when needed. A pleasure to work with.

Chris and Will at the Lee Branch were great, helped us sell our home above asking, and managed to get us a property. All in record time.

John Payne did a great job selling our house and would recommended

Karen Hedges and the whole team at John Payne were fantastic. Very patient and helpful through what turned out to be a more complicated than expected process. Very grateful to them all

I had a very bad experience with Pernilla Johansson who was supposed to be the middle person in an offer I made for a flat. It felt like I was bargaining in a ill-reputed bazaar in the middle east. It took whole 2.5 days to hear about a decision on the offer. She took whole days to update on progress. I messaged and call her several times in the morning without any reply. Then at the end of day 1, the offer supposedly was rejected, next morning she said it was back on the table, then off again. By day 2 I had already lost interest and was looking somewhere else. That lack of professionalism has no place in England. A second agent Romi Borthwick was unresponsive as well when trying to confirm a date/time for viewing. A full day without reply and then only 1 hr before the viewing was due she finally replied (by which time of course I already had other viewings booked). Total waste of time. I have already secured a new home with another agent. I went to see the flat, next day we had an offer accepted and shook hands. That is how professionals do it. John Payne are time wasters, so save your money and time and book with a serious and respectful agent instead.

Our experience with John Payne (should be Pain!) was incredibly disappointing and ultimately cost us a rental property due to their negligence and lack of basic professional competence.

Throughout the process, it became painfully clear that our agent did not possess the knowledge or attention to detail required for her role. Key information was delayed or submitted incorrectly, and when we raised concerns, we were either brushed off or given vague, inconsistent responses.

The lack of communication and poor understanding of the rental process caused avoidable delays, and in the end, the deal fell through entirely, not due to anything on our side, but purely because of how poorly things were handled by the agent.

It’s incredibly frustrating to lose out on a home because of someone else’s incompetence. I would strongly advise others to think twice before working with this agency, especially if you’re expecting even the most basic level of professionalism or accountability.

I recently (June 2025) sold my first property through John Payne in Lee having lived in the same house for 28 years. I had quotes from four local agents before deciding on John Payne, which was predominantly due to the realistic valuation, non pushy approach, professionalism and respect shown by Chris who undertook the initial valuation visit.

Thereafter, I was really pleased with the service, honesty and efficiency I received from Chris, Will and also Max who has since moved to another office.

The house viewings were well organized, confirmed in writing and I was always kept up to date with any changes. Feedback from the potential Buyers was also received in a timely manner.

I am now searching for a new property and hope I may have the opportunity to deal with John Payne again, this time as a buyer.

This was my second time working with John Payne Blackheath and again they have been excellent. The chain fell through twice during my property sale (due to external reasons), but Richard and Will gave great advice, were proactive and supportive throughout and worked tirelessly to keep momentum and get things over the line. Worth every penny. Thanks team!

Third class service.Boiler went off the day we entered the property.Its been more than six months,the landlord neither agent has sent any handyman to fix the half fallen curtain in bedroom. its so dangerous for my kids. I am thinking to complain it to the council as I cant fix it.

Karen at John Payne Blackheath was absolutely wonderful in assisting our house purchase. She was kind and friendly, but super informative throughout the whole process and couldn’t have done more to help and support us. Would 100% recommend her and her team for making an often painful process so much more relaxed.

A faultless service from Chris, Will and the Team. The sale of my home was handled in a professional, efficient, calm and responsive way and having the Sales Progression Team (Alison) available was a bonus. Highly recommended.

Very responsive and helpful with our recent purchase would recommend Oliver and team at the Eltham branch.

Overall a good experience and we would use them again. They were very supportive and responsive when advertising and showing the house. It was a delight to work with Chris and Will.
Once we had found a buyer, we think John Payne could have improved their communication with us during the actual sale. However, most estate agents were under great pressure in the run up to the Stamp Duty change at the end of March 2025 - and we did hold the chain together and manage to complete with days to spare.

John Payne in Blackheath are the great estate agents. Thank you for their hard work in the past few months especially to Richard and Karen. They are excellence and helpful. They are having a great deal of knowledge and experience in their profession.

Will Yeardley of John Payne’s Blackheath office is exceptionally good at his job and a genuinely nice bloke. He has handled two property transactions for us – a purchase then a sale - and we rate him extremely highly. His instincts for pricing and offers are spot on. He is a skilled facilitator/mediator soothing the inevitable stresses involved in property transactions and is willing to go the extra mile. He is also great at recommending reliable tradespeople. We very highly recommend him and the rest of the team.