Williamhbrown Reviews 

Dealing with Hazel Buxton at William H Brown has ben an excellent experience.
Hazel was great all the way through the transation and we will definatly deal with again in future.

The CORBY branch is the definition of dishonest and disgraceful service delivery. They deliberately withheld critical information when leasing a property to me—specifically, they failed to disclose that the house was already on the market for sale. I was misled into signing a 12-month tenancy, only to be informed a month later that the property was being sold.

There was no pre-move-in inspection, and the house was in an appalling state—filthy, neglected, and clearly unprepared for a tenant. It showed a complete lack of basic standards.

Throughout the process, the sales agents treated my home with zero respect, regularly leaving it in a mess after conducting viewings. Their behaviour showed utter disregard for the fact that someone was still living there.

The branch manager is shockingly unprofessional—rude, aggressive, and completely lacking in basic customer service skills. When I asked for clarification, I was shouted at over the phone, a clear sign they have no idea how to engage with clients respectfully.

The complaints process is a farce. The so-called complaints department is nothing more than an echo chamber for the branch’s lies, defending their actions without any proper investigation. The complaints manager didn’t address the facts and instead parroted the same false narrative that there was a "For Sale" sign visible during viewings—which is completely untrue. In the end, I was gaslighted and made to feel like my concerns were invalid.

To top it off, the manager's official response perfectly demonstrates their appalling attitude towards tenants, stating:

“Regardless of if the board was there or not, the property was on the sales market and viewings were conducted and the property which then sold. Unfortunately, in the rental market there are no guarantees if property is rented for either long or short term as circumstances can change.”

This statement not only dismisses all accountability, but also reveals a complete disregard for transparency and tenant rights. In short, this branch cannot be trusted. Their practices are deceptive, their staff are hostile, and their customer care is non-existent.

Atrocious agency DO NOT USE.

Do not rent your property out with this company unless you want it ruined. They ignore you like it's a sport. As a tenant I tried fruitlessly for two years with countless calls to get the most basic of information and I left the flat with the same boiler issues I reported the day I moved in. Boiler is now sunk into the floor and will cost the owner the price of a whole new unit due to their ignoring my constant messages. The related maintenance team constantly were constantly hitting barriers due to William H Brown's lack of response. These guys take NO responsibility and blame everyone else, and ignore tenants as if they get a bonus at the end of the year for doing the least possible amount of work.

Reece, Kelsey and Roxanne promised me on multiple occasions they would source the most basic information for me (code to the door where the meters were, and whether I could throw out an old rusty table of the landlords that was looking like tetanus) and then ghosted. I even said that I was used to being ignored and was promised a call back that very day - like I said, it's like they enjoy ignoring you.

Keys were not ready, parking permits not ready, furnished flat came half furnished and in a state, with no inspection or inventory having been carried out before move in.

I cannot overstate how useless these guys have been. Please look elsewhere if you want to be a responsible landlord - or if you just want your property reasonably maintained. Zero stars. Big thumbs down. If I were head office I'd be in there in a flash.

Renters, if you're cool being left alone and don't care about maintenance or moving in on time, it's fine for you. Otherwise - steer clear.

I would advise caution before approaching William H Brown in Lincoln. In my experience, the accounts section and front office staff were uncooperative, and I felt that customers were not treated with the respect and professionalism expected. Unfortunately, the overall service left me disappointed.

William H Brown in Halifax have been such a helpful proactive agency, it has been great working with the team they do the key collection and arrange inventories, but always go the extra mile when tenants move in to assist where needed.
Big well done to Nichola and Sophie in Halifax

Just awful. Incompetent, unresponsive and failed to sell my property which was a desirable apartment in a good location despite being sole agent for 12 months.
They then issue solicitors letters which are aggressive claiming full fees due to breach of contract. Being forced to go to auction due to the failure to sell.
Do not use this agent which is part of Connells. Group. They should not be allowed to treat customers as they do.

Amazing service from the girls at william h brown doncaster branch. In particular I would like to thank lucy such a credit to the business

A massive thank you to the lettings team in the Leicester branch for providing a professional service and supporting me through the entire lettings process. From being at hand whenever I had a question to providing, clear instructions on what I needed to do through every step of the way. I would like to specifically thank Daniel Dwyer, Umar Anwar and Jordan Anson for their support and professionalism, they made this process seamless and would recommend to anyone looking for an outstanding, professional lettings experience.

As a cash purchaser, attempts to get further information have been ignored! If looking to sell bear this in mind when putting your property on the market.

Really good customer service

Terrible company, arranged appointment for nearly 2 weeks after I asked,as don't do late nights or Sundays and got a young sales assistant to arrange a 2pm appointment,only to get a call not half hour later to say double booked then did arrange 2.30pm,rang Friday afternoon to confirm next day appointment myself and explained I don't answer phone at weekend,turned up early and not informed it was a joint viewing 10 minutes after appointment time we left as no one from William h brown turned up, checking phone Monday morning and I had had missed calls on the Saturday, clearly not listening and will not entertain the company in the future

WHB-Culver St West, Colchester

Having bought and sold several houses over the years, unfortunately this was by far the worst experience I’ve had with an agent. Two sales fell through-not the agents fault but still had to part ways after the second fell through.

Positives:
-Jack Hicks in mortgages is amazing to deal with. Knows his stuff and very efficient, making the mortgage application a smooth one.
-Lisa Dove is a real asset and reassuring presence. Ultra professional, credible, trustworthy and feels like she is working in your best interests.

These two individuals are the reason for the two stars in this review.

Negatives:
-I thought that the days of the stereotypical disingenuous, pushy, frustrating, incompetent estate agents were a thing of the past, however WHB at Culver St, Colchester have Anthony Cordeiro. Never felt like he was working in my best interests-doing the bare minimum to get what I needed then having the nerve to act like he was doing me a massive favour. Worst of all, he repeatedly tried to pressure me into breaking my chain unnecessarily—purely to push the sale through faster, regardless of the impact on me. Every interaction felt like a battle, I dreaded getting a call from him in the end and couldn’t bear the thought of having to deal with his nonsense for another 4+ months.

There are plenty of other estate agents in Colchester but if you do/are using WHB in Colchester I strongly suggest that you ask for Lisa to progress your sale, her professionalism makes a significant difference.

Wh Brown Ware:Affordability checks and a DIP were successfully completed, but once our mortgage application was submitted, issues with affordability arose that were not addressed. Follow-up questions were ignored, and the information provided by Ambica kept changing with each email, showing a lack of consistency and professionalism.

After taking an upfront fee, customer service significantly declined. There has been no follow-up communication regarding next steps or how to resolve the issue. When I asked about a refund, I was told, “We can’t issue a refund for the fees—but it will remain on your account for future use.”

Why would I want to use the service again when it was not thorough or helpful the first time?

As someone overseas selling my property, William H Brown in Kettering assisted in navigating the sales process from start to finish.
Lots of viewings, but some lowball offers from developers, they were responsive to finding the perfect buyer! Thanks Toni and the team!

Recently had the pleasure of dealing with Annette at the Wakefield branch, awesome customer service and an absolute pleasure to speak to. The help/aid and support she gave us was second to none, cannot recommend these guys enough, thankyou A.

WH Brown Corby
Iona and the team were fantastic the whole way through my house sale. Very accommodating and caring especially under trying circumstances with a very difficult ex messing everyone around! Thanks to all the team there for all their help and support. I totally recommend them.

Terrible, Coggeshall branch.
Our sale has now taken best part of a year, last Thursday we had a phone call asking for the keys, she said the client was going to complete last Friday or this Friday 25/07/2025, now they have said she didn’t say it and only solicitors can say this, I must have imagined it! They recommended their own conveyancers but don’t tell you it’s owned by the same company as Browns, they are premier property lawyers and are absolutely useless.
We started using them to sell this flat belonging to my father in law, I have a one fifth stake in the property, this eventually was spotted as a conflict of interest and PPL the opportunity to have my review removed even though I had put up with them for nearly six months.
If you use this estate agent and their conveyance service you’re in for a heartbreaking journey.

Don’t use them.
Especially sowerby bridge branch. Poor communication, no follow up. If you want to get somewhere you have to follow them up. Especially Chris Quire, the main individual at that branch. Wouldn’t recommend them at all.
Can’t comment on other branch’s as per se, but one branch may speak for all.

Kirsty at Colchester Branch - always very helpful, good communication. Has looked after my mortgage needs for my property for 8 years now (3 mortgage cycles) always engaged early, managed my expectations and kept me in the loop. Would recommend Kirsty for anything Mortgage and protection related.

Unfortunately, William H Brown in Brentwood have been appalling right from the start of our tenancy. To begin with, their listing stated that a golf membership came with the property we were renting. We thought that was strange but thought it was a nice addition. Once we enquired about that, our landlord informed us that it didn’t come with the rental - not a problem for us, but was confused as to why they’d write that in the listing. William H Brown then deleted said listing and denied all knowledge - which in hindsight, should’ve been the first red flag warning with the storm we had to come. Next, they were not responsive with the questions we had regarding the tenancy, yet they were very quick to chase for our money for the deposit. They also had the wrong telephone number for me, of which I informed them, and they told me that it ‘didn’t matter’. Later on towards at end of the tenancy, it was a battle to get our deposit back. We had moved out and asked regarding our deposit. It should have been released in 10 days according to the tenancy deposit scheme, however they only refunded us after 5 and a half weeks and after I was forced to launch a formal complaint. Not only that, but we were lied to several times by agents, who claimed they would chase the landlord to release the funds. However, I caught them out on the lie, as they told me they ‘were in contact with the landlord to sell another property he had’. I therefore questioned why was it they could be in contact with the landlord to sell his property, yet very conveniently ‘couldn’t get hold of him’ when asking for our deposit. My view is they never even tried and just lied to us, which is very clear. It was only when I had to kick up a fuss was I given the contact number of the housing people that were holding the funds. I was met with a very confrontational and rude woman, who refused to help, citing that the person dealing with the case was ‘on annual leave’. Annual leave for 6 weeks? I think not. I was then told the manager would get in contact with me ‘at some point during the day’. This is not good enough and terrible service. But when they did ‘get in contact’ they had called my boss. Now, I was asked for a reference, in which I put her down. They had clearly put the details wrong in the system and had her phone number down as mine (note how earlier I flagged that the phone number was incorrect at the start of the tenancy during contract stage). The woman then proceeded to give out personal and financial information relating to myself and my partner to my boss. Thankfully, I still work there and we have a good working relationship. However i dread to think what could have been if for example, she didn’t already know what was going on, or I had left the company on bad terms. This is a major GDPR breach. When I placed the formal complaint I was told it ‘would not be logged as formal’. When questioning that relating to the lies we were told as well as the GDPR breach, only then was it flagged as formal. To my shock, I discover on LinkedIn that the person looking into it was very good friends with one of those agents I complained about. This company plays very loose with the rules and do not care about customers at all. Save yourself aggro and do not use them. I am now in the process of taking this further to trading standards as the way we have been treated is absolutely abhorrent. Unfortunately we will never use William H Brown again.