They don't carry out the full terms of the contract and are generally quite useless. - We didn't receive a back door key until about 9 months into our tenancy so the only fire escape was the front door. - When our living room lock siezed while the door was shut they didn't send somebody around until 2 days after we contacted them, then he told us he couldn't do anything abou it, so we ended up forcing it open ourselves after hours of trying. While the door was locked the only entrance into the living room (and one tenants bedroom) was through another tenants bedroom, through a hole in the wardrobe we had to make, then through another door leading between the room and the living room. - When my housemate lost his key they sent somebody around to force the door open, thus breaking the lock, and then didn't fix the lock or give him a new key. When he enquired about it, they then had the cheek to try and charge him for a new lock to be fitted. - When we were told we had to sort certain issues out with our landlord (even though it was their job) they refused to give us his contact number. - Told us we had to keep the gardens neat and tidy but they didn't provide any of the tools to do so, and instead told us we had to buy them ourselves. - We had a nice visit from environmental health one day who told us that the house was unfit to live in due to insufficient fire doors, fire escapes, lack of fire alarms etc. Of course, the estate agents told us there was nothing to worry about as they were just scaremongering. - Now our depost is late and we're almost certain they will try and take a large sum of it away from us even though the house was filthy when we moved in and we left it a lot cleaner when we moved out. Me and my housemates will be pressing charges against the estate agents and/or landlord for breach of contract and will expect to claim most, if not all, of our rent back. Avoid at all costs! read more

i am disgusted with the service my housemates and i have received from St Quintin and McConnell. I have to agree with the first review and say that Suzi the student property manager is not only rude and patronizing, but she is clearly out of her depth with the work load as she will NEVER get back to us, numerous emails have been ignored and issues within our property have not been resolved. We have lights in our bathroom that do not comply with safety regulations and almost 4 months into our tenancy NOTHING has been done about this. As previous people have said, i do not understand where my admin fee has gone. the only 'referencing' they carried out was a phone call to my mum to confirm she was my guarantor. when we arrived the house was FILTHY and the bathroom was covered in mold. they did send some maintenance men around to have a look and even they were disgusted to see the state of how we were expected to live. i REFUSE to go into their office to speak to Suzi as not only do you get greeted by 6 intimidating and bitchy women who seem to stare at you the whole time you are in there, but there is no privacy to speak to her so everyone can hear and see what you are saying. i am looking into taking legal action against them, and having someone around to assess if we are paying the correct amount of rent; (in my opinion we are being overcharged). if anyone has any advice for me then i would be very grateful. On a final note, avoid this estate agents at ALL costs! i have never dealt with more unprofessional people in my life. read more

They're just scum really. Not usually a term I would use but there really isn't any other way to describe the trash that work there. They never want to do any repairs, they charge £50 for an 'independent' inspection on top of there high fees, and will do everything within their power to keep your deposit. When me and my friends moved in the house was a mess, the oven even caught fire! They finally agreed to come out and clean it after we had spent hours doing so. But more than this there was damp, wood shavings everywhere, mud on the carpet from builders it was simply a mess. On moving out we left the house in a much better condition, and even a few months before let them know of issues outside of our control such as the damp getting worse. Yet they've charged us £25 for lightbulbs how many lightbulbs can you buy for that? Even though they were all working when we left. They also charged us over 16h / £200 for cleaning which is ridiculous when the house was perfectly clean we left. Again much better then when we arrived. Honestly, do not go with them if you're considering to rent, they're the worst estate agents I've ever used. They're so rude, and hopeless it really will be the worst mistake you ever make. Just rent directly with a landlord. read more

Here is 5 things I would rather do than go through another year of rentinga property from McConnell Property (formely St Quintin & M, now '&another). 1. Repeatedly hit myself in the head with a lumphammer.2. Get stuck in an elevator for a scarily long time with the cast of Geordie Shore.3. Shave off a homeless man's beard and use it as my own personal loofah.4. Be fingered by an African Elephant.5. Swallow a car battery. Seriously do not even consider renting through these clowns. My friends and I decided to rent outa student property for a year starting September 2012, although 2 out of 4 of us weren't students.The year consisted of frequent admin errors (glad to see that our extortionate £100+ admin fee has been put to good use),us having to threaten legal action, and call in the councils health and safety inspectors to prompt McConnells to actually do anything.We thought it couldn't get worse, but we've now been told we're having £440 of our joint £1,200 deposit taken off us for cleaning(although we left the house in a better state than when we moved in) and maintainance (£25 to screw in 4 lightbulbs must be plated in gold). Safe to saywe will be fighting for our deposit. Beware anyone that decides to use this circus of a company. read more

Quite literally the worst excuse of an estate agency out there. Currently, I moved out 57 days ago I am yet to receive (or hear anything for that matter) on my deposit. I have rang the naff company up umpteen times the past 3 weeks with the familiar responses all people in my position would know all to well ohh sorry sir, I will get back to you by 10am tomorrow morning well how wrong they are each time. Further, my other colleagues whom I shared with have heard from them that one of the keys was missing at hand-in and a burglary has been committed in the mean-time. Yet each time I've contacted them, I am yet to hear or be told why these 'stories' had been said. But it still begs the question where eff is our deposits and how can this be legal? I suspect I shall be ripped off and if that's the case I'll look to pursue action against the company. MY ADVICE. DO NOT SIGN A CONTRACT WITH THIS COMPANY, IT HAS BEEN THE TOUGHEST YEAR OF MY LIFE TO DEAL WITH SUCH AN AWFUL CUSTOMER-SERVICED-COMPANY. Poor. read more

Terrible agency, have been living in rented house for over a month now and still have no table/chairs still even though they were promised to be there before we had even moved in, fire alarm is not working which is illegal, doors are off hinges. No idea what the 6x £200 admin fee has gone on as the house is grubby and there are so many broken things. Also incredibly rude and unprofessional on phone. Never going with this awful company again. If i could, i would have put no stars! read more

Awful, Just awful. If there was anything I could advise to people looking for a property, it would be not to go with McConnell (Or 'My Student Pod'). They attempt to rip off students, and provide them with no information legally required. They are beyond useless, drag their heels when returning the deposit, make many, MANY errors whilst doing so, and have no idea behind any tenancy legalities at all. In a nutshell Avoid at all costs. read more

St Quintin & McConnell are without a doubt the worst estate agents I have every has the misfortune of dealing with! The staff are rude, the manager (Suzi) has no idea what she is doing. They have very limited professional conduct, and they have taken over £2200 out of our deposit for unnecessary work to our property. We are now starting a legal battle with the company. Avoid this company at all costs they will rip you off! read more

Quite possibly the worst company I have ever had dealings with. They couldn't care less about you and your deposit isn't likely to come back no matter how much you clean the place. Very poor dealings, long waiting times, little responses and rude customer services. Would never rent off them again read more