As a subsidiary of Skipton Building Society, there’s no doubting the size of this nationwide estate agent. But, does that size mean you get a superior service? Find out as we analyse Connells reviews…
At A Glance:
In terms of the number of offices, Connells is one of the largest estate agents in the country with over 180 branches. If you include all of the different brands that trade as part of the Connels Group that number rises to in excess of 600 branches.
That’s because Connells have acquired brands such as William H Brown, Burchell Edwards, Gascoigne Halman, and more. So, even if you aren’t with the main Connells agency, you may be still using them via another brand.
Here’s how Connells estate agency perform in the most important areas:
- Offer both sales & lettings
- Wide range of services including conveyancing & mortgages
- Competitively priced fees
- Extremely mixed reviews across multiple platforms
- Properties listed on all the major portals
So, it seems promising so far. They appear to be reasonably priced compared to other high street estate agents. However, there are some wildly varying Connells reviews that we’ll look at closer in a second.
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Connells Reviews From Customers
It’s not difficult to find Connells reviews online due to the sheer number of branches across the country. Below are a random selection of reviews you can find on their Trustpilot page.
Donna from the Westbury-on-trym branch in Bristol has been amazing throughout our recent house purchase and we can not thank her enough. You are a massive credit to the company and have made our purchase smooth and easy and we are now the proud owners of our new home.
Rebecca Maynard via Trustpilot
If I could give zero stars I would. Very poor service and there is nobody there that i’ve spoken to that is businesslike. People take there homes as security and the company does not take the needs of their customers seriously. Please avoid them at all cost.
Sanjay via Trustpilot
Lacked in customer service even after I requested they try more to keep me informed after viewings,even if no news just an e mail to say they were trying would have been enough. Changed estate agents now and I will never recommend connells to anybody else..
J&A via Trustpilot
Best-Rated Connells Branches
The fact that the Connells reviews seem to vary so wildly is much down to the fact that when you have over 180 branches, there’s bound to be differing levels of service at each one.
With that in mind, it’s always good practice to find what people are saying about your local branch. After all, it is your local branch that you’ll be dealing with day-by-day.
The following Connells branches appear to be the better-performing ones:
- Basingstoke South
- Blaby
- Cambourne
- Market Harborough
- Oadby
- Oakley Vale
- Peterborough
- Shirley
- Stopsley
- Watford
- Winchester
- Wolverhampton
Every office listed above has multiple 5-star reviews and very few negative comments. So, if you’re lucky enough to be in one of these areas, that means your local Connells branch appears to be one of the better ones.
Worst-Rated Connells Branches
We’ve already touched on the fact that Connells reviews tend to vary wildly from extremely good to extremely poor. These are the Connells branches that we have found to have their worst reputations:
- Aylesbury
- Birmingham City
- Crawley
- Filton Bristol
- Granby Street
- Hinckley
- Sutton Coldfield
We’ve found multiple 1-star reviews for all of these branches and virtually positive reviews. Therefore, we believe these are probably the local Connells branches you should avoid.
Keep in mind that just because your local office isn’t listed above, that doesn’t mean it will definitely provide a reasonable service. It just means we didn’t find enough evidence to say with confidence that it should be avoided.
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Connells Estate Agency – A Short History
Connells is actually an estate agency with a history stretching back to 1936 when the first branch opened in Luton.
Since then it has been sold several times to companies that include Scottish Widows and the current parent company Skipton Building Society. The company was also heavily involved in the development and launch of property platform, Rightmove.
While there are over 180 branches trading under the Connells name, the Connells group actually owns over 600 individual estate agent offices. That’s because they have aggressively acquired many other brands including Roger Platt, Shipways, and Sharman Quinney.
Connells also dabbled in the online estate agency market after taking ownership of Hatched. However, they closed the online company down in 2018 citing an ‘unsustainable commercial model’.
Controversies surrounding Connells include criticism for heavy-handed tactics when pushing clients towards their in-house mortgage offering. They have also been in trouble for not paying employees minimum wage and for having a high gender pay gap.
Connells Reviews – Our Verdict
When you first start looking at Connells reviews it can be a bit confusing. They vary so wildly depending where you look that it’s hard to know the truth.
However, when you look closer you realise that’s because there is a big gulf in the quality of service different branches are offering. Some seem to excel and give the company a good name, others seem to attract nothing but negative comments.
On the whole, there is doubt over the service offered by a relatively large percentage of branches. For that reason, we suggest that unless your local Connells branch is named above as one of the good ones, you’re probably better off using someone else.
Just be careful that you don’t simply end up using another Connells company trading under a different brand.
Don’t forget, you can also use our handy comparison tool to find the best estate agent in your area. If you want to save money when you sell, you can check out our online estate agent reviews.
