My first experience with Massey Property Services was rather monumental, being also the first time…read moreI've ever had an estate agent refuse to show me any houses, an event, which, has really shaken my preconceptions of the property services in general. You see, pre-Massey, i had been labouring under the illusion that all estate agents had only one prerogative: selling you whatever they could, any way they were able. In my mind I've always viewed these individuals as unscrupulous, always prepared to make somewhat liberal alterations to the English language - in their dictionaries, small becomes cosy, whilst nearby graffiti is merely indicitive of local civic pride-. Happily this has all changed now. Thanks to Massey, I've been forced to recognise something quite startling. Some estate agents care.
You see, Massey wasn't rejecting my custom because they didn't like the way I was dressed, or found the way I talked slightly too irritating. No. Massey refused to serve me because they knew that if they did, they would only be wasting my time. Let me explain. Me and my prospective - now current - flatmate, being the eager chaps we are, went out to go look for a new property to let a good month, month and half, prior to the time we actually desired to move. Now, whilst this is generally fine if you are looking for say, a three to four bedroom student property, which usually come on the market well in advance, in the case of two beds, the turnover is generally a lot faster, with places coming on the market usually a week to two weeks in advance of the period in which the landlord desires them to be letted out.
What this ramble basically implies is, A) If you are looking for a two bed property in the area, I would recommend you start looking about two weeks prior to your desired move-in date, and B) Massey rejected me because, if they had shown me around a property, and I'd liked it, there would be zero chance of me being able to take it, unless I was prepared to drastically alter the time at which I'd be moving, as the prospective landlord would not have been prepared to wait until I was happy and ready to take control of the place. I.e. Massey were doing themselves, and I, a favour, in not wasting either of our time.
Anyhow, as a consequence of this rejection, me and my prospective flatmate, henceforth referred to as Ed - mainly because that's his name -, ended up quitting our search for a property until a couple of weeks later, at which point, refreshed, we continued our hunt, searching through internet site after internet site for places that might meet our needs. On Massey's website, which incidentally was adequate in terms of its ease of use, we found one such an abode, contacted them, and managed to arrange a viewing early the next day.
This viewing proceeded smoothly, and we were both pleased with the experience. The lady who showed us round was polite and friendly, answering all of our questions patiently and well, and, as we liked the property, we swiftly decided it must be ours. Thus, Ed and I hurtled down Western Road in pursuit of the nearest cash point, each evacuated £150 from our accounts, and sped back to the Massey offices to place a deposit down on the flat.
The staff here were very helpful and friendly, explaining everything to us adequately and guiding us well through the process we were about to embark upon. Within a week of this visit we found ourselves moving in. Now, I have heard rumours that some companies customer service dramatically drops after they've secured the sale they wanted, but not Massey. Within fifteen minutes of our arrival at our new residence we discovered, being the geniuses we are, we had zero idea how to get the oven to work - it had some complicated timer issue -. Of course, we immediately contacted our letting agents, just in case the item was broken, hoping that maybe they'd look into it and get someone round to sort it out over the next couple of days - which we would have considered good service in itself -. However, to our great surprise, the good people at Massey sent someone over straight away, and within five minues of our call I can happily say our oven was up and running without fault.
Now, unfortuantely I haven't had sufficient experience of their service to be able to confirm my suspicions that this is a five star company - though I will update this piece when I have -, but considering how comfortable they've made us feel, and the aforementioned examples of their staff going the extra hurdle to ensure our satisfaction, I would readily recommend them to anyone, and I'm sure that within a couple of months, there'll find another star heading their way.
