"Lost our second buyer today"

Due to Mainstay ignoring my wife, solicitors and estate agents over a year in the sale of her apartment at Budenberg, Altrincham, as stated in previous review, we have now lost our second buyer. We have won one Ombudsman review and are in the process of another. We will be suing them for loss of earnings, legal costs and stress. We will keep you updated.

"Witholding Customer Money"

This criminal company are witholding my money after a estate management transfer just after lockdown. It has been 6 weeks of them keeping my money and the credit controller staff state even they cannot get in touch with 'Accounts'.
Disgusting company, stay well away

"Avoid like the plague!"

I moved into my 1 bedroom flat in May 2021 as part of the conditions of the lease the building was managed by Mainstay group for which we paid approximately £160 per month for "Maintenance". Thank God I sold the property last week, one of the reasons was my dissatisfaction with Mainstay. They are without a doubt the worst, most inefficient company I have ever had the misfortune to deal with. Other than a gardener attending once a week for approximately 3 hours, no maintenance was carried out on the property in my 12 months there, with the exception of a handrail being replaced. There are 5 flats in the property so £800 per month for a gardener 3 hours per week. The outside of the property was dirty and looked shabby, desperately in need of painting which under the terms of the lease should have been done every 6 years. According to other residents it had not been done in the 7 years they had lived there. I queried this with Mainstay and was informed they had "a rolling programme of refurbishment and the exterior was to be painted sometime next year" (2023 so at least 8 years then not 6).
Fortunately I sold my flat in December 2021. Unfortunately it took the resales department at Mainstay in excess of 3 months to get the lease pack to my solicitor, which I paid £324 for. Both my solicitor and I made numerous phone calls and emails to attempt to speed them up, all to no avail. Eventually Louise Broad in the portfolio group got them to do their job and get the lease pack to my solicitor on April 20th, we initially asked for it in the beginning of January. I was offered a refund due to the excessive time taken, 5 weeks later to nobody's surprise I have still not received my refund. On 20th of May resales were chased up about it by Laura Yeomans a portfolio group manager, naturally they didn't bother responding. Helpfully you can't call them directly and unless another department gives you their email you can't contact them.
Shortly before I moved out I was informed I owed £2200 for planned work on the drains. With the exception of the 2 staff I mentioned I found these people a nightmare to deal with and would never purchase a property they manage again. I honestly have no idea how they are still in business and if I could give zero stars I would.

"Took care of everything"

I rented out my flat for 9 years, primarily while living overseas, so needed someone who I could trust to deal with everything in my absence. I was lucky to have Denise Shaw from Mainstay Group to manage my flat during this time. She dealt with everything from sourcing new tenants, advising on rental prices, collecting monthly rental, dealing with tenants queries and necessary repairs. At the same time Denise was responsive to any queries I had and would always discuss with me any works needed at the flat so I could have an input. A new tenant change over was even sorted out smoothly during the first lockdown period which couldn't have been easy. Many thanks.

"They don't respond"

They don't respond. If by some miracle somebody does reply to an email they won't have the information that you need or help you in any way. My house sale has fallen through because of their terrible management.

"Be aware…"

We bought the freehold of our property in February this year. As a result of this company failing to provide our solicitors with relevant documents, they are unable to lodge our application for title absolute with land registry ultimately putting our mortgage in jeopardy!

This is an extremely worrying situation to be in and negatively impacting my mental health… despite numerous emails etc. absolutely nothing appears to be happening!

"Trying to get in touch with this…"

Trying to get in touch with this company after Persimmon homes appointed Mainstay Group to look after commual areas around Meadow View Estate. Gods knows how much we are going to Pay.

"Give Chelsea the recognition she deserves!"

I haven’t had a very good view of mainstay having problems being unresolved for years through several property managers until recently when Chelsea Parton took over the management of our residential block in Dy4. I cannot sing Chelsea’s praises enough. Within the 7 years I have lived here we have complained, chased and begged about broken doors, broken intercoms, unsafe areas to which nothing was addressed. It was becoming a nightmare to live here. Chelsea came and took over and acted immediately. She promptly responded to emails addressing every issue we had raised with a plan of action or solution. True to her word she is addressing and continues to fix everyone else’s mess before her keeping us updated every step of the way. In her short time managing our property she has completed what many couldn’t do in years. Chelsea you really are an incredible asset to your company and I hope they can see how amazing and dedicated you are. We really are grateful for your continued fantastic work. Thank you so much!!

"Awful service from this company"

Awful service from this company. Failed to solve basic problems.
Poor budget managent. Advice to other leaseholders: Petition as a group to have Mainstay removed as the managing agent and complain to the ombudsman. Try not to buy (or rent) a property in any building managed by Mainstay.
Our apartment block is in a highly sought after location in B2, just 1 minute walk from Grand Central Station. Each leaseholder pays Mainstay nearly £2500 per year to manage this building. Yet, the common areas are filthy, the fire alarm is so sensitive that it is triggered by general cooking. It goes off so frequently that people no longer respond to it. It's a disaster waiting to happen. The doors are so dirty that you don't want to touch them, lights often don't work so some people have to use a key torch to open their apartment door, people regularly have their parcels stolen even though there are supposed to be working cameras. Mainstay failed to negotiate with the council any vehicular access or permits for residents during the 2 months of the Christmas market. This meant that people with furniture could not get it to their apartments. A good building management company would have considered these challenges and MANAGED them on behalf of the residents.
I believe that Mainstays mismanagement is driving down the value of out investment.

"Useless managing company"

Useless managing company. They want to manage a residential property but they don't deliver services properly. They don't listen to the majority of homeowners decision on how they would like services to be delivered.