Watson PM Reviews 91

This company is so negligent that it is dangerous. Watson's took over management of my building in 2018, charging £230 per month service charge. This service charge covers a yearly 'visual inspection,' of the property to check for any immediate repairs. We have been informed that it would cost £3000 for a more in depth check.

The last visual inspection neglected to look at half of the building- I have carefully studied their most recent inspection report- and an 8 foot stone wall has since collapsed (without any major weather conditions or traffic incidents. ) I have pointed out that this could have killed someone. However, Watsons have made no apology for their error and maintain that they are doing a good job of maintaining the building.

I will be taking further action on this but Watson's incompetence has already caused me far more stress and worry than is acceptable. I would advise everyone to avoid them.

I recently found a 5 star review for Watson here, written by a Watson employee. ! The same guy who told me YEARS ago there was no date to fix the Leaseholder portal. It been down since October 2020. Yes, you read that right. Our building was taken to Tribunal and we still don't have a proper Property Expenditure report since that time. They have refused any report at all for 2022.

Trustpilot has been good enough to remove this review written by Watson pm.

I have given a1star review because there is not a lower one!!
We have dropped WATSON because they just did not provide a proper service and their response to calls was hopeless.This included those to Ian Omant the MANAGING DIRECTOR.
What does the logo they have "PROPRTY PROPERLY MANAGED BY WATSON "mean???
From Keith atWestward House York

Watsons Property Management company are beyond a joke. They are incompetent on so many levels- poor to non-existent communication; speed of problem rectification is slow to dead stop or even moving in reverse; financial incompetence and inaccuracy on bills. Information provided by them when purchased property incomplete and wrong.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY
IF I HAD A CHOICE I WOULD NOT DEAL WITH THEM
THE MAJORITY OF REVIEWS SUPPORT HOW BAD AT THEIR JOBS THEY ARE.

COWBOYS! Completely incompetent and negligent. Watsons employed negligent contractors (Wheatly FM) who were paid over £4,000 to (eventually) attempt to repair a leaking roof in 2021, but the repair was shockingly incompetent. The pictures taken during court proceedings show that they failed to integrate the 'new' fiberglass deck into any upstands or the existing roof / balcony deck structures. Plants were even growing out of their “new balcony deck” within a year. They were paid more than another £8,000 by the incompetent management company to return and re-do their negligent work, and only made the problem worse. Watsons (Director Omant) keeps claiming that the balcony / roof is ‘water tight’ despite numerous images and video evidence and the fact the repair had been botched by their contractor.

Watsons also refused to remove this contractor (and paid them more money to come back and botch it again) – lucrative scam sending contractors to botch work again and again when they get a percentage of the invoice value. If the repair fails, just send the same contractor again for another cut of the invoice.

A court appointed expert witness has produced a report stating that the repair was ‘negligent’ and the work is not to a standard you would expect from a competent contractor. The report also identified major issues, like the fact they painted an incompatible rubber sealer onto the ‘new’ fiberglass roof when the fiberglass roof instantly failed.

Watsons claim to be a professional management company, but can not even instruct, supervise or inspect works and has no idea of how a fiberglass deck / flat roof should look. A court appointed expert witness concluded that Watsons (and others) lack the commitment, skill and expertise to instruct and supervise such works and recommends that an independent surveyor inspects and supervises the remedial works. Why pay Watsons (who are supposed to be a property management company) to instruct and manage repair works when they are clearly not capable.

Pictures available on other platforms (google reviews etc) show the initial repair (the new fiberglass deck installed in 2021) just over a year later in 2022, and shortly after, further botched repairs by Wheatleys FM who were instructed to return to their botched work by Watsons. Note how they used silicone sealer and flashbond tape to attempt to repair a round downspout and used a liberal amount of expanding fire foam to try and seal areas. They also tried to integrate the newer Fiberglass deck (installed in 2021) to the existing structure using self-adhesive flash bond tape and silicone sealer. Completely shocking – these incompetent contractors and Watsons have no idea and are clearly bluffing their case. Complete cowboys!

The contractors even used an offcut of 15mm copper pipe which they 'glued into position' using silicone sealer to try and support a failing rain water down pipe which was unsupported. Employ Watsons Property Management at your own risk – this is the standard of work they aspire to and claimed (in court proceedings with a signed statement of truth) have been carried out by a skilled and competent contractor with extensive industry knowledge and skill…. Look at these pictures on other platforms and judge for yourselves!

Update 2024 - court proceedings finished with Watsons settling just before hearing for a substantial amount of money along side their client resident management company. Lunacy from Watsons is next level - forced entry into an apartment which a court ruled was unlawful entry and a breach of the terms of the lease (quiet enjoyment) and regarding a data protection complaint / SARs request a Watsons employee fabricated an email to claim they had complied with legal obligations when they had not. This employee Sarah Harding refused to explain her fabricated email. Sham of a company! Watsons property Management employees who claimed to be qualified surveyors could not even identify an issue with a severely leaking fiberglass deck / roof despite the fact it had gaping holes at the edges and had plants growing out of it. Next level incompetence Omant and James Thompson.... qualified my A##.

Update - Watsons settled just before court date, expert witness found them to be negligent - their contractors are incompetent, Watsons failed to supervise them. Watsons even claimed there was no leak when despite a 'waterfall' running through the apartment from late 2020 until they settled just before the hearing on January 2024 and then still failed to fix the leak - Watsons were removed from managing the building in October 2023 and are incompetent. Absolute clowns... Their staff even tried fabricating emails during the process. Dishonest and incompetent property management company!

Horrendous company! Foul and abusive 'Managers' and only too ready to cut corners. Non existent caretakers who turn out to be cannabis smoking cash in hand residents!

I recently moved into an apartment managed by Watsons. No information whatsoever on arrival and have been drip fed information (in response to my phone calls) regarding the whereabouts of gas and electric meters, water meter etc. My first and only official communication came today - asking me to put a black bin into the bin store. I did this to begin with! As yet I have to see any contract/agreement regarding ground rent six weeks after moving in.

Watson is an appalling management company. They have zero concern for the health and well being of children living under their service management. They have left myself, my 6 month baby and two year old without any heating or hot water for 5 consecutive days now, on top of 23 previous days this year. They should not be allowed to operate as a company!

In response to Watson’s reply, I can confirm that the emergency was reported several times to the out of hours emergency team. Our complex ‘little kelham’ which includes 33 households effected with no heating and hot water for over 7 days, collectively raised the issue via the emergency number 14 times, reported it 68 time via the Watson internet ‘report a problem’ portal (which we were advised to do) and personally, I phoned the Watson designated representative for our department 5 times and left messages to which I never received a reply.

I can conclude that we were left 7 days in total with no heating and hot water. On top on 5 consecutive days before that in December and a total of 44 days over the course of 2022.

I believe that Watson have not only broken legislation in regards to leaving young children without heating and hot water but they have failed to respond to their obligations of a service management.

Our ground floor flat was being flooded from waste water from the flats above, the water was flowing out of the sink and washing machine.
The occupants of the flats above were ask to stop using any water. An e-mail was sent with the details. The following day(Sunday) they were call several times, put on hold, calls directed to other departments and put on hold. Request were made to speak to the manager. There answer was no manager was working. For a company offering an emergency service, it is a requirement.
We only got to speak to different receptionists no engineers.
There view was it was inconvenient, and could offer an appointment soon Tuesday.

We called Blockbusters ourselves, what an excellent service, and reasonable priced for a call out.

Recent in this instance equates to the past three years. The residents' association has built up an outstanding relationship with watsonpm based on honest conversations, objective forward-planning and a desire to create a working relationship that benefits both residents and watsonpm.

It is understood, as a consequence of dialogue with other residents' associations, that the highly effective, representing value for money, operational vehicle that has evolved over the past three years is indeed somewhat unique between Landlord/Management Agent and Residents' Association.

Terrible customer service

I am unfortunately a leaseholder of a property managed by Watsons PM. I work in the property industry and have witnessed 1st hand why whenever the name 'Watsons' is mentioned in the property fraternity, there is a collective sigh.

The service charge figure is more than 3x the average of a similar property in Leeds City centre and 2x more expensive than concierged flats in the centre of London.
Works take an ungodly amount of time to complete. It took over 2 years for them to replace flooring in communal areas due to flooding.
Any works which are done are not done at a competitive rate, usually way above what would be deemed reasonable.
They often miscalculate the Service charge and then have to rectify and re-balance the following year. For example, There was a shortfall in the previous year of say £200, they give you only 14 days notice to make that payment and it cannot be added onto the current years Direct Debit schedule, must be paid in full within 14 days.
The section of their website which allows leaseholders to check where their funds are being spent has been under maintenance since October of 2020. Convenient how the payment section still works fine but not the sections important to their customers, 18 months on.

Thankfully there are some un-happy residents who have been looking into forming a residents association and exploring the RTM (right to manage) process in the hopes of getting rid of Watsons.

All in all they are the worst management company i have come across in years in the industry, their service charge figures are ridiculous and their management of the premises is even worse.

I rang Watsons on 10/05/22 to report a bleeping smoke alarm. I received the usual email stating (Thank you for using our online management system, we endeavor to respond to your message within 72 hours) I just knew they'd fail to respond within the time specified. So, not been able to sleep peacefully for 4 nights as yet!!
I have reported numerous issues in the past which haven't been resolved. The management fee is constantly rising, but the service is increasingly poor or missing.
To the MD, sort it!!!!

Godawful, avoid at all costs. Constant, almost daily failures to do their job with regards to the properties.

What kind of property maintenance professionals use water based paint for exterior window frames and masonry? Allowed our building’s roof to waste away leading to a dangerous structural collapse. Like something out of the dark ages. Awful crooks and should be banned from all future contracts.

This company applied an admin charge after they only provided a second reminder for a bill that never arrived. They tell me they sent out emails but I haven't received either of the first two. Any other company would have given the customer the benefit of the doubt and made apologies. This isn't an isolated incident but part of an ongoing problem with the management companies that deal with the apartments where I am a leaseholder. I don't have any choice, but I'd follow the advice in the previous comment and avoid this company if you can.

I think that Watson PM may be on its way out. They used to have a portal for Leaseholders called "My Watson" so you could see how Leaseholder funds were being spent. It has now been over a year since 1) it was updated and 2) they put up a message stating "Sorry. This page is closed for maintenance." This message has been up since October 2020. I have even offered to help and/or get other IT professionals to assist them. This is not the sign of a well-run company is it? If they cannot find anyone to help them maintain their portal, it is probably an indication of more substantial issues.

It would be good if Watson could explain what is (or is not) going on and why.

I have written to them for a year without even an attempt at a detailed reply.

I am a Leaseholder on an estate that dispensed with the services of Watson in early 2020. This followed an apartment building (Watermans Place) on the same estate also letting Watson go and appointing another company.

If you are looking for a property management company - I would recommend you look for a company that can give you full information on how your Leaseholder funds are spent.

VERY VERY VERY BAD
There are many better management companies out there, with more professionalism, quicker responsiveness, and all for much better value.

Everyone here regrets that WPM are in charge.
Service charge - very expensive
Staff - rude and abusive
HQ - cheap and nasty
Maintenance - non existent in many cases.

woeful and aweful and a mouthful of waffle

The director of WPM actually thinks the customer just likes to complain for a laugh - no, Mr Omant, its because your shoddy services are a rip-off.
How about actually getting the window cleaner to clean the windows or the roofer to fix the roof rather than making it worse.
No, youd rather threaten customers with the police.