Barry Plant

Barry Plant Croydon – serious concerns with exit reports and bond pressure My experience exiting a Barry Plant Croydon–managed property was deeply troubling and, in my view, involved a systematic misuse of the exit process to pressure a tenant over their bond. Despite leaving the property in excellent condition, the exit report was filled with… Read more

exaggerated and unreasonable claims that bore little resemblance to the legal standard of “reasonably clean”. I was instructed to re‑clean spotless kitchen cupboards, clean common property items (letterbox, gate, fence and garden), and remove insects from a skylight the agent herself noted was unreachable. Regarding the common area: any rental agent worth their merit would be aware this is NOT a requirement and can only lead me to believe that either the rental agents are severely under-trained, or willingly engage in unethical practices.

I accepted responsibility for a lost air‑conditioning remote, yet was initially given an “indicative quote” of $400 — for a wired control panel, not a remote. When challenged, no proper quote was ever provided. I sourced a like‑for‑like replacement online for $50 in minutes, exposing the original figure as grossly inflated.

I was also directed to address an alleged carpet stain unsupported by the photos provided and told to “deep clean” areas well beyond VCAT’s established requirement of reasonable cleanliness. To avoid escalation, I paid for professional steam cleaning despite disputing the claim.

I vacated because the property was sold. Based on the tone and volume of exit demands, it appeared the agent — and possibly the owner — were seeking a sale‑ready, professionally cleaned handover rather than applying the legal standards that apply to tenants.

After lodging a renter‑initiated bond claim (I strongly encourage renters to do this), I received an email from the agent warning that VCAT could take “a minimum 12 months”, which is inconsistent with publicly available guidance and appeared designed to discourage me from pursuing my rights. After challenging the claims using published guidance, my bond was returned in full. This speaks for itself.

I am currently composing a detailed account of this experience to submit to Consumer Affairs Victoria. The stress and time caused by these unfounded claims was significant and avoidable.

I share this review to warn other renters: know your rights, and approach exit reports with caution. In particular, familiarise yourself with Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (Vic), s.63(1)–(2) which states: "Leave the rented premises, as far as practicable, reasonably clean, and in the same condition as when the renter entered into possession, taking into account fair wear and tear."

I viewed a property yesterday with the Watergardens office and made an application the same day. The application was very in-depth with photos needed of my dogs. That’s new. I was accepted to rent said property. However, on acceptance to figure for the bond magically increase from advertised (at time of writing this review this is still the… Read more

case)

Also. Despite the long application stipulating the bond was to be paid up front and rent to paid after the initial 4 weeks. The acceptance email asked for the 4 weeks to be paid upfront along with the now increased bond amount. No explanation or breakdown was given. I have the funds available to pay the figure but have withdrawn as this is highly irregular and having worked in the property sector for many years totally unacceptable.

The agent who showed me around was friendly and polite so I cannot fault that. But ultimately you cannot change the terms at the last minute and give a 24 deadline.

Refuses to desl with alcoholic and drug affected abusive tennants. Acts on personal opinions formed from false reports and never investigates.Encourages alcoholic and drug using tennants. Refuses to maintain property.Worst agency ive had in 35 years of renting! Very strongly advise to AVOID!

Just leased a commercial property with Benjamin Klein. Not only was he personable, transparent and ethical, Benjamin has outstanding negotiating skills that brought multiple offers to lease our property for the best rental return.

I recently engaged Kylie from Barry Plant to lease my property in the Oakleigh area, and I couldn’t be more impressed. Kylie was professional, thorough, and clearly an expert in her field. Her in-depth knowledge of the Oakleigh market was second to none, and her guidance made the entire process seamless and stress-free. What also stood out was… Read more

her leadership—reflected clearly in the professionalism and efficiency of the team around her. It’s clear that Kylie sets a high standard, and her team follows suit.

I highly recommend Kylie to anyone looking to lease their property. Her experience, dedication, and leadership make her an outstanding choice

We have the pleasure of dealing with Brea at Barry plant coburg as our property manager. During the last 6 years she has helped guided us through some tricky tenants. Her knowledge professional standards and understanding of the rental property market makes her an undeniable asset to Barry Plant. I highly recommended Brea to anyone who is… Read more

looking for someone who’ll takes that extra step too make sure quality service to all clients is met. When you want it done right the first time Brea is your go too.

If I could give this rating a negative, trust me I would!! Barry Plant Belmont real estate have got to be the worst real estate i've ever dealt with. [Name Removed] is my property manager. He never responds to my emails and is always extremely rude. He can try and blame it on personality clashes but this is far from the case. You would think… Read more

someone who "claims to have 34 years experience in the industry" would have a clear understanding of the law. He continues to ignore several VCAT and Consumer affairs orders. He has received 6 breach of duty notices for breaking the law and I've had to have 5 VCAT hearings all within the last 12 months because he refuses to do any repairs: My advice: STAY CLEAR!!!!!

Barry Plant agent from Rowville conducted himself extremely poorly at a property open, unprofessional, rude, and attempted to intimidate along with clear signs of discrimination. The pricing of the home appeared undervalued and the approach felt questionable, with tactics that raised serious concerns. The agent Charles A came across as he had… Read more

something to hide and was not open to my questions. There’s an unmistakable toxic culture within this agency, all the way through to the top, which becomes evident in how they treat people. Even when I raised my concerns, the head of the Rowville office and Barry Plant head office responded in a condescending and dismissive way, no one has taken it seriously nor apologized and neither has the agent explained his behavior. It’s completely unacceptable for a business that claims to value its clients. Rubbish!! It’s all marketing tactics! Based on my experience, I would not trust this agency for buying or selling a property. Their behaviour reflects poorly on the integrity and professionalism expected in real estate bordering on scamming & cunning behaviour.

I am the landlord for 2 properties managed by Barry Plant offices in Bundoora & Southbank. Another also managed by Barry Plant, Bundoora has been recently sold. I have been a long & loyal customer with Barry Plant for many years never making a formal complaint until now. My property at Bundoora 3083, was re-leased in June. Myself & both the… Read more

tenants signed the lease for 12 months. Within the first month of the lease my leasing manager informed me that they had leased another house through Barry Plant Eltham office breaking the conditions my fore mentioned lease. How can this be done, particularly a Barry Plant office doing this to another Barry Plant office? I was informed that Barry Plant Eltham was told the tenants were under lease at the Bundoora house. The tenants have since moved out of my property & are refusing to pay rent until new tenants move in as per contract. Also I have been informed a VCAT hearing over lost rent would probably fail.

I am out of pocket for lost rent which Barry Plant Eltham should pay but also refuse. Barry Plant Bundoora has nothing wrong. I have attempted twice to contact the Director of Barry Plant Eltham to discuss with no success, very disappointing.

I lodged a formal written complaint with Barry Plant Head Office for investigation, again no acknowledgment as per their on-line complaint procedure but yesterday I receive a phone call from a manager from Barry Plant Eltham who offered no help. How can they investigate my complaint when the complaint is again them?

Very unhappy that Barry Plant despite taking all my fees is not willing to accept wrong doing upon a loyal customer.

Rob

Now I have had more than one year experience working with Christopher Chow from Barry Plant Docklands as my rental property manager. I could not be more positive about all his conduct in every aspect: responsible, responsive, helpful, and genuinely concerned from both vendor and renter’s perspective. He is an asset to Barry Plant. Gordon S.

Berry plant Belmont, Marie Grace What a terrible customer service, unprofessional, talking rudely to clients . Berry plant need to train they employees how to talk to people, I don't recommended to anyone.

Own and live in a property next to our rental and we organise all garden maintenance, gutters , painting and all other maintenance as my company built these town houses.......agent sent trades thru the rental with no prior notice to the landlord next door. When enquired why no prior notice, out of six phone calls no one could answer as to… Read more

why............two months later recevied a text message at 9.40 pm ( thats 9.40 pm ) as to a reminder of a minor maintenance item already set in progress........no one could explain why the text message was sent after hours and late, as our returned phone calls were chased up 5 times with no satisfactory response as to why a text message sent at 9.40 pm....Mr nobody was looking after it but not here now. Very unprofessional service and moving our business elsewhere

Terrible Experience – Not Recommended I’ve had a very disappointing experience with Barry Plant Noble Park. They rarely answer calls when we try to reach them. However, when they need something from us, they call repeatedly like spam. They allowed the landlord to visit while we were still living in the property, without proper notice or… Read more

consideration for our privacy.

They did nothing to protect us as tenants and were consistently rude in their communication.

Worst real estate agent I’ve dealt with for a rental. Definitely do not recommend.

BE AWARE of BARRY PLANT on High St Belmont, this insidious franchise and the deceitful behaviour from one of their perfidious agents [Name Removed]. Do not engage with this individual whatsoever his deceitful attitude at first will give you the normal fabricated recommendations of what he can do for you and his qualifications, when in fact he will… Read more

intentionally deceive and mislead you that he will do everything to sell your property when in fact under performs and misleads you into a false sense of security in attempting to sell your property. Then when [Name Removed] is uncovered, he then attempts to associate one the principals of Barry Plant on High street, Belmont whom deceitfully wouldn’t divulge is real name, he calls himself [Name Removed]? [Name Removed] will then condescend you and deceitfully start to being verbose and will not let you speak until you let him try to sell your property and with the same underperforming consistent incompetence as [Name Removed], [Name Removed] will do nothing to sell your property and intentionally mislead you again into a false sense that he will sell your property. Then after your contract has hit its due date and [Name Removed] is uncovered that he hasn’t and couldn’t sell your property they then send you an invoice for their incompetent marketing campaign. Barry Plant on High Street, Belmont Geelong is a perfidious agency to definitely Do Not Contact whatsoever. Be Aware!!!

My experience with Barry Plant still annoys me several years later. I wanted to put in a offer for a house mid-week and was told "the owners are away". I thought to myself why would someone go on a holiday while in the midst of selling their house. Anyway a work colleague lived a few doors down from said house and I asked her if the owners were… Read more

away and she said they "were not". In my opinion the agent lied to me because there was an inspection that weekend and he wanted to see if offers were being made then and did not want to have to accept of reject my mid-week offer hoping a better offer was being made at the ope day. Why can't estate agents just be honest and say they are only accepting offers after the open day.

Despite our booking, the representative who attended was unable to access the apartment. Because of this, we could not view the property at all. It also became clear this was her first time at the address, so even if entry had been possible she would likely have been unfamiliar with key details we would want to discuss. We found the experience… Read more

extremely disappointing and a considerable waste of time. When an inspection is advertised, we expect the agent to ensure access arrangements are confirmed in advance and be familiar with the property so they can answer basic questions on the spot.

Really poor service from the Barry plant rental team. Witholding bond until rubbish on nature strip is picked up even though you have receipt to show it has been paid for.

Barry Plant have been the property managers for the place I rent for the past few years - they are by far the most incompetent, unprofessional, unethical and immoral company I have had the displeasure of engaging with. They regularly feign ignorance of the law as it relates to tenants and breach this and rental agreements. When legal rights are… Read more

queried they double down with pressure OR simply do not respond to requests. Notice requirements have yet to be executed as per legal requirements. Unfortunately, some of the property managers I have dealt with there don't even seem to have an understanding of their basic legal obligations to tenants which makes reasoning impossible. Further to this, when they want something you can expect harassment or as stated, a direct entry into properties without notice, including out of business hours at hours such as 6am. It is very clear that they are only interested in posturing for landlords - they are so incompetent they don't seem to realise that the liabilities they cause often also impact landlords. Being both a renter and a landlord, I see both sides and would NEVER have my property managed by this appalling company. Shame on them and the landlords that support their behaviour.

I rented property through Berry Plain in Melbourne. Not happy with services. They put way too many charges like letting fee and advertisement fee when you break the lease apart from you keep paying your rent. Also you can't find someone yourself. Even after doing all professional cleaning. It took more then 3 weeks to get my bond back.

Daniel Cole, Director Barry Plant Docklands lacks morals and decency. Somehow got my personal email (that I do not give out), and proceeded to contact me without consent. Failed to tell me where he got my email from, as I’ve never had any dealings with him or his office or company. Avoid if you want an honest agent,

Fantastic customer service – Nicholas from Barry Plant, Mitcham was great to deal with. He always responded to any issues, provided solutions and went out of his way to be helpful.

Own need to get out of the game – look at the review has to be fake review Own need to get out of the game this lot do not care about the clint unless you giving that a fat lot of cash ( listed on FB on not to rent too) do not rent or buy better off going to Woodards Essendon better staff

very bad property management – since merging with Philip Web, the management has been a nightmare. as a landlord, I lost rent due to their ignorant and irresponsible attitude. I believe that's a culture in this RE. Don't trust them.

Appalling service at Barry Plant Dromana – Terry at Barry Plant Dromana is the most dishonest and incompetent agent I’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting and dealing with. Quoted our home high and led us to believe that achieving the price was no problem. Turns out 4 days in to the campaign asks us to drop the price by $200k due to the doom and gloom in the economy etc.. Then we had to… Read more

keep asking week after week to advertise inspection times well in advance. Then advertises the inspection times only to change the open time day before open! Then on one occasion they open the home two hours before the actual advertised time. Go figure! Then we had his patrons damage our home under his supervision by ripping wall paper off our walls. Then tells us he had 9 private showings to prove he was active with the listing but didn’t have 9 private showings as we had someone living at the house throughout the campaign. We were also supposed to be receiving weekly reports on the campaign to distribute to other members of the family trust..didn’t happen. I was also annoyed that instead of working on the buyer to bring them up, he was working on us the vendors to bring the price down, by pointing out all the faults our home has. Keeping in mind the house was in the same condition when he originally quoted it. I am gobsmacked at how incompetent they are. Will never use or refer Barry Plant Dromana again..

I’ve been following Terry’s listings throughout our campaign and it seems to be his only lever. Quote high to get a listing and then force the vendors hand to drop price. Inconceivable!!

Very Satisfied – As a tennant I really appreciated Nicholas from rental department with his prompt courteous and efficient dealings with us. He was professionl and especially helpful in working through the details when we moved out of the property in Forest Hill. Well done Nicholas. All the best. Chris