We have been looking to buy and the agent we were dealing with was always pretty slack when it came to replying to questions and requests to look at houses and had been wanting to sell our house for us, but after we decided to go through someone else to sell they became completely un-helpful when we wanted to look at a couple of their houses

I currently rent through Hocking Stuart. When I moved in, they lost my lease. I also needed the cold water tap in the kitchen fixed as it did not turn on. This took 4 months and 6 visits to Hocking Stuart before it was even addressed (despite being marked "urgent" on the maintenance report). It then took another month or so after the plumber originally came to look at the tap, before it got fixed (although I believe this is more the fault of the plumber than the real estate). I have recently had someone move into my spare room. He put in his application before he moved in, and after 4 weeks and 3 phone calls (every time being told "someone will call you back today" however no one ever called), we went in and were informed that the application was lost. We were told that if it were re-submitted by the end of the day, it would be processed by the end of the week. This was about 2-3 weeks ago and in that time we have been in and phone them another 3 times, only to be told "someone will call you back today", yet no one ever does.
I have also heard similar stories from 3 other people who have rented from Hocking Stuart in the past. These stories included losing the condition report, months chasing up maintenance requests, and never having phone calls returned. As yet, I am yet to meet one person in Ballarat who does not have a negative opinion of Hocking Stuart