Estate agent lied to make a sale! Help

TugaGirl

Hi there, I don’t know if anyone will be able to help, but anything will be greatly appreciated. Back in August myself and my fianc! went and had a look at a brand new flat. We weren’t looking to buy at all as we don’t actually have a deposit and are currently trying to organize a wedding.
However, the incentives were great!! The 2bedroom flat was originally priced at 154k, it would come fully furnished and the builders (Henley Homes) would pay half of our mortgage for two years. We agreed with this, but even before things started moving, the deal got changed, the new price was 135k, it would still come fully furnished and the builders would pay 5% deposit.

We agreed with the new deal, but then, after paying the £350 valuation fee, the flat was only valued at 115k. The owners agreed straight away to bring the price down, and it would come furnished and with the 5% deposit. On which we agreed to.
We made it clear to the estate agent that first showed us the flat that the big reason that we were going to go ahead was because the flat was brand new and furnished. We were shown the show flat and were told that absolutely everything in that flat was included. The show flat included a plasma Sony TV, sofas, TV unit, coffee table.. etc. it included everything that a house needs and it was great.

When we said yes and finally agreed to go ahead with it we paid a £500 “holding deposit” so the flat would be taken off sale.

We are now in the middle of November, and after a lot of chasing the estate agent we finally got a list of the furniture that is actually included, and it is a joke! Half of the things aren’t included and we would need to pay a lot of money to buy them. The person that is now dealing with us is not the same that first showed us the flat, it is he’s boss, and he has already admitted that the person that showed us around didn’t really know what he was doing.

With this we’ve decided to pull out and forget about the whole thing.
Now, my question is, can I get our holding deposit back? We were given the completely wrong information and mislead. The estate agent is saying that Henley Homes now have the deposit and that they are not willing to refund it to us.
But, isn’t our problem with the estate agent? Weren’t they the ones that lied to us and mislead us? Shouldn’t they pay us back our deposit? As were paid the £500 for a completely fully furnished flat with parking, and it now has come to light that that is not the case?
Does anyone know if legally I would be entitled to get any of my money back? I know it was our choice to pay the money, and that we should have been smarter and got everything in writing before paying out any money!!

Please help…

sooz

Of course estate agents lie.
If you didn't get it in writing, then it's unlikely you have a leg to stand on. Sorry.
However, I'd be thankful that £500 is all it is costing you to get out of your rash impulse purchase

Jorgan_2

Who was the deposit made payable to, the EA or builder? Speak to the most senior person you can at the EA, explain to them the situation. Was there anything on the details, other advertising material or sales memorandum that stated what was being included in the sale? Assuming you are in England or Wales, I would research the Property Misdiscriptions Act and use this in the conversation with the senior EA, if need be, threaten to go to trading standards with it. Its not your fault the EA used somebody who wasn't upto the job and you shouldn't be out of pocket as a result.

TugaGirl

Hi there,

Thanks for your thoughts. Well, in total we have potentially lost the £500 deposit, £350 valuation fee and £200 solicitor’s fee.
The £500 was paid out to the EA. No, there isn’t. There are emails from the EA to us saying the furniture package is included but it doesn’t actually say what the furniture is. I do know it was an impulse buy and that I should have been cleverer about the whole thing, but I really think that we should not be out of pocket because they allowed one of their employees that didn’t know what the deal was to show people around flats!

dougk_2

I'd be more shocked if the title was Estate Agent tells the truth...Maybe you should have said you would continue to purchase if the EA paid for the missing items from their commission. Its them that is at fault.

Jorgan_2

TugaGirl wrote: »

Hi there,

Thanks for your thoughts. Well, in total we have potentially lost the £500 deposit, £350 valuation fee and £200 solicitor’s fee.
The £500 was paid out to the EA. No, there isn’t. There are emails from the EA to us saying the furniture package is included but it doesn’t actually say what the furniture is. I do know it was an impulse buy and that I should have been cleverer about the whole thing, but I really think that we should not be out of pocket because they allowed one of their employees that didn’t know what the deal was to show people around flats!

Were you ever told that the deposit was non returnable and what information is given on the receipt they gave to you?

TugaGirl

Hi dougk, we did try that. We rang them when we FINALLY got the list of what was included and explained that we were told that EVERYTHING in the show flat was included and that the list we were given doesn’t show half of those things. They said the only thing they could do is apologise that the person that showed around said that, but that is not the case and that if we want to pull out because of it then fine! :mad:

TugaGirl

We were told that the total amount of the deposit was going to come out of the total price of the property on completion. I one point I actually asked if we could just have back on completion instead of having it going towards the purchase price and they said that that wouldn’t be a problem.
We were never actually told it wasn’t refundable, I think we just assumed it wouldn’t be…

I’ll have to check the receipt, I don’t know if it says its not refundable, but I would think it does.

wymondham

Having all this thrown in virtually guarentee's you'll be in instant negative equity. Paying for all this over 25 years etc does not make any sense and you'll end up paying a fortune in interest for it...

Best avoided...

geoffky

WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD..WHERE ESTATE AGENTS WOULD SELL THEIR SOUL TO GET A SALE


The estate agent, the drug dealers and the Girls Aloud singer
Somehow this one must have passed me by when it happened... because it's all news to me. Apparently, Girls Aloud's Nadine Coyle hired an overzealous estate agent who - ultra-keen to secure a sale - handed her keys to a gang of drug dealers a fortnight before she was due to move out. The first she knew about a viewing was when she unexpectedly met them in her hallway. Fortunately, they "left quickly" after she threatened to sing.

Doozergirl

Everyone's just having a bit of a gossip here. Jorgan's advice back in post number 3 is spot on. That is what you must do. If they are a member of the NAEA or the OEA (don't they have to be now?) then threaten them with their complaints procedure as well.

Don't worry about the developer, I'd chase the EA for your costs for mis-selling.