Connells withdrawal fee - advice needed

tinyteeny

Hi

Back in August we put our home on the market with Connells estate agents. The lady came to our home did the photos etc. We agreed the market price, the estate agents fee and we were asked to sign the contract. After signing we were shown the back pages and advised to read them. We had our 18 month old and six month old with us at the time who were both playing up a bit so it was all very quick.

To cut a long story short we did not find them very good and at the end of our agreed 12 week contract we gave the required two weeks notice. Shortly after we received an invoice for £172.50 withdrawal fee. We knew nothing about this but upon finally reading the back pages of the contract we realised we did indeed have to pay and have done so.

However they are members of the OFT approved code which states the following:

The Estate Agent must explain all fees and charges and tell you if any fee will be payable if you withdraw your instructions to sell the property.


We became liable for the charge at the point of signing as we had agreed for them to market the property immediately and so the charge became payable even if we cancelled the agreement during the cooling off period. If we had been aware of the charge we would not have signed up with them and would have chosen an Estate Agent that doesn't impose such a charge. In fact I had never heard of such a charge before.

The basis of my complaint is that the EA failed to point out this charge prior to us signing the contract in accordance with the code. They believe that because they advised us to read the back page (even though it was after signing) they had done enough.

I am currently in the process of taking this complaint to another manager in accordance with their complaints procedure but would like to hear any advice from others before I write again.

I know that this is partly my fault for being very naive and signing a contract without reading it properly but I feel that I was misled by the EA who came into my home.

I know for the future to read everything back to front and to have the children out of the way when trying to do so.

Any help gratefully appreciated but please no further ticking off's - i have done enough of that myself. Hate the thought of having to pay any money for the cruddy service they provided (not in local paper, had to do own showings despite being told they would do them because it is quite difficult with young children, no updates, feedback, advice etc etc).

rsykes2000

Sorry to say, but I don't think you were mislead - you admit you were advised to read something and failed to do so.

overandout_2

They did advise you to read it and weren't trying to mislead you.....afraid you just need to pay up, learn from this and move on....

Good luck in selling your house..

maninthestreet

tinyteeny wrote: »

Hi

Back in August we put our home on the market with Connells estate agents. The lady came to our home did the photos etc. We agreed the market price, the estate agents fee and we were asked to sign the contract. After signing we were shown the back pages and advised to read them. We had our 18 month old and six month old with us at the time who were both playing up a bit so it was all very quick.

To cut a long story short we did not find them very good and at the end of our agreed 12 week contract we gave the required two weeks notice. Shortly after we received an invoice for £172.50 withdrawal fee. We knew nothing about this but upon finally reading the back pages of the contract we realised we did indeed have to pay and have done so.

However they are members of the OFT approved code which states the following:

The Estate Agent must explain all fees and charges and tell you if any fee will be payable if you withdraw your instructions to sell the property.


We became liable for the charge at the point of signing as we had agreed for them to market the property immediately and so the charge became payable even if we cancelled the agreement during the cooling off period. If we had been aware of the charge we would not have signed up with them and would have chosen an Estate Agent that doesn't impose such a charge. In fact I had never heard of such a charge before.

The basis of my complaint is that the EA failed to point out this charge prior to us signing the contract in accordance with the code. They believe that because they advised us to read the back page (even though it was after signing) they had done enough.

I am currently in the process of taking this complaint to another manager in accordance with their complaints procedure but would like to hear any advice from others before I write again.

I know that this is partly my fault for being very naive and signing a contract without reading it properly but I feel that I was misled by the EA who came into my home.

I know for the future to read everything back to front and to have the children out of the way when trying to do so.

Any help gratefully appreciated but please no further ticking off's - i have done enough of that myself. Hate the thought of having to pay any money for the cruddy service they provided (not in local paper, had to do own showings despite being told they would do them because it is quite difficult with young children, no updates, feedback, advice etc etc).

How did the EA who cam to your home mislead you?

tinyteeny

Hi

Just to let you know we have paid - we paid as soon as the invoice came in.

The reason why i feel I was misled was that the back pages were not shown to us nor were we advised to read them until after we had signed the contract, this was just as the EA was leaving. As I said we were liable for this charge as soon as we signed because we agreed to them marketing the house straight away. The terms are on the back page. The centre pages are were you are asked to sign and were they put all the details re: marketing price,estate agents commission etc.

I also feel misled in that the TPO code states that withdrawal charges and liability should be explained which they were not. Here is the relevant bit from the TPO code:

Terms of business. All estate agents must give you written Terms of Business with an explanation of terms used. The estate agent must also explain all fees and charges and tell you if any fee will be payable if you withdraw your instructions to sell the property.

I don't feel they were explained and certainly not before we became liable for the withdrawal fee.

As I said i understand I was very naive and silly not to have read from cover to cover and I probably would have had a better argument had I have read them properly as soon as she left and then contacted them.

I take it then you don't think I have leg to stand on with regards to my complaint? I was going to take it to the TPO and see if what happened constitutes as complying with their code. I have already paid the fee so have nothing to lose but if people think it was is waste of time and what happened was totally accpetable it's probably not worth wasting my time.

Thank you for your help

clutton_2

what we sign binds us..... as you say - next time - take the kids to a neighbour so you can read what is before you... the EA did draw your attention to the back page - you didn't read it..... no excuse really...

Unclepetey

If I were you I would be complaining (though, like the others, I don't fancy your chances of succeeding).

The agent arguably did not comply with the TPO code - i.e. explain the relevant withdrawal charges before you signed the contract. I'm not sure that the TPO code explicitly says that this must be explained before signing, and failure to comply with the Code doesn't necessarily mean that it is not an enforceable contract, but it would be odd if the Code did not intend that - after all, what is the point of having onerous contract terms only explained after signing?

A threat to report the matter to the TPO Council might well elicit a more helpful response (though the fact you have already paid the invoice makes it more difficult for you, I think).

The other thought I had is whether, under contract law, the clause in question is sufficiently onerous so as to require the agent to bring it specifically to your attention before signing (i.e. not just refer you to the back page). I'm thinking about Lord Denning's "red hand" rule here in which he said that certain contract provisions ought to be specifically brought to the other party's attention. I think this would be stretching the rule as presumably these clauses are relatively common, but you lose nothing by trying the argument with the agent.

tinyteeny

After reading a bit on the internet it seems I am not the only idiot which makes me feel slightly better.

tinyteeny

Thank you Unclepetey. I am grateful for a response that doesn't just point out what a fool I was I was aware of that fact as I was writing out the cheque.

I agree with you with regard to the code which is why I thought I may have a reasonable complaint.

I felt that the intention of the code was that attention should be brought to withdrawal fees and that by simply advising me to read the terms after signing they hadn't done this but as you say the code isn't explicit on this.

Hippychick

Why not write a letter of complaint to the head office? you never know they may refund you.

tinyteeny

Thanks Hippychick

I did write to the HO and it was referred to the regional manager. He feels that as I was asked to read the back page of the contract, even though this was after signing the contract which they have admitted, there isn't a complaint to answer. The reason why he feels there isn't a complaint to answer is because there is a seven day cooling off period. However as we agreed to them marketing the property immediately we were liable for the charge as soon as we signed including during the 'cooling-off' period so I don't feel his response is adequate and doesn't actually get to the crux of the issue for me.

I have now been told I need to write once again to HO asking for my complaint to be looked again by someone else and I think if I am still not happy it goes to the TPO.

Not sure whether to bother though as I am not sure I actually have a case.