Mary Portas takes on the Estate agents

tara747

We get a quick look at an estate agent who I think is going to be the star of this particular show. I'm going to call him "Mr. Hair-splosion". If you imagine there was such a thing as a hair-gel bomb that explodes hair gel on contact. Then imagine a guy getting hit with the hair gel bomb on the back of the head. This is what Mr. Hair-splosion's hairstyle looks like.

---

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Wheezy, it was even worse on the prog!

greenmoneysaver_2

Well,,,

Live in the area (about 3 mins from n10 office!), and £495k for no garden is ridiculous, especially as it looks all open plan, except for the use of glass bricks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I notice at the end they didn't mention if the 2 troublesome properties had sold - 1 is small, no garden and over priced, the other is in a cr*p area where people use N10 agents to try and get an N10 price. I won't pay £100k extra for a few turkish radiators!

As for customer service, well I quit Foxtons as was permanently sabotaged by other staff ( got my first sale within 2 hrs. . .) and then was a target to be run over by other agents as was Foxy! When I quit the manager said "Oh, I'm surprised, we have had such good feedback about you". Yep, was an honest EA, should have become pro property finder!

greenmoneysaver_2

OMG, just checked floor plans

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-17808471.html

My 1 bed is only 40sq ft smaller, sth facing garden (I regularly fry due to the excessive sun. . .) and better location, and £200k cheaper!

googler

lostinrates wrote: »

They have a different commision system to most...which IMO fosters better service for buyers (and their own clients the sellers), meaning when it gets serious about a house then the agents can more easily (financially)work as a team for that rather than cover their own backs for commission. Its noticable, isn't it?

What's different about it?

DoWhatULove-LoveWhatUDo

Cleaver wrote: »

God, what a pr*ck he was. The sad thing is, he's not really a caricature as I reckon 50% of the young, male estate agents I've met are just like him. Massive stupid hair, sharp suit and an opinion that they're god.

I actually agree with Mary when she says that EAs are not really that necessary any more. Can't we all just pay a small fee to list on Rightmove and sell each other our homes?

I think the hair made him look more of a knob than he actually was, although that "this is definitely going to sell today, I've got 17 viewings on it this afternoon" bollox would soon wear thin.

MiserlyMartin wrote: »

Location location.... Property Ladder same old thing. Apart from Sarah Beeny is nice to look at.

How many people watch Property Ladder solely because of their interest in Sarah Beeny's Double Frontage I wonder?

lostinrates

googler wrote: »

What's different about it?

I can't remember the details, I'm afraid. I'm relying on a scrap of information gleaned some years ago in relevant conversation with a bod there, but, IIRC, ther is an office share, not just an individual agent therefore agents have slightly less competition between them...the idea being to get a sale, and a good sale..for the client not balls it up competing with each other, and the office is financially motivated to work for the benefit of the 'office'' as much as themselves. The details of how this worked I'm afraid are lost to me..I think the admin staf got a small cut too...so they want the sale to go through too (as opposed to individual commision per agent on sale)

Davesnave

DoWhatULove-LoveWhatUDo wrote: »

How many people watch Property Ladder solely because of their interest in Sarah Beeny's Double Frontage I wonder?

Not me, anyway. Never been into bay windows just vicarious experience via car-crash TV.

LydiaJ

greenmoneysaver wrote: »

OMG, just checked floor plans

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-17808471.html

My 1 bed is only 40sq ft smaller, sth facing garden (I regularly fry due to the excessive sun. . .) and better location, and £200k cheaper!

So much for their newly rewritten honest particulars. The listing on Rightmove, and also the listing on their own website, is the same old bland estate-agent-speak:

A well presented lower ground floor flat located on the popular Highgate side of Muswell Hill and within easy reach of both Muswell Hill Broadway & Highgate Underground Station. Set within a large Edwardian building this excellent property benefits from a large lounge/kitchen, TWO BEDROOMS, a courtyard garden and a Shared Freehold. Woodland Rise is an extremely sought-after location providing easy access to local transport links and Muswell Hill Broadway.

Cleaver

harrup wrote: »

There is one rather crucial difference between your mum's dedicated carer, the lovely girls in your local shop...and the wholy disinterested sales force at Primark et all.

And it isn't money.

It's personal engagement. And passion. It's the knowing, the belief that what you do or what you sell, has some intrinsic "value".

Making a difference to someone in their last days MEANS something. It feeds the carer's soul, their self esteem even if the monetary compensation is frugal...or even absent. Just look at the staff in most charity shops - they work for free yet what they do has meaning to them.

The girls in your local shop? Well, they are part of your community ( and for all we know you might look more handsome than Robert Pattison so there is the ogle and flirt factor to consider!) and you are their "neighbour" even just in a broader sense.

The abyssmal chicks at Primark? Selling badly made cheap crap doesn't feed anyone's soul now, does it? And perhaps therein lies the moral of that story...:)

Great post, and I guess I can't disagree with any of that.

However, I still think it wouldn't cost much, or even take that much effort, to try and instill some passion, pride and customer service in somewhere like Primark. I used to work in a restaurant that sold food which, in truth, was complete crap. But the managers there used to make it fun and actually used to make me quite proud about giving good customer service.

Dunno, it's a difficult one. The food at our local caff isn't exactly great quality, but there must be something about the place that makes people happy. You just wonder why Primark can't do that too?

Edit: Just to add, I'm 99% sure that the reason for the pleasant nature of the girls in my local caff is nothing to do with my looks. In fact, I've just checked this with Mrs Cleaver and she has confirmed my theory.

Guitar

For some reason the Estate Agent episode has been pulled from the website. I didn't get to finish watching it.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/mary-portas-secret-shopper/4od#3159862