Brian Cox Estate Agents, A Bad Experience

mojowaky · 7 August 2011 at 3:16AM

I have been involved in a house purchase search for several months and have dealt with various estate agents ranging from the very eager to the slighty lazy.
But the worst by far was Brian Cox Estate Agents in Greenford. Estate agents will usually show me properties themselves but occassionally ask me to meet the property seller at the property at an arranged time but they would always make it clear that i was meeting the seller and not the agent.
I got 3 viewings booked over 2 days with brian cox.
I was under the impression i was going to meet the a gent at each viewing.
The first viewing i was on time and waited over ten mins outside only to have the seller come outside and ask me to come in and explained to me that they had been told the agent was not coming. o.k. so why not have the courtesy to let me know? is it ok to have standing around outside like a moron ?
In any case that day i rang the agent to make an offer on the property i had seen. i was called back a few mins later to be told the offer was rejected. so i gave a higher offer and was told by the agent it was unlikely the higher offer would be accepted. They never even bothered to get back to me (even after several days) to let me know about the higher offer i made. surely any professional agent would have called back to keep a relationship with their customer.
The next day i headed over to the remaining two viewings which were consecutive.
On the first viewing i was on time and waited outside the property for over fifteen mins following which i called the agency to be told i was had to meet the seller but she had gone out to the shops and would be back in five to ten mins.
By this time it was almost time for the second viewing and i needed to make my way there. So i left without seeing property and headed over to the next viewing which i was on time. Again there was no agent and i rang the door and no one was in. i rang the agent and was told the agent would be there in one minute. almost half an hour after the appointment time no one turned up so i left. i wasted a whole afternoon on two viewings which i did not even see. not even an apology.
I will never deal with this bunch of time wasters ever again.

axisofunity · 7 August 2011 at 9:19AM

Sorry to hear of your troubles and thanks for the warning. These guys sound like typical timewasters. Obviously you've not said what your position is (they could feel that you're not a serious buyer - do you have AIP, etc?) but in any case, poor service and sloppy manners from agents is why vendors don't get the best prices and buyers the best experience.

boffington · 18 October 2011 at 6:12PM

I have used these guys and found them to be very helpful. They always told me when i had people coming. SOme people didnt turn up or got there late but i cant blame them for that! I had lots of people view my house, several offers and got what i think was a good price. Compared the the other agent i used at least they seemed to be trying to sell my house by making appointments for people to come and see it.