estate agent - very poor service

xyellowx

Hi i have had my house up for sale for 14months with a local estate agent and had about 4 viewings all couldnt get mortgage first time buyers even tho id told e/a from day 1 check the people out first and make sure there not time wasters.
about 3 months ago a relative died and i got advised to wait for the will as my cicumstances would change so i phoned e/a explained this they said it was fine, they phone me 4 weeks ago whilst i was on hols to get a update i told them what day i was back in uk and to phone me
today ive received a nasty letter asking why i havnt paid the withdrawn fee (first i know about it)
as far as me and wife knew the house was going to be sold by them they have mine/wifes mobile + home no. but not a single call
the house needs selling and we can reduce asking price further now but lost all cofidence in e/a
any thoughts what to do?

googler

A request for a withdrawal fee implies that they think you asked them to take it off the market. Did you?

xyellowx

no- just phoned and told them about the will and it was agreed they would put it on hold for 8 weeks, they phoned me when i was on hols
to say im the customer paying them the service is shocking

GAH

Sounds as though you have one of two problems

1. Your not priced correctly
2. Your agent is rubbish

First thing to do is, get three new agents round to appraise property.
Ask them for an 'honest' price that they think they will sell the property at. Then quiz them on the type of buyers they would have, their marketing stratergy and have they sold any similar properties recently.

This will then give you a good overview, if you currently have price wrong with current agent or that you current agent doesn't do as much marketing wise as the other agents locally.

DVardysShadow

xyellowx wrote: »

today ive received a nasty letter asking why i havnt paid the withdrawn fee (first i know about it)

Are you saying you did not agree to a withdrawal fee? It is not in the small print of your contract?

If this is the case, then you owe them nothing.

xyellowx

gah - house priced correctly just not much selling in area (ours would be first time buyers/ downsizing parted company couples or single professional) tha e/a has been rubbish from day 1

dvardy- i didnt withdraw the house the e/a has with no call/explanation bunch of muppets and now demanding a withdrawal fee for my house wich as far as im concerned is still up for sale

WebGuru

What is in the contract you signed? Anything about a marketing fee? Sole Agency or Sole Seller?

ognum

xyellowx wrote: »

Hi i have had my house up for sale for 14months with a local estate agent and had about 4 viewings all couldnt get mortgage first time buyers even tho id told e/a from day 1 check the people out first and make sure there not time wasters.
about 3 months ago a relative died and i got advised to wait for the will as my cicumstances would change so i phoned e/a explained this they said it was fine, they phone me 4 weeks ago whilst i was on hols to get a update i told them what day i was back in uk and to phone me
today ive received a nasty letter asking why i havnt paid the withdrawn fee (first i know about it)
as far as me and wife knew the house was going to be sold by them they have mine/wifes mobile + home no. but not a single call
the house needs selling and we can reduce asking price further now but lost all cofidence in e/a
any thoughts what to do?

Sadly I think that like many issues between EAs and vendors the problem is por communication from you both.

Firstly I am surprised that you have had your house marketed for 14 months only had a few viewings and do not have a better relationshio with the EA because I would have been speaking with them each week/month to find out how many viewings other houses had had/hy mine had had so few/whether the price is right etc. so I think they have got the feeling that you are not very motivated and your conversation saying your position had changed and then nothing else from you has led them to believe you have stopped looking for a buyer.
I am surprised they phoned you when you were on holiday, did you tell them you were going away, this type of communication is vital.
The withdrawal cost is down to you reading the contract, no communication from you for several weeks is likely to make them think you are not bothered.

xyellowx

web- yes they said from day one they where the only agent to be able to sell it and i was not able to get a second e/a in unless i paid them which was fair enough they just havnt done very much at all and been in contact even less

ognum -thanks for the post dont know how you come to the conclusion im not motivated/not bothered you couldnt be further from the truth ive phone them loads in the past and all i get is markets slow we will phone you if any interest in your property (fair enough i know that ,i watch the news read the paper)
i thought i was paying the e/a and therefore it was them doing the work, they have done very little and been in contact even less and now taken the property of the market without so much as a phone call

GAH

OP, sounds like your communication as fully broken down with them.

Best thing to do, is pay the fee to them, put it down to experience that you picked the wrong agent, and go about picking an agent that is going to market your property in the best ways possible and get you the best price too.

xyellowx

GAH-both me and wife think thats the best thing to do, wouldnt mind if they just had one shop but they have about 14 shops and been around years, really disapointed with them and the service provided or rather not provided