Austin and Wyatt High Charges on Missed Appointments

slyracoon

I agree with the others, you were stupid to miss 2 appointments but you cannot be expected to pay for this if the charges were not made clear to you in advance. Were they listed in the tenancy agreement or any written communication you have received from the LA?

shinydiscoballs

Thanks for all your comments, I think I need to take this one on the chin as they do write to you to tell you that the charge is £30 but it also states in the letter that the appointments cannot be changed, they don't seem to appreciate that people actually work during the day, oh and don't get me started on a time they failed to turn up for a scheduled appointment!

The charge just seems so high for '15mins' look around the property which is stated in there letter.

Austin and wyatt seem to overcharge for everything anyway and provide little or no service in return so a warning if anyone is think of renting through them.

RAS

Appointments certainly can be changed. In fact, you can simply advise them that they have no right to enter the house/flat and inspect. But you need to tell them in advance and to write to them as well.

Expect a S21 at the first opportunity but they are talking rubbish.

bob2

shinydiscoballs wrote: »

... they do write to you to tell you that the charge is £30 but it also states in the letter that the appointments cannot be changed...

If they simply wrote to you and said "be there a particular time on a particular day or we will charge you £30" then that sounds completely unreasonable.

If on the other time you agreed a time with them and then weren't there - that's rather different.

propertyman

shinydiscoballs wrote: »

Thanks for all your comments, I think I need to take this one on the chin as they do write to you to tell you that the charge is £30 but it also states in the letter that the appointments cannot be changed, they don't seem to appreciate that people actually work during the day, oh and don't get me started on a time they failed to turn up for a scheduled appointment!.

Well well done you.

It is important to remember that like you the inspector works during the day as they have friends and families and lives to live in the evening and weekend as well.

You should be able to challenge at least one of these in writing ( at ? DPS) for failing to turn up.

tbs624

It is not reasonable of them to say "be there at x day, y time or we will charge you 30 quid", however neither is it reasonable to simply fail to be there rather than forewarn them that the time/date was impossible for you. Had you done so, requesting a change of date/time they would have struggled to be able to justify charging you their fees.

Use the fact that they themselves failed to turn up on another occasion, wasting your time, to knock down at least one of the fees they are seeking to apply.

tbs624

propertyman wrote: »

It is important to remember that like you the inspector works during the day as they have friends and families and lives to live in the evening and weekend as well. .

Anyone working in the letting business ought to be prepared to work early evenings and weekends when required.

Are you sure that LAs have friends btw?;)

zappahey

propertyman wrote: »

Well well done you.

It is important to remember that like you the inspector works during the day as they have friends and families and lives to live in the evening and weekend as well.

As a tenant, I couldn't care less about the inspector's social life and schedule. I'm paying handsomely for the privilege of living here and, within reason, I expect them to arrange appointments to meet my schedule.

propertyman

zappahey wrote: »

As a tenant, I couldn't care less about the inspector's social life and schedule. I'm paying handsomely for the privilege of living here and, within reason, I expect them to arrange appointments to meet my schedule.

Then you would be being unreasonable- the earlier point was that these should be outside office hours.

It is rather saddening that a person expects that they have a right to work office hours but any one else working has to be available outside them.

zappahey

propertyman wrote: »

It is rather saddening that a person expects that they have a right to work office hours but any one else working has to be available outside them.

Well, that's not quite what I said, but I'll run with it.

Surely anyone who chooses to take up a career in something like estate agency must expect some degree of working outside of office hours, much like those who choose to work in retail?

Basically, inspections have proven to be of no value to me, and are an inconvenience, so I expect that inconvenience to be minimised. Not wishing to reopen the whole unaccompanied entry debate, I don't see why I should be expected to take time off work to accommodate inspections.

Now, as it happens, I have some flexibility and can move my working day by an hour or two if necessary but that happens at the convenience of my workload not the agent's.