Withheld my estate agent fees but they won't negotiate fees.

maiz

We have completed on our sale last month but we have withheld the estate agent's fee. We have complained to the estate agent branch manager at the poor service throughout the process at their lack of communication.
We contacted the area manager who has replied curtly to emails and threatened debt recovery.
We have received the debt recovery letter and have until the end of the month to pay them.
Yes they did sell our house but don't deserve full payment. What can we do next? The full amount is with the solicitor. Do we instruct them to make a part payment of the fee that we feel they deserve? It certainly wasn't in the five grand bracket that they are expecting.

anselld

They sold your house.
You pay the fee which was agreed in the contract you signed with them.

Alter_ego

Has the estate agent broken the terms of the contract? If not - pay up.

kingstreet

Chances are their contract commits them to finding you a "ready, willing and able purchaser" and they appear to have honoured their side of the contract.

Their agreed fee is payable once the contract is complete.

Did you raise your dissatisfaction before completion took place?

I fear if this gets to court, you will find judgment is made against you.

Sparx

Does the contract stipulate the fee is negotiable? I highly doubt it.. Pay up.

Annisele

I'm afraid I agree with the others.

We sound harsh, but I think it's easier to take harshness from strangers on the internet than from a judge in a court room.

I suspect the position is:
The contract between you and the agent said that if they found you a buyer, you'd have to pay them £x.
They found you a buyer.
So you have to pay them £x.

When you say their service was poor, did they actually breach any part of their contract with you? For example, was it written into the contract that they would respond to all emails within 48 hours, and then they failed to do so? (That exact term would be very unusual, but I'm trying to give examples rather than guess what's in your contract).

Even if the agent did breach a term of the contract, that doesn't necessarily mean you get to pay less than the £x agreed. You'd then need to look at whether the agent's breach caused you a financial loss. If not, no compensation.

googler

maiz wrote: »

We have complained to the estate agent branch manager at the poor service throughout the process at their lack of communication.

Was it merely lack of communication, or was there anything else?


Yes they did sell our house but don't deserve full payment.

Why not? What did they fail to do?

Selling your house was what you hired them to do, and it sounds like that was successful. As most everyone above says, what does your contract say?

maiz

Thanks for your honest replies. Yes I would rather hear it from people on here who have a sound knowledge of the system. I wouldn't want the hassle of a court case anyway but I was hoping if I paid most of the fee then they wouldn't chase for the rest.
Fair enough, they did the job but not in a way I agree with.
I just wondered whether anyone had personal experience of this (withholding even part of the fee) and what the outcome was.
Guess I just pay up and avoid them in the future.

Strapped

maiz wrote: »

Thanks for your honest replies. Yes I would rather hear it from people on here who have a sound knowledge of the system. I wouldn't want the hassle of a court case anyway but I was hoping if I paid most of the fee then they wouldn't chase for the rest.
Fair enough, they did the job but not in a way I agree with.
I just wondered whether anyone had personal experience of this (withholding even part of the fee) and what the outcome was.
Guess I just pay up and avoid them in the future.

No experience of withholding part of a fee, but I do have experience of working for Estate Agents - and I can assure you that they are, without exception, a litigious bunch who will see you in court in a heartbeat.

googler

maiz wrote: »

Fair enough, they did the job but not in a way I agree with.

... but did you agree on the 'way' with the EA in your contract?

Ivana_Tinkle

We looked into doing this when we had terrible service from an agent but came to the conclusion that, although we could prove they'd lied to us and caused massive delays and stress (the manager had admitted it and apologised - in writing!), we hadn't suffered any financial loss so were unlikely to get anywhere. We thought about withholding a token amount of the fee (maybe 10%) and daring them to take us to court, but we figured they probably would and that life was far, far too short.