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Complaint about estate agent

Hi MSEs
I'm interested in your opinion of the complaint I have about selling my home; I'll try to keep it short and to the point.

When it came to completion day (we were also exchanging simultaneously), the buyer could not be contacted and the sale didn't go through. Clearly solicitors have a part to play, but my query for you just relates to the estate agency part.

When I contacted the EA, they weren't aware the completion was meant to happen that day, they weren't overseeing the sale and they didn't manage to contact the buyer. This scenario drags on for another five days and much stress before completion finally occurs. This was due to constant chasing of the EA by myself, not proactivity on their part. Therefore my main problem is that they kept no overview of the process that was going to result in payment of their fee.

During the sales process, their behaviour has concerned me. They took no ID to check I was who I say I am; I have since learnt that they should have done this.

When making a formal complaint, they have not followed their own process. On the day the final response from them would have been due, they made their first contact to ask for more details of the complaint. Their response has finally been that they see no fault and have threatened debt collectors. My proposal has always been to reduce the fee, not get away without paying anything.

Their attitude has been threatening, unhelpful and I don't feel, fair. I plan to take to the Ombudsman but I'd be interested in your opinion and experiences.

Thanks in advance
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Comments

  • kingstreet
    kingstreet Posts: 38,989 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    What was the service the agent agreed to provide in your contract?
    I am a mortgage broker. You should note that this site doesn't check my status as a Mortgage Adviser, so you need to take my word for it. This signature is here as I follow MSE's Mortgage Adviser Code of Conduct. Any posts on here are for information and discussion purposes only and shouldn't be seen as financial advice. Please do not send PMs asking for one-to-one-advice, or representation.
  • Whew! to planning for Exchange and Completion to happen on the same day. The phrase "accident waiting to happen" came to mind on reading that.....

    Did everyone know right from the beginning (buyer, estate agent, etc) that you were planning on such an EXTREMELY tight timetable and had they (willingly) agreed to it? If they'd not known at the outset that this was your plan and/or had only "agreed through gritted teeth" to this then they weren't going to "try very hard" for something they hadn't willingly agreed to.
  • ValHaller
    ValHaller Posts: 5,212 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Although the EA should have an eye to what is going on, completion and exchange dates are as you say arranged via the solicitors. The failing is between the buyer and his solicitor or between solicitors. With what happened here, there is no reason to expect the agent to know that the buyer was AWOL. And without exchange, there was nothing from which the buyer was AWOL.

    As for the ID checks, it is not really essential for EAs to do this - the apparent requirement results form a misunderstanding of the role of the EA in a sale. Your ID should be checked by your solicitor.

    So, I suggest you pay up.
    You might as well ask the Wizard of Oz to give you a big number as pay a Credit Referencing Agency for a so-called 'credit-score'
  • hazyjo
    hazyjo Posts: 15,474 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    If the seller couldn't be contacted - that's the seller's fault.

    Sometimes you have daily contact with the EA, other times you don't speak with them at all. It's mainly all down to the solicitor once an offer's been accepted.

    Where does it say EAs should obtain an ID check? That's for solicitors to do.

    In my experience, the first suggested day for exchange doesn't usually happen. The second's hit 'n' miss, and then you start setting the next when you're more sure it's ready! Always a massive risk trying to exchange and complete on the same day.

    Why would they even need to get hold of the seller if both solicitors had signed papers in their hands and the seller and buyer had already said that they were going to try to exchange/complete on X day? Sounds like there must have been a query or something.

    Not sure what you're saying about the 'five days'. Could nobody get hold of the buyer for five days? Or were there loose ends to tie up/queries during that time?

    Jx
    2024 wins: *must start comping again!*
  • Hi both

    Kingstreet - no conveyancing through them, just the marketing side

    moneyistooshort - it was never my choice to exchange and complete on the same day and made me hugely anxious. The completion date that had been agreed between both parties was fast approaching and the buyer's solicitor kept having one or two queries which then meant the two dates melded into one. There was also no extremely tight timescale, the sale took months and kept overshooting target dates...
    There was one point when the buyer said they were so desperate to get in that they suggested a completion date just 4 or 5 days in the future!
  • googler
    googler Posts: 16,103 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Who was supposed to tell the EA? You or your solicitor?
  • I think you are confusing the EA's role with the conveyancers, certainly seems quite common for the buyer or vendor to try and dictate an exchange and/or completion date despite the conveyancing process not being completed or mortgage offer being issued.

    Yes your Estate Agent probably could of done more, but they didn't need to and its more an option to provide a sales progression service.
  • Our solicitor did inform EA of dates but they weren't aware of them.

    Re ID - solicitor did their job in taking all of this but EAs T&Cs (upon retrospective look) say they should have taken it too.

    Five days - no loose ends as solicitor has answered everything and he wasn't asked any more details during this time. Just nonsense delay that I can't really explain!
  • kingstreet
    kingstreet Posts: 38,989 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    The EA's responsibility to you, if you look at the contract you signed is probably;-

    "to find a ready, willing and able purchaser, able to proceed to unconditional exchange of contracts."

    If they have done that, they will be entitled to their agreed fee, IMHO. A court would also view the situation that way.
    I am a mortgage broker. You should note that this site doesn't check my status as a Mortgage Adviser, so you need to take my word for it. This signature is here as I follow MSE's Mortgage Adviser Code of Conduct. Any posts on here are for information and discussion purposes only and shouldn't be seen as financial advice. Please do not send PMs asking for one-to-one-advice, or representation.
  • ValHaller
    ValHaller Posts: 5,212 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    ScubaDiver wrote: »
    Re ID - solicitor did their job in taking all of this but EAs T&Cs (upon retrospective look) say they should have taken it too.
    That is a big 'so what', really. You would suffer no loss through this failure. Don't even think of it as a loophole to try and void the whole contract.
    You might as well ask the Wizard of Oz to give you a big number as pay a Credit Referencing Agency for a so-called 'credit-score'
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