Estate Agent did viewing damaged quartz worktop!

Smodlet

rachelandgromit wrote: »

The manager has emailed me back:

Good Morning,

I have just returned from annual leave this morning I have spoken to Lewis about your comments . I am sorry that you have had to send this email.
Lewis is and has always been a high valued member of the team and has never had any complaints from anyone, if anything he is very orgainised and checks his works throughly normally. He always walks around with the clients and doesnt leave them alone as I have observed him. I will need to have more information as to how he has caused the damage and evidance . I will be speaking to the viewers to investigate and gain their opinion on your compliant and to get their version of events so this can be claryified and cleared up for you.
With the garage door Lewis has advised me that he had difficulty with the lock and found it hard to close and double checked it was locked on exit.

Once I have completed my full investigation and spoken to all parties as well if I need to get our insurance company invloved from my findings . I will come back to you on the points.
If you have any photos Please send me across.

The keys will be ready for you in the office as requested.

Regards

Well, of course Lewis does a decent job while his manager is watching him... I know you probably had little choice in the matter, rachelandgromit, but I would never, ever, ever allow an EA or a viewer into my house unless I were there. Webcams, definitely, imho.

I agree with you about leaving a damaged work top for your buyer to sort out... unless you draw their attention to the damage, I'd be prepared for claims after completion, once they discover it, given the cost of such material. Many people would just take it on the chin for a bog-standard chipboard surface but why should anyone have to fork out hundreds (thousands?) of £ to fix a work top the minute they move into a property?

I really hope you get the freakin' EA to cough up. Unless you have to sell fairly quickly, I'd change agents, too, and ensure I sold after the contract period had expired.

SuzieSue

fairy_lights wrote: »

It doesn't take life experience to show someone round a house.

Well, I wouldn't want a 16 year old boy showing people around my house. If if doesn't bother you then fine.

Onawingandaprayer

Slightly relevant, but 'funny', we thought. We were being shown round a house a few years back and pointed out to the agent a crack in the ktchen wall we didn't like the look of. He said it's just on the surface and tapped it, whereupon a huge lump of plaster fell off, the size of a dnner plate.

We all looked at it in awful silence, then we made our excuses and left him with it.

We didn't buy on that occasion...

discat11

I think simply replying to the manager's email with the facts and stating the damage was done between when you left the house and you returned the only person who had been into the house in that time was his employee and persons under that employee's control.

The question you need to leave in his mind is 'who would a 'reasonable person' think was responsible for any damage done during that period'?

It's irrelevant how good the person is normally.
Get a quote for repair and invoice the agent for the repair, if they fail to pay up take them to small claims court.

Jimmy_Neutron

Show the before and after pictures.

There has to be some reason why someone would put considerable force on the worktop to cause the amount of damage you say has been caused, and where did the white powder come from?

Elfbert

I had to deal with a 'mature' estate agent once... he was in his sixties, and turned up at 10am blind drunk! Actually fell over on the street outside our house. We didn't let him in. Or let anyone nearby light a match - his breath was 100% proof.

OP - good luck with getting it sorted. Sounds like you're doing all the right things by gathering the evidence and quotes, and if you can get a professional opinion from the fitters, even better. Definitely sounds like someone either stood on it or maybe jumped up to sit on it?? A bored estate agent waiting for viewers to arrive/walk around, perhaps?

WeAreGhosts

This thread reminded me that the only EAs we had trouble with were the 'mature' ones! One of them clearly wanted to be anywhere else other than showing us the property, another talked about cricket all the way round (?), another kept ringing other clients while we were wanting to ask questions, and one was caught out lying a few times. At least the younger ones are a bit more earnest and actually seem interested in getting a sale.

Hope you get this resolved OP. I bet he sat on it!
I'm thinking of hiding a CCTV camera somewhere in my house when I sell it

Smodlet

Jimmy_Neutron wrote: »

Show the before and after pictures.

There has to be some reason why someone would put considerable force on the worktop to cause the amount of damage you say has been caused, and where did the white powder come from?

I strongly suspect the white powder is either crushed quartz or plaster, don't you? From the edge of the work surface being subjected to considerable force from being ground against another hard surface (the wall or the upright) by the weight of either an elderly viewer hauling himself upright or that of a bored estate agent sitting on it, whilst waiting for said viewer(s) to return from their viewings... of course, the EA could have been combating his boredom by snorting white powder but that would not subject the worktop to force. Just surmisin'.

nubbins

Smodlet wrote: »

of course, the EA could have been combating his boredom by snorting white powder but that would not subject the worktop to force. Just surmisin'.

Unless he did a huge honker of a line and decided to bust out the running man on the worktop listening to MC Hammer's can't touch this.

Smodlet

Yes, nubbins (or should I call you Watson?) I suppose that scenario would fit the evidence... I can only further surmise that your experience of such substances' effects is greater than mine