Letting Agency Fee

onafets

Hi all! I recently paid an admin fee to an Estate Agent to make an offer on a flat to let. I had no cash on me and opted for a card payment. A 5 £ fee was added to the payment of 250 £ for a total of 255 £. A week after my offer was not rejected or accepted, the property was withdrawn from the market. The agency refunded 250 £ but not the 5 £ fee saying that it was a charge from the bank. The fact that this fee was not refundable was not mentioned in person when I was making the offer or on any of the docs that I signed. Should I expect to have this money back?
Thanks for any advice!

Ste

flashg67

When was the payment made - from 13th Jan, all such fees were effectively banned anyway. Sounds like an agent to avoid, even name & shame.

Pursuing via social media can often embarrass them into action

onafets

flashg67 wrote: »

When was the payment made - from 13th Jan, all such fees were effectively banned anyway. Sounds like an agent to avoid, even name & shame.

Pursuing via social media can often embarrass them into action

Thanks for your reply. The payment was made on 5th January. I wanted to understand what my rights were before resorting to social media. I sent the agent an email just the other day asking to point me to where in the docs I signed there was a mention of this charge being non refundable. No reply just yet.

unholyangel

flashg67 wrote: »

When was the payment made - from 13th Jan, all such fees were effectively banned anyway. Sounds like an agent to avoid, even name & shame.

Pursuing via social media can often embarrass them into action

That depends on what the fee is for. They're not allowed to apply surcharges to different payment types but they can apply a payment processing fee if it applies equally to all payment methods and they can still charge a booking/service fee.

onafets wrote: »

Thanks for your reply. The payment was made on 5th January. I wanted to understand what my rights were before resorting to social media. I sent the agent an email just the other day asking to point me to where in the docs I signed there was a mention of this charge being non refundable. No reply just yet.

What did the contract say?

If the contract implied that you paying the deposit meant that the contract was binding on you then it is also binding on them.

But in any event, it sounds like they are unable to complete the contract as agreed as the property is no longer available. If that is the case, you shouldn't be out of pocket the fee regardless of why it was charged.

onafets

unholyangel wrote: »

That depends on what the fee is for. They're not allowed to apply surcharges to different payment types but they can apply a payment processing fee if it applies equally to all payment methods and they can still charge a booking/service fee.

They said that if I wanted to pay by card there was going to be a fee of 5 £ and that this was what their bank was charging them for the transaction.

What did the contract say?

If the contract implied that you paying the deposit meant that the contract was binding on you then it is also binding on them.

The contract said just that.

But in any event, it sounds like they are unable to complete the contract as agreed as the property is no longer available. If that is the case, you shouldn't be out of pocket the fee regardless of why it was charged.

I agree, this is why I've asked them several times now to refund me the transaction fee too. This should be common sense really but I stil do not know what my rights are...

Thanks for your help

unholyangel

onafets wrote: »

I agree, this is why I've asked them several times now to refund me the transaction fee too. This should be common sense really but I stil do not know what my rights are...

Thanks for your help

You could try a chargeback with your bank for credit not received but I wouldn't hold out much hope as it would need to fit into a chargeback reason code. You could also bluff and tell them that if they refund the fee, you won't pursue a claim for damages against them (since you said that the contract did indeed state the contract was binding on you upon payment of the deposit).

But really.....its £5. I'd be mindful of how much time/effort you put into it given its a completely trivial sum. Perhaps post a few reviews of the letting agents online/on their facebook saying that they weren't operating within the law as they charged you a card fee after they (fees) had been banned.