Very angry with EA

treecol

Wonder if anyone knows if EA's are bound by the same regulations as the financial services sector? I have been told they are, but am unsure. Is there a higher body to go to should there be an issue you feel is not resolved satisfactorily by the EA?
I don't want to put too much detail here yet in case it is picked up & I prejudice things, but our EA has failed to notify us our buyer had pulled out in spite of 2 other agents in the chain telling them & we in the meantime went ahead invested money in the purchase with things such as surveys & searches. Had they simply made a phone call it could have been prevented. I had to call them after hearing from another EA. I have put it in writing to EA but just wonder if they will do a cover-up? Any thoughts?

Mickygg

I don't know the answer but be careful taking things further. Yes it's annoying and by the sounds of it wrong but you'll burn all bridges with this EA and possibly others should word get round.
I'd invest less time in anger and more time getting EA to find another buyer! That way you may still be able to buy the house you've spent money on.

treecol

Thank you but we have decided not to move, so we are not concerned about that. Also, a lot of the information we have about the series of events has come for other estate agents who are providing the evidence of wrong doing then asking if they can market our house. They know what we will do & still want us as clients.

HampshireH

Your no longer moving? Had you given any indication you planned to break the chain?

Just wondering if your buyers picked up on that.

The EA of course should have notified you. How long between your buyers pulling out and you finding out was it?

Davesnave

treecol wrote: »

Thank you but we have decided not to move, so we are not concerned about that..

I'm confused. Were you not especially keen on in the house you were buying?

I realise there's a lot more to this, but in many circumstances people would wait to see if the chain could be re-formed, rather than just give up because they had a set-back.

It sounds to me as if the anger you are expressing may now affect others, besides just the EA.

warby68

If you've decided not to move as well, not sure you have a strong position for a 'he said-she said' sort of complaint.

The expenses you've lost on your planned purchase could just as easily be attributed to your change of mind as to the timing of a phone call.

Obviously more to this story but I'd expect your agent to simply claim they didn't know either at the time that would have made the difference to you.

It will be hard to quantify any losses when you've changed your mind about moving - its not a huge stretch from the information you've given to infer you're trying to get someone else to cover the cost of your change of heart.

treecol

No, we love the house we were moving to. We had no intention of breaking the chain & we have built a very close relationship with the vendor of the house we were purchasing - we were there with her shortly before the news broke that our buyer had pulled out. She had been going through items she wanted to leave behind for us during the visit. The EA had no idea, until we considered what to do for 24hrs after the news broke, that we were staying put.
However, we do not/did not have to move & have realised that the stress of moving is not currently worth the effort.
I did not mention that we were seeking financial compensation & we are not. But those of you who made the comment of there being more to this than I have said are correct. We could not continue with the purchase of the property now as there is a 3rd party "new homes" group involved. They remarketed the vendor's house immediately & they have a potential buyer lined up.Nothing we can do. We have evidence that our EA knew our buyers pulled out 4 days prior to telling us. We simply want to know what regulations they are bound by.

ACG

They are not bound by the same rules as Mortgage brokers (much to our frustration).

There is some regulation but not to the same degree as us as far as I am aware as they seem to do what they want.

https://www.tpos.co.uk
http://www.propertymark.co.uk/complaints/

Annie35

There are a few associations with professional standards agents agree to when signing up, such as propertymark or RICS if the agents are surveyors for instance.

The agents website will tell you who they're signed up to, if any. It should also tell you which redress scheme they are in (an actual must) & some schemes chrge the agents just for receiving a complaint on them, otherwise they can be a little toothless but nevertheless.

Don't forget to go through the company complaints procedure first

treecol

Thank you, just what I need. Most appreciated.

PhilE

Mickygg wrote: »

I don't know the answer but be careful taking things further. Yes it's annoying and by the sounds of it wrong but you'll burn all bridges with this EA

So what if all bridges are burnt with this EA? They're rubbish.