Estate Agent Messed Up

eddddy

Lioness_Twinkletoes wrote: »

No, I have always changed the locks on move in day. I think it's one of the most important things you can do, to be honest.

This is going a bit off topic...

But planning to change locks on completion day is a relatively simple task...

However, being faced with a locked property 'after hours' on completion day is much more complex...

You might be able to find an emergency locksmith who can drill (or maybe even bump) the locks without causing too much damage - at an extortionate price.


But.... any reputable locksmith will want to see photo ID, proof of address (e.g. bank statement, utility bill) for the address they are being asked to break into.

On completion day, you would not yet have any written proof that you own the property.

davidmcn

Lioness_Twinkletoes wrote: »

No, I have always changed the locks on move in day. I think it's one of the most important things you can do, to be honest.

While I can see the point, it's hardly the most important thing. I've yet to see an example of terrible things happening to someone because they didn't change the locks. Your neighbourhood burglar will be looking for unlocked doors, or opening them with a size 10 boot, not carrying a bunch of spare keys.

Niv

I knew there was something I forgot to do two years ago when I moved in.

Lokolo

Not much help to the OP but this actually happened to me, for my purchasers.

The estate agent had keys in envelopes which were $number$firstletterofroad, so for example, mine was 10G. However there was another property on their books which was also 10G.

Luckily someone was still in the office (we are talking 7pm) so my vendors phoned up EA who then phoned me (and even accused me of giving them the wrong key). Luckily I had only moved up the road so I popped round and told my vendors the key they have isn't the right one. I still had a spare one from moving out earlier that day and gave them that. The Estate Agent turned up 30 minutes later to give the correct key and take back the incorrect one.

jwno4

Thanks for your posts everyone. We suggested to the estate agent that they could pay for a cleaner to clean our property as they had denied us the opportunity to do so ahead of moving our things in. They declined that and were terribly rude and dismissive of the issue - not their problem. I decided to take it above them and to head office and we were awarded £100 compensation from the branch. The cleaner we got a quote from was half of that! Thanks again, all kind of worked out ok.