Approached by a rival agent to switch, current agent says this is illegal/unethical?

Comms69

NJP1983 wrote: »

Just saw that Saajan, thanks. I think the problem is my house isn't worth very much so it's a low payoff for EA1, and they're not willing to put much time into it after a certain period. But at the same time they're not happy with another agent taking it off them as they'd lose everything!

I'm not too bothered about agent qualifications, to be honest they're just marketers for property and you don't need a qualification to do that. Do people who advertise Pepsi or Coca-Cola need an industry specific qualification before they can begin working? As long as they're registered with the right redress schemes etc then I'm happy.

Yes, because they're massive brands (Coca Cola being the worlds biggest brand) and will have very specific hiring criteria.

Bossypants

NJP1983 wrote: »

Just saw that Saajan, thanks. I think the problem is my house isn't worth very much so it's a low payoff for EA1, and they're not willing to put much time into it after a certain period. But at the same time they're not happy with another agent taking it off them as they'd lose everything!

Their happiness is really not your concern. You're employing them to do a job and they are failing to do it. You are absolutely 100% within your rights to switch at this point. In your shoes, I would either just do it now (we're moving into autumn now, where the market traditionally picks up again after the summer holidays), or tell your current agent that they have till January to get to a reasonable, proceedable offer, or you will be pulling the property in February.

Sitting on their !!!! and then complaining when you consider taking your business elsewhere is what's unethical here IMO. If they were doing a decent job, the interest from the other agent wouldn't be tempting you to leave, right?

NJP1983

Not in terms of an industry qualification they won't. All you need to get into the industry, as a young person at least, is a good degree in any subject. There's no specific qualification everyone has to have. Anyway, this is very off topic!

NJP1983

Bossypants wrote: »

Their happiness is really not your concern. You're employing them to do a job and they are failing to do it. You are absolutely 100% within your rights to switch at this point. In your shoes, I would either just do it now (we're moving into autumn now, where the market traditionally picks up again after the summer holidays), or tell your current agent that they have till January to get to a reasonable, proceedable offer, or you will be pulling the property in February.

Sitting on their !!!! and then complaining when you consider taking your business elsewhere is what's unethical here IMO. If they were doing a decent job, the interest from the other agent wouldn't be tempting you to leave, right?

Totally agree, I just don't want to cause myself lots of hassle or go with someone who's potentially being unethical. But as I understand it this is common practice among estate agents and they'll gladly take business off of one another. In that case EA2 is not being unethical.

Comms69

NJP1983 wrote: »

Not in terms of an industry qualification they won't. All you need to get into the industry, as a young person at least, is a good degree in any subject. There's no specific qualification everyone has to have. Anyway, this is very off topic!

Yes because im in the industry! But I don't work for Coke or Pepsi, who have very high hiring criteria!

Surrey_EA

If I kicked up a fuss every time one of my clients was approached by one of my competitors I would get nothing else done!

It's not unusual for one of my clients to receive letters from 10 different competitors during their time on the market.

parkrunner

You are not under contract so it doesn't matter. If the agents want to fight then that's their problem and not yours.