Lied to (Mislead?) by Estate Agents

Sh8dy

Good Morning,

This is my first post here and i'm after some advice.

My wife and I are in the process of buying our first home and whilst everything is all very new to me, something has come to light recently that I'm a bit cross about.
As it's our first time going through this minefield of house buying i'm relying on our Estate Agent for a lot of information and guidance. She seems very nice, helpful and knowledgeable and considering she's been 'in the business' for 5 years, I decided to listen to her and take her advice. One of the things i followed her advice on was choosing a solicitor to work for us. I phoned her up and asked if she would recommend one. She suggested I went with the Estate Agent's own conveyancing service because that was who she decided to use when she recently brought a new house and, whilst they were a little (!) more expensive than others, the vendors are using the same people, which would speed things up. All of this made sense to me and seemed pretty logical and legit, so we contacted them.
Recently, we've been in contact with the vendors, following a viewing and they told us that they weren't using the same conveyancing company as us, and they never would again following a bad experience previously! I then spoke to the Agent again on an unrelated matter and she confirmed again that the vendors were using the same people!
I now realise my naivety and lack of experience has led me to believe something I probably should have questioned and has probably cost me more to stick with a company that I wouldn't have chosen had i shopped around more.
The questions i have are - Do I have grounds for complaint? Are Estate Agents even regulated, because straight up lying to me seems underhand and naughty? If i were to complain, should i wait until the process is complete, so I don't encourage a potentially worse service?

Sorry for the long post! Thanks for reading.

googler

Here's a probable/possible scenario;

The vendors assured the EA that they were going to use this conveyancer, but changed their mind, and didn't tell the EA.

davidmcn

Given it's a bad idea to use the same conveyancers as the other party, I'm not sure this is worth a complaint.

But it's also generally a bad idea to use the conveyancer recommended by the estate agent, as you're probably paying for the kickback the agents get for pushing them.

Sh8dy

googler wrote: »

Here's a probable/possible scenario;

The vendors assured the EA that they were going to use this conveyancer, but changed their mind, and didn't tell the EA.

The vendor assured us she wouldn't have used this conveyancer as she had had previous issues during their last purchase with them.

Sh8dy

davidmcn wrote: »

Given it's a bad idea to use the same conveyancers as the other party, I'm not sure this is worth a complaint.

But it's also generally a bad idea to use the conveyancer recommended by the estate agent, as you're probably paying for the kickback the agents get for pushing them.

Totally agree, and realise my mistake now. My point isn't the issue with the conveyancers, I've had no issues with them (so far, i'm quite early in the process). My point for complaint (or not) is that I was told, in no uncertain terms that the vendors were using the same company, thus convincing me to go with them, when they weren't. Surely lying to customers to gain business for an affiliated/associated company is illegal??

Comms69

Sh8dy wrote: »

Good Morning,

This is my first post here and i'm after some advice.

My wife and I are in the process of buying our first home and whilst everything is all very new to me, something has come to light recently that I'm a bit cross about.
As it's our first time going through this minefield of house buying i'm relying on our Estate Agent for a lot of information and guidance. - are you paying her? So why do you think they are YOUR agents?? She seems very nice, helpful and knowledgeable and considering she's been 'in the business' for 5 years, I decided to listen to her and take her advice. One of the things i followed her advice on was choosing a solicitor to work for us. I phoned her up and asked if she would recommend one. She suggested I went with the Estate Agent's own conveyancing service because that was who she decided to use when she recently brought a new house and, whilst they were a little (!) more expensive than others, the vendors are using the same people, which would speed things up. All of this made sense to me and seemed pretty logical and legit, so we contacted them.
Recently, we've been in contact with the vendors, following a viewing and they told us that they weren't using the same conveyancing company as us, and they never would again following a bad experience previously! I then spoke to the Agent again on an unrelated matter and she confirmed again that the vendors were using the same people!
I now realise my naivety and lack of experience has led me to believe something I probably should have questioned and has probably cost me more to stick with a company that I wouldn't have chosen had i shopped around more.
The questions i have are - Do I have grounds for complaint? Are Estate Agents even regulated, because straight up lying to me seems underhand and naughty? If i were to complain, should i wait until the process is complete, so I don't encourage a potentially worse service?

Sorry for the long post! Thanks for reading.

They are your sellers agents; you have NO legal relationship with them. Zero. Nothing.

AdrianC

Sh8dy wrote: »

...i'm relying on our Estate Agent for a lot of information and guidance.

She isn't your EA. The company she works for is hired by, and paid by, the vendors of the house.

One of the things i followed her advice on was choosing a solicitor to work for us.

The company she works for will be paid commission for that "recommendation", which is why they tell their staff to "recommend" that solicitor.

Remember - the solicitor is the one and only person on your side in the house-buying process, the only person who is checking what you are buying is what you think you're buying. And you've gone for one recommended by the vendor's agent.

She suggested I went with the Estate Agent's own conveyancing service

And you didn't think that an even more obvious conflict of interest...?

because that was who she decided to use when she recently brought a new house

Nothing to do with staff discount, obviously.

the vendors are using the same people, which would speed things up.

Both sides can use the same firm, but "chinese walls" should be put up internally to avoid conflicts of interest. So it should make zero difference.

Recently, we've been in contact with the vendors, following a viewing and they told us that they weren't using the same conveyancing company as us, and they never would again following a bad experience previously! I then spoke to the Agent again on an unrelated matter and she confirmed again that the vendors were using the same people!

Umm, you know you were given the memorandum of sale at the very start of the process...? Who does that list as the vendor's solicitor?

The questions i have are - Do I have grounds for complaint?

No. You made a free choice, and are now questioning it. No more than that.

If there are any grounds for complaint, it should be over the irrelevance of who the vendors are using - but you should have documentary proof of who they're actually using on the MoS. That's who your solicitor is dealing with, whatever you're being told by whoever.

davidmcn

Sh8dy wrote: »

I was told, in no uncertain terms that the vendors were using the same company, thus convincing me to go with them

But even if it were true, it would be a daft reason to choose that firm. You want to get independent advice, not something from the same folk who are acting for the sellers.

iquit

The EA is working for the vendor, that's who will pay their fee. They also get a fee for getting you to use that particular solicitor for conveyancing.

googler

Sh8dy wrote: »

The vendor assured us she wouldn't have used this conveyancer as she had had previous issues during their last purchase with them.

... which still doesn't preclude the possibility that they're telling the EA something different, for whatever reason, or they changed their mind after assuring the EA they would

Sh8dy

Thank you all so much for your rapid replies!

I realise my mistake, i hadn't considered that the EA is working for the Vendors, not me.... stupid, now i think about it! I was feeling a little aggrieved, now i just feel stupid! All of the above are very valid points and have only highlighted how differently i will do things next time i go through this process!

Thanks again!