Gazumping Drama

14sprocket

Greymug said:

14sprocket said:

- Do I have a legal claim against the agency? Is there any point in complaining to the agency HQ? Or should I just leave a review on Google/FB and move on?

Thanks!

It's a shame and the agency's behaviour is very unethical, but they haven't done anything illegal.

Same principle of when you're selling something on gumtree: if you receive a message from a dude saying he agrees to buy the thing from you, do you remove the ad from the website straightaway? No, you don't, because the dude may not show up. Therefore, you keep the ad live until the dude shows up and hands you the money. And, if in the meantime, someone else comes with a better offer, you sell it to them rather than the first dude.

Respectfully, I'm afraid your analogy doesn't capture what actually happened in my case.

If I were to tweak it to properly reflect the EA's behavior it would be as follows:

You agree the sale with a dude on gumtree, and then immediately after you place another ad on Ebay or Facebook Marketplace, advertising your item at higher price and stating that you have offers already.

EAs not removing listings from Rightmove/Zoopla after offer is accepted is half bad, but creating new listings is outrageous in my view

14sprocket

74jax said:

In which case why did you try to buy through them?  I'm guessing you researched seeing as you understand how they live and die by reputation..... 

Seriously, you're annoyed at the owner for wanting the best price.  You're annoyed at the EA for doing the job in promoting a property. I get it. But you move on to the next property.

If it's a global EA, then they have more important things to do than deal with a complaint that isn't a complaint. This will not affect Joe's bonus, it won't affect how they look at him, honestly it won't. Maybe if it was a small 2 man business, but not a global one. You'll get an email back, they spoke to him, he's being trained yada yada.

Thanks for your response and I actually agree with you. 
That said, this EA is desperate for new business - there are 3-4 main EAs covering the area, and Joe's firm has not been getting a lot of new business lately (I see more new listings coming from his competitors).

As an EA, you eat what you kill and getting new business really depends on your reputation - I can see how getting a 1 star Google review would meaningfully upset him...

Jumblebumble

14sprocket said:

NameUnavailable said:

From the above the OP could complain that the agent breached the terms of 9e, if they didn't explicitly say the property was still being marketed, however the OP has already confirmed that the higher offer was from someone who had already seen the property and not the Instagram post.

I didn't confirm that - EA was very elusive in that respect, first saying that it's a new buyer coming into the process, then stating that it's actually the buyer who lost in the auction. I obviously have no way to confirm that.

I am amazed the agency are discussing this with you
It is non of your business who bought the house  and a breach of GDPR for them to disclose this type of information. I would be livid if I thought an agency was discussing my affairs with an underbidder
I bet they did not put any of this in writing ( or they are very stupid if they did)
Also if you moan their reputation might grow with future vendors  who have the contract with them that you don't  and might want to use them as Joe clearly  pushes  for the maximum price !

14sprocket

Jumblebumble said:

14sprocket said:

NameUnavailable said:

From the above the OP could complain that the agent breached the terms of 9e, if they didn't explicitly say the property was still being marketed, however the OP has already confirmed that the higher offer was from someone who had already seen the property and not the Instagram post.

I didn't confirm that - EA was very elusive in that respect, first saying that it's a new buyer coming into the process, then stating that it's actually the buyer who lost in the auction. I obviously have no way to confirm that.

I am amazed the agency are discussing this with you
It is non of your business who bought the house  and a breach of GDPR for them to disclose this type of information. I would be livid if I thought an agency was discussing my affairs with an underbidder
I bet they did not put any of this in writing ( or they are very stupid if they did)
Also if you moan their reputation might grow with future vendors  who have the contract with them that you don't  and might want to use them as Joe clearly  pushes  for the maximum price !

I'm afraid you're misunderstanding the scope and the purpose of GDPR. This regulation covers one's personal data, none of which was disclosed on the occasion. It's become quite common to throw in GDPR as an argument, but, again, it's only relevant when personal data is involved.

With regard to the EA's reputation, no one wants to work with a shady agent with a broken moral compass. Tables turn often in the market, and you may get gazundered as a seller just as buyers experience gazumping.

babyblade41

I'm out of this now. OP you don't seem to understand what most on here have told you ,just to re-cap: Agent hasn't acted illegally, complaining won't get you very far except to make your BP rise even further , Putting complaints and bad reviews everywhere will only make look like  you have an axe to grind because the agent will come back and reply " we got our client the best offer for them" it might actually do the opposite .

You appear really upset about this and I possibly wouldn't want you as a buyer if you jump up and down every 5 minutes because of something which is beyond your control..Move on and look for something better, life's too short to stuff a mushroom 

dr0psofjupiter

Unfortunately I agree with previous posters. I understand it's disheartening and immoral, but the agent got the best offer for their client and I'm sorry to say did nothing illegal. You holding a grudge will do nobody any good. Take that energy and put it into finding a new house. Either party are free to do whatever they want until exchange..

davilown

dr0psofjupiter said:

 Either party are free to do whatever they want until exchange..

And this is what the op really doesn’t understand or appreciate.

steve866

As far as I’m aware the agent has acted within the law and you are wasting energy complaining.

What I would say is that people have long memories and some of the less ethical agents might find they get less listings long term if they have behaved badly in this heated market. 

14sprocket

davilown said:

dr0psofjupiter said:

 Either party are free to do whatever they want until exchange..

And this is what the op really doesn’t understand or appreciate.

There's truth to this and there's not.
Not everything that is formally legal is acceptable from the business ethics standpoint.
This freedom has limits and once abused can backfire easily.

Every EA has horror stories of nightmare vendors (and buyers alike) they won't touch with the barge pole - that where "free to do whatever they want until exchange" got them. EAs themselves fall into the same camp and shady (albeit legal) practices don't help their reputation.

Tiglet2

14sprocket said:

davilown said:

dr0psofjupiter said:

 Either party are free to do whatever they want until exchange..

And this is what the op really doesn’t understand or appreciate.

There's truth to this and there's not.
Not everything that is formally legal is acceptable from the business ethics standpoint.
This freedom has limits and once abused can backfire easily.

Every EA has horror stories of nightmare vendors (and buyers alike) they won't touch with the barge pole - that where "free to do whatever they want until exchange" got them. EAs themselves fall into the same camp and shady (albeit legal) practices don't help their reputation.

I agree with you on the ethics standpoint.  Unfortunately, not just Estate Agents but in all walks of life there are those who treat others with respect and understanding and there are others who run roughshod over the 'little' man, whether that is in business or in personal life.

Did you read the Code of Practice clauses that I posted earlier?  That will help you when addressing any complaint to the EA, but of course the EA is acting for the seller, not the buyer, so I don't think you will get very far with this.

My advice would be to live and learn and move on.  This property was not to be, but there will be others - just make sure you purchase it through a different EA next time!