Gazumping Drama

14sprocket

Tiglet2 said:

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!

I did and thank you for sharing that.
Appreciate your advice as well - makes sense to me

davilown

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.

There is only one truth - they (and you), can do what they want until exchange.
I don’t disagree that it’s morally wrong.

HobgoblinBT

Consider posting your poor experience on the EA’s Facebook or other social media page.  I did similar with Homeserve, and got a 10pm phone call from their duty manager offering to resolve my complaint ASAP.

Irishpearce26

HobgoblinBT said:

Consider posting your poor experience on the EA’s Facebook or other social media page.  I did similar with Homeserve, and got a 10pm phone call from their duty manager offering to resolve my complaint ASAP.

What is there to resolve? 

They give them the house?

davilown

HobgoblinBT said:

Consider posting your poor experience on the EA’s Facebook or other social media page.  I did similar with Homeserve, and got a 10pm phone call from their duty manager offering to resolve my complaint ASAP.

Resolve what? They sold the house at the best price for their customer. 

People need to understand that this is a business transaction, not a personal purchase, end of.

For goodness sake, you want to sell your property at the best price - if that means you p::£ off someone in the process then so be it.

Ethical? No but that business and , unfortunately, life. Get over it and stop whinging.

Monsternextdoor

Is the house still available ?

I can see why you are annoyed but short of them giving you the house I am at a loss. You can complain and go to the ombudsman but what do you want them to do ? 

Draw a line under it and call it a lesson learnt. 

NameUnavailable

Insert Gif of dog chasing its own tail.......

lookstraightahead

You should have stopped before the ridiculous 'closed envelope approach' as the vendor was quite obviously wanting as much as they could get, even though they had been happy with the asking price. 

There are so many underhand, immoral practices is the housing market at the moment, but they're legal. Really don't waste your time.

it really is just a house. Has it completed yet as you might find it falls through anyway, and it gets 'under' valued. Let's hope so.

Tokmon

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.

Why are you blaming the EA?

You should be annoyed at the vendor, they are the one's who accepted your offer and then decided to then accept another offer after they had already accepted yours!. EA's have to pass on all offers they receive but it's the vendor who ultimately decided on what offers to accept and it's up to them to decide who they sell it too and how they do it. 

Yes the EA shouldn't have advertised the house after an agreement was made to stop marketing it BUT it was the vendor who decided to go back on their word to you and sell to someone else. The EA works on the vendors instructions so ultimately the vendors are the one's who have acted unethically here. 

Phil4432

I had my house still up 'for sale,' by an EA after I'd completed and moved in.  Had to walk into an EAs, point to the picture of my house on their display board and tell them to take it down. 

This is the house buying game unfortunately, look it from the vendors view.  He/she wants to get as much money as possible for their house.

It happens, suck it up and move on.  Always keep looking, right up to exchange.