Buyers complaining after completion

stressedout45

We completed on our sale/purchase last week.  This week, our solicitor forwarded us a very strongly worded email from our buyers solicitor.  It transpires that our buyer is extremely unhappy with many things in our house.

These apparently relate to things like scuffs on the skirting boards and doors. The side bath panel being loose, the garden having some weeds in.  The bathroom is in the same state it was when we bought the house 5 years ago!  The only improvement we made to it was to paint the walls.  

They have also made allegations that we did no cleaning whatsoever before moving out.  This is completely untrue - after the removals team had packed up, we both did as much cleaning as we were able to, in fact until the hoover ran out of charge and we ran out of antibacterial wipes we used then that much! 

We had not done any gardening for a little while, that much is true.  

But everything else they mentioned was there when they viewed, and at exchange of contracts.  They viewed earlier this year. It took 3 months to get from offer to exchange, and they never came back for another look around prior to exchange, we'd have been more than happy to accommodate this.  

They also did not have a survey done - just a mortgage valuation.  

At the end of the email, their solicitor said that they expected compensation.  Our solicitor has quite rightly replied to say that no compensation will be forthcoming, and a reminder that the onus is on the buyer to make appropriate investigations prior to exchange of contracts. 

I've been quite upset by receiving this email.  We did our best to make the place homely and clean during the time we were there.  I hope that the solicitor is right and that they have no comeback?  It's really taken the shine off our first week in our new home.  

Thrugelmir

Ignore the email. Get on with enjoying your new home. 

user1977

I would just ignore it. They're very unlikely to be stupid enough to pursue it, and I expect their solicitors will have kept them right about their (lack of) legal rights to anything.

comeandgo

How could you hope to clean a house with wet wipes?  You have obviously upset them by not cleaning to their standard but there is nothing they can do about it.

Flugelhorn

very annoying to get e-mail like that and as your solicitor says , no comeback at all - sounds like they were expecting perfection, after they move a few times more they will get the hang of it.

enjoy your new home!

stressedout45

comeandgo said:

How could you hope to clean a house with wet wipes?  You have obviously upset them by not cleaning to their standard but there is nothing they can do about it.

We did our best.  The removals guys packed up the majority of the cleaning stuff and stupid me forgot to tell them not to!  So only had a few things to work with.  

london21

Personally I will ignore.

Once purchase/sale is completed that's it.

My property purchased at auction wa also messy but just cleaned it up myself.

Slinky

Could be worse. My former work colleague did a house swap with somebody, my colleague cleaned her house to within an inch of its life, got to her new home and the mucky mare she'd swapped with hadn't bothered and so my colleague had to clean that house too, in the knowledge the mucky mare was walking into a clean home at the other end. Most galling, particularly as colleague was heavily pregnant at the time.

canaldumidi

Ignore.

Hopefully the buyer's solicitor will have tried to talk them out of these complaints, they ignored his advice and insisted, and he is charging them for following their ridiculous instructions. Either ignore totally, or drag things out (yourself) so that they pay ongoing solicitor's fees until eventually realising they have no case.

Marvel1

Delete button in email and laugh.

No obligation to clean.

andy444

The buyers sound like a bunch of idiots. Ignore them and enjoy your new house.