Help with disputing Estate Agent's final bill

su51_2

TBagpuss said:

canaldumidi said:

Telephone ranting is pointless. If you want to pursue the complaint and non-payment, then

1) do it in writing

2) list each error/failure by them concisely (your OP is far too long - use bullet points with one brief sentence each.

Have you checked their website for their complaints procedure? Have you followed it?

You've mentioned an 'area manager' and 'area office' - is there also a national Head Office?

Have you checked which ombudsman scheme they belong to

* The Property Ombudsman
* Property Redress Scheme

an have you read the relevat ombudsman's Code of Conduct to compare against their actions?

This.

Make a formal, written complaint.

Based on what you have said, I'd focus on the spilled coffee and the misleading information - the issue about the smell is difficult to prove and also they could argue that it was true, and/ or that it would be bas salesmanship to argue with a potential buyer. 

You can also explicitly state that you telephoned on [dates] raising concerns and were promised call backs which didn't happen, so you have been trying to resolve the issue but they have failed to respond. 

and be explicit about what you want - e.g that you want the £250 removed from the bill for the video  as you were not told of this surcharge (or that you want the bill reduced to £2,000 in line with the assurances given to you y the manager, as appropriate)  and that you feel that a £100 discount would be appropriate for the poor service.

Include a request for a response within a specific timescale - 7 -10 days would be reasonable.

Keep a copy of the letter or e-mail. 

Thank you, l have spoken to The Property Ombudsman now of which they are members and they've logged complaint details and given me ref no.
They agreed with me on searching that EAs indeed have no formal complaints process which they confirmed (as quoted by a pp) is against their membership rules  
.
TPO advised that nonetheless l should send them a formal letter of complaint, with bullet points as you all have mainly advised.
They have also suggested that as l am worried about this escalating as a debt and obviously accept that l owe them the bulk of the invoice, that l make a payment of say 2k but email them before l do so saying l am doing so 'without prejudice'

They went on to say that even if l paid the full amount 'without prejudice' this would have no bearing on TPO's enquiry and outcome and whether they would advise a discount (or a refund if I'd already paid  more than TPO's suggested amount)
Also would not make it any more difficult or otherwise to get a discount later on at TPO's suggestion and not be seen as me agreeing EAs services were worth the amount l paid. 

TPO said EAs don't have to 'obey' them if they found l should get a discount or refund but wouldn't be wise for them not to cooperate as they have to be a member of one of two ombudsman by law or couldn't operate.

So l'm sending a formal complaint email today and a 'without prejudice' email to enable me to pay the bulk of invoice.
Or should l send it all as one email but head the second paragraph regarding payment 'Without Prejudice' 

Can l just tell EAs l am paying x amount without prejudice and then just do it ? or do l have to ask them if it's ok to make  x payment without prejudice which they can reject.

 I am not making an offer of full and final ,TPO advised not to at this stage .
l just want to pay the bulk pending outcome of TPOs enquiry which TPO have said they will only take on upon me forwarding EAs final response (or lack of) 

Thank you once again.

su51_2

HopeAndDriftWood said:

TBagpuss said:

canaldumidi said:

Telephone ranting is pointless. If you want to pursue the complaint and non-payment, then

1) do it in writing

2) list each error/failure by them concisely (your OP is far too long - use bullet points with one brief sentence each.

Have you checked their website for their complaints procedure? Have you followed it?

You've mentioned an 'area manager' and 'area office' - is there also a national Head Office?

Have you checked which ombudsman scheme they belong to

* The Property Ombudsman
* Property Redress Scheme

an have you read the relevat ombudsman's Code of Conduct to compare against their actions?

This.

Make a formal, written complaint.

Based on what you have said, I'd focus on the spilled coffee and the misleading information - the issue about the smell is difficult to prove and also they could argue that it was true, and/ or that it would be bas salesmanship to argue with a potential buyer. 

You can also explicitly state that you telephoned on [dates] raising concerns and were promised call backs which didn't happen, so you have been trying to resolve the issue but they have failed to respond. 

and be explicit about what you want - e.g that you want the £250 removed from the bill for the video  as you were not told of this surcharge (or that you want the bill reduced to £2,000 in line with the assurances given to you y the manager, as appropriate)  and that you feel that a £100 discount would be appropriate for the poor service.

Include a request for a response within a specific timescale - 7 -10 days would be reasonable.

Keep a copy of the letter or e-mail. 

For what it's worth; we were advised to complain about our estate agent too - they wasted 12 weeks on a buyer that they'd failed to properly check had the funds to go through with the purchase, dismissed all of our concerns about progress, and then eventually admitted that they'd worked with his Dad and therefore didn't put him through the usual process of seeing proof of funds etc. 

Then when we found another buyer, they failed to keep us up-to-date with comms from our seller, which caused a lot of issues and only came to light when they accidentally forwarded us their email chain. 

Our solicitor recommended that we pay them as part of the transaction to stop the debt becoming due, and then complained in writing and asked for a partial refund. It's on my to-do list. I have no idea if we're likely to have any success, but we're going to give it a go. This is basically the same as we've been told to include. 

Thank you for your reply, this is what TPO advised me. if l'm worried about debt then pay it or a large chunk of it pending any enquiry by them but they can still advise EAs to make me a refund later on based on their enquiry findings.
But how do l word it to EAs, I've been told be sure to say 'Without Prejudice' but do l 'tell ' them l'm paying it  then just do it or do l 'ask' them as in offer to pay x amount now pending enquiry ..etc etc to which they can say no presumably.  What do you mean 'as part of the transaction' ?  Thanks again very much.