Poor service from Estate Agent

itssmallstuff

So, I hired a local estate agent based on recommendation from FB etc to sell our house. The EA were good in terms of pre sales and marketing. It all started going down hill when offer was accepted and the case was handed over to a sales progressor. 

I complained to the Manager about poor service but nothing changed. That was one month ago. I wrote to the manager again yesterday about the same, and received a call for him today. He was apologising but did not do anything...

In the last 2 months it all came on me to deal with buyers, solicitors, sellers, etc. to make sure things were progressing. We finally exchanged today. Hurray!!

From the manager today, I found out that they outsource sales progression. I was not aware of this, but that may explain the poor service received.

Is there anyway I can do to not pay the EA in full for inadequate service received? What can they do if I do not authorize my Solicitor to pay them on completion?

Sandtree

What are you expecting them to be doing now?

Have to say generally they have been pretty much out the picture after offers accepted and its in the lands of the lawyers/conveyancers 

itssmallstuff

Sandtree said:

What are you expecting them to be doing now?

Have to say generally they have been pretty much out the picture after offers accepted and its in the lands of the lawyers/conveyancers 

My expectation was that

1. They will check on status of Chain regularly and provide update to me and my buyers.

2. They will inform about delays, broken chains, survey appointments to me and my buyers 

3. They will respond to any queries promptly

4. They will speak to my buyers and discuss/convince/negotiate on exchange and completion dates

Is that too much to ask from EA?

steampowered

I don't think you will get very far asking for a discount. 

itssmallstuff

steampowered said:

I don't think you will get very far asking for a discount. 

Yeah. Might just accepted it and focus on enjoying my new home. What worst can happen if I didn't pay though...

itssmallstuff

itssmallstuff said:

steampowered said:

I don't think you will get very far asking for a discount. 

Yeah. Might just accepted it and focus on enjoying my new home. What worst can happen if I didn't pay though...

I mean, didn't pay in full

user1977

They'll sue you for the balance, I expect.

itssmallstuff

user1977 said:

They'll sue you for the balance, I expect.

Right!

Do you think they can share my personal data with 3rd party sales progression companies without my explicit consent?

In the contract I see the text below -

I additionally authorize you to communicate my personal data to 3rd parties who are adjunct to the marketing process  such as but not limited to Signboard Contracts, Solicitors and Financial Services providers.

Would a 3rd party sales progressor (outsource) considered as adjunct the marketing process?

Thrugelmir

itssmallstuff said:

Sandtree said:

What are you expecting them to be doing now?

Have to say generally they have been pretty much out the picture after offers accepted and its in the lands of the lawyers/conveyancers 

My expectation was that

1. They will check on status of Chain regularly and provide update to me and my buyers.

2. They will inform about delays, broken chains, survey appointments to me and my buyers 

3. They will respond to any queries promptly

4. They will speak to my buyers and discuss/convince/negotiate on exchange and completion dates

Is that too much to ask from EA?

In one word. Yes.  

CKhalvashi

itssmallstuff said:

user1977 said:

They'll sue you for the balance, I expect.

Right!

Do you think they can share my personal data with 3rd party sales progression companies without my explicit consent?

In the contract I see the text below -

I additionally authorize you to communicate my personal data to 3rd parties who are adjunct to the marketing process  such as but not limited to Signboard Contracts, Solicitors and Financial Services providers.

Would a 3rd party sales progressor (outsource) considered as adjunct the marketing process?

We do outsource some services, but don't contractually state exactly what these are, just that certain functions may be outsourced. We also have some outsourced contracts into our Shared Service Centre (of which I own 50% and a third party owns 50%). The contractual arrangements aren't my business with the end user, however a few of these contracts do encompass small teams that are white-labelled to the company the SCC contracts for and are dedicated to that contract.

I consider it reasonable for this to be outsourced, especially with a 'local' agent, as there may not be a need for a full staff member to be employed for this job. I can also imagine that for the majority of people, this is mindnumbingly boring work, so if it can be outsourced to someone who enjoys it, even better!

Sandtree

itssmallstuff said:

user1977 said:

They'll sue you for the balance, I expect.

Do you think they can share my personal data with 3rd party sales progression companies without my explicit consent?

Need to read their Privacy Notice, almost certainly it will cover sharing your data with their operational partners