Buyer is concerned about the garden…

markin

I could understand how it may have looked like a jungle over winter.

donutandbeer

Can’t believe I’m currently updating this thread…

Completion happened over a week ago. It went fairly smoothly for everyone in the chain, except for probably our buyer, who was stuck outside for an hour because they couldn’t figured out which key goes to which lock. There were three locks (two on the first front door, one on the door inside the porch), there were three keys, how many combinations can there really be? (Answer is 6) After back and forth phone calls from our EA, I got a text from EA with a screenshot between our buyer and the EA - turns out they had been using the same one key for both the locks on the first door, and that’s why it only worked on the top lock but not the bottom lock. Creative. 😂

And then last week I got a phone call from our EA asking if I know where the water meter is. I did not know where it is and have never checked it. I know where the water stop clock is, and had shown the buyer during their last viewing before exchange. EA said fair she also had never checked her meter even though she knew where it is. Then after a while (few hours? next day? can’t remember), I got another phone call from I think someone higher up of the EA company (not the local team, perhaps complaint department?), he said our buyer was “in a panic” and really need to know where the water meter is. I told him local team EA already called and asked me and I already said we don’t know. He was very apologetic upon hearing that someone (local team EA) had already called and asked, he said he only called because he thought no one has, he also reassured us that it’s not our responsibility at this point to find out where the water meter is. I suspect our buyer tried to complain about the local team EA, maybe they thought the EA never called to ask me and was just lying to them!? Who knows. Funny thing is that my husband who never knows where anything is, turns out to know where the water meter is! (It’s on the street pavement, fairly standard location accordingly to husband.) But I only realised this after a few days so I didn’t bother contacting them. I had no idea where a water meter could be or even what it looks like in the UK because I’m not from here and I was not involved in the purchase of the property we just sold. 

Anyway unfortunately this was not the end of it. Just now we received an invoice sent by our buyer’s solicitor to our solicitor, claiming that the patio door’s lock was broken and they had it replaced (lock change + new gear box = £308) and they wanted us to reimburse them. Our solicitor asked for our comment, and I told her the lock was fine the last time we locked it on completion day. To be fair that lock was never a very smooth or easy to operate lock, but it was not broken last time we touched it, it could be that they broke it when trying to open it wrongly!? Wild guess as we had never broken it. I said it’s obviously not about the money (if £300 is going to make them shut up forever we will contemplate paying), it’s just that we didn’t break the lock, the house sale was completed in the same condition as exchange (and as when they first viewed), we didn’t try to hide anything nasty, if we have broken something we would have no problem replacing it or reimburse them, but we can’t indefinitely reimbursing them for any imperfections they might find in the future. Buyer and their solicitor has not come back. Hopefully this is the end of it. 

I wonder whether they have gone to the EA first about the patio lock and EA probably at this point knew they are 🥜 so then they had to ask their solicitor to send this invoice. I doubt that they are paying their solicitor extra for this £300 invoice, so hopefully their solicitor is going to be fed up with them soon and start charging for all further communication. Honestly 🙄… Life is stressful enough without all of these. Husband and I are still living at family member’s house, we made an offer on a house we viewed on Saturday, so finger crossed 🤞 

Skiddaw1

OP, they sound dreadful! Please don't contemplate paying them anything. I'd guess this will be the end of it but no wonder you're feeling a little stressed. I shall keep all crossed that the latest house comes off and that soon all this will be a distant memory.

Choirgrl

If they if they can’t work out keys or use Google ( I had no idea where I’d find a water meter either, but a quick search results on multiple explanations and videos) then home ownership is going to be quite the adventure for them.

Sorry you’re having to deal with this OP, hopefully this is the end of it. 🤞

eidand

I would not pay anything, it's their house, they can deal with whatever they've broken

Slithery

Ignore them completely. If you make contact at all then you could accidentally say something that you then legally regret.

donutandbeer

Slithery said:

Ignore them completely. If you make contact at all then you could accidentally say something that you then legally regret.

I’m so glad we didn’t exchange contact details with our buyer. Not that they have asked, but I’ve seen some people here on the forum recommend exchanging contact details because it supposedly speed up the communication process for them (instead of going through solicitors/EAs). Well I’m just glad they can’t really harass us directly. 

goldfinches

They do sound like a nightmare so I'm sure you're right to keep well away from them. I hope you're having any post redirected via Royal Mail too. Hopefully you'll be moving into your own new home soon and these people will just be a distant, funny memory.

HRH_MUngo

I like your garden.

We were showing some people our garden once they said it would be lovely once we had taken all the 'weeds' out.  We told them they were not 'weeds' but native British wildflowers.  We want to attract bees.  We also have logpiles for insects and a  wildlife pond which breeds each years' generation of frogs.  We do have some cultivated flowers  and a small lawn. (big garden).  And of course, my roses. 

We tend to let things seed themselves, and if we don't like them, pull them out.  But not very many get pulled out.

Each to their own, we don't all like flowers in neat rows with tidy little circles of soil round them.

Glad you have exchanged.  Wishing you all the best in your new home.

Bendy_House

As said by others, becuase you know they are a bit, er, nutty/expectant/entitled/unreasonable/precious (delete as applicable - so that means no deletions), your best recourse is to simply reiterate "The lock was working fine on the day of completion", and leave it at that. There is ziltch they can do about it.

If, instead, they had been reasonable and pleasant throughout, then you might well have entertained a partial or full payment "without prejudice" as it would have been a kind thing to do, and it would make everyone feel better. But with folk like that, it is (a) unlikely to be 'appreciated', only 'expected', and (b) you can bet they'll send a constant stream of other 'issues' for you to sort out.

Cut any ties now. And Enjoy.