Estate agent contract minimum period of agency

hazyjo

It's not going to make a newspaper article, but I would be asking on local FB groups if anyone else had experienced anything similar. Word it carefully, ask and don't accuse. They won't like that getting out there.

LV_426

hazyjo said:

It's not going to make a newspaper article, but I would be asking on local FB groups if anyone else had experienced anything similar. Word it carefully, ask and don't accuse. They won't like that getting out there.

Well we've checked Trustpilot (wish we'd done this earlier). Really bad reviews, naming the person who we've been dealing with.
It's definitely not just us.
I fully believe that they've pulled this stunt before.

propertyrental

Though just the threat of going to the ombudsman might be enough for them to say "OK, we still say you knew it was 26 weeks but on this occasion we'll allow you to terminate at 16 as a gesture f goodwill"

is we don't want to have to have to defend ourselves to the ombudsman.

26 weeks - that's nuts! No one would knowingly commit to that!

LV_426

propertyrental said:

Though just the threat of going to the ombudsman might be enough for them to say "OK, we still say you knew it was 26 weeks but on this occasion we'll allow you to terminate at 16 as a gesture f goodwill"

is we don't want to have to have to defend ourselves to the ombudsman.

26 weeks - that's nuts! No one would knowingly commit to that!

Exactly. Nobody would agree to that.
This agent has been doing a lot dodgy things, and we're combing through the TPO code of conduct document.
For example, they have definitely been pressuring us to accept a lower offer from the (only) interested party, by telling us that we have no other offers or views, and won't get a better offer. That is specifically disallowed in one clause of the document.
And btw that one interested party is also being marketed by the same agent, and when they first viewed, their house was not even up for sale.
I strongly suspect that other interested parties have been batted away, in order to close out this deal, in which the agent would reap double commission fees.
I can't prove this of course, but it smacks of malpractice. All other behaviour of this agent now adds up, and I believe this is their agenda.

LV_426

Good result today. We visited in person the estate agents. Immediately on walking through the door, they knew what we were there for and talked to what I think is the customer relations person. She granted a termination of contract with 2 weeks notice. We didn't even speak to the agent dealing with our sale, and that's fine with me. I still think his attitude stinks.

Anyway, some lessons learned here:

Never, ever sign a contract unless you have a copy of it on the day. Always sign two copies.
Always check the terms very carefully, especially termination clauses. You normally have 14 day cooling off period to do this
Don't put up with the agent telling you how to do things, if you don't agree, or think it's wrong. It's *your* house
Making an in person visit to speak face to face, to the right person, can get results