How to deal with an incompetent estate agent?

faerielight

I've had a year long process so far, selling with an incompetent estate agent.
The 1st agent lied to me for months that my chain was half as long as it actually was, 
He was sacked, then a 2nd agent left the job after 2 months and now I'm dealing with a 3rd agent. 

There seems to be constant communcation issues between the agency, my buyer, and their solicitors. 

I have asked numerous times for everything to be in writing, yet they always phone me and they dont keep notes and deny that conversations have occured.
I have mental health issues, neurodivergant and multiple learning difficulties,  so I struggle with communication, and I get so stressed and confused on the phone, with all the mis communication, I need it all in writing, but they always call me. 
I'm at a loss as to how to get them to keep notes, communicate  clearly between all parties, and email me, not call me. Any advice appreciated as I'm buying and selling with no help, and the agency incompetence is making this , already stressful process even more stressful. I just feel like im constantly beeing gaslit by them, and it is so hard to know how to deal with it. I have a deadline of 14th july to move, and need  the process to go as smoothly as possible. 

Bigphil1474

Not 100% sure but if you have a buyer in place and your next place is sorted, why are you still dealing with the estate agent? Your solicitor should be sorting out all these issues for you, especially any agreements for roof costs etc. Do you not have access to any advocacy services or family who could help out?

faerielight

I dont know.. they keep calling me  every week. .. thanks for clarifying, I will deal with the solicitor in future. .. I just find the whole process really confusing. No I've not got family and no advocacy helps with home owner house selling and buying, unfortunately. 

LoopyLoops

What are the estate agents contacting you about?  As Bigphil1474 says go through your solicitor.  If the estate agent still calls you can you ignore their call and let them leave a message?  Then you can reply via email asking what they want or answering their question.  If you don’t have their email you should be able to find one on their paperwork. 

I also prefer to keep everything in writing as I like time to process what is being said.  (And so I can keep a written record) 

AskAsk

LoopyLoops said:

What are the estate agents contacting you about?  As Bigphil1474 says go through your solicitor.  If the estate agent still calls you can you ignore their call and let them leave a message?  Then you can reply via email asking what they want or answering their question.  If you don’t have their email you should be able to find one on their paperwork. 

I also prefer to keep everything in writing as I like time to process what is being said.  (And so I can keep a written record) 

the EA is probably chasing everyone in the chain to find out what is happening.  this is what a good esate agent does.

OP - EA don't tend to communicate by emails or letters.  They prefer to call as there is no trace of what they have said and they prefer it this way as they aren't the most honest of professions in my experience, like your policiticians, so they don't want evicence of what they have said to be recorded as often what they say are lies and incorrect or fudged information.

They will be calling you to find out what is happening in the chain and what is happening with you.  As others have said, don't answer their calls if you don't want to as they aren't important after the sale has been passed to the solicitors unless you need something chasing or re-negotiate the price.

EssexHebridean

Confirm to your agents that as the matter is now progressing through the solicitors, you will be dealing entirely with your solicitor now. If the agents require updates, they should contact your solicitor who is best placed to help them. Explain to your solicitor that the agents have been hassling you to the point of causing distress. Stop answering calls from the agents number - if something is life-or-death important they will email you. (Agents are perfectly capable of dealing via email - indeed our dale and purchase in 2023 were dealt with almost exclusively by email not telephone) 

saajan_12

faerielight said:

I have asked numerous times for everything to be in writing, yet they always phone me and they dont keep notes and deny that conversations have occured.
I have mental health issues, neurodivergant and multiple learning difficulties,  so I struggle with communication, and I get so stressed and confused on the phone, with all the mis communication, I need it all in writing, but they always call me. 
I'm at a loss as to how to get them to keep notes, communicate  clearly between all parties, and email me, not call me. Any advice appreciated as I'm buying and selling with no help, and the agency incompetence is making this , already stressful process even more stressful. I just feel like im constantly beeing gaslit by them, and it is so hard to know how to deal with it. I have a deadline of 14th july to move, and need  the process to go as smoothly as possible. 

Unfortunately this is par for course for most agents, it seems to be a common complaint that they don't adhere to requests to communicate in writing, whether its due to mental health or for me just being at work and unable to take 4 calls in quick succession. 

If its that stressful then maybe just stop answering their calls. When you see a call, reply via email or text saying that you saw a missed call, won't be able to speak but they can reply with whatever they had to say or ask. Eventually they'll get the message (youd hope).

faerielight

thank you ll for your advice.. its because agents keep leaving and they are not clear as the previous ones left no notes.. i have a situation where my buyer has agreed to pay £4k roof repairs on completion but every new agent denies that the agreement is in place as there are no notes.. and i keep having to prove to them the agreement is real.. and other stuff like they called me last week to tell my my buyer has changed her mind and is now getting a survey done (at a very late stage in the process.. she bought mine a year ago) and when i spoke to her today she said no such converstation had happened between us, was very aguementative, and said i had imagined it,   then had the call the seller and called me back to say she did have that convo with me..they are completely incompetent and never keep any notes which is even more reson why i need it in writing.. i also have a serious life threatening physical condition and the  constant estate agent stress is really making me very ill. .. i feel like every convo turns into 3 as they dont know what they are doing and keep having to call my buyer .. I will try and deal with just the solicitors from. now on and not pick up to the estate agent.. thanks again,