Surveyor let himself into my flat and bedroom while i was sleeping, as agent forgot to tell me apt

faerielight

Thanks for all your responses.. I did send a complaint, in the end,  this morning, as , as if they estate agent had done their job and  responded to my email requesting them to  chased up if the  appt  had been booked, this would not have happened.  I've also requested that i get my keys back. 

martindow

HampshireH said:

Viewings are a bit different to unannounced and unaccompanied surveyors just wandering around without permission 

I'm not sure they are - both are unacceptable.

AskAsk

That must have been a nightmare!  OMG.  As others have said, get the keys back from the EA immediately as they can not be trusted with it and make a complaint to them as this is not acceptable.

I find EA don't consider their client's needs but just their own so it doesn't surprise me that this has happened.  I wonder why the surveyor let himself in but he may have knocked on the door and no one answered so he thought no one was home.

la531983

faerielight said:

Thanks for all your responses.. I did send a complaint, in the end,  this morning, as , as if they estate agent had done their job and  responded to my email requesting them to  chased up if the  appt  had been booked, this would not have happened.  I've also requested that i get my keys back. 

Given the fact they havent been replying to emails, I would have been down at their office, within the hour, demanding the keys back personally.

Section62

AskAsk said:

....I wonder why the surveyor let himself in but he may have knocked on the door and no one answered so he thought no one was home.

He'd been to the estate agents to collect the keys because (presumably) he'd been told there was nobody at the property to let him in.

If you've been told you need to get keys (to let yourself in) you generally assume the property will be empty when you get there, and you let yourself in because you need to do that in order to do the job you are being paid to do.

If you let yourself in to a property you were told is empty and come face to face with someone you didn't think would be there then you've probably just learned one of those life-lessons, which is not to rely on other people (especially not estate agents) and double check yourself.

Sapindus

If the surveyor had been told there was no-one in the house, he would have said he didn't ring the doorbell because he thought the house was empty.  Instead, he comes up with the rubbish about he didn't ring the doorbell because they "rarely work".  Which might have been true before Ring doorbells were invented.

pumas

Door chains should only be used on opening the door, to see who is there. (Fire) hazard if trying to escape quickly.

Section62

Sapindus said:

If the surveyor had been told there was no-one in the house, he would have said he didn't ring the doorbell because he thought the house was empty.  Instead, he comes up with the rubbish about he didn't ring the doorbell because they "rarely work".  Which might have been true before Ring doorbells were invented.

I thought about that, and figured in a stressful situation faced with a distressed person he was probably just saying the first 'rubbish' that came into his head.

Anyone else here been in an embarrassing position and said the first thing they thought of?  And then cringed about it later.

lincroft1710

About 50 years ago when I was buying my first house I was sent details of a cottage in a nearby village. Liked the look of the property so went to see the EA. They said the property was empty and they would let me have the keys so I could view that evening (summer so light nights).


When I got to the property it was obvious someone was in the bathroom which was on the ground floor. Said "Hello", a woman's voice answered, so explained the EA had given me keys to come and view the property. The woman was in fact the new owner who had bought the property through another EA and had only moved in a week or so previously!.

Skiddaw1

Do keep us posted on how the EA responds @faerielight. What a horrid experience!

Really hope things proceed smoothly from here onwards.