Estate Agents not doing what they are asked

[jampot]

My girlfriend is currently in the process of selling her home - we've spent too long at opposite ends of the country, so its time to change things.

Her house is being marketed by a local Estate Agent, and she's been having regular viewings and several offers.

There was one particular viewer who was EXTREMELY keen to buy the house, as she had fallen completely in love with it, however she still had a house of her own to sell, thus her original offer was really unproceedable.

My girlfriend received another couple of (slightly higher) offers, but was convinced that the particular viewer would be the most likely to push towards a speedy conclusion, and wanted to negotiate with her.

She emailed the Estate Agent with a proposal - to suggest the viewer makes a further offer (which would be accepted) and to advise that her previous offer had only been declined because it was too low, and NOT because she wasn't in a position to proceed. The Estate Agent was supposed to put this to her, and open negotiations, as it was clear that the viewer was desperate to buy. The agent agreed to do this, and confirmed afterwards that he had.

My girlfriend was surprised, therefore, not to receive a further offer (or any information) from this viewer, but knew deep down that she hadn't misread the situation. The viewer lived locally, so she found her details and approached her directly with an invite for coffee and a chat.

It transpired that the Estate Agent hadn't mentioned A SINGLE WORD of what he was asked to pass on, and the viewer was most surprised to hear that my girlfriend was simply waiting for a revised offer, which she would have been happy to accept. They compared notes, and came to the understanding that the Estate Agent hadn't done his job properly, and apart from advertising the house for sale, was obviously not getting involved in the most important part - negotiations.

Needless to say, the viewer went away, and subsequently submitted a revised offer directly to my girlfriend which was accepted on Friday.

It is clear that the Agent hasn't done what he was asked, however it is also understandable that because he introduced the buyer, the agency is still due payment. I just wondered if there were any grounds to offer to pay a reduced fee, on the basis that they haven't done a proper job.

Had my girlfriend not approached the viewer directly, the house would not have sold. It is as simple as that.

She emailed the agent this morning, only to receive a reply from the other person in the branch, saying that the original agent no longer works at that branch (!). This other guy claims to know nothing about the original suggestion that the original agent open proper negotiations.

Obviously we don't want to rock the boat until everything is done and dusted, but I feel very strongly that the agent should not be able to claim the full value of their commission, as they've totally failed to carry out the instructions of the vendor.

Comments?

[buzby]

I'd outline what you have here in a letter to them. Explaining your dissatisfaction and the fact the only reason the seller completed is because your GF purused the matter and concluded the bargain - something the EA was asked to have done. I'd thing a 10% discount on their cut to be a reasonable adjustment. So ask for 15% and settle for 10%

[jampot]

Thanks for that...

She replied to the email she got earlier today, saying that the original agent no longer worked at that branch, with a follow-up. The other agent (as I said) is denying all knowledge of what was being suggested, but it turns out that HE is patently either lying, or stupid, as the original emails were copied to him, and apparently he even spoke to my girlfriend about it. This was about 3 weeks ago...

Basically there's 2 main people in the branch, the guy who has seemingly left (who my gf was happy to deal with) and the guy who told her that the first guy has left, who my gf has dealt with before, when she has marketed the properly previously, but utterly refused to deal with for the duration of this particular sale, unless the original agent wasn't available and a viewing needed to be arranged quickly.

They are chalk and cheese, good cop and bad cop, apparently. It is the "good" cop who has seemingly left - but it sounds like he was far too wishy-washy to roll his sleeves up and actually act as a sales negotiator, which is why he's obviously decided against acting on explicit instructions, despite confirming that he had.

What a pair of jokers.

I will suggest going down the "reduced fee" option, in return for not raising a complaint with the Ombudsman or the NAEA.