Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

Estate Agent lied about the viewings

67 replies

shelly0588 · 05/02/2018 10:23

I am new to this forum and wanted to get some opinion on the estate agent being the liar.
We put our property in the market 2 weeks ago with the local estate agent and they set an open house date for last weekend. I called on Friday to check if everything is in place for the open house and was told that there are 3 viewers coming for the open house for viewing.

Finally on Saturday, the estate agent arrived and we went out, as the open house was only for 1hr, we were sitting in our car next few houses away for about 20mins. What we saw was that no viewers turned up for the viewing and the estate agent also locked the house and left in 20mins.

I am very disappointed with the estate agent for being the liar and not telling us that they cant arrange any viewers. I am disappointed because we both work 5 days a week and has a toddler as well, Its really very hard to clean/scrub the whole house to make it ready for viewings.

Did anyone of you faced the same situation and what did you do about it.

OP posts:
johnd2 · 07/02/2018 10:25

Flat battery in his mobile phone? Halo this you couldn't make it up!

Original poster
shelly0588 · 07/02/2018 10:29

Yes, we have decided that we are going to their office today and cancel our contract with them.

Even after calling his main office in the morning, he did not call up.
so no chance we want to carry on the contract with them anymore.

OP posts:
Original poster
shelly0588 · 07/02/2018 11:04

Finally he called now and said 2 viewers came out of 4 on the open day and they think the property is over priced. This is the price EA suggested that they should be able to sale the property for.

DH told him that I think no1 turned up on the open day so he asked why do you think so. DH did not tell him that we were there instead said because you did not bother to give us feedback so we thought no viewers were there.

We have booked the appointment with the branch manager in the evening and going to cancel the contract.

OP posts:
PlateOfBiscuits · 07/02/2018 11:10

Why not just say that you know no one turned up because you were watching?

CremeFresh · 07/02/2018 11:22

You need to be a lot more assertive , don't mess about trying to catch them out and why on earth has your husband lied about you watching the house ? I hope you are going to be a bit more up front with anyone that does put an offer in.

Original poster
shelly0588 · 07/02/2018 11:23

Yes, he called again now because he is worried that we know that no1 came the other day.

DH told him that we were there and clearly saw him going in 20mins.

Obviously he is not agreeing with that but he is embarrassed in the evening because we got hold of our car dashcam video as proof as well.

OP posts:
Lilmisskittykat · 07/02/2018 11:39

Why all the game playing seriously?
Should have just been straight with them.

This could have been sorted the next day instead of trying to mess around and 'catch them out'.

As for the price, well if no one showed up to view then maybe it is over priced and a drop will encourage a viewing. It's best guess at the moment with markets stagnating generally (I don't know where you are?)

Some people like to put their listing on here for feedback - that might help

FluffyWuffy100 · 07/02/2018 11:46

DH told him that I think no1 turned up on the open day so he asked why do you think so. DH did not tell him that we were there instead said because you did not bother to give us feedback so we thought no viewers were there.

You. Are. Hard. Work.

Original poster
shelly0588 · 07/02/2018 11:48

Yes, thatswhy we have booked the appointment with the branch manager for this evening after work.

I was ready to actually call him on Saturday itself but DH has different thinking on this and wanted to talk face to face directly to the branch manager and give chance to EA to tell the truth himself and all..

OP posts:
whiskyowl · 07/02/2018 11:48

Seriously, just tell the truth!

"Look, we know that you didn't do the open house, because we slightly suspected something was up, so we were watching from our car parked down the street. Our dashcam footage shows you entering the house, and then leaving 20 minutes later having not had a single attendee. We will be sending this footage to your head office, along with a strongly worded complaint. We would like our fees refunded in their entirety, as we have lost trust in your company, and £100 for the stress and inconvenience this has occasioned us".

End of.

Original poster
shelly0588 · 07/02/2018 11:53

I am not sure about DH but I am going to talk to them straight as because of his lies, I was not able to spend time with my child on Friday evening & Saturday, which I look forward for as I am working 5 days a week.

Plus all the time and effort wasted on getting the house ready for viewings.

OP posts:
Lilmisskittykat · 07/02/2018 11:58

I think they'll be happy to release you from your contract. As fluffy says Your hard work.

Selling a house is inconvenient , stressful, a let down when potential buyers don't turn up, involves a lot of cleaning and putting family plans on hold for everyone I'm afraid.

Go for purple bricks and manage it all yourself sounds like this would suit your nature best

FluffyWuffy100 · 07/02/2018 11:59

I was not able to spend time with my child on Friday evening & Saturday, which I look forward for

WTF are you talking about? No one cares about you not spending time with you children. Don't say anything about that. It makes you sound irrational and like you are completely missing the point.

Just say EXACTLY what @whiskyowl has just posted. Word for word. Write it down and take it in with you to read from.

Original poster
shelly0588 · 07/02/2018 12:05

Agreed no1 cares about that.

Yes, I am going to have the conversation very straight with them in the evening.

I actually cant wait for the evening now.

Thank you for all your advices..

OP posts:
Original poster
shelly0588 · 07/02/2018 12:09

Not sure if purplebrick will work for us as we both work like 1.5 hrs drive away from home so we cant get back to home until 6 pm to manage the viewings.

OP posts:
Lilmisskittykat · 07/02/2018 12:11

I suggested them as you do your own viewings (no need to sit outside your house) and you put booking slots to suit your own availability eg weekends only etc.

pepperpot99 · 07/02/2018 12:14

There is no such words as 'advices'.

You honestly do sound like you are 12 years old. I should think your estate agents will be glad to get shot of you and your ridiculous 'hiding down the road in the car and pretending' lark. Were you wearing a disguise as well ? Hmm

Gazelda · 07/02/2018 12:23

Was your toddler in the car with you while you were watching the Open House?

flumpybear · 07/02/2018 12:25

I'd see the manager, tell them what happened and tell them you've got no confidence in their work as their staff blatantly lie

I wouldn't want an EA in my house for no reason, what the fuck is he doing?!

Original poster
shelly0588 · 07/02/2018 12:33

pepperpot99, no1 wants your RUDE message here.

OP posts:
Original poster
shelly0588 · 07/02/2018 12:34

Gazelda, yes he was with us in the car.

OP posts:
RavenLG · 07/02/2018 12:42

There was a similar thread last year on AIBU
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3098038-To-accuse-our-estate-agents-of-lying

Just tell the estate agents you know they are lying and you want to cancel your contract. Stop playing games and pussyfooting around them or they will walk all over you.

Hillingdon · 07/02/2018 13:17

I am laughing at some of the responses (sorry!). Buying and selling is a pain in the bottom. Cleaning and tidying for people who don't turn up, people making offers and then backing down.

Its not going to run smoothly. You could be lucky and it goes through with the first viewer who makes an asking price offer but very unlikely. Hiding around the corner, sitting in cars and using dash board cams sounds a bit silly.

Still you carry on - word will get around about the crazy sellers who hide around corners spying on you.

We had a fantastic EA. He only had one branch and he handled very tricky situations. The offer was only the start of the process. A good EA keeps things going and steps in when things get fraught.

As an aside he didn't like Open Houses. You DID get people who were just nosy or who just don't turn up. if your house is priced correctly it will sell

k2p2k2tog · 07/02/2018 13:25

I don't think the estate agent is going to be terribly sad about losing you as a client, to be honest.

Myddognearlyatethedeliveryman · 07/02/2018 13:29

I would be pissed off if I was paying for a service and not getting it op!! Name and shame them on social media!!