Invoice from estate agent after changing to competitor.

I'm looking for advice here.

After a long a protracted sale, I pulled out of a transaction after the purchaser started making unreasonable demands.

Before doing this though (and after checking that I was well outside of a period of exclusivity with that agent) I put my property up for sale with a competitor and quickly found another buyer.

Things are finally concluding but I have now received an invoice from the prior agent for "Additional marketing services." I had signed on to an additional marketing pack with the previous agent but was informed that I would only be liable to pay the full amount on completion of sale. (This could be a grey area..... They could argue that it was on completion of sale, regardless of whether it was with them or not?)

Has anyone had this before? I do not believe that I am contractually obliged to pay them anything, so am tempted to ignore it. Has anyone had any similar experiences or insight to share?

I have had that.

When I was trying to sell my flat in Plymouth. After about 3 months I decided to hold off for a while and took the property off the market

I was hit with (i think I remember) a £200 bill for "maketing costs"...I was f-ing fuming.

I asked what they did that warranted this as my flat was in the property paper twice in 3 months and on their website. Which they pay for anyway....

I had to pay as it was indeed in the terms that I signed allowing them to market my property........was not happy but ultimately, my fault.

that was Connells Estate Agents....

I did sell my property about 6 months later through another agency and was obviously wise to this and ensured such fee was NOT part of the deal should I decide against selling it. All I was asked to do with give them 6 weeks before taking it off the market....

It will depend upon what is in the contract that you signed with them.

When we moved last year our estate agent's contract stipulated an exclusivity period but also required us to give a month's notice after that period before appointing anybody else.

In the end we received a decent offer a week or so after giving them notice.

How much are they asking you for? Is it in the region of Batman's £200 or £thousands, effectively wanting to charge fees on a sale they didn't make?

Seems to me by signing the marketing pack leaves you little room

My daughter handles complaints and compliances for a very large national estate agent (not in the South though). When there are cases in dispute, they can be referred to the Estate Agents' Ombudsman.

Be aware though that most of them get you to sign very tight contracts.

It's for £250 of marketting services with Your Move (I defected to Connells.) This may well just be a lesson to learn, it will not bankrupt me. Nonetheless..... Annoying.

I had a result when I sold a house. My agent was absolutely sh ite, never returning calls and not having a clue what was going on during a rather protracted process. Whilst *****ing about them to my lawyer, he told me that I could instruct him to withhold payment on completion. Which I duly did. Funnily enough I received a call the next day (the first that I hadn't had to chase them for). After a bit of toing and froing they agreed to knock £750 off of the fee.

The contract I signed was pretty tight, the arguements I used was a lack of duty of care and failure to provide all services adequately.

in your case, you may be able to argue that their marketing was not fit for purpose as they never sold your house. It would definately be worth telling them to stick it up their arris a couple of times. If the amount is small, they may just write it off as a lost cause.

Tell them to go **** themselves and make them work for their few hundred quid. You can at least make them squirm a bit before you pay... or maybe just pay them in tiny instalments.

It's for £250 of marketting services with Your Move (I defected to Connells.) This may well just be a lesson to learn, it will not bankrupt me. Nonetheless..... Annoying.

Your Move were the agents for the house that we purchased.

They were beyond sh**.

Totally failed to understand their client's chain circumstances (when discussing with other agents in the chain) to the point that the chain very nearly fell through because of their complete ineptitude.

Also discussed with me the fact that we were the only bidder and ways that we might get the seller to accept a lower offer. We would have paid more for the house had he not done this.

They're all a bunch of incompetent, lazy ****s. As are solicitors.

Your Move were the agents for the house that we purchased.

 

They were beyond sh**.

 

Totally failed to understand their client's chain circumstances (when discussing with other agents in the chain) to the point that the chain very nearly fell through because of their complete ineptitude.

 

Also discussed with me the fact that we were the only bidder and ways that we might get the seller to accept a lower offer. We would have paid more for the house had he not done this.

They are not interested in the best price for the seller, they would rather get any deal. Consider this, the agency is paid say 1.5% of the sale price so their commission on getting you another £5,000 is just £75. Now consider how much that is worth to the sales negotiator would will be on commission. Even if they got 20% of sales! going the extra mile to try and get another £5000 for you is only worth £15 to the employee.

I had a result when I sold a house. My agent was absolutely sh ite, never returning calls and not having a clue what was going on during a rather protracted process. Whilst *****ing about them to my lawyer, he told me that I could instruct him to withhold payment on completion. Which I duly did. Funnily enough I received a call the next day (the first that I hadn't had to chase them for). After a bit of toing and froing they agreed to knock £750 off of the fee.

 

The contract I signed was pretty tight, the arguements I used was a lack of duty of care and failure to provide all services adequately.

 

in your case, you may be able to argue that their marketing was not fit for purpose as they never sold your house. It would definately be worth telling them to stick it up their arris a couple of times. If the amount is small, they may just write it off as a lost cause.

Your agent sold your house but you tried to keep their money because they didn't phone you enough? Stay classy.

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They didn't ring at all. I had to get information from all the other agents in the chain. The service they supply is not just attraction of buyers, it's management of the process, something they failed to do IMO. When I pay out several thousand pounds, I expect great service. When I explained all this to their regional manager, he agreed hence the discount.

They are not interested in the best price for the seller, they would rather get any deal. Consider this, the agency is paid say 1.5% of the sale price so their commission on getting you another £5,000 is just £75. Now consider how much that is worth to the sales negotiator would will be on commission. Even if they got 20% of sales! going the extra mile to try and get another £5000 for you is only worth £15 to the employee.

True in practice, however it is the seller who contracts them to help him find the best price for his house not just whatever price allows them to contractually take commission.

And to think bankers have a bad name.

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They didn't ring at all. I had to get information from all the other agents in the chain. The service they supply is not just attraction of buyers, it's management of the process, something they failed to do IMO. When I pay out several thousand pounds, I expect great service. When I explained all this to their regional manager, he agreed hence the discount.

The agent that we used to sell was really good. The deal would definitely have fallen through without his work helping to organise the rest of the chain and other agents.

IMO there are some genuinely good estate agents but 95% are just talentless gimps looking to take their percentage in exchange for putting an advert on right move.

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I'm looking for advice here.

 

After a long a protracted sale, I pulled out of a transaction after the purchaser started making unreasonable demands.

 

Before doing this though (and after checking that I was well outside of a period of exclusivity with that agent) I put my property up for sale with a competitor and quickly found another buyer.

 

Things are finally concluding but I have now received an invoice from the prior agent for "Additional marketing services." I had signed on to an additional marketing pack with the previous agent but was informed that I would only be liable to pay the full amount on completion of sale. (This could be a grey area..... They could argue that it was on completion of sale, regardless of whether it was with them or not?)

 

Has anyone had this before? I do not believe that I am contractually obliged to pay them anything, so am tempted to ignore it. Has anyone had any similar experiences or insight to share?

Your position would depend on the precise wording of the contract. If there is wiggle room though, it would certainly be worth arguing your point. You would be looking at misrepresentation because you were led to believe you would only pay if they completed the sale.

For mis-rep, you need a statement of fact ("you only pay if we complete the sale"), this statement must have induced the contract (I thought this was a good deal, can't lose because we'd have definitely sold the house) and that the statement turned out to be false (they are claiming you have to pay regardless).

Your position would depend on the precise wording of the contract. If there is wiggle room though, it would certainly be worth arguing your point. You would be looking at misrepresentation because you were led to believe you would only pay if they completed the sale.

 

For mis-rep, you need a statement of fact ("you only pay if we complete the sale"), this statement must have induced the contract (I thought this was a good deal, can't lose because we'd have definitely sold the house) and that the statement turned out to be false (they are claiming you have to pay regardless).

I firstly going to ask for a copy of the contract they have on record. (Mine is currently in piles of clutter as I prepare to move.)

If they cannot locate it, or if it doesn't explicitly say that I will pay regardless of whether the property is sold through them then I shall dispute it.

Why not refer it to your solicitor for his advice?

Why not refer it to your solicitor for his advice?

Good shout.