[Sussex] Most irritating estate agents - Brand Vaughn

[Live by the sea]

Left 3 messages this week with Brand Vaughn , no one has bothered to call me back.

Are all estate agents in Brighton this poor at basic customer service or have I picked a dodgy one. Their website looks nice !

 

[Foolg]

Left 3 messages this week with Brand Vaughn , no one has bothered to call me back.

Are all estate agents in Brighton this poor at basic customer service or have I picked a dodgy one. Their website looks nice !

I've been amazed at how bad one of Mishon Mackays agent's has been, having viewed a flat with them. He was arguably the main factor which put me off making an offer. Especially given how long he's supposedly been doing the job.

 

[Raleigh Chopper]

In the vast majority of cases the words Estate Agents and customer services do not go hand in hand, they are a law unto themselves.
One day a way of selling and buying a property that everyone is totally confident in and easy to use from start to finish including the use of solicitors will come along, a real alternative to Estate Agents, especially on the almost totally one sided contracts that they provide.
I am not sure companies like Purple Bricks is the answer either.
That day can't come soon enough.

 

[Tim Over Whelmed]

You'd imagine Estate Agents these days would use Live Chat so they may be contacted 24 hours a day, seven days a week?

 

[Napper]

work for themselves. Only interested in the ££

Very occasionally get a good person but 90% + never return calls , emails and need chasing constantly.

Not a difficult job I guess so prob an unusual % of idiots employed.

 

[Chicken Run]

I've been amazed at how bad one of Mishon Mackays agent's has been, having viewed a flat with them. He was arguably the main factor which put me off making an offer. Especially given how long he's supposedly been doing the job.

Pm me the agents name.

 

[BBassic]

Used to be an EA myself when I was younger but no more. Horrible job populated, on the whole (and in my experience), by vile people.

That said I had absolutely no bother or hassle when I bought through David Maslen's on Lewes Road. Thoroughly professional and decent people in there.

 

[Chicken Run]

In the vast majority of cases the words Estate Agents and customer services do not go hand in hand, they are a law unto themselves.
One day a way of selling and buying a property that everyone is totally confident in and easy to use from start to finish including the use of solicitors will come along, a real alternative to Estate Agents, especially on the almost totally one sided contracts that they provide.
I am not sure companies like Purple Bricks is the answer either.
That day can't come soon enough.

I think it’s a race to the bottom for agents, the rise of the considerably low pay fee upfront Estate agents will imho drive many of the traditional’s off the high street.

One problem with fee up front agents,prevalent in the current economic climate is that should a previously agreed sale fall through what genuine incentive does the internet agent who has already cashed her fee got to pull all the stops out to re sell, none they’re to busy taking up front fees from new customers!!!!!

 

[Wilko]

Left 3 messages this week with Brand Vaughn , no one has bothered to call me back.

Are all estate agents in Brighton this poor at basic customer service or have I picked a dodgy one. Their website looks nice !

Interesting. I was due to see a flat through them last week and they did not turn up. They emailed to apologise and ask when I would like to see it, I gave them a few options, no reply.

 

[AWAYDAY]

Used to be an EA myself when I was younger but no more. Horrible job populated, on the whole (and in my experience), by vile people.

That said I had absolutely no bother or hassle when I bought through David Maslen's on Lewes Road. Thoroughly professional and decent people in there.

This. Maslen s are the only decent agents I’ve had contact with. Don’t get me started on Cubbit and West - appalling!!

 

[Giraffe]

Much of how agents act comes down to the individual rather than the company. One bad egg can tarnish your view.

 

[Badger]

In the vast majority of cases the words Estate Agents and customer services do not go hand in hand, they are a law unto themselves.
One day a way of selling and buying a property that everyone is totally confident in and easy to use from start to finish including the use of solicitors will come along, a real alternative to Estate Agents, especially on the almost totally one sided contracts that they provide.
I am not sure companies like Purple Bricks is the answer either.
That day can't come soon enough.

Purple Bricks is definitely NOT the answer. They were terrible when I was trying to sell my flat in Brighton. I ended up using a proper estate agent and negotiating a low commission with them because I already had to pay Purple Bricks.

I have to say I have been very impressed with the system here in Canada. The buyer and the seller get their own agent, meaning everything (apart from their substantial shared commission) gets properly negotiated and it all seems to happen in a timely manner. Once an offer has been accepted neither the buyer or seller can pull out without having to pay compensation. There's also a fixed time from offer acceptance to handing over the keys, usually 60 days (although I know some people get it in under 30). I'm in the process of buying a place at the moment and I've been so impressed with my agent. He always keeps my up-to-date and put me in touch with both a mortgage broker and solicitor.

The UK government really need to get their act together and sort out property purchasing.

 

[Badger]

One problem with fee up front agents,prevalent in the current economic climate is that should a previously agreed sale fall through what genuine incentive does the internet agent who has already cashed her fee got to pull all the stops out to re sell, none they’re to busy taking up front fees from new customers!!!!!

You're making the assumption that they try and get a sale in the first place. That's not my experience.

 

[Surf's Up]

We used Nash Watson when we bought our house and they were superb. We registered with all the usual suspects though (eg Cubbit & West, Brand Vaughn, Leaders etc etc) and they were all bad on the customer service front. Which is why it was such a relief to buy vis Nash Watson

 

[PoG]

Last time we moved both our agents were solid; Dean and Co Hangleton and Michael Jones in Lancing.

 

[Wrong-Direction]

A mate of mine just bought a house, he said it's been the most stressful time of his life dealing with estate agents and solicitors that are completely inept

Sent from my SM-A310F using Tapatalk

 

[northernseagull]

I take your brand vaughan and raise you.... LEADERS. Don't even get me started. Biggest bunch of f***tards I've ever dealt with.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Last time we moved both our agents were solid; Dean and Co Hangleton and Michael Jones in Lancing.

Second vote for Dean & Co. When I was a property developer we used to use Dean & Co all the time. Don't get me started on Mishon Mackay though !!!!!

 

[The Kid Frankie]

There are a few decent ones in Brighton and Hove, but some absolute **** nuts as well.

In my line of work I come into contact with Lettings and Estate Agents regularly. What cracks me up the most is that a lot of them are proper flash qunts that really rate themselves. Some of the haircuts and suits on show are laughable - a lot of em think they are on Wall Street not Church Road in Hove.

I will add that solicitors can be just as frustrating if not worse for buying a property. But at least they've earned a qualification before ****ing with you.

 

[mejonaNO12 aka riskit]

Purple Bricks is definitely NOT the answer. They were terrible when I was trying to sell my flat in Brighton. I ended up using a proper estate agent and negotiating a low commission with them because I already had to pay Purple Bricks.

.

A little story about my 'attempt' to sell my property two years ago.

Tight on funds, I opted for Purple Bricks.

The chap came over, was likeable and we thought he was the right guy to sell the property. We were impressed with the online portal we could access to see booked viewings and we enjoyed the fact we ourselves could deal with the offers. His photos of the property were really good.

For an additional £99 the PB representative would conduct the viewings for us. Lovely. We both work full time so this means we don't need to worry about being around.

First few weeks we had a couple of viewings and a few cancellations.

As the weeks went on, the cancellations continued. We were informed that prospective buyers were cancelling the viewings. Maybe they booked a few properties and no longer needed to see ours?

One day, I was suspicious and called up one of the cancellations. As Purple Bricks has the online portal that the seller can access, I could see the contact details of the potential viewer.

I called and asked if they had cancelled the viewing........"no, it was cancelled by your estate agent".

It turns out he was completely snowed and was just cancelling bookings he couldn't make without ever telling me. Probably for fear id ask for my 99 quid back.

In the end we conducted the viewings yourself and got an offer there and then. I refused to pay the £99 or the full original fee.

He may have just been one bad egg but, during the process I had other smarmy estate agents offering to sell it for 0.5% commission to beat their rivals. As and when I do sell I will go down that route.