15th Aug 2024 (28 days ago)
I recently worked with Alex from Fox and Sons while moving out of my flat and I wanted to share my experience. Unfortunately, it was not a positive one.
The landlord and her agent Alex wanted to conduct viewings of the flat before we moved out to make sure it’s not vacant post me and my wife moving out. This is something we agreed to help with as long as it didn’t disturb our life too much.
Throughout the process, I found Alex to be quite pushy, often insisting on scheduling viewings at times that were convenient for him, rather than considering my wife’s and my work commitments. This led to my wife having to take significant time off work to accommodate these requests.
Additionally, we had clearly communicated our preference for not allowing anyone to enter our flat without us present. Despite this, Alex insisted on entering the property alone, which made us uncomfortable. He even mentioned that the landlord was upset with us for not allowing entry without our consent, which felt quite threatening. We simply did not want strangers entering our flat while we were not present.
After I clarified to Alex that viewings would not be allowed without our presence, it took only 20 minutes for the landlord to email me, accusing me of being rude and having a negative attitude towards Alex, which was false. Alex was providing misleading information about me to the landlord while also misrepresenting the landlord's position to me in an attempt to achieve his own goals.
It escalated to the point where I received over 30 phone calls in a two-day period from Alex and other agents, all pushing for viewings. On one occasion, while we were on our way to a viewing, Alex kept calling, asking me to hurry up when I was stuck in traffic. I eventually had to raise my voice to get him to back off, which is unfortunate, as it shouldn’t have come to that.
I believe a more respectful approach to communication and consideration for tenants' circumstances would greatly enhance their service. It’s a shame that the only time he backed off was when I had to get angry. I hope this feedback helps improve their practices in the future and no one should coerce others to get their way. It's important that everyone involved is treated with respect and that no one tries to impose their preferences on others.... Read more