17th Sep 2026 (10 days ago)
Absolutely appalling. The worst experience I have ever had with an estate agency.<br><br>We viewed the house in March 2025 and put an offer in just 48 hours later. Despite chasing repeatedly, we couldn't even get a simple answer as to whether our offer had been accepted or rejected for over a month. Through this time we were repeatedly informed a decision would be made the next week but to no avail. Goal posts continued to be moved throughout, 'you need to be on the market' then 'you need to sell your house first' and then finally 'you need to be selling to a cash buyer'.<br><br>Eventually, we moved forward, paid our deposit and got to the stage where the solicitors were dealing with everything. You would think the estate agent's involvement would be relatively straightforward at this point. Apparently not.<br><br>Towards completion, we started receiving up to 5 calls a day from David and Lesa telling us to chase our solicitors and get the purchase completed. This went on for weeks. We both work full-time and were constantly being interrupted by calls and emails from them demanding that we chase professionals who were already dealing with the transaction. We obliged but we should not have been placed in this position.<br><br>We were also repeatedly told that the house would be put back on the market if completion wasn't progressing within days. This was particularly frustrating because, at the same time, the seller's own solicitor was not ready to complete and necessary building documentation had still not been obtained.<br><br>The constant pressure, warnings and attitude throughout the process were completely unnecessary. Buying a house is stressful enough without an estate agent making the situation even more difficult.<br><br>It is also worth mentioning that the seller was a family member of David Phillip and this may have influenced the way the situation was handled. On multiple occasions, the estate agents actively argued in support of the seller's position. This included telling us that the retention was immaterial because the outstanding works would be completed, and separately endorsing the seller’s attempt to increase the agreed price unless we completed within days. Despite repeated assurances from David that he was being objective, the advice and commentary we received was consistently one-sided and far from independent.<br><br>And then came completion day — the absolute disaster that summed up the entire experience.<br><br>Contracts had been exchanged. The sellers had received their money that morning. All we wanted was the keys to the house we'd just bought.<br><br>I spent the entire day calling Lesa and David trying to arrange the key collection. Every time there was another excuse. Eventually, at around 8pm (10 hours after funds transfer), after spending the entire day chasing them, the seller was supposed to meet me at the property. Instead, the keys were left under a rock. To make matters worse, not all of the keys had even been provided, with the garage fobs omitted entirely (and were never subsequently delivered).<br><br>The developer was ultimately responsible for providing the keys, but after all of the pressure the estate agency had placed on everybody else throughout the transaction, I would have expected them to ensure that something as basic as completion-day key handover had actually been coordinated.<br><br>From start to finish, this was an unnecessarily stressful, poorly communicated and deeply unprofessional experience. I would strongly encourage everyone to avoid this agency.<br><br>Do your research, ask about relationships between the seller and the agent, and think very carefully before trusting this agency to handle what is the biggest and most stressful purchase of your life.<br><br>I sincerely hope nobody else has to go through what we did. And I genuinely hope that the level of professionalism and “objectivity” is better when they're selling a property that isn't being sold by a family connection.... Read more