Hi there,
a neighbour (single lady in her 60s) put her house up for sale over 3 years ago. She is not flush with cash and chose a local estate agent (EA) whom she informed that regarding advertising costs she was on a budget.
The informed her (via letter) of an estimated spend of E400. Verbally, she requested that any costs over the E400 would need to be reviewed by her etc. They agreed verbally.
10 weeks after the property went on the market, the EA wrote to her and informed her that the advertising spend was now at over E800. She called them and wrote to them about this stating that she had never given consent agreed to spending over the initial estimate and they have not contacted her to request her agreement to spend over the initial estimate. They wrote back to her offering no explanation saying they knew she was not happy, but thats she just HAD to pay the E800.
The house did not sell and was later taken off the market.
My neighbour has tried to settle the costs out directly with the EA. She kept copies of all the letters she sent and records of calls thankfully. They never responded to any letters or returned her calls.
A year later, she got a letter from a solicitor representing the EA. The letter was looking for collect an increased amount of E950(no explanation offered). She called the solicitor, explained the situation. He said he would speak to the EA. He wrote back with an adjusted amount of E600. She contacted him again stating she was not happy with this new amount as it was still over the E400 and she still disputed this. She heard nothing back form the solicitor.
Then last week, she received a letter from a collections agency looking for over E1200 (again, no explanation offered for the new total).
I am no expert, but I cannot understand how any business could feel they had the right to proceed and spend double an origional estimate without consulting their client and requesting consent. They have never addressed this issue at all from what I can see.
She had always been willing to pay the E400, but now they are looking to extract E1200 which I cannot figure out.
She has contacted the collections agency and the EA after the most recent letter again referring to the origional dispute over the ad costs. The EA said they no longer have any dealings with the solicitor who contacted her the previous year and no records of her communications from then as a result. The EA then called her back and said they would now accept E800, but that she had 1 week to accept the offer of they would proceed with a court action against her. (This was a voicemail - they have not put this in writing)
Needless to say, my neighbour is now feeling distressed. She remains willing to sort out the matter, but the EA seem unwilling to accept that they should not have assumed they could proceed and spend money on her behalf without her consent.
Any advise for my neighbour?
Marge
a neighbour (single lady in her 60s) put her house up for sale over 3 years ago. She is not flush with cash and chose a local estate agent (EA) whom she informed that regarding advertising costs she was on a budget.
The informed her (via letter) of an estimated spend of E400. Verbally, she requested that any costs over the E400 would need to be reviewed by her etc. They agreed verbally.
10 weeks after the property went on the market, the EA wrote to her and informed her that the advertising spend was now at over E800. She called them and wrote to them about this stating that she had never given consent agreed to spending over the initial estimate and they have not contacted her to request her agreement to spend over the initial estimate. They wrote back to her offering no explanation saying they knew she was not happy, but thats she just HAD to pay the E800.
The house did not sell and was later taken off the market.
My neighbour has tried to settle the costs out directly with the EA. She kept copies of all the letters she sent and records of calls thankfully. They never responded to any letters or returned her calls.
A year later, she got a letter from a solicitor representing the EA. The letter was looking for collect an increased amount of E950(no explanation offered). She called the solicitor, explained the situation. He said he would speak to the EA. He wrote back with an adjusted amount of E600. She contacted him again stating she was not happy with this new amount as it was still over the E400 and she still disputed this. She heard nothing back form the solicitor.
Then last week, she received a letter from a collections agency looking for over E1200 (again, no explanation offered for the new total).
I am no expert, but I cannot understand how any business could feel they had the right to proceed and spend double an origional estimate without consulting their client and requesting consent. They have never addressed this issue at all from what I can see.
She had always been willing to pay the E400, but now they are looking to extract E1200 which I cannot figure out.
She has contacted the collections agency and the EA after the most recent letter again referring to the origional dispute over the ad costs. The EA said they no longer have any dealings with the solicitor who contacted her the previous year and no records of her communications from then as a result. The EA then called her back and said they would now accept E800, but that she had 1 week to accept the offer of they would proceed with a court action against her. (This was a voicemail - they have not put this in writing)
Needless to say, my neighbour is now feeling distressed. She remains willing to sort out the matter, but the EA seem unwilling to accept that they should not have assumed they could proceed and spend money on her behalf without her consent.
Any advise for my neighbour?
Marge