“We had a nightmare time with William H Browns in ......”
1 Star Review
Oct 16,2012
By:
'samc'
Oct 16,2012
Branch: Dinnington, 20 Laughton Road
Services: Sales (Prospective customer)
Would you recommend?: No
Postcode:
Branch: Dinnington, 20 Laughton Road
Sales (Prospective customer)
Postcode:
9
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this helpful
We had a nightmare time with William H Browns in Dinnington. We went on the market with them and had no viewings at all. They suggested dropping the price which we did only to find three months later it still being advertised at the original price. We never got phone calls returned or were contacted by the agents, we were calling all the time time. We were promised monthly reviews of what had been happening with our house and got 3 in 2 years.
When we went to complain we were told by Harriet Huddlestone that the former employee who had been working on our house had been "sacked due to incompetence" that she had not been marketing the house properly and things would be better now she were dealing with it. This has now been totally refuted by William H Brown and Harriet Huddlestone has said she did not say this to me.
After two years of being on the market with Browns I was approached by a neighbour who bought a property at the other end of our cul de sac. He approached me and said he wanted to apologise for not buying our house when he viewed it. He went on to say he never had any intention of buying our house as he runs a climbing wall business and our house had no space for him to store the wall but was encouraged by Harriet Huddlestone from Browns to view our property to see how he could extend the property he was interested in. He said Harriet told him we would not have a problem with this but when he viewed our house he became aware that we thought he was a genuine buyer. He said he felt bad about this as he saw me regularly and felt he needed to explain.
We were never told by Harriet or anyone else at the branch the reason for his viewing, we were told he was a buyer who was ready to proceed. I took half a day off work to tidy the house and give the viewing and Im appalled that my house is being used to sell another property without our knowledge.
I spoke to Jane Brown, the manager who said that her staff would never have said that to the client, I asked her if she thought he was lying and she said that Harriet had told her that she had not said this to him I asked why would he make this up and Jane replied that perhaps he was trying to "cause trouble".
Jane Brown was rude to me from the minute I entered the office. She looked at me like dirt and her first comments were 'my staff have done nothing wrong' - she was rude and patronising. She insinuated I was lying and called the other client a liar and a trouble causer.
We have been unhappy with the way our house has been marketed from the beginning and this is the final straw. If this mans viewing was not genuine and we were being used to sell someone elses house then how many other viewings were also not genuine? I lost time and money because of this viewing and Im deeply unhappy that this sort of practice goes on within William H Browns and that Jane, the manager told me she "supports her staff" - she supported Harriet's word in this matter without speaking to the other client who she said was lying and causing trouble. I insisted that Jane called him whilst I was there, she did and he supported what I had said. He also sent an email explaining exactly what happened.
We complained to Browns and to their compliance department. They say that Harriet Huddlestone did not tell me that the former staff member was sacked and that she did not tell the other client to view my house to sell another.
We have had no apology or acceptance of liability. They are saying that myself and the other client are lying.
When we went on the market we were offered a FREE HIP pack, when we said we wanted to take our house off the market with William H Browns we were issued a bill for almost £500 for the HIP Pack. It feels like being held to ransom to stay with a company who I dont feel have provided an adequate service.
When we complained about this fee we were threatened with being taken to court. I had not budgeted for this money as it was FREE and I didn't assume I would have to take my house off the market due to being lied to and terrible service, I have had to pay the money to avoid court. We then had to ask 3 times for the HIP Pack to be delivered to us.
The staff at Browns including Harriet Huddlestone, the Manager Jane Brown and the area manager John Cox have been awful. They are rude, patronising and have no desire to find the truth only to cover their own backs.
I will NEVER use William H Browns again, neither to sell a house nor would I view any house that is on the market with them as I don't want to have to contact any staff from the company.
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