“Property damaged in Purplebricks' care, yet no response...”
1 Star Review
Apr 02,2024
By:
'Alessandra'
Apr 02,2024
Branch: Solihull, Suite 7 First Floor, Cranmore Place, Cranmore Drive
Services: Sales (as a Vendor)
Would you recommend?: No
Postcode: LS13
Branch: Solihull, Suite 7 First Floor, Cranmore Place, Cranmore Drive
Sales (as a Vendor)
Postcode: LS13
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The sale of my property has yet to complete, and I don't like to leave negative feedback publicly, but Purplebricks has stopped responding to me since my property was damaged in their care, so unfortunately resolving the issue directly no longer seems to be an option.
Purplebricks' service was initially promising, as Abigail E in my local team was friendly and responsive, but things almost immediately went downhill.
I'd paid for Purplebricks to manage viewings, yet I had random potential buyers show up at my home with no notice from Purplebricks. I work from home and had to step away to show them around.
As I was selling to relocate elsewhere, I moved in September 2023, notifying Purplebricks of this. I arranged a set of keys for the Virtual Viewings team, who Purplebricks informed me would be taking over viewings.
I then continued to receive multiple confusing emails from different Purplebricks contacts, requesting my time and access to the property for viewings, and in some cases being quite rude when I reminded them I was no longer in the area. At one point, there was confusion over who at Purplebricks held my keys, which was concerning. At this point, November 2023, I copied the help@purplebricks email address into the chain to raise the issues.
While the house was under offer in January 2024, I received multiple calls from surveyors on behalf of the then-buyer who had been instructed by Purplebricks to contact me to arrange access – again, I'd informed Purplebricks that I'd moved 100 miles away, and couldn't be on-site to do this. Unfortunately this sale fell through, and Purplebricks recommended I use their auction partner, GoTo.
While viewings were underway in February 2024, I was informed by a member of GoTo that multiple buyers had been in touch with a concern about the bathroom door in my property, as it was apparently closed and locked and not accessible for viewings. The potential buyers were understandably hesitant to proceed without being able to view the bathroom in person, holding up progress of the sale.
The bathroom was fine and accessible when I moved out of the property in September 2023, and the issue wasn't raised by the surveys or buyers that fell through earlier in 2024, so the damage occurred while the property was in Purplebricks' care. I was concerned that the issue hadn't been raised with me until GoTo flagged it, as multiple viewings had taken place without attendees being able to access the bathroom. I know that if I were in their shoes I'd find this suspicious, so I'm worried how many potential buyers had been put off by this.
I requested that Purplebricks arrange a locksmith to investigate and fix the issue on 21st February 2024, but have still received no response to this.
The property is now under offer, and the buyer has reasonably requested that the bathroom door be fixed before completion. It looks like I'm going to have to arrange and cover the cost of this as Purplebricks have taken no responsibility. This will involve me incurring additional costs to travel 100 miles to allow access for the locksmith as Purplebricks have been non-responsive. I don't feel it's appropriate for me to cover this cost as the damage occurred under Purplebricks' care, but they've left me with no choice.
Finally, when I chose Purplebricks over other estate agents in June 2023, Abigail let me know there was a discount code I could use on the fees. She told me it wasn't working online at the time so if I went ahead with the instruction, they could apply it later on. I have confirmation in writing that this had been agreed with her regional manager, Rebecca C. My fees are now due this week (8th April) and despite chasing this up multiple times with the complaints team and with Rebecca directly, I've had no response.
I'm hesitant to pay the full amount because given my experience with Purplebricks, it seems unlikely I'll be refunded to take the unapplied discount code into account, however I don't feel right about not providing payment on time, so I'm in a difficult position.
Purplebricks' stage one complaints offered me £100 compensation following the initial key-holding issues, however by this time the bathroom door damage had come to light so I escalated my complaint to Purplebricks' stage two on 21st February 2024. Per Purplebricks' website, I should've received a response within 15 working days. As of today, 1st April 2024, I still don't have a response.
The lack of care and communication from Purplebricks has been unacceptable, and I hope this account is helpful for anyone considering its services.
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