We decided to sell our house with Strutt and Parker, who style themselves as a premium estate agent capable of achieving the best price for your house and as a result they charge a percentage that is at the top of the bracket of most agents. However over the 11 months it took to sell our house, we were subject to a very poor viewing service, no 'For sale' sign for the first two months, an aborted sale on the day of exchange and very poor agent/client communication. It was a painful experience that I don't wish to repeat or wish anyone else to be subject to. Viewings. One of the basic requirements of any estate agent is to be able to show people round, however Strutt and Parker's nominated person to accompany potential buyers has another full time job so it was hard for buyers to arrange a time. As a seller, I conducted the first two viewings myself (the second with the Strutt & Parker rep as she had not seen the property before.) The third was conducted by a friend of ours at short notice and this one led to the first offer in January 2018. We received little or no feedback from any other viewings that were conducted. The first sale. The first buyer, initially wanted to complete by mid-March. Before they even made an offer (January), I made it clear that I work abroad and would not be in a position to complete until the end of April, although they would be welcome to exchange at any time up to that point. I agreed to shuffle work commitments to be home sooner than originally planned and we agreed on 25th April for completion. They were happy with that and we arranged the completion of the house we were buying for the same date. It took longer than they anticipated to sell their house and in the end they were pushed to make the generous deadlines set back in January. Updates were scant in the lead up to this and at the beginning of April I began to get nervous that nobody was managing the sale and, having a exchanged on the house we were buying I needed to arrange a formal loan if they were not going to be in a position to complete at the same time. There was an inexcusable lack of communication from Strutt and Parker during the final few weeks and there was nobody managing the sale. The principle agent was on holiday and made it clear to me that she would not be making any calls or writing any emails on my behalf during that time. I needed a decision, one way or the other, so that I could decide whether or not to move my family for the start of a new school term 300 miles away or stay in our old house to see out the school year, which would have been preferable at the time. A lack of clarity and even basic updates made this very difficult. The longer a sale takes through poor management the longer the window is open for the buyer to change their mind. In the case of this buyer, the sale management was poor, the window was open too long and the buyer went from very keen, to quiet, to evasive and finally to deciding to buy something else instead closing the deal. It is ironic and slightly disturbing that the agent, Belinda Hutchison-Smith suggested she could have “demanded a fee at that point for having introduced a ready and able buyer”. They were certainly able, the house they purchased just weeks later was £300k more expensive, but they were far from 'ready' and we would have been delighted for them to have purchased the house had they been just that. The second sale After the abortive first sale, I was close to looking for a new agent. However, the agent persuaded me that lightning would not strike twice. I was keen to point out that, if we were to continue, some lessons needed to be learned from the first one. The biggest of these lessons in my view is that the agent needs to a) have a good handle on the situation at all times and b) keep the seller and buyer informed of progress. The agent is the only person who can speak to both parties and I see this as a vital role, for which we have paid a considerable sum of money. When long periods of time passed without any progress occurred again in the second sale, and very few interim updates (far from the weekly updates we had requested) we started to get nervous again. I was assured that once the mortgage offer came through for the buyer, things would progress faster. It came through in early July, but it still took another 6 weeks to exchange during which time the window of opportunity to change their mind was still open. During this time, as ever, updates were few and far between from Strutt and Parker and the last contact I had from any representative was 10 days before the contracts exchanged. The house finally exchanged and then completed two days later, yet unbelievably the agent did not call or email to inform me. They did however find time to send in their invoice for 'proffesional services'. The irony of the typo is not lost on me. One of the final hold ups came right near the end of the sale when the buyer's solicitor inferred via email that some contents had been agreed by the agent as part of the sale. According to him the agent had agreed to include the sofa in the lounge, two expensive light fittings and the washing machine and tumble dryer as part of the sale despite never mentioning it to us and those items not being on the contents list that form part of the contract. I asked for an explanation from the agent as to what had been verbally agreed. I never received a reply. Negotiation. During both sales the agent displayed poor negotiation skills. The house was on the market for £525,000. When a house is valued slightly above a major threshold it gives some room for manoeuvre. When the first offer came in at £475,000, the agent's advice was simply to take it, no counter offer, it was a good deal. I did not feel that way and said that £500,000 was my bottom line. I am sure the buyer saw that coming and they agreed at that price. Having had someone go as far as they had with the sale, I was fairly confident in the value of the property so when the second buyer offered also considerably below the asking price, my response was the same. So was the agent's – I should take the offer. I didn't and when the second buyer also settled on £500,000, the agent said I was 'jammy'. I would have expected an agent to have worked a bit harder to achieve a good price, but it was clear that the agent's priority was to get us through the door as quickly as possible with little regard for the large sums of money involved. The difference on a commission is slight after all. Once the sale had gone through, I wrote a lengthy email to Mark Wiggin, regional area manager, outlining my grievances. His response was a few lines long and essentially backed up the office. I doubt he actually read it. This off-hand approach merely confirmed what I already knew. In conclusion, I would not recommend Strutt and Parker. They are super keen when trying to win your business, but once a sale is in motion they move on and there is very poor management of the sale in the role of intermediary between buyer and seller. In addition there is an arrogance and laziness that almost belies contempt for the customer. It leaves a bad taste.