Spicerhaart may have to reconsider its claim that its agents are ‘independent’ following yet another rebuke by the Advertising Standards Authority.
Spicerhaart itself regularly describes itself as the ‘UK’s largest independent estate agency group’.
In the latest case involving the advertising watchdog, a branch of Darlows in South Wales, part of Spicerhaart, was reported by competitors Kelvin Francis Estate Agents.
It made three complaints over two adverts.
One was a leaflet which said in its text: “Darlows are part of the UK’s largest independent estate agency group. We advertise more extensively than our competitors both online and offline…”
The second advert complained about was a circular which included the wording: “Why should you choose Darlows? The UK’s largest independent agency … multi-award winning agent.”
Kelvin Francis Estate Agents challenged whether:
1. The claim “We advertise more extensively than our competitors” could be substantiated because they believed other local estate agents advertised more.
2. The claim “multi-award winning agent” could be substantiated; and
3. The term "independent" was misleading because they understood Darlows of Llanishen were part of the Spicerhaart Group, a limited company owned by shareholders.
In response, SpicerHaart Group, t/a Darlows of Llanishen, accepted that they were unable to substantiate the claim “we advertise more extensively than our competitors” and stated that it had been included in the ad as a result of human error. They stated that they had taken measures to ensure the phrase would not be used again.
They provided evidence of the two awards that had been received, one in 2007 and the other in 2010.
They stated that estate agents generally regarded the term ‘independent’ to mean privately owned and owner managed and that the phrase was used in order to convey a sense of quality and personal attention, allowing consumers to differentiate between corporate monoliths and dedicated estate agents, who were truly focused on their local markets and consumers.
They accepted that the SpicerHaart Group traded under a variety of brands, but stated that the company was family owned and controlled. They said that there were two shareholders, one of which was the CEO, who owned approximately 80% of the company, and that the remaining 20% was owned by his father.
They added that they were the fifth largest estate agent in the UK but said that none of the remaining four estate agents were privately owned or managed by the owners.
However, the advertising watchdog upheld all three complaints.
The ASA said that the claim “We advertise more extensively than our competitors both online and offline…” had not been substantiated.
It also noted that Darlows had supplied documentary evidence which showed they had won two industry awards in the past five years. However, the ASA considered that the average consumer would interpret the text “multi-award winning agent” as amounting to more than two awards in recent years.
On the third complaint, the ASA said the average consumer would interpret the phrase “independent” would mean that Darlows was not only independently run, but also independently owned.
However, the ASA said that Darlows was owned and controlled by the SpicerHaart Group, and was one of a group of agencies operating under that umbrella.
Darlows must not again refer to their services as “independent”.
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Comments
Below is a full email account of the customer service that Spicer Haart offer their loyal customers.
I have CC in Donna Harris, Grace Stratford and Adam Chamberlain. I can not CC in Tracey or Kelly as I do not have their email addresses.
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to make a formal complaint with regards to my property 97 Hazell Avenue, Colchester, Essex. CO2 9DP.
My property has been rented out with Spicer Haart since 20th February 2009.
During the period of 20th February 2009 to 19th April 2012 Ms Elizabeth Short resided in my property as a tenant placed in the property by yourselves.
Prior to Ms Short taking residence a full property check was undertaken along with a full inventory of the property. The property was rented out as furnished.
Days before Ms Short moved in she stated that she did not require beds in the property as she had her own. There was one bed left in the property which was only purchased at the beginning of February brand new from Homebase. It was a double white framed bed which included a mattress. I dismantled the bed and placed it in the large out building shed for storage.
The large outbuilding shed was for the storage of my personal belongings and was locked. The agency was NOT given a key to this shed as it was for NOT for the tenants use. It was also clearly stated on the initial contract given to Ms Short that there was to be NO access to this shed.
Several months later I received an email from the office to say that Ms Short had been in touch to say that her young children had an accident with their drink and spilt it over the sofa. She wanted to put the sofa in to storage and purchase a leather sofa that would be more appropriate for young children. My sofa that I had left in the property was purchased in May 2008 and was a cream/beige suede sofa. I said she could put it in to storage as long as it was well wrapped up.
I returned back to the property at the end of Oct 2009 by arrangement to pick some personal belongings up from my shed to discover that the sofa was stored in the shed with no protective covering and had a tear down the back of it. I reported this to the office the following day. Because not only was my sofa not being stored correctly and was damaged it was also in the outbuilding shed that the tenant was NOT meant to have access to. The tenant claimed she had found a key for it in the property. Firstly the one and only key for this shed was in my Father's possession and secondly it was very clearly stated in the contract that the tenant should not have access to this shed.
I should point out at this stage that I emigrated to Turkey in February 2009 which is where I still reside.
After my report to the office Ms Short was told again that the outbuilding shed was not to be entered.
During 2009 I received regular property check reports and had no other problems.
The next property Visit report I received which was emailed to me on 1st march 2010 by Collette Sayers for the visit that took place in February 2010 stated that the property was unfurnished.
Ms Short had renewed her tenancy agreement for another one year. The property visit was carried out but no inventory was taken.
The property visit that took place stated that there was a damp problem which we were already dealing with due to the very bad snow that winter and the upstairs occupant having made her flowerbeds higher than the damp course. The other issue mentioned was the tiles in the kitchen by the backdoor were lifting.
The next property visit that took place on 10th June 2010 and was emailed to me on 30th June by Laura Stokes again stated the property was unfurnished and all was in good order with the exception of the tiles by the back door in the kitchen.
The following property visit that took place on the 8th October 2010 which was emailed to me on 3rd November 2010 by Nitin Gadhia again stated unfurnished and that everything was in good clean order and no issues.
I then did NOT receive a Property visit or inventory report for one whole year.
The next property visit took place on 7th November 2011 and was emailed to be on 16th November 2011 by Roy Chenery.
This report did not mention if the property was furnished or unfurnished.
It reported that the place was in good order, clean with a few marks to the hall carpet and one burner on the hob not working.
on 17th January 2011 I received an email from Donna Harris to notify me that Ms Short would not be renewing her tenancy.
I emailed Donna back and mentioned my damaged sofa. Donna emailed me back and assured me that this would be picked up in the check out report.
The property went back on the market for re-rental and I received an email from Aimee Chessher introducing the team. In this email it clearly states that a property check and a full inventory of the fixtures, fittings and furniture will be undertaken before the tenant leaves the property.
Ms Short did not leave the property as she was being housed by the council and the house had fallen through. A new contract was never made and she was put on a rolling month by month contract, I never received any property visit checks or inventory updates during the year 2011 until i received the Property visit check on 16th November 2011.
When I returned to the UK in December 2011 for my annual one week holiday I visited the team in the Colchester Office and we discussed a rent increase for the following year from £595 to £635. The rent had stayed the same for the previous 3 year period.
On the 3rd January 2012 I recieved an email from Donna Harris asking if she would like me to formally instruct her to put this in to action. I emailed back and said yes.
The rent increase was to commence 20th February 2012. This was not paid by the tenant even though she had agreed to the increase and she had to have a letter send out to her and it was recovered on the 15th March 2012.
On the 16th March 2012 Ms Short gave notice to leave the property. Donna Harris sent me an email on the same day to notify me of this and told me that the Marketing department had been informed and the property would be re-advertised.
on the 21st March 2012 I had received no communication from anyone at Spicer Haart, no introduction or anything. I proceeded to check the Spicer Haart website and all other local property websites to find that my property was NOT being advertised.
As Donna Harris was my only current contact I emailed her and asked her to get in touch with marketing and to ask them to get in contact with myself. A few days later I checked the websites and found my property was now being advertised however I had still NOT received any contact from the office at all.
On 31st March 2012 I emailed Donna Harris again and asked her to get in touch with the Marketing department and to get them to call me.
I have a mortgage on my property and I rely on my rental income to pay this mortgage. As I live in Turkey I live by Turkish Lira NOT by Pounds so therefore I do not have the money to support the mortgage payments. The Lira is currently 2.896 to the Pound. My mortgage is £338 per month, this is worth 979 Turkish Lira to me.
The office is more than aware of my situation and up until 2012 have always been very supportive, When Ms Short gave notice in 2011 the office worked incredibly hard to find me new tenants within the timeframe and I received many emails and calls. This year the service has been disgusting and non existent.
I received my FIRST email regarding finding new tenants for my property on the 10th April 2012. It was not to tell me they had found anyone just to let me know that they were working on it. My tenant Ms Short was due to leave the property 9 days later on the 19th April 2012.
A new tenant was found in time and agreed the monthly rent of £635 per month. It is a 6 month agreement and the tenant paid the full 6 months rent upfront which I received in to my bank account on Friday 11th May 2012. The tenant moved in to the property on the 7th May 2012.
On the 23rd Aprl 2012 I received an email from Grace Stratford stating that attached was the Property checkout report that had taken place stating what state the property had been left in.
The only attachment was a receipt for £50 from the tenants stating that they had the carpets cleaned. The email went on to state the following:
Issues in the check out report:
-Greasy light fitting in kitchen, washing machine mould to seal, cracked fridge compartments, kitchen drawer handles broken.
-Left bedroom window mould.
-Dog smell remaining in the bedrooms (although an invoice has been provided showing that the hallway/lounge carpets were cleaned the bedrooms still require further cleaning).
You have new tenants moving in on Thursday and I waned to know how you wished to proceed concernig the below issues? I can arange to have the bedroom carpets cleaned if you wish and use the money from your float to pay the invoice when it comes in. We can then inform your previous tenants that you are looking to deduct for these costs and use the invocie as proof towards this.
Unfortunately there is no guarantee that we would be 100% successful should the tenants dispute any of the deductions. However the invoice would stand as good evidence towards this.
Please contact me at your earliest conveniance so that I may arrange any neccessary works.
I responded to the email stating that the work should be carried out however I wanted the costs to be recovered from the tenant.
Grace responded with the following:
I have asked for one of our contractors to go ahead with the following work:
-Kitchen tiles are chipped,fix/repalce these
-2 bedrooms carpet need steam cleaning to get rid of doggy-smell
-Greasy light fitting in kitchen
-washing machine mould to seal
-cracked fridge compartments
- kitchen drawer handles broken.
-Left bedroom window mould
I have given them a spending limit of up to £300.00 (the float that you hold) and told them to inform me before doing any work if it will exceed that. We can then use the invoices to prove to the tenants the cost required to rectify the above issues. I think that apart from the kitchen tiles, the other issues should be deducted from their deposit. We can't guarantee if you will receive 100% of the deductions for the above from the deposit but we can advise if we think that you have a good case.
On the 24th April 2012 I received an email from Adam Chamberlain with an attachment to confirm and sign Confirmation of Marketing.
On the 26th April 2012 after I had returned the confirmation of Marketing signed form I received the following email from Adam Chamberlain:
Hi Sharon
Thank you for sending this back, I can begin referencing and get them sent over to you for your approval when we receive them.
The tenants have expressed that they would like the property unfurnished. I am aware a majority of the furniture is being stored in the out buildings in the garden, and the cupboards, chest of drawers and television are in the property. I was wondering if the furniture would be able to leave the property, our contractors have been round and they did report the furniture of being not exactly suitable and the wooden items in the out buildings have become damaged in places i.e damp.
Please let me know your thoughts
I responded with the following:
Hi Adam,
The problem I have is that I have no where for the furniture to be stored and currently do not have the funds to pay for storage.
I do have a few suggestions if the new tenants are willing to help me out....
When I left the property there was nothing furniture wise in the out building, everything was in the property, the out building contained my personal effects and sentimental items that I could not bring with me, including curtains, bedding, clothes and my daughter personal effects such as a dolls house, keyboard and soft toys. The out building was locked and the tenants were NOT meant to have access to this building which was stated in the original agreement because of the nature of the goods held in there. I was informed only a few months after the original tenancy started that my tenants had accessed the building and had put the sofa in there as it was not suitable for them as they had children. I was told that the sofa was stored correctly with plastic covers.
Because the original agreement stated that the tenants did not have access to the out building and were not given keys for it there was no inventory done for the out building.
When I left the building in Feb 2009 I did not know where my life would take me and if I would indeed settle over here. I have settled and have no intention of returning back to the UK to live. This was why I had left the property furnished at this point incase I was to return a year later.
So my suggestion is if the tenants are willing to help is if they wanted to sell the furniture including the the tv in the living room and the 2 portables then and send the monies to me, then that solves their problem and solves mine too. I know from what yo have told me that they are a nice retired couple and I am quite sure that they will be honest and get me a good price for the goods (I know they won't be worth much).
I will back in the UK for Christmas so I can return to the property with their permission and go through the out building and remove much of the personal items that are in there although I do have concerns about what is actually left in there.
I know that you have said that they have sold their home, I obviously don't know their circumstances but if they settle in my property and like it, maybe they might like to consider buying it from me in the future. I don't want to put it on the market at the moment as the prices are still quite low, and call me silly but I didn't want it to go to just anybody, I know its just a flat, but it was my home and I did love my home, just not the country!!!! However if they like it there and are looking to purchase a smaller home, maybe this could be something for them to consider?
I shall leave all of this information with you and see what you come back with. The other option if they didn't want to seel the furniture for me is I am willing to go halves with them on an extra shed to store the stuff in. The garden is huge and there is plenty of room for a shed to go at the bottom of the garden, but as I am not planning on returning to the property to live unless anything goes seriously wrong here then to me the better option would be to sell the things.
I shall look forward to hearing from you
** I have NEVER had a response to this email and to date Monday 28th May 2012 I have still NOT received the references for my new tenants.
On the 27th April I received an email from Laura Hillier with the new contract. I have never seen such a disorganised mess for a contract! This was the email I sent to Laura in response:
Hi Laura,
I can not sign this as the information all incorrect.
Firstly on your email you state the 27th January ???
Secondly on the contract the date is stated the 5th May - Adam told me that they moved in yesterday 26th April - Please can you confirm the right date please!
Thirdly the rental amount per month is WRONG - This is the old rent, the agreed rent is now 635 GBP per month.
It has not been agreed with myself or the tenant yet that it is unfurnished - I am still waiting for a response from the tenant on some suggestions with regards to the furniture.
It says a 6 month tenancy but the date is until May 2013 - Again please confirm if this is a 1 year agreement of a 6 month agreement
There are various different dates throughout the whole agreement at the end for the banking arrangements it states 31st May! Plus all the way through the agreement quotes 595 GBP which is the wrong amount.
I think it is fair to warn you that my mortgage payment is going to bounce on the 1st May - the first time ever because of situations like this. Please correct and then send back to me.
It took a further 4 MORE emails for Laura to get the correct information right on the contract. AND… To date: Monday 28th May 2012 I still have NOT received the contract or confirmation from Laura that she managed to get all the details correct, she never emailed me the final copy.
On the 10th May 2012 I then received an email from Grace Stratford stating the following:
Just had the invoice in for the work done prior to your new tenants moving in and it totals £252.00. Unfortunately the contractor did not provide us with a price breakdown which I have now requested from them.
I'm not sure how much of the £252.00 that you need to deduct from their deposit as some of that bill is for the kitchen floor work which we can't really charge to the previous tenant. I've asked the contractor how much the kitchen floor part of it was so that we know how much of the £252.00 to deduct from the deposit.
In the meantime however, seeing as we know that the deposit deductions won't exceed £252.00, I will release the remainder of Miss Shorts deposit so that she has some of her deposit money back until we can figure out how much you need to deduct.
I hope to be able to update you shortly however please do not hesitate to contact me with any concerns or queries.
I emailed back to say thank you for the information and received the following reply back from Grace the following day:
've also spoken to your previous tenants concerning the deposit and the £100.00 gesture you have requested towards the work on the property.
She has said that she will pay a gesture of £50.00 towards the work and not the full £100.00. Mrs Shorts reasoning for this was she said that when she moved in to the property there was a bad smoke smell coming from the bedrooms, once was so bad that she said she had to move her children out of it and that it took them 2 weeks to get rid of the smell. This is the reasoning why she only paid to steam clean the other rooms but not the bedrooms. She also said that she repainted the whole flat before vacating.
I also asked her about the sofa. She said that she originally put it in plastic wrapping to cover it up, however she's not sure if you removed the wrapping when you re-visited the property. I've also spoken to Adam in branch to ask if he managed to check it. He said that there were too many items in the shed for him to be able to fully inspect it.
I'm sorry that I can't provide anymore answers to the sofa than that. However I would presume if it still has the protective wrapping than it would be ok.
I'd appreciate it if you could get back to me on your thoughts concerning the gesture of £50.00 that the tenant has informed me of.
It is at this point I have now lost my patience and am seriously fed up with people NOT doing their jobs. This was my reply to Grace:
Hi Grace,
Thank you so much for everything that you have done. You have achieved so much in the space of a few hours than what has been done in the last 6 weeks, you are a total star and I really appreciate you helping me.
Mmmm, interesting.... The original reason for moving the children out of the bedroom was because of damp coming through the wall, this was after it had snowed very heavily and the upstairs neighbour had built her flowerbeds up over the top of the damp course. This will be on the records because I had to have work carried out to remove the damp and re-seal the wall.
Ms Short has reported absolutely everything, from not knowing how the trip meter worked (an electrician had to come out and show - I was charged), damp wall, washing machine, boiler, gas hob so I am quite positive that she would have reported a bad smoke smell especially as it involved her children.
The sofa - Firstly, on the original contract and item check it very clearly stated that the tenant did not have access to the shed. There were no keys given in by me for the shed, it was locked and secure and my Dad has the key. Ms Short had reported to the office about 3 months after she moved in so around May/June 2009 that there had been an accident with the sofa, one of the children had smilled a drink. She had had the sofa cleaned and had purchased a leather sofa that was more suitable for children and had stored my sofa in the shed.
How did she get access to the shed? I went mental at the office asking how she got access to the shed. Mine and my daughters personal and sentimental belongings are in that shed as well as excess bedding, gifts, photographs, you name it, what I could fit in 4 suitcases went in that shed, my whole life!!
I returned to the property in Nov 2009 by prior arrangement to pick up some of my belongings out of the shed. The sofa was rammed in there and was not covered!
I had purchased by daughter a brand new double white metal bed and matress as she had originally had bunk beds which were not suitable for leaving in the property. Ms Short said she didn't need beds so I took my bed to the tip, it was very well worn and the day before we left we took the new bed apart and put it in the shed. When I returned in the Nov 2009 the bed was no longer in the shed but in the bedroom.
It is important to add that the shed was not itemised as it was locked with nobody having access to it. I had duvets, pillows, blankets and even clothes in there as well as the other things mentioned.
I was under the impression that the property had to be left exactly how it was, so the sofa should have been in the living room and it should have been checked. It was on the original itemised list.
So, no I am not going to agree to her good will gesture. What I would like if it is possible Grace is a copy of the itemized list of the contents of the property on the day of Ms Short checkout. This should have been emailed to me the day after it was completed. Spicer Haart get paid a lot of money to manage my property and I fail to see how looking after it is a sofa that was originally listed as being in the property hasn't been checked. I am now questioning if a proper itemised check has actually been done and if it hasn't how do i actually know that somebody isn't going to sit there as soon as you request it and get the original one out and copy it over to cover their tracks.
So I am going to ask you a very big favour hunni. Can you send me an email when you have requested the itemised list so I know what time you requested it. I am putting a deadline on it of 1 hour from when I have sent this email to you. If I haven't got the list by then I will believe that it was never actually done.
I am so sorry to rant and rave, I am just completely furious. Also the money n my bank is 600 GBP less than I worked it out to be after taking of management cost of 10%, VAT and the 2.9% for rent protection and the 50GBP that was needed to replenish my float. Even taking off the amount you quoted yesterday still leaves me almost 400 GBP short that I had worked it out to be.
You have served me well in the last few hours of speaking to you Grace so i am hoping that you can resolve all of this for me. I need somebody to handle this who actually cares, because other than Donna Harris nobody else seems to be bothered, its like she is in Turkey, so it doesn't matter!!
I did send an email to Adam when he sent me the marketing document to sign asking him to speak to my tenants about selling the furniture on my behalf as they wanted it completely unfurnished. I have no money to store it but I also now know i have no intention of coming back to live in the UK, so I suggested that maybe if they wanted to help me help them, they could sell it for me and send me the money. I haven't heard back from Adam.
I also asked Adam if he might like to suggest to the new tenants that if they were looking at purchasing a new property that if they were comfortable there, they might like to buy it. I understand that they are retired and have just sold their house. I am assuming that they have down sized and have done a short term 6 month contract till the find something suitable. Again, i have not heard from Adam.
That's it I have finished ranting now, please be the person to care and sort this out, please be one of the few people that actually puts decent customer service before commission. Please put my faith back in to the company.
I will make my decision on the deposit after I have checked the up to date itemised list that I am hoping will be in my inbox 1 hour from now.
Thank you Grace.
Grace then emailed this message to Adam Chamberlain who did email me the property checkout report which I have attached to this email. However it only stated exactly what Grace’s email had said dated 23rd April 2012. Still NO inventory report even though the check out report claims to be for furnishing, fixtures and fittings.
I emailed Adam the following:
Hi Adam,
Thank you this is a very fair report and I am happy with this.
Please check back on my file to find the original agreement and you will find there was also a furnishings report. The property was let out as furnished. The report contained a full list of ALL of the furniture. The place was fully furnished with the exception of beds.
Living room:
New beige suade sofa, computer desk, beige suade computer chair, tv stand, corner shelves fixed to the walls and 40 inch flat screen tv fixed to the wall
Bedroom 1 (with cupboard under stairs)
3 door wardrobe, 5 drawer chest of drawers, 3 drawer small chest of drawers, desk, corner unit - All matching set, 15in portable tv
Bedroom 2
3 door wardrobe, 2 bedside cabinets, 2 bedside table lamps, corner unit, 2 x 3 drawer chest of drawer - All matching set. dressing table with mirror not matching. 15 in portable tv.
Hall
Tall book shelf - belongs to bedroom number 1 bedroom set
Kitchen:
Microwave, kettle, full plate, bowl and side plate sets. glasses, mugs, saucepans and cutlery. Ironing board & iron. washing basket. Fridge Freezer in perfect condition, washing machine and hob and oven.
Garden shed (small)
Lawn mower and various garden tools.
Large shed:(Tenants did not have a key for this shed and it was clearly stated on the original agreement that they did not have access).
No furniture with the exception of a brand new double bed and matress that was taken apart. All my personal belongings including bedding, clothes dolls house, best china and crystal glass set.
This list is not conclusive by any means, this is just what iIremember from the top of my head. Please check the original agreement - Feb 2009.
I am not quite sure anybody realises how serious this matter is. We are talking several thousand pounds worth of goods here.
That at this moment in time does not appear to be in the property.
And it would seem that no inventory has been done recording these goods.
And the company want to give back the deposit to the tenant - I think NOT.
I would like a full inventory of my property done and delivered to my email by the end of business Tuesday 15th May 2012.
If this is not done then I will be taking legal action in a small claims court against Spicer Haart.
It is also worth noting that I have not had one property check for the whole of 2011. Only my rental statements.
I trust that i will not have to go down the legal route but can you understand where I am coming from.
This was on Friday 11th May 2012. I also followed this email up with a telephone call to Kelly, the Assistant Manager of Colchester lettings. Tracey was not in the office.
Kelly knew nothing of the problems I had been having and was incredibly apologetic after I explained the situation in full to her. More so when I made her realize that the possible missing property and damaged property was going to cost a lot more than the £595 deposit from Ms Short. Kelly promised me that she would talk to tracey on the Monday 14th may 2012 and that a full inventory of my property and the furnishing would be done that week and she would be back in touch with by the latest Friday 18th May 2012 with an update.
To date I have not received an email or a phone call from the office on this matter, today;s date is Monday 28th May 2012. 2 whole weeks later.
On the 18th May 2012 I received an email from Chloe Cauldwell stating the following:
am emailing with regards to the above property.
The Tenants have forwarded me a letter with regards to the maintenance issues at the above property; I have scanned theses and added them as an attachment for your reference.
Could you please read the attachements and advise me how you wish to proceed.
I look forward to hearing from you shortly.
Kind Regards
** I have attached this scanned letter to this email.
You will see from reading this letter that firstly the Property Checkout report that was taken when the tenant moved out was NOT completed properly, if it had been then these things would have been on it. Secondly, the new tenants were delayed from moving in and the property was empty from the 20th April 2012 till the 6th May 2012 because some of these mentioned repairs were meant to be carried out and I am being charged for them. They were quite obviously not carried out.
Thirdly, it is VERY clear that my property has not been managed correctly or efficiently as the previous property check in the November 2011 also failed to pick any of these issues up.
I emailed Chloe back and asked her to forward this email to Tracey and Kelly in the Colchester lettings office.
To date I have had NO response.
Finally, I receive an email from Grace Straford on the 25th May 2012 stating the following:
I apologise for not being able to update you any sooner concerning the deposit. I have however heard back from Elizabeth who has confirmed to me that she accepts the £100.00 deduction that you requested from her deposit.
I just wanted to check that this was still how you wished to proceed and if you were happy with the £100.00 being used towards the invoice on the work for your new tenants? I would then release the remaining deposit back to Elizabeth.
I look forward to your response.
Regards
I emailed back with the following:
Under no circumstances is any money to be released to Ms Short. Other developments have happened and I really really don't want to yell at you because you certainly do not deserve it. Please can you refer everything back to Tracey and Kelly at the Colchester lettings office.
After our emails I then received another email from another department with a letter of complaint from the new tenant of all the thngs that were wrong. I then rang and spoke to Kelly, who promised me everything will be sorted.
This is now 2 weeks ago and I have heard NOTHING. So I am now taking legal action to recover in the region of 3000 GBP from the company. The forms will be sent over to the office on Monday 28th May 2012.
Much of my furniture has been taken apart and stored in the out building and is damaged and damp. What furniture is left in the building is also damaged. Much of the fixtures and Fittings in the building are also damaged, far more than normal wear and tear. I didn't recieve a Property check for an entire year from Oct 2010 to Oct 2011. All the property checks I have had have claimed that the property was unfurnished when the original agreement was furnished. I have not received my requested contents check which I asked for 2 weeks ago.
So I have taken legal advice and have prepared a statement and report of which I have been told I can claim for my damaged and very possibly missing goods plus I can claim back all of my management fees for at least one year as the agency has failed to manage the property and its contents. I think I have been very patient up until this point. Plus, if the agency has not dealt with everything within 7 days of receiveing my paperwork then I will be flying back home to deal with it in person and I am also entitled to claim my flights back as well.
It is at this point I would like to say that throughout 2009 and 2010 I was more than happy with the service that I received. I would also like to mention 2 people who have been outstanding in their service and that is Donna Harris and Grace Stratford. These 2 ladies have worked incredibly hard for me and we have built up an amazing relationship. If it wasn’t for these 2 ladies then this situation would be even worse than it currently is and please bare in mind that what they have done for me has been above and beyond their call of duties,
With regards to all the other employees who should have done their jobs I am utterly disgusted and very disappointed. I have sought legal advice on this matter and have attached to this email the Small Claims Forms which at this moment in time are blank.
This is my Final Warning Letter before I proceed down the legal route.
I appreciate that today is Bank Holiday and so is the 4th & 5th June 2012. So I am going to be fair and give you until Friday 8th June 2012 to resolve this matter to my full satisfaction other wise I will be filling these court papers in and filing them.
Firstly, it is clear that my property has not been managed as per the contract throughout the whole of 2011 and 2012. I received no property visit report from 8th Oct 2010 till 7th November 2011 and the final check out report that I received was inaccurate.
So I wish to be reimbursed the Management Fees from November 2011 through till April 2012.
This is 14 months at 10% of £595 = £59.50 + 20% Vat £11.90 = £71,40 x 14 months = £999.60.
3 months at 10% of £635 = £63,50 + 20% Vat £12.70 = £76,20 x 3 months = £228.60
I also expect to be reimbursed the Landlord Inventory Fee that was billed to me 9th May 2012 of £100 + Vat = £120. As I have NEVER received this and it is quite clear that it has not been carried out.
I also expect to be reimbursed the Landlord Administration Fee billed to be on the 9th May 2012 of £395 + Vat = £474. As I had to email the office to get my property advertised. I also had to email twice to get some form of communication with regards to my property being re let out and I had to email 5 time in total to get the contract right, that I have still NEVER received as well as the fact that this whole situation has not been resolved.
I also expect to be in reimbursed the Check Out fee that was billed to me on 21st march 2012 as it is very clear that this report was not completed correctly other wise my new tenants wouldn’t have the complaints that they do. This was for £70 + Vat = £84
This makes a total of £1906.20
Now I shall move on to my damaged and possibly missing furniture
The legal advice that has been given to me is that I am well within my right to claim the cost of replacing these items at the New cost at today’s value which I have estimated to be £3241.
I am willing to accept a lower cost of £1500 if Spicer Haart agrees to pay back in full the Management Fees, Landlord Inventory Fee, Landord Adminstration Fee and the Check Out Fee by Friday 8th June 2012.
I would also request that ALL repairs to the property that the new tenant has noted are carried out free of charge to myself and the tenant to the tenants satisfaction as none of this was their fault.
If I have not had a satisfactory response by 5pm Friday 8th June 2012 I will be booking a flight back to Colchester Essex for Monday 11th June 2012 to file the papers at Colchester County Court. Please be aware that I am also entitled to recover the cost of this return flight and subsequent flights to Spicer Haart. I will also be sending this full report to The Evening Gazette, The Sun Newspaper and Watchdog if I have had not had this matter resolved within the given time frame as well as taking my business else where.
It is with deep regret that I have to follow this path of action due to the lack of communication and care by your staff members and Management Team. I hope that we can resolve these issues within a timely fashion and get back to the good relationship that I had with the company and the team.
Your Sincerley
Miss Sharon Hibble
***********************************************************************************************
I have since emailed The Gazette, The Sun and Watchdog as the deadline had passed and I had received NO contact.
I also emailed ARLA.
Hi Zoe,
Thank you for your email.
I look forward to receiving your formal response tomorrow.
Kind regards
Sharon
Sharon Hibble
From: Zoe Allen
To: shazza141173@yahoo.co.uk
Sent: Thursday, 7 June 2012, 14:08
Subject: Complaint Investigations
Dear Miss Hibble,
I hope this email finds you well.
Thank you for your patience whilst I have been carrying out my investigations. I unfortunately don't have all the information to issue you a response yet. I wanted to make contact with you to assure you that I am working along side the operations director and we take your concerns extremely seriously.
I am hoping that by close of play tomorrow Friday 8 June I will be in a position to issue you a formal response.
Please confirm receipt of this email.
Kind regards
Regards
Zoe Allen
Customer Care Manager
Property Management & Administration Centre
tel: 01206 715999
ddl:
fax: 01206 369375
e-mail: zoe.allen@spicerhaart.com
web: http://www.spicerhaart.co.uk
Hi Zoe,
In addition to the information below my Father has just contacted me again. He has been in touch with the Council and it would seem that Ms Elizabeth Short told the council that she had left 97 Hazell Avenue before April and she did not pay the Council Tax payment that she was billed for on the 1st April 2012.
May I also add that the property remained empty between the 20th April and the 7th May 2012 due to the tenants neglect of the property which as mentioned in the previous emails is down to Spicer Haart failing to do their property checks correctly. The new tenants were ready to move in to the property the day after the old tenants left and it was NOT discussed with me if it would be okay to leave the property empty. I was only asked to confirm the go ahead of the repairs.
I will NOT be paying the one month outstanding Council Tax and I will happily let it go to court as all paper work, contracts and emails will clarify what I have just stated.
I have been incredibly patient, however, this is just the final straw. You even emailed on Thursday 7th June 2012 to say that you were hoping to have all the information ready for Friday 8th June and that you were taking the situation very seriously. It is now a week after the deadline I have given and still not even an acknowledgement email. Which WILL go against you in court.
So I will be adding the Council Tax payment and court costs to your bill and I will be filling in the Small Claims Court Papers and filing them. If by ignoring me you will hope that I will get bored and give up then you are very much mistaken, it is just adding fuel to my fire and you are not helping yourselves as a company by not even acknowledging my emails within a reasonable time frame, it is just making my case stronger.
I will send you a copy of the forms once I have filled them in a filed them with the court.
Kind regards
Sharon Hibble
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: sharon hibble
To: Grace Stratford
Sent: Friday, 15 June 2012, 13:55
Subject: Council Tax 97 Hazell Avenue
Hi Grace,
I hope you are well?
I have received a final reminder bill for the sum of 87.10 GBP for outstanding council tax from 1st April 2012. This has come to my Dad's address, which is my C/O address for all of my leasehold information and it is clearly addressed to myself.
Please can you follow this up with the Council as a matter of urgency confirming that the owner of this bill until the 20th April 2012 is Ms Elizabeth Short and that the property was empty until 7th May 2012 when the new tenants moved in. The warning letter states that if the bill is not paid in 7 days it will be taken to court.
My father is now phoning the council as I type on my behalf to explain the situation and referring them back to the agency to confirm tenancy details.
Thanking you in advance for resolving this matter for me.
Kind regards
Sharon
Hi Zoe,
Thank you so much for coming back to me, I do appreciate it.
My contact number is actually on my file and is used regually by the maintenance department however, I shall provide as requested:
+90 543622 0458
I am 2 hours ahead of UK time. The only 2 days that are difficult for me to talk are Tuesday and Sunday as I am out on the boat with my customers. so have music and background chatter and no way of escaping it. Otherwise you can call anytime of the day on any other days of the week.
I look forward to speaking to you and getting somewhere to resolving this situation.
Kind regards
Sharon
PS. Please note I am a Miss !
From: Zoe Allen
To: sharon hibble
Sent: Monday, 18 June 2012, 18:38
Subject: RE: Council Tax 97 Hazell Avenue
Mrs Hibble,
Thank you for your email. Please could you confirm a suitable contact number and a time that would be convenient for me to call you.
Regards
Zoe Allen
Property Team Manager
Property Management & Administration Centre
tel: 01206 715999
ddl:
fax: 01206 369375
e-mail: zoe.allen@spicerhaart.com
web: http://www.spicerhaart.co.uk
This sounds like a very good plan and I shall look forward to your call.
In the meantime I wish you a lovely Monday eveneing and a good day at work tomorrow.
Kind regards
Sharon
From: Zoe Allen
To: sharon hibble
Sent: Monday, 18 June 2012, 19:56
Subject: RE: Council Tax 97 Hazell Avenue
Thank you Miss Hibble.
I will contact you Wednesday in order to try and resolve the issues.
Thank you for taking the time to come back to me.
Regards
Zoe Allen
Customer Care Manager
Property Management & Administration Centre
tel: 01206 715999
ddl:
fax: 01206 369375
e-mail: zoe.allen@spicerhaart.com
web: http://www.spicerhaart.co.uk
Hi Zoe,
Well it is now 13.20pm on Thursday 21st June 2012 (11.20 am UK) and to date I have not received the promised phone call as per the email below. I kept my phone with me all day yesterday and made sure that I was available for you so that we could resolve this issue. I can even appreciate that sometimes situations occur and you may have been been busy, however, an email to explain this would have been nice.
I really do not think you understand how serious this situation is and it is certainly very clear that you don't 'care' about myself as a customer.
I have given you and the company every opportunity to resolve this situation. I have this morning spoken to my legal support and have been advised to let the Council Tax non payment go to the Colchester Magistrates Court. I have also been advised to file the Small Claim Form. When the summons comes through I will book my flight from Turkey to the UK to attend the hearing for non payment of Council Tax which as per the tenants contract clearly states that Ms Short was responsible for the council tax payment from the 1st Aptil to 20th April 2012.
My legal advisor has also examined all email contact that I have had with the office and it is very clear that I was NOT asked permission for the property to be left empty, in fact the complete opposite from my side and by the agency making the decision to leave the property empty to carry out repairs that were caused by neglect from the previous tenants and NO emails or notification sent out to me to notify myself that during this period of time from the 21st April to the 6th May 2012 would I be responsible for the property, the agency have accepted liability and responsibility for the property during this given time. It has therefore been advised that Spicer Haart are deemed responsible for the April 2012 payment of Council Tax on 97 Hazell Avenue and will the re-claim back the subsiquent outstanding amount from Ms Elizabeth Short.
I have also been advised that this situation and the very poor and unprofessional manner in which this has been dealt with is strengthening my case at the small claims court and that I will now also be entitled to claim compensation for undue stress and incovenience caused by Spicer Haart and their employees.
I have been advised to give you to the end of today Thursday 21st June 2012 to resolve the council tax situation (payment in full for April 2012 made to the Council) and that of my original complaint to my complete satisfaction or we shall be seeing you in court for both the Council Tax and my original complaint.
Yours sincerley
Sharon Hibble
So true, poor, poor managers employed by Paul Smith. He appoints young, inexperienced managers to oversee experienced and valuable staff. The result is predictable, a high turnover in staff and this resulting in a poor service to vendors.
haart talk a good job but sadly, their Managers fail to deliver.
and what will change?? What point in having the ASA?? Zero, these boys just continue to do what they like.
and non agents, what has this got to do with you? go away we are not interested in your views trying to tell us, trust me we know, save your pingers on the key board.
*** ALLAGENT FEEDBACK ***
There are 100,s of them, very funny reading.
Services:
Sales (Prospective customer)
Experience:
Would you use the agent again? No
IP address:
JII.JBR.JVV.9IX
We used Haart to try and sell our property. We were bitterly disappointed with the level of service provided. What frustrated us the most were:
1) We had no offers in 16+ weeks of viewings
2) We did majority of the viewings especially on a Friday night
3) The majority of people turned up had no idea about the property, had no details
4) Non arranged viewings turned up
5) They have now requested after ending the 16 week contract that we pay them £150 + VAT for services
I completely reject point 5. I do not know how that can expect to charge me for such a poor service. I will go forward and recommend that Haart are never used by anyone.
It was never explained to us at the signing of the contract, I feel like this is a hidden fee in which they attempting to force us to pay.
*** ALLAGENT FEEDBACK ***
Branch:
15 Commercial Road ()
Services:
Sales (Prospective customer)
Experience:
Would you use the agent again? No
IP address:
SMT.S5M.UDZ.TND
When attempting to sell a property with Haart I asked what the fees were and the agent forgot to the mention the marketing fee!
The property was over valued and after the 16 week period we removed from the market only to recieve an invoice marked paid for the £180 marketing fee! They had kept my credit card details taken over the phone for an energy survey!
I questioned this with the nice lady from their customer services dept who said that she at least expected their customers to read the first page of the contract. The trouble is it is written to imply that that this would be charged if the agreement is terminated early, or at least that's how both myself and my wife read it. In fact it applys if the agreement is EVER terminated.
I have bought and sold many properties and would NEVER use Haart again and plan to take CC action against them. Interestingly I have in writing from Haart that they only charge this fee if they fail to sell the property. In effect a fine against the vendor for Haart's failings and something I'm sure the judge would like to see.
Thanks for your comments Chris! I have a friend who works for Haart and she did say that they are very "corporate". But speaking to a Lettings Manager of Haart, he was telling me how the day is stuctured etc I though "bloody hell, its like an indian call centre" they are turning Negotiators into robots!!! when I first started into this industry, I was attracted by the big names like Foxtons, KFH, and Haart etc....but having read and spoken to some of their staff, looks like I'm better off with a small/ medium independent!
I worked for Haart for all of 2-months and all I can say is "A really bad company to work for!!!"
Talk about micro-management.
They offerend me the job of manager of the Huntingdon branch so I serverd and worked out my notice for my previous firm. The day before I was due to start, I got a call from the area manager who told me that there was a slight change of plan and I would be the Assistant Manager of the Cambridge branch for a bit as the previous manager at Huntingdon had got his old job back! Nightmare, Cambridge was an extra 45-minutes drive each way too. I put up with Cambridge for a month and ran it while the manager was on his holidays, but unhappy, indicated that I would soon be leaving Haart.
The following week I was told that I would become the manager of St Ives branch as this was closer to my home. They just pulled the manager out of the St Ives office, demoted him to Assistant Manager of Cambridge without any warning. This was normal behaviour as most of the staff were being moved from one office to another each week to cover staff shortages, even though some had to rely on public transport and they got nothing from the company to cover their added costs.
As the branch manager, I felt I was just following strict guidlines and prevented from making any decissions of my own, despite over a decade of previous manager experience!!
One day, the area manager walked into my office without saying hello to me or anyone else. He pinned up three big sheets of paper on the back wall and threw a different coloured pen at each of my staff. He then told them to write on the sheet each time they booked a valuation, viewing & FS appointment and then just walked out!!! I couldn't believe what had just happened! If he needed stats, he should have just asked me, not impliment a system without discussing it with the office manager!!!
4-days later, my pay dropped into my bank account, so I posted my car keys and shop keys through the letter box and resigned!! Later they asked me for £400 towards a one day course that I had attended for them and that this was clearly mentioned in my contract! I sent them a copy of my contract that said Branch Manager Huntingdon and a business card that said Assistant Manager Cambridge Office! I said that they had been in breech of contract and if they wanted to take me to court for the £400, I was happy to stand before a judge. They never did reply.
Independent, no chance!!! I had much more independence working for WH-Brown and they were a nightmare I can tell you. Independence means being allowed to manage within a local market, responding to pressures and opportunities that present themselves, not being treated as a team leader following micro management orders from manages in another part of the country!!!
Here in Peterborough there is an estate agency called City & County. I think the original company set up in the 1980's and for years they have been describing themselves as "Peterborough's Longest Serving Estate Agent"!!
At the very end of 2008, however when things were tough for most, they found themselves locked into long leases on some expensive offices, so they called in the administrators. The very next week In January 2009, the owner of the business got his son to register City & County (UK) Ltd at Companies House and they promptly moved all their stock across the road into a much smaller & cheaper office. They kept the same telephone number, same boards and virtually the same logo, but just added the (UK) in small letters at the end!
3-years on, they still call themselves "Peterborough's longest serving estate agents", yet they are practically Peterborough's newest estate agents!! Clearly they want it all ways. They were once reported by another agent friend of mine and Trading Standards told them to stop using the phrase. They stopped for a couple of months and then started using it again and now in their front window, there is a huge 10-foot high sign stating this for all the world to see! Really sad.
Well, I'm based in the South East London region. What is considered to be a decent basic for Lettings Neg with 1 year experience? ...I'm on 10% at the moment, what % would you guys consider as good?
Most agents in my local area will claim that they look after their staff!....very hard to find out about their staff turnover....
Thanks for your comments guys...
Agency Insider
I totally agree. If we were to start reporting other agents for misleading advertising, the way they conduct their business etc we wouldn't have time to be far more successful than they are.
kc that's a tough one! Not sure I'm allowed to recommend so look for ones with low staff turnover, decent basic and min 10% commission. Good agents will invest in their staff and reward them, If you're worth it they'll pay it!
kc
What area?
Fun Boy and Haartless, you guys seemed quite experienced.
I am currently looking to look for a good company to work for...any recommendations?
I haven't worked for Spicy Faart, but have a couple of friends that do or have.
I know, shocking! An agent with friends...? Whatever next?
But one gets on really well there, the other absolutely hated it.
All the things that they are accused of appear to be commonplace as far as they tell me.
I don't like them much because they have nicked half of my branch name by calling themselves "Fine" but no doubt the court will sort that out for me in February.
All of a sudden Countrywide don't look so bad!
Fun Boy Agent very interesting post!!! I heard that Foxtons are worse!!!
'However, the ASA said that Darlows was owned and controlled by the SpicerHaart Group, and was one of a group of agencies operating under that umbrella'.
'Agency insider', I'm not quite sure what you don't understand? If Darlows WASN'T owned by the SpicerHaart group it would be independent!
There were 2 other complaints which you fail to mention, 3 in total that were all upheld. Now read the excuses.....
You say you're not an Estate Agent and from what you wrote I believe you; so I'm baffled as to why you would comment at all let alone attempt to tell us where we are all going wrong?
As a true 'agency insider' you would have been aware that haart are no stranger to ASA. Several complaints upheld in recent months and yet they persist.
As a former employee, Wardy & Fun Boy Agent you are spot on sir! I quickly moved on to bigger and better things but apparently haart haven't. Luckily I run my own agency now and no longer have to endure the shame of revealing this stain on my cv.
Agency Insider, I don't trust your inside knowledge. Mr Paul Smith and his close management entourage do not value, list or sell houses. They employ underpaid managers and underpaid youngsters to run their branches.
You know you are a Haart employee if:
You worked for Spicerhaart for 4 years and sat at more than 10 different desks in 5 different offices.
You've been in the same job for 4 years and have had 10 different managers (they all got sacked).
You order your business cards in "half orders" instead of whole boxes (just in case you are next).
When someone asks about what you do for a living, you can't explain it in one sentence.
You get really excited about a 2% pay raise.
You use acronyms in your sentences.
Your biggest loss from a system crash is that you lose your best jokes.
Your desk space smaller than your bedroom closet.
It's dark when you drive to and from work.
Fun is when issues are assigned to someone else.
The word "opportunity" makes you shiver in fear.
You see a good looking person and know it is a visitor.
Free food left over from meetings is your main staple.
Being sick is defined as can't walk or you're in the hospital.
Art involves a white board.
You're already late on the valuation you just got.
Your boss' favorite lines are "when you get a few minutes" or "when you're freed up".
You read this entire list, understood it and thought "Yes, that's me".
Spicerhaart advertising is full of unsubstantiated claims, not just the 3 issues highlighted today by EAT. They do this because they cannot compete on a level playing field of skills and knowledge. They have to cheat.
Agency Insider,
Take a look at the ASA website. The majority of agent complaints are against Spicer. These range from 'call me urgently' compliment slips to claims of having offices where they don’t. They are misleading and against the law. Agents being misleading is the single biggest problem our profession has a reputation for and I commend Mr Francis for not putting up with It. In fact I'd urge all agents to do likewise.
Well done Kelvin Francis! We have a similar problem in Mid Wales with a national company sending misleading letters to all our vendor clients every week - even after they have asked to be removed from their mailing list. They also send out misleading flyers, etc, etc.
At a NAEA meeting with the Chairman of the Ombudsman for Estate in Cardiff, he said they not do anything about it because that company was a member of RICS' scheme, and one of the owners was a major player on that committee. How is that for a level playing field.
ok so all agents with more than one branch are non-independent agents then ??? Doesnt make any sense. If Smithy and his dad own all the branches, all the shares and arent a corporate, surely they are an independant ? If having more than one branch makes owners a corporate / non independant agent then there must be some worried owners out there rapidly changing their marketing material. I am not an estate agent but it seems to me you all like to bash each other at the first opportunity which is probably why you give all of your profits to Rightmove instead of collectively binning them together and going on your own. United you stand, divided you fall. Its often the people that spend all of their time moaning about their competitors that fall by the wayside themselves. Just an observation but if spending your time pretending Spicerhaart are non-independant and moaning about it floats your boat then fill your boots. If however you are busy selling houses, thats better, isnt it ???
EAT ran this totally misleading story on Wednesday 5th Oct 2011.
Paul Smith, CEO, said: “We have a long history of innovation in the property industry and our new legal search pack is another example of the efforts we are going to as a business to add value for our customers.
“Not only have we created a one-stop solution that is more cost-effective than anything else in the market, but we are the first estate agent to offer a free search on a second property in the event that the sale of the first property falls through.”
They are not the first.........
And it is not more cost-effective.
It is, in fact, more Paul Smith nonsense
They will never stop unless they are made to.
Any true independent agency sharing a high street or territory with a Haart, Darlows, Spicer McColl or Felicity J Lord office will have experienced Spicerhaart aggression.
One lone stand by Kelvin Francis will not stop them.
I totally applaud Kelvin Francis for taking the time, making the effort and taking the risk in taking this bunch to task and winning.
From now on, any and all agents who find these parasites trying such tactics in their local market should take the Kelvin Francis lead and report the activity.
Eventually, and with enough bad press, they might (just might) stop.
The attitudes of the senior management in this firm is questionable at best, they need to be stopped.
agreed. Paul smith must be laughing his arse off at the ASA.
I would like to see compensation for all agents effected by these leaflets and a fine to boot. Maybe then they will think twice before misleading the public.
It is not Spicer Haart that should be blamed it is the inadequacy of the various 'watchdogs' that appear unable or unwilling to do anything about it. Every industry has a Spicer Haart type business that pushes the boundaries. We pay these people to keep our industry reputable and they fail at every hurdle.
About time too. They seem to have been making these thoroughly false claims for far too long. Maybe we might now have a more level playing field. Mind you, I suppose all they got was a very small smack on the wrist. From their point of view it was presumably, all very worthwhile whist it lasted.
Well done to Kelvin Francis for taking the time and trouble to challenge this.
Excellent.