Visitors to the site are reminded that the details contained within user comments are uncorroborated and as such should not be read as fact but as the opinion of the person who left the comment.
Comments:
This is a review of the estate agent part of the company.
I have been interested in a property on the books of Poole Townsend, PT, and required more details about it. Obtaining information from the estate agents is harder than getting blood from a stone in my experience. A request was sent off with some simple questions and it took over 2 weeks to get anything back, and then the questions weren't all answered.
Later when checking the details about when it was marketed, I found that what PT said differed to what information I found out from Rightmove (from an estate agent friend who has access to see more details than the normal public). PT said the property had been on the market for 6 months before it was reduced to its current price, which it has stayed at and continually on the market. From my friend, it can be seen that the initial price was only for 1 month before it was reduced. Also, it was taken off Rightmove at odd periods and put back on. PT said it had always been on the market and it was due to moving offices why it appeared to be removed from Rightmove. What changing offices had to do with a totally separate website I am at a loss to answer.
When an offer was put in it took over a week for an answer, no quick call or e-mail to indicate that the vendor was still making a decision from PT which would be normal practice just to keep me updated. Each time I did chase later on PT always said they were just about to ring me. What a coincidence, every time!
The offer was turned down and there was no proper feedback by PT as to thoughts from the vendor, just a not accepting. From previous experiences with estate agents, I have always had better feedback with reasons. Estate agents are supposed to be doing the hard work and finding out all about both sides and trying to help the sale go through, this is what they are paid to do, well supposedly.
PT are totally unhelpful and it is easy to see where the stories about estate agents come from.
This isn't the case for Hopper's in Yorkshire who has provided lots of details about properties they have, answered all questions, been pro-active and professional. They are a credit to estate agents and I would recommend them totally, unlike PT who I wouldn't touch with a barge pole.
This is solely a review of the financial advice and customer support.
The financial advice is laughable, anyone who has 30 minutes, an internet connection and the ability to type in www.moneysupermarket.com will have as much knowledge of the best deals, specifically mortgages than Poole Townsend can offer.
I made the mistake of being forgiving of their lack of knowledge when dealing with offset mortgages. I wish I just arranged everything myself - it would have been quicker and less stressful. At one point during the meeting, I had to help the agent with their software application as they could not find Intelligent Finance in their list of mortgage suppliers.
After they stumbled through the process and my mortgage was finally set up, I received a letter explaining they were getting more than they should have from my mortgage arrangement fee and asked me to sign a form giving them permission to take this extra money. I questioned this as I didn't really know why they needed my permission to get this extra money. I left my details and asked them to call me back and just explain what was going on. Rather than doing this, I was sent a bill for the Financial Advice which accused me of preventing Poole Townsend from acquiring the commission they felt they deserved. From then on they refused to take my phone calls. All I wanted was an answer to what I believed to be a reasonable question however they snubbed me.
I would hate to get involved in anything really serious if this is the level of customer service you receive when asking questions.
Its a shame as the financial agent was friendly and I could forgive the initial getting-up-to-speed as we got there in the end, but the arrogance from the customer services representative is unforgivable.
I will not be using this company again for any financial advice and I will probably not bother with their Legal or Property departments either. The Poole Townsend brand has been sullied. I would strongly advise prospective clients to look elsewhere!
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Visitors to the site are reminded that the details contained within user comments are uncorroborated and as such should not be read as fact but as the opinion of the person who left the comment.
Comments:
I have been interested in a property on the books of Poole Townsend, PT, and required more details about it. Obtaining information from the estate agents is harder than getting blood from a stone in my experience. A request was sent off with some simple questions and it took over 2 weeks to get anything back, and then the questions weren't all answered.
Later when checking the details about when it was marketed, I found that what PT said differed to what information I found out from Rightmove (from an estate agent friend who has access to see more details than the normal public). PT said the property had been on the market for 6 months before it was reduced to its current price, which it has stayed at and continually on the market. From my friend, it can be seen that the initial price was only for 1 month before it was reduced. Also, it was taken off Rightmove at odd periods and put back on. PT said it had always been on the market and it was due to moving offices why it appeared to be removed from Rightmove. What changing offices had to do with a totally separate website I am at a loss to answer.
When an offer was put in it took over a week for an answer, no quick call or e-mail to indicate that the vendor was still making a decision from PT which would be normal practice just to keep me updated. Each time I did chase later on PT always said they were just about to ring me. What a coincidence, every time!
The offer was turned down and there was no proper feedback by PT as to thoughts from the vendor, just a not accepting. From previous experiences with estate agents, I have always had better feedback with reasons. Estate agents are supposed to be doing the hard work and finding out all about both sides and trying to help the sale go through, this is what they are paid to do, well supposedly.
PT are totally unhelpful and it is easy to see where the stories about estate agents come from.
This isn't the case for Hopper's in Yorkshire who has provided lots of details about properties they have, answered all questions, been pro-active and professional. They are a credit to estate agents and I would recommend them totally, unlike PT who I wouldn't touch with a barge pole.
The financial advice is laughable, anyone who has 30 minutes, an internet connection and the ability to type in www.moneysupermarket.com will have as much knowledge of the best deals, specifically mortgages than Poole Townsend can offer.
I made the mistake of being forgiving of their lack of knowledge when dealing with offset mortgages. I wish I just arranged everything myself - it would have been quicker and less stressful. At one point during the meeting, I had to help the agent with their software application as they could not find Intelligent Finance in their list of mortgage suppliers.
After they stumbled through the process and my mortgage was finally set up, I received a letter explaining they were getting more than they should have from my mortgage arrangement fee and asked me to sign a form giving them permission to take this extra money. I questioned this as I didn't really know why they needed my permission to get this extra money. I left my details and asked them to call me back and just explain what was going on. Rather than doing this, I was sent a bill for the Financial Advice which accused me of preventing Poole Townsend from acquiring the commission they felt they deserved. From then on they refused to take my phone calls. All I wanted was an answer to what I believed to be a reasonable question however they snubbed me.
I would hate to get involved in anything really serious if this is the level of customer service you receive when asking questions.
Its a shame as the financial agent was friendly and I could forgive the initial getting-up-to-speed as we got there in the end, but the arrogance from the customer services representative is unforgivable.
I will not be using this company again for any financial advice and I will probably not bother with their Legal or Property departments either. The Poole Townsend brand has been sullied. I would strongly advise prospective clients to look elsewhere!
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