I made an offer for a flat last year via David Astbury (DA). They told me in, writing, that pending work to the property had already all been sorted and funded. To cut a long story short, this prove to be untrue and there was still uncertainty about it- which ended up causing the deal to fall through after great expense on my side. After, I talked with the vendor- she explained the full story- how she had been unhappy with the deal from the start and had made an official complaint about the agent (the agent suddenly left her job after the offer) which of course was never relayed back to me. I will leave the vendor to leave her own review. Secondly, as you all well know- estate agents get commissions for referrals to solicitors and brokers. DA is the only agent I have heard of making it ‘compulsory’ for you to take advice from their ‘in-house financial advisor’- which in actual fact is just another external broker. I have since found out that agents can NOT oblige you to speak to their affiliated* brokers. I’ve been after them since to recoup my costs as the offer was made on false pretences. I have emailed one Aaron Cox, their CEO/partner for a response. They are supposed to give a written response within a given time frame but instead I got an offer for a ‘chat’ and have heard nothing since- they have been hiding from me since. They are not even following their own complaints procedures. I have now just reported them to the ombudsman and waiting their response. Lastly, DA are going to lose far more money due to reputational damage than if they had just engaged with my complaint, owned up to their fault and paid me back my conveyancing costs. Average house price in Islington is £650k. That would make £13k (2%) on each property sold. If just 5 people avoid DA due to my reviews- both online and word-of-mouth (I am an Islington resident) – then that is £65k they have lost. The fees I am trying to recoup are a fraction of this. Not only is their behaviour unethical, it is poorly-thought out bad business.
Claim your business profile now and gain access to all features and respond to customer reviews.
David Astburys is an independent London estate agent offering a personalised service to help with all of your property needs. Search properties in London now with David Astburys.
