Wooster and Stock - bad experience

[chrism]

I wanted to let everyone know about the appalling experience I had with Wooster and Stock this week.

Mr Wooster himself came over to value our house and was not only aggressive but personally rude to me in a way that left me quite shocked. I've never been insulted in that way in my own house. I did call them up immediately after to complain but I wanted to share this with everyone in case they are thinking of contacting them.

[mosy]

You don't say what their reply was to your complaining to them? Perhaps Mr Wooster had got out of bed the wrong side that day...

Happened to me (different company) once and although I thought my house was saleable I could feel myself cringing at his withering looks so he hardly filled me with confidence that he was going to "push" it. On the upside, I did pull my socks up and upgrade a few things, like on TV shows. To be honest it's impossible to know if spending the extra money made that much difference as the market was very flat at the time.

Hopefully it's picking up now, so good luck.

[Eagle]

Chris

Please give more details so we can judge.

[JMLF]

Unfortunately that sounds very similar to a colleague of mine who had an experience of the ilk a few weeks ago.
Without wanting to speak on her behalf but sounded like they were very rude/insulting to their home presentation and layout etc, a bit high and mighty and generally made her feel a bit rubbish/pissed off.

[owlwise]

How awful that you experienced that in your own home.

[Kirkdalian]

How strange, I also had Mr Wooster around recently and it was all very normal and friendly. I thought that he gave me a much more realistic valuation than I had from Pedder as well. Who do people actually recommend then?

[alywin]

So, you thought Pedder were over-valuing?

[Annie.]

We found Robinson - Jacksons were good, we had three valuations from various estate agents, but felt R-J were the most realistic they gave a middle figure out of the three,and although it went beyond that it was probably a good place to start.

[Eagle]

I think to make allegations against this gentleman , without outlining what the problem was is not right.

The Gent should be given the opportunity to refute such allegations , if they had any idea what they are.

After all , his professional integrity is being questioned.

[Kirkdalian]

Thanks Annie, we'll try them next.

Alywin, yes over-valued. Looking at another similar-sized place they valued for similar, it has been on rightmove for ages now. A friend who is looking in the area at the moment also says that they are the worst for over-valuing (after foxtons). I do think they do the best photos though.

[JMLF]

Not quite the same but when looking for places previously I found streets ahead in CP the friendliest and most helpful, eaton green were good to me too. Acorn and foxtons I was not enamoured with really. All others were alrightish.

[robbieduncan]

Thanks Annie, we'll try them next.

Alywin, yes over-valued. Looking at another similar-sized place they valued for similar, it has been on rightmove for ages now. A friend who is looking in the area at the moment also says that they are the worst for over-valuing (after foxtons). I do think they do the best photos though.

Foxtons "overvalued" my flat in E3 when I sold it. Apart from the fact they sold it for close to the overvalued price. I got over 30k more than a very similar flat with another agent made a month before. The other agent might have been considered realistic but in actual fact clearly undervalued or simply did not have the same skills or clients as Foxtons.

[Annie.]

If a property is over valued it won't sell.

We did get more than the original valuation, but thought the valuation was a good place to start from, we were fortunate that three couples and a single person were putting in offers.
and believe it or not, we didn't take the highest price because that was offered by a single person and we wanted a couple with children to have it.

[Rachael]

If a property is over valued it won't sell.

We did get more than the original valuation, but thought the valuation was a good place to start from, we were fortunate that three couples and a single person were putting in offers.
and believe it or not, we didn't take the highest price because that was offered by a single person and we wanted a couple with children to have it.

That's nice to hear, Annie. We were on the receiving end of the same generosity when we bought our house. Our oldest was just two at the time. The couple selling it had raised their family here and had turned down several offers from people who wanted to develop it into flats. They accepted our top offer, which was considerably lower than the asking price, because they wanted us to have it to raise our family in. It's something we'll never forget.

[Annie.]

We also raised our children in the house we sold, in fact we had the house for 40 years, and wanted it to remain a family home.

I'm so pleased the same happened for you.

[leenewham]

We sold our flat in brockley and kept with the buyer despite people knocking on our door offering us more money. The buyer pulled out as they hadn't organised a mortgage! We stayed with the next buyer too who messed us around for 6 months coating us a fortune in lawyers fees and using the situation to get our fridge, washing machine and others goods included, which cost us a few grand to replace.

When we were looking at sydenham we were outbid a few times, always to developers. One buyer upped their asking price after accepting after we paid for a full survey. We only just managed to get a place due to Mann who were brilliant. While this was all going on we also got married.

Buying and selling property is horrible, most estate agents were rubbish (aside from Mann and another that is longer in Sydenham) and not like real human beings. I only wish there were more like Annie as I expect our experience is more the norm than Rachels. Most people think like Ronnie when selling which pushes up prices. It's normal and it's natural to want to get as much for something you are selling (I'm not having a go at you Ronnie, I admit I'd do the same now), because that's the way the market works. Prices will go up if the debt us easy to get. If you can't afford it the price will go down. Simple. The house I live in is essentially, in mortgage terms, the price I paid for my first flat. Price increases mean nothing unless you are trying to get on the property ladder. But that first rung is now a long, long way from the floor.

[leenewham]

We sold our flat in brockley and kept with the buyer despite people knocking on our door offering us more money. The buyer pulled out as they hadn't organised a mortgage! We stayed with the next buyer too who messed us around for 6 months coating us a fortune in lawyers fees and using the situation to get our fridge, washing machine and others goods included, which cost us a few grand to replace.

When we were looking at sydenham we were outbid a few times, always to developers. One buyer upped their asking price after accepting after we paid for a full survey. We only just managed to get a place due to Mann who were brilliant. While this was all going on we also got married.

Buying and selling property is horrible, most estate agents were rubbish (aside from Mann and another that is longer in Sydenham) and not like real human beings. I only wish there were more like Annie as I expect our experience is more the norm than Rachels. Most people think like Ronnie when selling which pushes up prices. It's normal and it's natural to want to get as much for something you are selling (I'm not having a go at you Ronnie, I admit I'd do the same now), because that's the way the market works. Prices will go up if the debt us easy to get. If you can't afford it the price will go down. Simple. The house I live in is essentially, in mortgage terms, the price I paid for my first flat. Price increases mean nothing unless you are trying to get on the property ladder. But that first rung is now a long, long way from the floor.

[Annie.]

A house we offered the full asking price on fell through, despite the fact the owners were going on six weeks holiday would we wait? We said no problem, we spent £3000 at least on renting while waiting for them to return only to be told they had "changed their mind" so we looked elsewhere, four weeks later the agent rang and asked if we were still interested? But at £20.000 more! We said no, not because the price had gone up but because they tried to screw us, instead we found the house we are in now, I love it! Much nicer than the other house, so the did us a favour although it didn't feel like it at the time. It all happens for a reason!

[wen]

Thanks Annie, we'll try them next.

Alywin, yes over-valued. Looking at another similar-sized place they valued for similar, it has been on rightmove for ages now. A friend who is looking in the area at the moment also says that they are the worst for over-valuing (after foxtons). I do think they do the best photos though.

Just something to mention since I went through them when flat hunting - any place that was overvalued via pedder did eventually get a price decrease on zoopla/right move due to lack of interest/offers after a month or less. Obviously that was last year pre help to buy madness!

What really annoyed me is that pedder would not put the under offer sign on the website until a surveyor has been in and you then chase them to change it. But on the plus side, they would not let you visit any flat/house with existing offers, regardless of their online status. 2 flats down my road currently have the sold signs up, but website doesn't show under offer, so wonder what's going on.

They also forced me to go through their mortgage check people to see if I had a mortgage in principle already and general questions re % deposit, job, having enough funds to cover stamp duty etc. Slightly annoying for a buyer, and initially told them i already had a mortgage advisor, but was told this was more of a comfort check for the seller to know how serious the buyer is when they receive an offer.

[Eagle]

I am still concerned that Mr W has been accused of being very rude without any clarification or chance for him to defend himself


Everyone since Chris's first assume they know the reason he was rude , although chris themselves has refused to clarify the situation.

I am very surprised that any agent would be rude , especially to a potential seller as houses being sold are far too few and no doubt every estate agent would welcome new clients with open arms.