Snellers Estate Agents
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Do not pay inflated fees for a sub-optimal service
I used Snellers (Twickenham) to sell my flat and I was really impressed by the sales pitch by Chelsea. Despite paying much higher fees than other agencies, I was assured that Snellers would produce an exemplary service by all agents. Within 1 week of being on the market, at a reduced price (by my own choosing) to what I was initially valued at, I was asked to reduce the price by Oliver. After 1 week! Hardly a committed salesman and it was clear that the smaller properties are very low down the list of priorities. I negotiated slightly lower fees than the initial (which were £2000 more than others) but these were still considerably higher than elsewhere. Unfortunately, I cannot say the process was exemplary and worth the additional fees. I did get a buyer but the communication with the buyer was poor ( and Snellers did little to support him with the process) and indeed many emails went unanswered between myself and Snellers. I had to chase persistently ( 3-4 times a week) and this poor communication resulted in a significant error by Snellers that created a one month delay to our proposed exchange date due to failure to deal with my request in a timely manner upon acceptance of the offer. Snellers continued to tell me we were working towards my proposed date but never acknowledged that they didn't change the memo as requested 3 times. I am pleased with Harry who came along in the final 6 weeks of a 5 month process and the service was much improved. Unfortunately, the errors were already in motion by then and could not be undone as the buyers solicitor was working off an entirely different timeframe, based upon the incorrect legal document provided by Snellers that was the source of all issues and this was proven in email threads. Unbeknown to me, this document was never changed and thus created stress and anxiety as well as financial loss when it needn't had, should they have done as requested or informed me otherwise. They would've saved me a lot of chasing had they been honest. Snellers did offer a small compensation after a formal complaint of 5% reduction (!)( less than half of my proposal which was more than fair) for their errors but there was still a reluctance to understand the full process and the frustrations from the first 3 months and the impact this had on the sale. They accept that they didn't handle my sale well though not enough to compensate properly and they dont deserve the full commission that I have had to pay. According to Snellers, reduced fees at the start meant that they still believed they had still created a positive service, as they wrote to me. Clearly, reduced fees results in a heavily compromised service. I would like to thank Harry for his work at the end, as he worked very hard, and for that I am grateful for, but I would be cautious of paying any inflated fees as the service is not superior. I previously let my flat with Dexters so do have comparable service levels. The service just doesnt match across the whole team. I had to chase far too much, as did my solicitor in 5 months for this to exchange and complete and Snellers had little urgency until Harry came along. I am pleased the process is over, as I am sure they are, but I wouldn't be going back and am disappointed by the pitiful resolution that was offered that came after completion. I did not pursue this further, as the process was exhausting dealing with the complaints and this is how these companies tend to win in the end with general fatigue from grumbling.