Never trust Winkworth Estate agents (Winkworth)

Member Name: Bertie

Product:	Winkworth
Date:	08/02/08 (152 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None

Disadvantages: Rude and poor service and blatantly trying to screw us over

My partner and I recieved extremely poor service when purchasing my our first flat through Winkworth Willesden Green, London.
As you can imagine, buying a flat is stressful at the best of times but especially when it is you first home that you are purchasing.
The day after we first viewed the property, we placed an offer and it was accepted at £5000 under the asking price. I specifically asked the agent that now the offer had been accepted that the flat would no longer be viewed and advertised. He agreed but when I contacted the office 5 days later to ask for confirmation of this, the agent said he had been away and that the message had not been passed on to the other agents. Therefore the flat had been viewed and the asking price had been met by other buyers. I understand that nothing was legally binding in our conversation, however, there is a 'gentleman's agreement' that was obviously not honoured by Winkworth agents. When I complained, I was told there was nothing that could be done and there was a lack of sympathy at our predicament. My mortgage advisor was in contact with Winkworth at this stage regarding our offer and at one stage during a phone conversation, in which there was a discussion over my partner and I's finances, my mortgage advisor stated that we would have a 10% deposit ready by completion, to which the agent and the manager at Winkworth Willedsden Green replied that it sounded 'dodgy'. I was extremely distressed by this comment but chose not to take it any further as I was stressed with securing the flat. My partner and I were so upset by this stage that we seriously considered not purchasing the flat from WInkworth, even though the flat was well within our budget. We eventually came to the decision that we wanted the flat and met the asking price.
After this time, I contacted the agent at Winkworth on a number of occasions with queries regarding the survey etc. he failed to call me back on a number of occasions and at some stages, my mortgage advisor, even though it was not his job, was trying to contact Winkworth to get things moving.
The final straw was at completion. My partner I had had been ready to complete for a while when I received a phone call from the agent on a Friday lunchtime, saying that if our deposit was not put into our solicitor's bank account by end of business today that someone in the chain would pull out and we would lose our flat. I was very upset by this and had to leave my workplace at lunchtime to deposit the money. The agent stated that it was not my fault and that Winkworth would reimburse me with the £25 cost for transferring the deposit. I was unable to return to work that afternoon, which as a teacher, caused many problems with my school.
After exchange, I contacted the agent 4 times regarding the transfer money that he promised would be reimbursed. He never replied until I finally got through to him at the office and he said that he would contact the relevant departments and 'see what he could do'. I waited over a week for a reply and when I contacted him again, was told he had sent me an email, stating that he had asked his manager's and said that 'even though I know I promised I would reimburse the money I was told I can't'. I then told the agent that I was extremely upset by the service I had received and I would definitely not be recommending Winkworth for selling or purchasing a property to a number of my friends, currently trying to get onto the property ladder. The agent replied 'That's fine' which I found extremely rude and unsympathetic.
I understand that £25 is not a lot of money but it purely the principal where after all the bad service we received, at least one thing was promised to make the situation a bit better.
I understand that real estate agents, in general, do not have a good reputation and unfortunately, nothing has been done to better it.
I did not recieve a reply from anyone at Winkworth which was typical. I will never have anything to to with Winkworth estate agents again.

Summary: Bad bad bad!