The complaint

Aaron* chose an online estate agent to help sell his home, but struggled to access the online system or communicate with the agent whilst the marketing and sales process was underway, despite contacting the agent several times. He brought his dispute to The Property Ombudsman (TPO) to review.

Aaron thought he’d have full access to the agents’ online system so that he could see an overview of the sale process, including details about the asking price. Frustration grew as Aaron attempted to communicate with the agent, who refused to speak to Aaron.

The agent stated that their system showed only one point of contact, and Aaron was not named. The dispute continued for several months, with Aaron even providing proof of ownership. In total, he experienced ten months of being kept out of the loop, receiving no updates about the marketing or sale of his property.

The difficulty in this case was that Aaron’s ex-partner was named on the system, with the agent claiming she was the only point of contact.

The investigation

Investigation into the dispute showed that both owners were registered on the online system, with Aaron’s ex-partner shown as the lead contact. The agent acknowledged this and admitted the proof of ownership document had been uploaded to the system, but no further action had been taken.

The agent stated that both Aaron’s and his ex-partner’s details were available on the system, but that the staff had failed to view Aaron’s details, which were on a different tab.

Evidence showed numerous failed call transfers, ignored requests for calls back and conversations with various staff members, none of whom provided helpful assistance.

The outcome

Adjudication found that the agent’s actions caused considerable aggravation and distress for Aaron over an extended period. The agent acknowledged some of their failures in their final viewpoint letter, offering a goodwill gesture of £50.

It was noted that the agent ignored all of Aaron’s attempts to be included in communication about the property, and there was no evidence to support that his ex-partner had been given sole control over the property sale.

The complaint was supported by the Ombudsman, and £250 was awarded to Aaron for the shortcomings in service.

In this case, the main lesson learnt is to keep sellers updated with the marketing strategy and sale of the property throughout the process and provide a service consistent with fairness, integrity and best practice.

*Names changed to protect anonymity.