Mr Andrew Weir
Area Director, Foxtons
Willesden Green Sales
2-6 Station Parade, London NW2 4NH
Dear Mr Weir
Thank you for your fourth letter in as many weeks which plopped on my mat this morning. In your most recent unsolicited communication you encourage me to sell my home for free. I understand that I should "seize my chance". You assert that "there is no catch" despite your offer sounding "too good to be true". Yet something is holding me back.
Ah, that's it: I'm not a homeowner. While the prospect of selling a property that doesn't belong to me tickles me greatly, it is also illegal, as a certain Mr Anthony Lee found out to his cost recently. A five year jail term does not appeal. More than that, however, and how shall I put this...I am getting mighty cheesed off with the incessant stream of paper (posted locally from Andover, I note) clogging up my hallway.
I believe I am not the only person to have such sentiments. I understand that the Willesden Green office has been in operation for three weeks now, and already you are making your mark on the community. Alas, I suspect the local reaction will be one of intense irritation at being bombarded with ceaseless junk mail rather than ecstasy at the too-good-to-be-true-ness of the promised offer.
Incidentally, you boast of your "cafe-style" office. Why on earth do you expect this would be of benefit to anyone? If I have to deal with an estate agent there are certain criteria I look for: (1) ability to get things done efficiently with minimal screwing me around, (2) that's it. To think that either as a landlord/seller or buyer/tenant that my fees or rent would be increased by the fact that my estate agent wants to install some sort of fung shui in the office leaves me cold, to be honest. Offer me a cup of tea if you like - a common courtesy to a client in any form of business - but I couldn't give two hoots what your office looks like.
Mr Weir, you are probably younger than me and may not have worked for Foxtons four years ago when BBC's Whistleblower exposed your company's vile, scurrilous, low-life business practices for what they really are. I have not forgotten the programme. If you don't know what I am talking about, then take a look at this article. It is not for the faint hearted (also anyone in the process of buying a property through Foxtons should read it with a health warning attached).
In fact, on reflection, perhaps you are an experienced estate agent, as you were giving quotes to national newspapers in January 2008. While your manager will doubtless have praised you for showing such public confidence in the market at the time, it doesn't say a great deal for your credentials: 11 months after you confidently gave the opinion that "I don't think we will see house price falls...I just see no reason for it", the Halifax reported that house prices were down a record 16.2% year-on-year. Oh dear.
Yours ever
Eoghan
PS. In case I forgot to mention, or in case the message didn't come across, pretty please, with sugar on top, never ever write to me again. xx
you clearly have far too much time on your hands, please go get a job and shut up! At least they are providing new jobs in a climate of job losses!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm not the only person who is pissed off with these letters from Foxtons. I had the exact same letter yesterday, along with the numerous others prior to that, and I am also not a homeowner. Here is my tweet from yesterday http://twitter.com/man_d/status/28915562507
ReplyDeleteI also emailed Foxtons to ask how to get myself removed from their mailing list, I'll let you know what response I get, if any.
Update! I received an email from an Amanda Bizarro (Amanda.Bizarro@foxtons.co.uk, T: 020 7893 6348) yesterday to say my address has been removed from the mailing list.
ReplyDeleteNo apology for all the unsolicited mail though..
Power to the people! It's about time Companies realised that if they piss off their client or other people they interact with, there CAN be consequences! Glad to see your review and actually wondering why Foxtons have done nothing to remedy the situation?
ReplyDeleteMy girlfriend and I decided to use Foxtons in Willesden Green to rent out our flat. Their fees were much higher than everyone else's but we were told by their rep, Michael, that this was because they attracted a better and safer kind of tennant. Our flat has two bedrooms, a lounge and a larger hallway. We were told it would be marketed to a professional couple which was a relief as we were nervous about this as it was the first home we had bought and wanted it looked after.
ReplyDeleteTwo weeks later we had an offer. It turned out though, that Foxtons had been showing groups of three people round and telling then they they could use the hall as a lounge and make the lounge into a third bedroom.
The offer was from three students.
We said that we were uncomfortable with this as we didn't want students renting our flat and not taking care or pride in it.
We were told that their references were excellent so we nervously accepted. We agreed with Foxtons that we would manage the flat ourselves and not spend extra on a service agreement as we were only moving about a mile away to Queens Park.
Today, barely 8 weeks later I bumped into my old neighbour who was less than happy as the tennants had been very noisy, had a party and had also been smoking in the flat. It was made clear to the tennants verbally and in the contract that smoking was not allowed.
Obviously I was very angry at hearing this and called Foxtons at Willesden Green.
I was told that as we don't have a service agreement with them there was nothing they would do about it.
I now have to get rid of the tennants myself (even though Foxtons drew up the contract) and am told I will still be charged for their service.
I have NEVER dealt with a company that are so dishonest. They have lied from day one and walked away from a problem they created.
I know this is not going to get my money back but if I can stop just one person using these liars then it's worth typing this.
Please people... DO NOT USE FOXTONS WILLESDEN GREEN!!!!