Renting Experience with Foxtons

Okay, so it's 3 pages long on Microsoft Word, but I have written this post in hope that it will be informative to the other people; I am aware that some people have more-than-satisfactory experience with Foxtons, and this incident alone cannot condemn the entire organisation. But this is what happened to my sister.

My sister works home-based, her home is her office and the internet and the telephone are the tools for the trade. She explained this fully to Foxtons, informing how important it was for her that the property she moves in is fully equipped with telephone line ready for activation. When she found the property, the Foxtons negotiator "swore" that the property had a phone structure. Before signing the contract, she requested a written confirmation on the phone line aspect. The negotiator pointed out how the contract was written as if the line was definitely there (i.e. "The tenant must not change the telephone service provider", etc.), and promised her that the line was there. She told him that she still would like a written confirmation. The negotiator told her: "Leave it to me, that can be arranged. But you need to sign the contract and pay the money before noon. Otherwise the property might be gone by tonight".

After she signed the contract and paid the money, it was revealed that the phone line did not exist; no cables behind the wall, the telephone socket was there to make the wall look pretty! She asked Foxtons to release her from the contract, but they told her "Once you have signed it, you must honour(!) the contract." They assured her the phone will be connected before she moves in.

Next problem; after the move-in date was agreed, the release of the keys was delayed and delayed. It reached to the point that she had 5 days left before her previous tenancy expired. She called every day to make sure that she will obtain the keys at least 3 days before her vacate date. The negotiator assured that she will.The day before her move-out day, at 4pm, the negotiator rang and told her "Bad news, you need to wait three more days for the keys". She told the negotiator she already had booked the Van and Men the next day, and professional cleaners the day after. We had already packed and all her belongings were in boxes. Then the negotiator made the most unbelievable suggestion of the decade: "I have a solution for you; why don't you hire a storage space, there are a few that I can think of, Safestore Self Storage, Access Self Storage... to put your stuff in. And you can stay at a hotel for a few nights."

She thought the negotiator was joking. Unfortunately, he was serious.

It turned out that the gas safety test was not conducted, and for Health and Safety reasons, she could not move in. In the end, Foxtons allowed her to move her belongings into the property, but she had to find a place to stay. She has two cats and my building does not allow animals. I told her nobody would find out, but she chose to stay in her then-empty old apartment with her cats. She slept on bare floor and worked using a cardboard box as her desk for three days. Once she moved in, all hell broke loose. The property was not registered with the council, the porter service the negotiator described was non-existent, the landlord refused to equip the property with telephone structure saying "it was up to the tenant". Then my sister tried to obtain a written permission to drill a hole through the wall for the BT to run their cable. This simple written confirmation took forever. She tried to work with a plug-in internet stick, but the speed and the connectivity was not good enough for constant usage. She stayed up all night to work (as the connection was slightly better after the midnight), she was exhausted - until she got suspended from work for not being able to provide timely service.

When she rang Foxtons to ask about the progress on the phone line installation, she told them what had happened, sobbing. The property management team came up with yet another brilliant suggestion: "Why don't you go to an internet cafe and work from there? Or go to your friend’s place and use their computer?" She was outraged; clearly they did not take her profession seriously. No idiot goes to an internet cafe to make £50k transaction. She told me, "My work is not some school children's coursework that needs finishing".It took a month for the line to be installed. Strangely, Foxtons piped up to take the credit by saying "there you go, we connected the phone for you," when in fact it was my sister and the landlord who discussed it and had it done. Still, my sister had to pay for the wiring work. 

More of Foxtons' dishonesty, rudeness and general sloppiness ensued, and I can go on and on... but I'll stop here. After we made some persistent noise, they gave her back the commission she paid (which covered for approximately 2 days worth revenues she had lost during her 3 and a half weeks suspension). The most irritating trait Foxtons have displayed is the way they apologise; "We are sorry that you are unsatisfied with our service." They have not once apologised for making mistakes or for their poor performances. We have reported this incident to The Property Ombudsman, and an investigation is currently taking place. However, the investigation is being hindered by the fact that the negotiator who dealt with her case has legged it - he left the company and became out of touch. Foxtons is refusing to contact their ex-negotiator saying they "feel it would be an inappropriate thing to do". My sister was especially devastated by this, as the negotiator had originally told her that he "would stick around to make sure that her problems will be resolved" telling her that he "felt partially (??) responsible" and was "really sorry". She had believed in his sincerity, and even defended him saying "He probably did not mean to misinform, he was probably just too busy and made mistakes of cutting corners."

I personally have no sympathy towards this man. Mr. A, wherever you are, you made her life miserable. She cried every night during her suspension from work. 

If anyone is interested, I will report the outcome once we hear from TPO.We both feel we cannot trust any estate agents after what had happened with Foxtons, and feel very anxious about moving. Throughout her ordeal, many people had been very sympathetic towards my sister, but they all had the same comment for her; BT engineer who installed her phone cable, her old estate agent, council member who registered the property, all said: "I am very sorry for the situation you are in, but that's what happens when you use Foxtons."My sister says her mistake was not researching the company before choosing to use their service, and taking their showy office and well-dressed negotiators as the indication for service quality.

So there we go - I hope this post will help people in making decisions on whether to use or avoid Foxtons in future.