60 viewing requests, 19 viewings today – is it a record?

Reply to the comment left by "Matthew Turner" at "18/03/2015 - 10:40":

Hi Matthew

I have asked the Directors of LettingSupermarket.com to contact their representative local to your property to find out what is going on and then to come back here and post a response.
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Reply to the comment left by "Matthew Turner" at "18/03/2015 - 10:40":

Mr Turner,

I cannot help but feel a little disappointed that you feel you have not received a sufficient service. Please may we just recap the proceedings involved in letting your property.

1. You completed on the 25th February and we advertised the property after having taken photographs and a property description and had the property listed within 48 hours.
2. We conducted our first viewings on Sunday 1st March.
3. On the 2nd March we received 8 offers.
4. We discussed the offers with you on the 3rd of March and agreed on the most suitable candidates as they had lived in their previous rental for 7 years, both were in full time employment, and so we commenced the referencing process.
5. Due to a slow response from the employer we were delayed in finalising the references.
6. The husband had advised that he wanted to move into the property on the 15th March and initially was happy to proceed on his wife's recommendation. However, his wife wanted him to see the property and because of this they wished to change the move in date to the 1st April.
7. We promptly arranged a second viewing for the prospective tenants and after conversing with yourself we had agreed that we would attempt to negotiate an earlier move in date as a compromise.
8. The tenants wished to adjust the move in to 25th March which we agreed with them this morning and we have been trying to contact you all morning to confirm this so we can send out the relevant documentation today.

I do not see how this is providing you with an inferior service and the fact the tenants current landlord lives above a kebab shop I hardly feel is a reason for any bad feelings towards the tenants.

I do not understand the “bungling of the marketing” either if you received 8 rent offers, surely this is quite the opposite. A successful advert, a lot of viewings and the property rented to tenants who have successfully passed referencing despite an unavoidable delay which is not uncommon when dealing with employers.

I would also like to point out that we submitted all the documentation for the tenants to move in on Sunday 15th but we are unable to force someone to move into a property.

I do not believe a high street agent would have offered a superior service to what you have received.

We have remained in constant communication with yourself and therefore you have been kept up to date on the progress and just because circumstances have arisen outside of our control pushing your tenants move in date back by 10 days I hardly feel that this is justification for you to provide negative feedback.

Regards
Tony

Reply to the comment left by "Matthew Turner" at "18/03/2015 - 10:40":

Matthew

Just as a matter of interest, why did you choose to post your comment on Property118 as opposed to calling or emailing LettingSupermarket.com?

From what I have read of Tony's response I cannot see how anybody could have expected anything more. How many agents work on a Sunday?

How many agents manage to get so many block viewings within a matter of days?

How many agents get 8 offers for you to choose from on the day after initial viewings have occurred?

A void period of a month or so from completing a purchase is actually very good. Most decent tenants have to give a months notice to their landlords anyway.

If it had have been the a case of the property already being owned and the existing tenant having given notice then, of course, the agent could commence immediate marketing and with a cooperative tenant even start doing viewings. However, it seems that was not the case here, hence a void period is inevitable. Where a property doesn't already belong to somebody I can't see how an agent can commence marketing it until after the completion date.

Sadly, this doesn't bode well for a good relationship. Perhaps you and Tony ought to have a discussion (offline please) about tenant find only in this instance. If I were the agent at LettingSupermarket/.com I probably wouldn't be too keen to continue working with you after this rough start.

The above are my personal views as founder of Property118.com and must not be construed as the official stance of LettingSupermarket.com to which I act as a Consultant and non-exec Director.
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Reply to the comment left by "Mark Alexander" at "18/03/2015 - 14:27":

Thanks for this, and look, I am sorry that recounting my experience has bought out a touch of defensiveness. A good few things in Tony's account aren't correct, but I suspect now know why, and this might answer your question above, Mark. I got a call from him earlier explaining that he might have been ringing someone else in error! Hey we all make mistakes and this is a mistake I can empathise with! So maybe this is down to getting a better notepad and pen.

I wasn't questioning the speed to the first viewing slot but what happened next - i was never presented with 8 viable offers, and the fact remains that because Tony was hundreds of miles from where the viewings took place, he didn't correctly pass on who had seen the flat to me, which has led to the situation described above, and a let starting much later than i know I could achieve on this property.

None of this is fundamentally disastrous for lettingssupermarket, I am sure this is something that can be ironed out with better systems and so on. Feedback, not only praise, leads to progress and I wish you all the best pushing the boundaries of the lettings market.

I should say of course thank you for such a great site, and the opportunity to allow this little conversation. Of course, by choosing to promote on the internet in a forum style also means people can voice negative as well as positive comments - taking the rough with the smooth is what makes a forum well followed and respected. So well done for taking this bit of rough! Given this I would have hoped there are no bad feelings, though from what you say Mark, it sounds like you don't think so, I think that is a dreadful pity. However, that is for me and Tony to sort out, as you say, offline!

Reply to the comment left by "Matthew Turner" at "18/03/2015 - 18:26":

Hi Matthew

I hope you can sort things out offline, I'm not aware of any bad feeling from Tony, I was just saying that I'd have been a bot peeved if I was him and you had chosen to communicate via forum as opposed to in person.

I totally agree that we must all take the rough with the smooth and I do hope that both you and LettingSupermarket.com will grow as a result of this forthright and open exchange of views, perceptions and sincere feelings. I'm looking forward to the day when you come back to say that you are now letting all of your properties through them and despite a few initial hiccups that you couldn't be more impressed 😀
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Matthew 26:52 "Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him, "for all who draw the sword will die by the sword."

Follow up article here >>> http://www.property118.com/referencing-viewings-everyones-winner/73263/
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