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Re: Swift Advances repossession
Hi Nellie
Yes I’ve just spoken to the estate agent. He was really helpful. I explained why I was calling and asked him if he could confirm that they charged Swift £6,873.75 for selling the house. He laughed and said "I wish." He couldn't tell me what the exact amount was but said it was less than half the amount i quoted. He said it was probably 1% + vat. That would make their charge about £3,300.
I then phoned Swift. I asked Steve (who has dealt with this throughout) if he could tell me if the charge for the estate agent on my completion statement was solely for the estate agent and nothing else. He confirmed it was.
The conversation then went something like this....
Could you confirm the name of the estate agent you used.
John Shepherd
And the £6,873.75 went to the estate agent in it's entirety?"
Yes
So why did the estate agent just tell me their charge was less than half the £6,873 you charged me?
Oh right, well the charge included Aventrias costs
But you just told me the entire cost was the estate agents bill
Yes sorry i may have accidentally mislead you. We employed Aventria to sell the property and they charge a fixed rate of 2%. The estate agents costs come out of the 2%
But even if I accept that, the estate agents bill was about £3,300, what maintenance did Aventria do to earn over £3000?
Things like mowing the lawn
They didn’t mow the lawns. When my neighbours got sick of the sight of the long grass they started mowing the front and I’m told the new owners spent half a day hacking through the back garden because it hadn't been cut for months
Well i don’t know about that
Okay, could you tell me what some of these other costs are for, it's not clear
Look, that completion statement was drawn up by solicitors, if you wont believe solicitors i don’t know who you'll believe.
They were drawn up by your own in house solicitors and what's more they were simply quoting your own charges. Could you tell me the names of the three estate agents you used to get the valuations. (He named them) Okay, could you tell me which one charged the valuation fee you've quoted
None of them, that charge its for a Rics valuation carried out by Tyser Greenwood
But you told me weeks ago that you get three valuations from local estate agents and choose what you consider to be the most realistic one.
I don’t recall that, If you can tell me the time and date I said that I’ll look it up, we record all our phone calls.
At that point I realised I was wasting my time. I asked him about some of the other charges as well but he took so long searching for them I told him not to bother and I will send a subject access request. I've spoken to this man a few times and while most of the people at Swift have been helpful and sympathetic he constantly tries to defend the indefensible. I imagine a very small man who weighs 6 stone wet who loves the power he has while never having to face the people who he treats with contempt.
I cant wait to see the report if it lists everything and assuming they send it.
Simon
Hi Nellie
Yes I’ve just spoken to the estate agent. He was really helpful. I explained why I was calling and asked him if he could confirm that they charged Swift £6,873.75 for selling the house. He laughed and said "I wish." He couldn't tell me what the exact amount was but said it was less than half the amount i quoted. He said it was probably 1% + vat. That would make their charge about £3,300.
I then phoned Swift. I asked Steve (who has dealt with this throughout) if he could tell me if the charge for the estate agent on my completion statement was solely for the estate agent and nothing else. He confirmed it was.
The conversation then went something like this....
Could you confirm the name of the estate agent you used.
John Shepherd
And the £6,873.75 went to the estate agent in it's entirety?"
Yes
So why did the estate agent just tell me their charge was less than half the £6,873 you charged me?
Oh right, well the charge included Aventrias costs
But you just told me the entire cost was the estate agents bill
Yes sorry i may have accidentally mislead you. We employed Aventria to sell the property and they charge a fixed rate of 2%. The estate agents costs come out of the 2%
But even if I accept that, the estate agents bill was about £3,300, what maintenance did Aventria do to earn over £3000?
Things like mowing the lawn
They didn’t mow the lawns. When my neighbours got sick of the sight of the long grass they started mowing the front and I’m told the new owners spent half a day hacking through the back garden because it hadn't been cut for months
Well i don’t know about that
Okay, could you tell me what some of these other costs are for, it's not clear
Look, that completion statement was drawn up by solicitors, if you wont believe solicitors i don’t know who you'll believe.
They were drawn up by your own in house solicitors and what's more they were simply quoting your own charges. Could you tell me the names of the three estate agents you used to get the valuations. (He named them) Okay, could you tell me which one charged the valuation fee you've quoted
None of them, that charge its for a Rics valuation carried out by Tyser Greenwood
But you told me weeks ago that you get three valuations from local estate agents and choose what you consider to be the most realistic one.
I don’t recall that, If you can tell me the time and date I said that I’ll look it up, we record all our phone calls.
At that point I realised I was wasting my time. I asked him about some of the other charges as well but he took so long searching for them I told him not to bother and I will send a subject access request. I've spoken to this man a few times and while most of the people at Swift have been helpful and sympathetic he constantly tries to defend the indefensible. I imagine a very small man who weighs 6 stone wet who loves the power he has while never having to face the people who he treats with contempt.
I cant wait to see the report if it lists everything and assuming they send it.
Simon
.....you can do better than most yourself 
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