Do you complain if your real estate agent is a jerk?

[BridalLace]

what level of service does the general public expect from real estate agents? if you're treated badly, do you bother complaining?

we have had 2 real estate agents in the past 3 years. we had a really good one when we bought our house. he was nice, he steered us to a really good neighborhood when we were uninformed & considering neighborhoods that were not so nice. he sent us holiday cards and jars of preserves at Christmas.

we didn't use him to sell our house, because we thought we couldn't afford him. we went with a 'discount' real estate company - and boy did we ever regret it.

our 2nd agent barely contacted us in the 3 months our house was on the market, or at least, until we got an offer. we were edging up on the 3 month deadline for selling our house (we could've gotten rid of her after 3 months, i think was the contract, if she hadn't sold our house by Oct. 15th, i think.) anyway, she didn't return our phone calls if we left messages. after we moved, she didn't always bother to tell us there had been showings. once when we were back at the house cleaning up after we'd moved, an agent showed up, without our prior knowledge, to show our house. it wasn't a biggie, and most of the subsequent showings, we were aware of, they left us courtesy calls.

after we finally got an offer and they accepted our 3rd counter-offer, that is when our agent started getting really nasty. she was condescending and rude. she would get us on the phone and one of the first things she'd say was 'are we going to close on this house or not?'

she scheduled the closing date and time for the closing without consulting us to see if those dates/times worked for us, and when we remarked that we had previous obligations that we had to work around, she brushed them off saying people got time off work all the time. when i again reiterated to her that i had other obligations, she told me that the closing contract was a LEGAL AGREEMENT (as if i didn't understand that, as if i was trying to flee the law) and what part of that didn't i understand?

i have never been treated this way by a relative stranger and am curious as to what other people who have had experience buying/selling their homes would think of this type of behavior. would you report it to the company you used? i will never give her a referral, never contact her or her company again to buy or sell another home, and i have seen websites online where you can complain about how your agent treated you as well. i don't really know if posting something that publicly, referring to her using her real name, is absolutely necessary. i don't think i am upset enough to resort to that! but i am wondering if, at the very least, i should contact her supervisors and discuss her treatment of us with them.

i know realtors have to be aggressive sometimes to get things done, but i don't appreciate being ordered around or someone implying that i might be dishonest, irresponsible, or even criminal, when all i expect is a minimum of courtesy. i certainly don't appreciate when my realtor doesn't act like the rest of my responsibilities have any importance.

is this par for the course - should i get over it, or should i complain?

thanks for your perspective,

Heather

[udsweetpea]

First, yes she is rude and unprofessional. Sounds like a desperate, low-producing agent who has already spent her commission check. I would contact the broker. Get out your contract and read the part concerning settlement. It should say something about the date being mutually agreeable on or around the settlement date on the contract.

Did you contact that first realtor you really liked? He probably could have given you a discount. I know I'd be peeved if I kept in contact with my clients and then find out they went with someone else because of price, which is always negotiable.

And, what really peeves me is when agents schedule closing, and especially the listing agent! The lender should do that since everything depends upon financing.

But anyway, call the broker at her office and complain. I would!

[lawyerlee]

but i am wondering if, at the very least, i should contact her supervisors and discuss her treatment of us with them.

Sounds like a good idea to me. At the least, it may be satisfying to know that you said something to the people in charge even if nothing comes of it.

[Daniel's Kitty]

Def complain. There are so many good agents out there. Is she a member of the National Association of Realtors? If nothing comes of your complaint to the broker you may want to try to complain to someone in either local or national realtors assoc. You hired her to work for you and she wasn't doing that.

She may be burnt out or she may have gotten into RE with dollar sign flashing not realizing that it is really hard work.

[thedoorchick]

I would complain, and I would keep heart that there are good agents out there. We've bought and sold nearly a dozen houses with our realtor. I wouldn't trade her for anything.

You are the customer and deserve some deference as such. Now, I don't buy that old adage that the customer is ALWAYS right, because some customers are just jerks, idiots, rude, or whatever, but being condescending and failing to make contact/return calls is just not OK.

[mamax2]

I definitely agree that you got a lemon of an agent. You can certainly complain BUT keep in mind that RE agents are independent contractors, NOT employees. If she hasn't violated any legal or ethical conditions, there's not a whole lot her Broker can do about it. It's just the nature of the beast. Still, don't let that be a deterrent, you should complain to the Broker and the regional VP (if there is one). If she is a consistent problem, they would probably want to know about it.

[hisdaffodil]

Sorry you got a crappy deal there. I've heard that a lot on discount brokerages (not just saying that because I'm not a discount one!), that they're like the Wal Mart of house-selling - cheap but so is the service you get.

I agree that if you'd talked to your first agent, they may hve been able to negotiate commission, but maybe not. some agencies do not allow their agents to discount commission, independent contractors or not!

But at this point, since you're almost done with her anyway. i'd definitely complain to her broker, and if you feel truly irritated and upset by her, I'd mention (after closing!!) that you will certainly not ever refer her to anyone you know. That's a pretty big chastisement to an agent as word of mouth is our best advertising! or in her case, the worst!

Hope the rest of the deal goes well, hon. The closing contracts here usually say "on or before" X date. So maybe you can schedule it a day or two earlier in order to better serve your needs. You may also be able to pre-sign when its convenient for you, then pick up your check after the buyer has signed off.

HTH and again, sorry you got a crappy agent.

[tinkerbelljenny]

We had a horrible real estate agent a few years ago. We never chose him but ended up with him after our original agent moved and he took over the deal, it was a land deal so we didn't think it would be a problem. However, the agent was a problem and a total jerk and he tried to rip us off so we sued him and the office he worked at (Coldwell Banker) and won and we basically destroyed his career. He also had to pay some of our costs. ;)
I am sorry you had to deal with that. For every good agent out there, there are 3 bad ones trying to get your business.