An ongoing complaint, it would appear...
Sorry, it's a long one, but I need to get this off my chest.

I am currently in the process of moving house. Moving into the new house has been comparatively hassle-free. Unfortunately, the estate agents in charge of my current place have spent the last week or so fucking me right off.

It began on Wednesday. Now as I understand it, if you want to bring people round to see the property, you're supposed to give 24 hours' notice. I received a phonecall around lunchtime from someone asking whether she could show some people round that evening.

It wasn't 24 hours' notice, but we seemed to be on good terms with them at the time, so I agreed. In the end they turned up half an hour late, and in the meantime I got another text from them saying they will be coming to see the property at 8. 8? Was this a typo in an advance warning that they would be late? Apparently not. I looked out the window just after 8 and saw a group waiting to be let in. So that's one viewing at just 6 hours' notice, and another one at an hour's notice. Unimpressed Crow is Unimpressed. Unimpressed Crow tells the guy showing these people round that he wants a word.

Before I could collar the guy, a third group rocked up outside the house. We were never even told about this lot. Angry Crow is Angry. Angry Crow explains that this really is not on, and these people may as well see the place since they're here, but in future a day's notice would be appreciated. Message delivered, Crow went back to packing in something of a huff.

Then, as soon as the last group were out of the house, the agent muttered a hasty "thankyougoodbye" to my housemates and scarpered. I then received a text message - a fucking text message - to say "My sincere apologies, I will let my team know." The fucking coward wouldn't even apologise to my face.

13 minutes later, I received another message from the same slimy git to ask could they do a viewing tomorrow evening? Sincere apologies, my quivering arse.

This alone, I feel, would have been enough to prompt a complaint letter. Unfortunately, the guy obviously didn't get the message as I then received a text on Friday night - do these people ever go home? He wanted to do a viewing the following morning. I refused outright, and so he texted again to ask if he could do the viewing at lunchtime instead.

Great, so you've already marched three groups through my home without appropriate notice, and now you're harassing me on a Friday night. Livid Crow is Livid, to say the least. Time to put a foot down on this. I wrote back to explain that he could not do the viewing, that we would not consent to any more viewings without appropriate notice and that a stiff letter would be sent to his company.

Response to that one? I can't say for sure, but I think after I refused, he went bleating to our landlord. He phoned me on the Saturday, oblivious to the events of the last week, and I explained why I was being so difficult. He said that was fair enough, and volunteered to call them himself to tell them to stop harassing us like this.

I honestly thought that had got the message across, as we received two days' notice for the next viewing. I wrote an irate letter and posted it, as I still felt the need to flag up this behaviour formally, but I thought things would run more smoothly from hereon in.

Oh, how wrong I was. One of them wants a viewing tonight. Obviously his colleague didn't pass the message on. The letter was only posted yesterday, so they probably won't have received it yet, but after I replied to reiterate our position, he wrote back to say that he "appreciate[s] where [I'm] coming from," but that we need to start being more "helpful with the letting process." Give me strength...
(LongJohnBaldry, Tue 7 Sep 2010, 13:31, 10 replies)

Explain that they need to follow procedures.
Then don't pay rent in protest (odds are that they'll keep your deposit anyway, so just donot pay them the last month or two rent. Write to the landlord to explain why).
( disasterprone "Pyjamas caused the Holocaust", Tue 7 Sep 2010, 13:33, closed)

Unfortunately we vacate at the end of next week and the last months' rent has gone
A hard copy of the stinking letter has, however, been posted to the landlord. He's not been impressed with them either as they didn't tell him we were moving out.
(LongJohnBaldry, Tue 7 Sep 2010, 13:35, closed)

24 hour notice
Firstly check the wording in your lease. Normally there is a clause that states about viewing and timings. Often it allows access 24 hour notice but it can be different. If you have already looked into this apologies. Secondly make sure you interally lock the door whenever in as I know agents can wander in without knowing you are in there.

In there defence people often turn up and want to look around without waiting.
(lordofallhesurveys How appropriate you fight like a cow, Tue 7 Sep 2010, 13:41, closed)

^this
As a student I came back to the flat to find the letting agent taking a shit in our toilet whilst he waited for some viewers (which we'd not been informed about) to turn up. He was kicked out and the viewers were refused access.
( sm.pl.crt.rs I don't fucking know, do I?, Tue 7 Sep 2010, 15:11, closed)

Unless I'm getting the wrong end of the stick here
Don't you want to sell the place? Why complain about so many viewings, regardless of the notice?
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Tue 7 Sep 2010, 13:48, closed)

Not selling, we were renting

(LongJohnBaldry, Tue 7 Sep 2010, 13:51, closed)

ah. I see.

( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Tue 7 Sep 2010, 13:59, closed)

I had a similar problem...
...back in my student days (early 80s). 6 of us shared a house and we were all revising for finals. The landlord sent one prospective group of new tenants round, and we showed them the place in good grace. Then another group arrived the next day, and another the next, and so on. Sometimes two or three groups came in an evening but the lazy landlord never bothered coming himself. We soon started to let the groups fend for themselves and after a while we stopped answering the door altogether. Any excuse for a break from revision is welcome but finals were approaching fast and we (well I, anyway) had to catch up for three years of doing sod all.

We got a bollocking from the landlord but didn't care. Exams are exams. Perhaps if we hadn't been interrupted so often I'd have got a First.

Then again, perhaps not.
(eesnahk, Tue 7 Sep 2010, 15:09, closed)

Refuse to pay rent due to breach of contract
That'll ruffle their feathers like they ruffled Crow's ;-)
(The Oscillating Gibbon is eating curried squid, Wed 8 Sep 2010, 17:32, closed)

Sadly we've already paid the last month's rent.
So the only thing we can do is barricade ourselves into the house and refuse to let them in to see it. On which note, I'm off to buy some nails and bits of crooked wood...
(LongJohnBaldry, Thu 9 Sep 2010, 10:23, closed)