Complaint Review: Foxtons

I feel that I have been bamboozled by Foxtons. It is amazing how similar my story is to Karen's from Laurence Harbor, NJ and others.

I contacted 1-800-Foxtons for some preliminary information regarding their service and listing as a seller. I spoke with Joseph Giuca who suggested that I have an agent come out and show us what they offer. Matt Wheeler the seller agent at the time sat down with us and boasted about the "Full Service 3%" that Foxtons offers and why they are much more successful than the traditional realtor at marketing and selling a home.

We told him that we would be ready to list in about 1 - 2 weeks since we needed to do some painting and preparation prior to selling. He said that we should not wait long as the market was doing well and he could get us sold rather quickly. Matt stated that our home was fine to list as is but we still decided to go on with our plans of painting and preparation.

About 1 week later, we received a call from Joseph Giuca stating that if we are to list we should do it quick but I told him that we weren't quite done with the house. Joseph said that we could sign the contract and get the ball rolling since the photography department was 1.5 - 2 weeks behind schedule.

Convinced, my wife and I listed our house with Foxtons on May 11, 2006. Prior to signing the contract, we made Matt Wheeler aware that the purchase of our new home would be contingent on the sale of this home and that we needed to market agressively as our newly constructed home would be ready by end of August 2006 in which he replied that with his 7 yrs experience and the market he rest assured that the property would sell quick.

As part of the marketing promises he stated that we would have maximum exposure, the property would be exclusively marketed by Foxtons which allows them to bring in many of there customers usually within the first two weeks would be the heaviest traffic. He also mentioned that we would get no less than 24 hours notice before a viewing. The first viewing was within 6 hrs of the notice. Not to mention that the house was not completed yet and still under maintenance so it was not at it's fullest viewing potential.

I attempted to call Matt about 1 week after signing the contract but the calls went unanswered. During one call attempt to Matt's phone number, I connected with Dan Colantuoni who apparently is the Regional Manager. Dan states that Matt was promoted and will no longer be our seller agent. I've heard 2 versions. One being that he was let go, the other version is that he found a better opportunity at another agency and left voluntarily. But that mystery is unimportant to me. Dan tells me that our new agent would be in contact with me within the next 2 days.

However, after 4 days of not receiving any calls, I called back and was given the name and number of the new seller agent assigned to us. I called the number of the new agent and left a voicemail requesting a return call. I must mention that I have never been successful at getting any Foxtons agent live.

A few days after my voicemail to the new agent I receive an introduction call. During this call I was told that I should consider and open house since I've had no activity on my home but that it would take about 3-4 weeks to setup. This was the one and only time I spoke with this agent. I called this agent 2 days before the open house ( which was a few weeks later) just to learn that he is no longer my seller agent either. Now this is ridiculous.

I am now told that I have a new seller agent which by now it is the 3rd agent in 5 weeks. I am now agitated that it was the 2nd time that my agent was changed and neither gave a courtesy call of advising me of the change. Now the 3rd agent which lives in my town of East Brunswick leaves a voicemail to introduce herself 2 days later. During this conversation she tells me that I should consider dropping my price by $10,000 since the neighboring property had lowered their price. Well, new to this game and hearing about the market I agree and authorize the price drop.

Till this day 2 weeks later, I have not met my new agent nor has she given me the common courtesy of coming to view my property in which she represents. I asked that she speak with me in the evening after 7:30pm when I get home from work but she says that she can't because she is unavailable then. She suggests that we speak during the day but I can't given that I am at work so she suggests that I communicate via email. I find that her unavailability to her customers interferes with our relationship and is not able to represent me.

Yesterday, not even 2 weeks later she is requesting that I drop my price again another $10,000 because the neighboring house again dropped the price. I disagree since I am competing with the market and not the neighboring house. Especially when there are plenty of other homes in my development priced much higher than mine. Foxtons strategy is to price high and then drop as you go along in hopes of a hit.

In my opinion this is a poor marketing strategy. I also had another Foxtons agent show up 20 minutes late for a viewing while the prospective buyers waited in my home. I did not hear any feedback from this buyer agent for 2 days so I called 1-800-Foxtons requesting that the agent call me back but did not receive a call. I got his number from another agent and called him myself requesting a call back but to no avail. The following day (4 days later) I contact his manager and request a call and within minutes he calls me back. His reason for not calling me was because he already spoke with the viewing customers but didn't want to follow up again in fear of scaring them away. Bottom line was that he could have called me just to tell me what their response to him was. Just a courtesy call, but that doesn't seem to be the forte at Foxtons according to my experience. My neighboring house is only priced 5k below mine but is in worse conditions and has had many viewers come to the door. I can't seem to get that.

My wife and I have been spreading the brochures that Foxtons sends us and posting them on public bulletin boards but have been heckled by some complete strangers because we are a Foxtons client. Talk about shooting down your confidence. I actually had a lady 3 days ago hand me back the brochure when she seen the Foxtons name on the brochure and said,"sorry, it's a shame your with Foxtons. Get rid of them first!!"

I have expressed my concerns to Foxtons and am ready to cancel my contract with them. When I mentioned it to Joseph Giuca he said that I most likely have no choice and if there were to be an option for release of contract it would be conditional. The ethical thing to do is release the contract unconditionally if you are not living up to your clients expectations.

What I find coincidental is that we have had only 3 people come through in the 2 months. Well, in the last week I've made two complaints and within 1-3 hours later of each complaint, I had Foxtons calling that they would like to show the property. I don't get this!! Once yes, but twice, hmmmm!! I noticed that someone else also posted the same comment which leads me to suspicion.

Lastly, I requested a phone meeting with Dan Colantuoni the Regional Manager to discuss the issues I've detailed yet he concentrated on suggesting the price reduction of $10,000 that my assigned seller agent suggested. I also mentioned to Dan that my home has not appeared in the monthly/quaterly property listing brochure that is distributed throughout NJ as promised by Matt Wheeler and one of his responses was that it was not intended as a marketing tool. The intentions of that magazine is for listings only.

When I questioned why my home was not listed in the magazine, he said that it depends on the home and the pictures taken. I noticed that no homes in my price range were listed in the magazine and he had no answer for that. He said that pictures need to be approved and that most properties that are listed in that magazine are mostly sold by the time they make it to print. At least 80% according to him.

I urge anyone out there to stay away from Foxtons since they are unprofessional, unethical and fail to represent their clients as a they claim they will. Where is the full service here???

I want out of my contract unconditionally immediately and will escalate this to the Senior Vice President of sales he in NJ or the US.

Jesus
East Brunswick, New Jersey
U.S.A.