1/5
TrustpilotAppalling service from start to finish
Appalling service from start to finish. “Director” Stewart Fraser arrogant, unhelpful, unprofessional and extremely insulting following a catalogue of errors by his team which led to me changing estate agents. Unfortunately the Donald Ross brand within Ayr appears to have lost its reputation as a stalwart of the property business. I’ve listed below my concerns I put to Stewart the response to which unfortunately could have been written by Ricky Gervais from the Office. “I contact you to express my frustration regarding the poor level of service provided after asking Donald Ross to sell my property in Prestwick.My property was valued on Tuesday 7th November 2020. I was told at this time if I chose to sell through Donald Ross that home report and photographs would be completed and my property on the market by Thursday (9th) afternoon or Friday 10th "at the latest". It was the evening of the 15th before my property appeared on Rightmove.I was told during the viewing that the property opposite and very similar to mine sold for £110,000 and it would be expected my property would "sell for upwards" of this figure. Despite this I was offered £101,000 was being encouraged that this was a positive offer and matter of weeks later.There was no communication regarding viewers cancelling, four in total. I only found out about these viewers when i telephoned to enquire regarding the outcome.During one of the early viewings I discovered during discussion with person showing the property that he was unaware of an allocated parking space being attached to the property despite me making Donald Ross aware of this and it being listed on Rightmove. I listened in frustration to the person showing the property describe how he explained to the potential buyer how it would cost "£2000-£3000" to install a driveway. There's a allocated parking space literally yards from the area he was speaking about.I was told I had received a "written offer". My solicitor received no offer so we are unsure as to what Donald Ross considers a "written offer" as both my solicitor and the estate agent I have moved my property too are unable to understand or even hazard a guess as to why a "written offer" would not be passed on to my solicitor.My property was viewed again after the "written offer" had been submitted. Both my solicitor and the estate agent I have moved my property too have stated on no circumstances should this have been allowed to happen and that I should have be advised to this affect.I was told this viewing would take place on Saturday 15th January however when I called the office on Saturday evening there was no note of the visit.Between 13.55 on Tuesday 18th January and 14.00 on Wednesday 19th I attempted to telephone Ayr office on 8 separate occasions before getting through to be informed that there was no response to voicemail left for potential buyer to confirm offer. There was no option to leave voicemail as call would simply disconnect after a period of ringing. I can only imagine the personal looking to confirm or withdraw offer would have the same issue I had. I also wonder how many potential buyers looked else where when attempting to get through to book an appointment.Prior to getting through I telephoned the Kilmarnock office to confirm there wasn't an issue with the Ayr telephone lines. I was informed no and was told how busy the office was and how many properties they had "on" just now. To be frank this is not my problem as I am paying for service that simply has not being provided. Until the last 24 hours I had been willing to overlook the poor service however when the basics of not being able to get through via telephone is not being provided then its simply not good enough.I contact you to raise this complaint and request a refund of the monies paid given the service offered has not been provided. I was also ask if there is an independent body that regulates estate agents and what there contact details are?”I am yet to receive even an apology for the service and have taken my case to the ombudsman.Your response has highlighted your poor performance, lack of insight, reinforced your arrogance to the wider public, displayed there’s is not one apology, acknowledgement of fault / awareness that the customer experience has been extremely poor. I highlighted your name in my review as you are “director”. The only reason I did not post your responses was employee names were included, employees that although made errors were complete polite, respectful and understanding. I provided screenshots of calls I made that weren’t answered and the telephone recordings provided supported my account which unfortunately shows how inept you are. I’m delighted you have chosen to make public your response as it illustrates my point better than I could articulate
Agent replied · 12 June 2024
Thank you for taking the time to provide a review of your opinion of our service. We are sorry to hear you feel your experience was not that of the high standards we strive to exceed at Donald Ross Residential. We would like to address the following points.Customer Comments.“Appalling service from start to finish. “Director” Stewart Fraser arrogant, unhelpful, unprofessional and extremely insulting following a catalogue of errors by his team which led to me changing estate agents. Unfortunately the Donald Ross brand within Ayr appears to have lost its reputation as a stalwart of the property business. I’ve listed below my concerns I put to Stewart the response to which unfortunately could have been written by Ricky Gervais from the Office”.Donald Ross Response.The Donald Ross brand has not “lost its reputation as a stalwart of the property business”. Donald Ross Residential continues to provide outstanding customer service and satisfaction. We serve thousands of highly delighted clients each year and we are proud to have a Trustpilot rating of 4.7 out of 5 where over 95% of clients have described our service as GREAT or EXCELLENT . We are a multi award winning Estate Agency and rated within the top 5% of high performing Estate Agents within the UK and in 2021 we were winners of Best Estate Agents in Scotland and Best Professional Service Provider at Scotland’s Business Awards. We are not sure what you mean by the reference to Ricky Gervais from The Office but we would be delighted to be even half as successful as that character made that hit TV show. Customer Comments.“ Good afternoon, I contact you to express my frustration regarding the poor level of service provided after asking Donald Ross to sell my property 4 Nisbet Drive in Prestwick.My property was valued on Tuesday 7th November 2020. I was told at this time if I chose to sell through Donald Ross that home report and photographs would be completed and my property on the market by Thursday (9th) afternoon or Friday 10th "at the latest". It was the evening of the 15th before my property appeared on Rightmove.I was told during the viewing that the property opposite and very similar to mine sold for £110,000 and it would be expected my property would "sell for upwards" of this figure. Despite this I was offered £101,000 was being encouraged that this was a positive offer and matter of weeks later.Donald Ross Response.The property was actually valued on the 7th of December 2021. Our photographer attended the property on Thursday the 9th of December which was in line with our timescale, aiming to have the property on the market for Friday 10th of December. Unfortunately, due to events outwith our control during the covid pandemic the earliest an Independent Surveyor could attend the property to conduct the Home Report was Monday the 13th of December. We valued this property at £100,000, which was exactly what the survey valuation reported by Graham & Sibbald Surveyors. We explained we were able to achieve a sale price of £110,000 for a property very similar across the street and we would do everything to achieve such a fantastic price for your property. Albeit that property had a much newer bathroom suite and was in generally better condition.Customer Comments.There was no communication regarding viewers cancelling, four in total. I only found out about these viewers when i telephoned to enquire regarding the outcome.Donald Ross Response.When we conduct viewings on behalf of a client at a vacant property and there are multiple viewings on the same day we do not call a Vendor to let them know of every viewer who has decided not to attend. We feel it is best practice to pass on this information when we update our clients with viewers feedback. During this unprecedented busy time in the property market with so many Applicants booking viewings and some cancelling for numerous reasons, we feel this is the most efficient use of time. During the covid pandemic viewings are cancelled on a much more regular basis due to applicants testing positive and having to self isolate. Customer Comments.During one of the early viewings I discovered during discussion with person showing the property that he was unaware of an allocated parking space being attached to the property despite me making Donald Ross aware of this and it being listed on Rightmove. I listened in frustration to the person showing the property describe how he explained to the potential buyer how it would cost "£2000-£3000" to install a driveway. There's a allocated parking space literally yards from the area he was speaking about.Donald Ross Response.Our Agent was asked by a viewer if the chipped area beside the path belonged to the property as they wondered if they could develop this space into a driveway. All our telephone calls are recorded for training and monitoring purposes, after listening to the actual call, you advised our Agent that the “chipped part is mine”, having checked the title plan, We can see that this portion of ground does not belong to your property. There was no mention as to what creating a driveway might cost as suggested in your email (we provided this client a copy of the telephone recording and a copy of the title plan for evidence of this). Our Agent was aware there was a parking space included in the title of the property but diligently wanted to specify which car park as there is a car park across the street and also one to the right of the building. He also wanted to explain fully to the viewer exactly what car space belonged to your property.Customer Comments.I was told I had received a "written offer" from a Mrs *****. My solicitor received no offer so we are unsure as to what Donald Ross considers a "written offer" as both my solicitor and the estate agent I have moved my property too are unable to understand or even hazard a guess as to why a "written offer" would not be passed on to my solicitor.My property was viewed again after the "written offer" had been submitted. Both my solicitor and the estate agent I have moved my property too have stated on no circumstances should this have been allowed to happen and that I should have be advised to this affect.Donald Ross Response.We did advise you that we had received a written offer, but as the potential purchaser requested to see the property for a second time immediately after submitting the written offer, we would not be passing this offer to your solicitor as this condition of offer would have to be purified before we would process the offer and pass it to you and your solicitor. Meanwhile we continued to market the property and seek out other potential buyers. It is Donald Ross Residential’s policy that once a written offer is submitted and accepted the Purchasers cannot revisit the property until the legal missives are concluded, unless we are instructed differently by our Client.Customer Comments.I was told this viewing would take place on Saturday 15th January however when I called the office on Saturday evening there was no note of the visit.Donald Ross Response.Unfortunately the viewer could not make the viewing on the Saturday the 15th of January but they were able to attend the second viewing on Tuesday the 18th of January. Throughout this period the property was continuously marketed. Customer Comments.Between 13.55 on Tuesday 18th January and 14.00 on Wednesday 19th I attempted to telephone Ayr office on 8 separate occasions before getting through to be informed that there was no response to voicemail left for potential buyer to confirm offer. There was no option to leave voicemail as call would simply disconnect after a period of ringing. I can only imagine the personal looking to confirm or withdraw offer would have the same issue I had. I also wonder how many potential buyers looked else where when attempting to get through to book an appointment.Prior to eventually getting through I telephoned the Kilmarnock office to confirm there wasn't some sort of issue with the Ayr telephone lines. I was informed no and was told how busy the office was and how many properties they had "on" just now. To be brutally frank this is not my problem as I am paying for service that simply has not being provided. Until the last 24 hours I had been willing to overlook the poor service however when the absolute basics of not being able to get through via telephone is not being provided then its simply not good enough.Donald Ross Response.At Donald Ross we have three separate telephone numbers, one for each branch. However our incoming telephone calls are answerable in all our branches concurrently. When a client calls any of the telephone numbers, all of the phones within our three branches ring. We had the system specifically designed to have 18 available lines for inbound and outbound calling. At any one time we have 14 staff throughout our branches who could be on a call at the same time but with 18 lines there is no possibility that a call could go unanswered unless at that specific time all our advisors were on calls, but that is highly unlikely. At that time we had 14 members of staff in our offices with an additional four lines available. We have asked our telecoms engineer to look into that time to see if a call was not answered 8 times and why. Yes, we are handing a huge amount of inbound calls due to the current market but we have a specifically designed telecoms system and sufficient staff levels to ensure this sort of thing does not happen. But thank you for bringing this to our attention.Customer Comments.I contact you to raise this complaint and request a refund of the monies paid given the service offered has not been provided. The frustration of having to make additional mortgages payments on my property whilst this poor service has played out is unfair enough without paying a fee for a service that has not been provided. I was also ask if there is an independent body that regulates estate agents and what there contact details are?Donald Ross Response.The property was placed on the market on the 15th of December. We received an offer on the 12th of January which you were willing to accept. Within 28 days we produced an offer and given that so much of this time is taken up by the Christmas and New Year’s holidays we feel that we have performed extremely well. There has been no additional mortgage payments made during this period outwith the norm that are a result of your opinion of poor service.Customer Comments.I am yet to receive even an apology for the service and have taken my case to the ombudsman. Donald Ross Response.We are sorry that you feel your experience was not that of the same high standard as so many of our valued clients who recommend Donald Ross to family and friends have become accustomed to. We take all your comments on board and where there are lessons to be learned from this experience we will be sure to do so.We have provided this client the details of The Property Ombudsman and welcome any investigation into our service.
