40% sales valuation accuracy
60% sales fee satisfaction
100% lettings valuation accuracy
33% lettings fee satisfaction
Oct 21,2017
Oct 21,2017
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
We instructed Acorn to market our flat in June. Laura was very helpful to complete the advert promptly, which looked very professional.
We were informed that Acorn already had several potential buyers ready to view the flat, so were very hopeful. We timed the sale of the flat with a holiday we had booked, to enable the estate agents complete access at any time of the day. However, in the 3 weeks we were away, we had minimal communication from them, and it transpired we only had approximately 4 viewings.
We were very disappointed, but understood that this could just be a slow period.
Over the next couple of months, we had several viewings, but no offers. We were then asked to drop the price by £15k which we agreed to as we were informed the 'market was changing'. We then received our first offer which was a further £25k lower than our reduced price. We politely declined, but were pressured by Andrew and the team to accept quickly. We were reluctant to accept, as we had reliably been informed of a suitable price from several other agents. Instead, my wife was regularly pressured and backed into a corner, to the point that I asked for all communication to come through myself. The buyer eventually raised his offer to £5k lower than our reduced price, as he was supposedly a 'hot buyer' ready to move asap with no complications.
Both Ricky and Andrew blatantly encouraged us to just accept the offer, and begin our own search for an onward purchase, with the belief that we could just pull out at any time if another buyer came with a better offer. Both my wife and I were astonished at the suggestion, and I promptly rejected the idea on professional and moral grounds. I was concerned that the buyer would be paying for searches and surveys under false pretences. It was clear that Acorn wished to string us along as their 3 month instruction was coming to an end and they had only found one buyer after 20 viewings.
We regularly consulted our mortgage broker to ensure this offer could facilitate our next purchase, and we accepted after careful consideration. It was at this point that we began searching for our onward purchase, and were then informed that our buyer needed to remortgage his property. I questioned this, as we were led to believe his position was completely different. Instead, we were informed there is nothing to worry about, and it would be sorted in a weeks' time. We were understandably concerned and chased this up. Approximately a week later, Jack had confirmed that the remortgage was complete with no issues, and the buyer was patiently waiting for us to find our purchase.
We called Acorn at least once weekly to ensure that the buyer was happy and all relevant people were kept informed of our progress. We eventually found our dream house, and promptly informed Acorn. This was on the basis that our buyer was ready to move, and we could therefore make a quick purchase too. Again, several other members of the Acorn team confirmed that the buyer's remortgage was complete and he had moved into his parent's property, ready and waiting for us.
After completing our survey, and some searches and instructing our solicitors, things had progressed quite far. Suddenly, completely out of the blue, Jack then calls us to say there had been problems with our buyers remortgage and he was going to be a further £60k short of funds. We were understandably shocked and confused as we were regularly informed by most of the Acorn team that the remortgage was sorted months ago. Unfortunately, the buyer could not find another mortgage lender to facilitate the purchase of our flat so had to pull out. In turn, this meant that we lost our dream house and our vendors subsequent purchase was in jeopardy.
We asked Jack to visit us rather than give excuses over the phone. He did, which we very much appreciated. However, it transpired that Acorn's financial advisor had massively overvalued the buyer's property, and they intentionally told him not to remortgage until we had found our onward purchase. The blatant lies, and guesswork from Acorn ultimately risked everyone's property purchases, which is unforgivable. They were very reluctant to accept any responsibility or give any apologies. The underhand practices of stringing people along with poor communication and lies should probably have been obvious to us when Ricky himself suggested accepting the offer with the intention of pulling out further down the line, but we naively trusted them.
Jack repeatedly assured us for several weeks that there were no issues with the buyer. All we asked for was honesty and some integrity. I tried to inform Jack that the loss of our dream house has much wider implications, such as starting a new family, and planning to visit relatives abroad as well as changing careers. All these were planned on the basis that we would move early next year, but we are now in limbo, desperately trying to sell in possibly the worst season for property just before Christmas.
Disappointingly, whilst Jack clearly tried to excuse himself from any wrongdoing, he was never supported or backed by Ricky. We heard or saw nothing from Ricky which is surprising from a branch manager when a complaint is raised.
We were informed that Acorn already had several potential buyers ready to view the flat, so were very hopeful. We timed the sale of the flat with a holiday we had booked, to enable the estate agents complete access at any time of the day. However, in the 3 weeks we were away, we had minimal communication from them, and it transpired we only had approximately 4 viewings.
We were very disappointed, but understood that this could just be a slow period.
Over the next couple of months, we had several viewings, but no offers. We were then asked to drop the price by £15k which we agreed to as we were informed the 'market was changing'. We then received our first offer which was a further £25k lower than our reduced price. We politely declined, but were pressured by Andrew and the team to accept quickly. We were reluctant to accept, as we had reliably been informed of a suitable price from several other agents. Instead, my wife was regularly pressured and backed into a corner, to the point that I asked for all communication to come through myself. The buyer eventually raised his offer to £5k lower than our reduced price, as he was supposedly a 'hot buyer' ready to move asap with no complications.
Both Ricky and Andrew blatantly encouraged us to just accept the offer, and begin our own search for an onward purchase, with the belief that we could just pull out at any time if another buyer came with a better offer. Both my wife and I were astonished at the suggestion, and I promptly rejected the idea on professional and moral grounds. I was concerned that the buyer would be paying for searches and surveys under false pretences. It was clear that Acorn wished to string us along as their 3 month instruction was coming to an end and they had only found one buyer after 20 viewings.
We regularly consulted our mortgage broker to ensure this offer could facilitate our next purchase, and we accepted after careful consideration. It was at this point that we began searching for our onward purchase, and were then informed that our buyer needed to remortgage his property. I questioned this, as we were led to believe his position was completely different. Instead, we were informed there is nothing to worry about, and it would be sorted in a weeks' time. We were understandably concerned and chased this up. Approximately a week later, Jack had confirmed that the remortgage was complete with no issues, and the buyer was patiently waiting for us to find our purchase.
We called Acorn at least once weekly to ensure that the buyer was happy and all relevant people were kept informed of our progress. We eventually found our dream house, and promptly informed Acorn. This was on the basis that our buyer was ready to move, and we could therefore make a quick purchase too. Again, several other members of the Acorn team confirmed that the buyer's remortgage was complete and he had moved into his parent's property, ready and waiting for us.
After completing our survey, and some searches and instructing our solicitors, things had progressed quite far. Suddenly, completely out of the blue, Jack then calls us to say there had been problems with our buyers remortgage and he was going to be a further £60k short of funds. We were understandably shocked and confused as we were regularly informed by most of the Acorn team that the remortgage was sorted months ago. Unfortunately, the buyer could not find another mortgage lender to facilitate the purchase of our flat so had to pull out. In turn, this meant that we lost our dream house and our vendors subsequent purchase was in jeopardy.
We asked Jack to visit us rather than give excuses over the phone. He did, which we very much appreciated. However, it transpired that Acorn's financial advisor had massively overvalued the buyer's property, and they intentionally told him not to remortgage until we had found our onward purchase. The blatant lies, and guesswork from Acorn ultimately risked everyone's property purchases, which is unforgivable. They were very reluctant to accept any responsibility or give any apologies. The underhand practices of stringing people along with poor communication and lies should probably have been obvious to us when Ricky himself suggested accepting the offer with the intention of pulling out further down the line, but we naively trusted them.
Jack repeatedly assured us for several weeks that there were no issues with the buyer. All we asked for was honesty and some integrity. I tried to inform Jack that the loss of our dream house has much wider implications, such as starting a new family, and planning to visit relatives abroad as well as changing careers. All these were planned on the basis that we would move early next year, but we are now in limbo, desperately trying to sell in possibly the worst season for property just before Christmas.
Disappointingly, whilst Jack clearly tried to excuse himself from any wrongdoing, he was never supported or backed by Ricky. We heard or saw nothing from Ricky which is surprising from a branch manager when a complaint is raised.
Comment on agent fees
Average
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Oct 23, 2017
Dear Ian, I am very sorry to hear about your recent experience with our Crystal Palace office. I would like to investigate this internally and wondered if you could let me have the property address in question please? Thanks. Andrew Roberts - Customer Relations Manager
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Latest Reviews
21st Jun 2020
reviewed by 'Melissa'
6th Dec 2017
reviewed by 'Amita'
14th Nov 2017
reviewed by 'AZ'
6th Nov 2017
reviewed by 'Andrea'
21st Oct 2017
reviewed by 'Ian'
Opening Hours
Address
Acorn Group Estate Agents
29 Westow Street
Crystal Palace,London
Greater London
SE19 3RW
020 8768 0000
Performance statistics
| Services | Valuation Accuracy | Fees Satisfaction | Min Price of property reviewed | Max Price of property reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales | 40% | 60% | £80,750 | £545,000 |
| Lettings | 100% | 33% | £0 | £0 |
Review statistics
| From Landlords | From Tenants | From Vendors | From Buyers | Other | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Areas covered
Services offered
- Sales
- Lettings
- Block Management
- Surveys
- Conveyancing
- Mortgage Advice
- Home Builder
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Latest Properties
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Oct 21,2021
Oct 21,2021
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
We encountered nothing but stress and incompetency from the team in Crystal Palace from start to finish. They were not transparent and were not interested at all in acting in our best interests . As soon as our offer was accepted they withdrew all assistance and ...
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Jun 21,2020
Jun 21,2020
4
people found
this helpful
this helpful
The only good thing I can say about Acorn is that we are no longer letting our flat through them. FAIL ONE: Their very aggressive letting agent offered to discount our first month set-up fee from £360 to £199 but they charged us £360 regardless. The letting office ...
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Dec 06,2017
Dec 06,2017
0
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Really impressed with the friendly and honest service. Jack and Andrew pushed hard to get our sale through and we are very grateful.
THANK YOU....
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Comment on agent fees
Good.
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Yes
Nov 14,2017
Nov 14,2017
0
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Ricky the Branch Manager said he could sell our property within 7 days at full asking price and we saw he sold a couple in our neighbourhood in the previous weeks so decided to opt for Acorn. Within 7 days we received a somewhat fraught phone call ...
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Comment on agent fees
Took house off market to let instead
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Nov 15, 2017
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(1)
Hi "AZ", I am sorry to hear about this and would really like to investigate the issue further. Would you be able either call me on 020 83156922 or email me at [email protected] with the property address please? Thanks. Andrew Roberts - Customer Relations Manager ...
Nov 06,2017
Nov 06,2017
0
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Aidan has been fantastic, stuck to his word and delivered to his promise. Very happy with Acorn and Aidan! I am sure they will deliver equally well during the tenancy....
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Comment on agent fees
a bit steep, but they delivered
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Yes
Nov 07, 2017
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(1)
Thanks for the review Andrea and glad you were happy with the service received. Andrew Roberts - Customer Relations Manager ...
Oct 21,2017
Oct 21,2017
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
We instructed Acorn to market our flat in June. Laura was very helpful to complete the advert promptly, which looked very professional.
We were informed that Acorn already had several potential buyers ready to view the flat, so were very hopeful. We timed the sale ...
read full review
read full review
Comment on agent fees
Average
Was this helpful?
Yes
Yes
Oct 23, 2017
View all comments
(1)
Dear Ian, I am very sorry to hear about your recent experience with our Crystal Palace office. I would like to investigate this internally and wondered if you could let me have the property address in question please? Thanks. Andrew Roberts - Customer Relations Manager ...
Mar 30,2017
Mar 30,2017
0
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Dear Belinda.
Having you head our sale meant the difference. Good team work. Today, we finally exchanged, over 4 tortuous months after acceptance of offer. You kept your cool, constantly communicating with all parties and keeping us in the know. This is gave us comfort and ...
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Comment on agent fees
Well worth it.
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Yes
Aug 31,2016
Aug 31,2016
8
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Absolutely fantastic at getting back to you ASAP to move you in and take your money. Non-existent after that. Endless emails and calls to try and get issues with the flat sorted and nothing all back from them. The conditions of us moving in were ...
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What agent could do to change your mind?
Bad, overpriced. Professional cleaning fee for 2 people who took an entire day to mop a floor!Attached Filesnbsp;
Comment on agent fees
Bad, overpriced. Professional cleaning fee for 2 people who took an entire day to mop a floor!
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Yes
Feb 05,2014
Feb 05,2014
57
people found
this helpful
this helpful
They rented me a property without hot water, central heating and when the electricity went off I moved out.
I used the property as storage while they tried to sort.
After 4 months of living with my SO I moved out (I freelance and there was ...
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What agent could do to change your mind?
See was nice and offered my fees back. But ultimately had no power and should never have letted the property unfinished.Attached Filesnbsp;
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May 31,2011
May 31,2011
7
people found
this helpful
this helpful
We had nothing but problems from the start with Acorn. The girls at the local branch were fine, but any dealings with head office such as when the fridge broke down took weeks of us contacting them again and again to try and resolve the ...
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Feb 08,2011
Feb 08,2011
5
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Utterly incompetent with an attitude problem to boot. Uncontactable when you need them to do anything other than take money from you....
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Mar 02, 2011
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(1)
Hello, I am sorry hear that about our staff. We are very well know for our friendly approchable staff, so I am surprised to hear this. Please give me a call on 020 8378 1211 to discuss the matter further. Given that we let over 250 properties a month and manage over 2000 properties, complaints are a rarity, however any type of complaint is taken seriously and I would like the opportunity to discuss these with any of the people on this site. Kind regards, Paul Deveney, Director - The Acorn ...
Aug 03,2010
Aug 03,2010
7
people found
this helpful
this helpful
I'm currently renting my flat with Acorn, thank god it's coming to the end of the lease, I can't wait to leave them as they've been horrendous. I'd never recommend Acorn to anyone else, the service has been beyond terrible....
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Jan 07, 2011
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(1)
They have a VERY fast staff turnover, use people to do backlog work then get rid. Phones are constantly ringing so one is unable to carry out job role properly.
Need to start improving staffing issues by......
Employing more staff
Better pay.
An hours lunch break. ...
Jun 11,2010
Jun 11,2010
4
people found
this helpful
this helpful
My initial contact with Acorn was August last year when I needed to find a new one-bed flat for myself only. I gave them my specification with particular emphasis that I wanted a long-term contract, min 3 years. No problem they said. I viewed a nice ...
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Apr 20,2010
Apr 20,2010
1
people found
this helpful
this helpful
Their attitude is very good and act professionally and promptly. The agent we deal with is experienced and understand our goal well. She managed to acquire the price for seller to put the property off market and we match the offer and secure the offer! ...
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May 15, 2010
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(1)
Did an estate agent at the branch write this themself as they are just another rogue estate agent happy to flog properties that are illegal conversions and advertise properties without having a HIP prepared.
...
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