Ward & Partners

Quite possibly the rudest and most unhelpful estate agents out there, and that is saying something.
My partner and I were buying a flat in Crayford and after dealing with the Welling branch, we were told we would now need to deal with Dartford since the flat fell in their jurisdiction. Fine, we thought. And it was fine, until something went wrong.
About nine weeks into the process, we got the results of the Homebuyer’s Report which highlighted structural problems and a defective roof. We contacted Ward and Partners, asked to speak to the manager, Mark, who said he’d deal with it and call us back the next afternoon to explain what he’d found out.
Fast forward two days, no phone call. So we phoned him again and he said he’d JUST managed to speak to the seller (oh really? What good timing we have) and that he wanted to send them the Homebuyer’s. We said fine and he said he’d call us right back. Again.
This time, four days pass and we still haven’t heard anything. So we call again, and again, and again until finally we seem to be enough of a nuisance that he calls us back. He says there’s a problem with our lender and that he thinks they won’t lend on that property because of the problems but agrees to speak to the seller and see if we can get something sorted out.
Then the next day, we’re browsing Rightmove and we see our flat listed for sale. As far as we knew, we were still the buyers. Apparently not.
When we called to ask, Mark was rude and abrupt on the phone and said as far as he was concerned, it had fallen through and we were done. Then he said he’d call us back and hung up on us.
Now, I’m not accustomed to being treated so badly by estate agents. Sure, they have a reputation for being appalling but I always thought it was something of a myth. Ward and Partners Dartford proved me wrong, wholly and completely.
We’ve now started searching again and have sworn to never use Ward and Partners. Their service was so bad that even if they were advertising our dream property within our budget or even below, we’d pass on it. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.