Post by Ben Heywood on Jun 14, 2004 17:50:03 GMT 1
There have already been some mutterings about this company on this forum, debating their reputation. My wife and I were keen to keep an open mind on our recent visit to Vis, and thought we'd tell you a little bit about how were treated...
We had seen a small stone house for sale on their website. We ferried from Brac to Split to Vis with little time between boats, and on arriving on Vis, were delighted when we found it, quite by accident, as we were walking around Vis Town - the view matched the web page pictures exactly.
We telephoned Broker immediately, asking if a viewing would be possible. Their reaction was most odd. First they tried to convince us we had mixed the house up with another - assuming the language barrier was the cause, we were patient, and phoned back 20 minutes later as requested, as they had to "check a few things".
On calling back, Broker refused point blank to show us the house unless we travelled to their offices in Split first, saying that this was standard policy for real estate agents. This seemed strange to us because a) we were already on Vis, so this was not a very convenient thing to do and b) no other agents had requested this of us. We asked if they would reconsider sending someone to meet us.
They then refused a second time unless we paid €100, because their rep "would have to spend the night on Vis". We challenged them on this, as we knew this claim to be untrue - in fact we were awaiting another agent RIGHT AT THAT MOMENT who was showing us another house, arriving at 11am and leaving on the 12:30 ferry back to Split - for only a €50 charge (this is normal, as it stops timewasters). Their clear reluctance to try and sell this house was most puzzling. We agreed to pay €50 and sign any pre-contract they wanted us to sign (again, can be standard pratice) - so would they now show us the house? No chance!
The agent we were speaking to became angry that we had travelled to Vis in advance (free country?), and that we had printed out their web page about the property - saying it was illegal and not allowed!!
Not quite understanding their reasoning, we tried to explain that visiting an area first before paying €50/time was entirely normal, and pointed out that if we had wanted to cut them out of the deal we would not have contacted them in the first place...
At this point they spoke amongst themselves and refused to do anything unless we returned to Split first "or the conversation is over".
We agreed - the conversation was indeed over!!
We found it quite incredible that BROKER seemed prepared to lie just to get a few extra euros - but odder still was their anger that we had seen the property before calling them - and bear in mind we had been in email contact for four weeks prior to this.
Frustrated that we could not see a house we were seriously interested in, we asked around a bit. Only one other agent had even heard of BROKER, and said they had heard plenty of complaints about their practices. True? Untrue? Who knows - but this we can confirm - if BROKER are really interested in selling houses, why do they refuse to show you them unless you pay first? Why do they have three different websites under different names?
Are their properties really for sale? Are their multiple identities to cover previous reputations? Has anyone actually completed through them? Does anyone even know of anyone who has?
Every other agent we spoke to or met was courteous, concise, knowledgeable, and eager to show us as much as possible. That's what you do when you're in sales, no?
Finally, we arrived back in Split with some time to kill, and thought we'd check out BROKER's offices. They are in a partitioned office space above a basketball court in a sports hall. The whole thing just screamed "dodgy". We couldn't be bothered even to confront them - what was the point?
Our advice - avoid these jokers. There are plenty of reputable companies in Croatia who are prepared to work for you, not against you. I'd like to say, don't just take it from us, feel free to make your own mind up - but I won't...
Ben and Emma Heywood
PS. we saw several great places, and ALMOST bought one of them...but we're still looking. We will not be denied....
We had seen a small stone house for sale on their website. We ferried from Brac to Split to Vis with little time between boats, and on arriving on Vis, were delighted when we found it, quite by accident, as we were walking around Vis Town - the view matched the web page pictures exactly.
We telephoned Broker immediately, asking if a viewing would be possible. Their reaction was most odd. First they tried to convince us we had mixed the house up with another - assuming the language barrier was the cause, we were patient, and phoned back 20 minutes later as requested, as they had to "check a few things".
On calling back, Broker refused point blank to show us the house unless we travelled to their offices in Split first, saying that this was standard policy for real estate agents. This seemed strange to us because a) we were already on Vis, so this was not a very convenient thing to do and b) no other agents had requested this of us. We asked if they would reconsider sending someone to meet us.
They then refused a second time unless we paid €100, because their rep "would have to spend the night on Vis". We challenged them on this, as we knew this claim to be untrue - in fact we were awaiting another agent RIGHT AT THAT MOMENT who was showing us another house, arriving at 11am and leaving on the 12:30 ferry back to Split - for only a €50 charge (this is normal, as it stops timewasters). Their clear reluctance to try and sell this house was most puzzling. We agreed to pay €50 and sign any pre-contract they wanted us to sign (again, can be standard pratice) - so would they now show us the house? No chance!
The agent we were speaking to became angry that we had travelled to Vis in advance (free country?), and that we had printed out their web page about the property - saying it was illegal and not allowed!!
Not quite understanding their reasoning, we tried to explain that visiting an area first before paying €50/time was entirely normal, and pointed out that if we had wanted to cut them out of the deal we would not have contacted them in the first place...
At this point they spoke amongst themselves and refused to do anything unless we returned to Split first "or the conversation is over".
We agreed - the conversation was indeed over!!
We found it quite incredible that BROKER seemed prepared to lie just to get a few extra euros - but odder still was their anger that we had seen the property before calling them - and bear in mind we had been in email contact for four weeks prior to this.
Frustrated that we could not see a house we were seriously interested in, we asked around a bit. Only one other agent had even heard of BROKER, and said they had heard plenty of complaints about their practices. True? Untrue? Who knows - but this we can confirm - if BROKER are really interested in selling houses, why do they refuse to show you them unless you pay first? Why do they have three different websites under different names?
Are their properties really for sale? Are their multiple identities to cover previous reputations? Has anyone actually completed through them? Does anyone even know of anyone who has?
Every other agent we spoke to or met was courteous, concise, knowledgeable, and eager to show us as much as possible. That's what you do when you're in sales, no?
Finally, we arrived back in Split with some time to kill, and thought we'd check out BROKER's offices. They are in a partitioned office space above a basketball court in a sports hall. The whole thing just screamed "dodgy". We couldn't be bothered even to confront them - what was the point?
Our advice - avoid these jokers. There are plenty of reputable companies in Croatia who are prepared to work for you, not against you. I'd like to say, don't just take it from us, feel free to make your own mind up - but I won't...
Ben and Emma Heywood
PS. we saw several great places, and ALMOST bought one of them...but we're still looking. We will not be denied....