"Probably the most incompetent agency…"

Probably the most incompetent agency I've ever worked with. Just had a purchase fall through at a massive inconvenience and some expense due to StQ,

Absolutely terrible at keeping you in the loop, you have to continually call to follow up and find out what the current state is. Then often you'll just get voicemail and it'll be hit-or-miss whether they call you back (and it is more miss than hit).

They appear to neither represent the interests of the vendor or the buyer, just their own.

[additional comment] Unfortunately the response From StQ does not reflect reality or the conversation I had with them earlier today. The shortfalls identified by StQ as having happened, the changes to processes and potentially retraining of their staff appear to be omitted from the response.

StQ were made aware, at the point of making the offer, that there was a deadline of two weeks to start the mortgage application process. There was no pressure for the vendors to find an alternative property as I was happy for completion to be months away, the only thing required was the appointment of a conveyancer to allow the property to be taken off the market and get some form of certainty ahead of significant financial outlay.

Throughout the two weeks since the offer was made, we were continually kept in the dark. There was not a single call originated by StQ to let us know what was going on. In every instance, we had to call in to find out what the current state was. As the deadline approached, I extended it out causing problems with my future employer, on the promise of a resolution by the end-of-the-day, not surprisingly I didn't receive a call that evening, or the next morning. Had to ring up again to find out what was happening, was told I would hear by the end of the day - again no contact.

Put off another two days over a weekend past the deadline, rang on the Monday and was told there still wasn't a conveyancer appointed. I let StQ know that the appointment with the lender was at 16:00 and I would have to commit to significant financial outlay at that point in time, yet at this stage the property was still on the market and being advertised on on-line platforms. I let StQ know I would be on Zoom calls all afternoon so I couldn't answer the phone, but I would be able to receive emails.

For one of the first times since I made the offer, StQ actually tried to ring me! They tried wice, but didn't bother sending an email until around 30 minutes later after appointment with the lender would have started if I hadn't cancelled it.

I can't tell whether the property stayed on the market and the deadline was allowed to pass to ensure that I had made a financial commitment to a full structural survey on the property (due to the construction type) and then they would look for other offers or raise the asking price - or whether it was the failures StQ outlined as lessons learnt on my call with them this morning.

If only they had be as quick to respond and keep us in-the-loop as they were to call up me up in response to a poor Trustpilot review, I probably wouldn't be in the situation I am in,