I could not stress enough the blatant lack of professionalism, ethics, or care with which the…read moreagents of Coldwell Banker Realty in Chelmsford, along with the branch manager, Rich Merrill, treated us in a resent home purchase. Pat Dearborn, and Soula Spaziani represented the sellers in transaction where we were the buyers. Initially, they both seemed lovely. However, as soon as we went under contract everything changed. First, it was the complete lack of responsiveness to the point where we were not able to arrange a visit to the property until nearly six weeks since having our offer accepted and very close to closing. The deal spanned winter holidays, so we tried to be understanding and give them the benefit of the doubt. During our visit we discovered multiple issues. Not the least of which was the fact that the sellers had moved to another state, and arranged for Pat and Soula to assist them in removing some of their remaining possessions from the property. At the suggestion of our agent, we graciously put together a list of items we were asking to be removed to make it easier for the seller's agents to assist. There were enough items that this took close to three hours. Subsequently, Pat denied us further entry to the property until the day of the final walk-through at closing. After much communication on the subject of what items should be removed from the property, we discovered at the final walk-through that instead of removing these items as discussed at length, they simply dragged them through the yard (leaving a very visible path in the snow) and dumped them in the back of our future yard broken and upside-down as trash. I was absolutely appalled! Did they think it was appropriate, we wouldn't notice, or what was going through the mind the agents when they took items that were to be removed based on weeks and weeks of communication and dumped them in the back of our future yard as trash? How can an agent treat the yard of a property they are selling as a dump for trash which they are too lazy to have removed after having agreed to assist?! When our agent brought this to their attention, Pat explained that since we would eventually clean up that area of the yard, they felt it would be OK to leave those things there for us to take care of. I was disappointed to the point of tears that two "professionals" would treat my future home with such disrespect. Our agent urged us to just get the deal done and move on. She later graciously came by and removed a couple of the items left behind herself. She asked me to please not escalate the issue as these agents were older and probably did not mean any harm. I let it go.
Weeks later, I continue to discover that the extent of the trash being dumped in our yard is much greater than I though. Mangled wire planting cages, plastic pots and planters turned upside-down, terracotta clay pots broken into pieces and thrown in the back, half burned logs, used mosquito torches, and various plastic objects. All of these on the list to have been removed, instead, were thrown in the back of our yard as trash!
I brought this up to the attention of Coldwell Banker management. Rich Merrill, the head of the branch, dismissed me. He nonchalantly stated I should submit my concerns in writing and he will then consider whether they are worthy of his attention. I spoke to the Regional VP, Mike Keeler, who empathized and apologized. However, he too refused to have the agents be held accountable for their unprofessional, unethical and careless behavior. I did not ask for money. I simply asked that the agents who treated my back yard as a trash dump, return and remove the items they disposed of thusly, and perhaps learn how inappropriate their actions were so they do the same thing to someone else. The management refused.
Judge for yourself if these are the type agents and agency that you would like to represent you in selling or buying one of the most important assets in your life.
