I would strongly advise anyone thinking of listing their property with Connells Aylesbury to proceed with extreme caution.

We were initially advised by Chase Caswell, who valued our property at £430,000–£450,000 and told us it could “easily” sell at £430,000. Based on this advice, we agreed to their “Pay Fee” arrangement and paid £4,914 upfront, having been told the money would be held at head office and not released until the property sold.

However, within just 3.5 months their advice changed significantly:

Initial Valuation: £430,000–£450,000

Within 6 weeks: Suggested reduction to £427,500

Within a further 6 weeks: Suggested further reduction to £400,000

This means a reduction of £30,000–£50,000 from the original valuation in 3 and a half months which is outrageous.

We received no offers and experienced numerous cancelled or no-show viewings. Despite this, Connells then suggested marketing the property at a level we would never have agreed to sell at, directly contradicting the original confident valuation that led us to pay nearly £5,000 upfront.

Given the lack of sale, the dramatic valuation reduction, and the fact that industry standard is “no sale, no fee,” we requested a refund of our £4,914 and were willing to move onto a standard no-sale-no-fee contract. This request was refused by the branch manager, Samantha Nleya.

It is extremely concerning that such a substantial upfront fee can be taken on the basis of a valuation that is then reduced so significantly within months, without a sale and without refund.

In our experience, this felt misleading and unethical. Sellers should think very carefully before agreeing to any upfront “Pay Fee” arrangement with this branch.