Sam Corea Reviewed By - utterly disappointed on 2018-01-25

We used Sam for the sale of our house and I feel like I need to write an honest review of my experience. Despite having actually sold our house, it was a very frustrating and disappointing experience. Despite his extensive advertising campaign that boasts exceptional service and results, his service was poor at best and his results were just as underwhelming. In the end, he tried to get us to sell for $100,000 less than we ended up selling for. We had to convince him to go back to the negotiating table several times. We very much felt like we were a commission cheque and he would do anything to make the sale other than work in our best interest. The contract came back with errors on it and when we asked for them to be changed before we signed, he literally argued with us on the phone for 10 minutes that it wasn't necessary since we "all knew what we meant". He was vacationing at the time and obviously didn't want to go to the extra work to do this. To add insult to injury, when we did finally sell our home, he didn't even bother to call us and let us know. He dropped off the sales stickers with my kids at the front door and didn't even bother to ask for us. In the end, we found out he actually charges more than most realtors which ended up being another $10,000 extra for us to pay and he wasn't even the one who brought us the buyer. We did, however, get a "text" saying he hopes we liked our new home. Considering our last realtor brought champagne to celebrate with us and bought us a gift as a thank you... the text fell a bit short of "excellent customer service" The commission cheque was for $94.000.00, so even a card would have been a better gesture. Honestly, he should spend less of his time and money on his glossy ads and bus benches and take a few customer services courses. In retrospect, I should have gone with my first choice of Dennis Plintz. He, I would recommend if anyone is looking at selling a high end home!

Reply: Dear Michelle, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to provide me with this feedback. I am always trying to improve customer service and your review was very insightful. I am sorry that you felt disappointed with the experience. I take this very seriously and am always looking for ways to improve my service. I'd like to take a moment to focus on some of the items you brought up: 1) Even while I am away, my client's needs are top of mind. That's why I am always available via phone, text and email. We did have a miscommunication, but it was completely resolved while I was away. Taking time out of my personal time to make sure real estate transactions run smoothly is something I do regularly and is a priority for me. In your case it was amended as you requested and I made sure this was rectified right away even though I was out of town for a few days. 2) I did stop by your house with the sold stickers and specifically gave them to your son as you had expressed that he had mixed emotions about moving. I have found in the past that little ones like to put on the sold sticker and my intention was to give him an important job. I'm sorry that he did not convey the message that I was at the door. I did ask to see you and you did come out and we had a discussion. I'm sorry if you felt that somehow I had acted unprofessionally. This was not my intention at all. 3) It is disappointing to me that you felt I did not appreciate your business. I know that our success is due to clients trusting us and all of us at Team Sam YYC are so honoured and grateful to be involved in their real estate transactions. Our whole team took your feedback very seriously, and we have made significant changes so ensure our clients know how much we appreciate them. I am terribly sorry that you felt we dropped the ball in this regard. I did reach out to you to try to rectify this oversight, but we did not hear back from you. Please feel free to contact me at any time to discuss. 4) The marketing that we create is high end in nature with glossy ads and bus benches. One of the things that sets us apart from most agents is the amount of money we spend on marketing the homes we represent. Putting those homes in front of the right buyers is our aim and we get results with this strategy. Striving to set ourselves apart through quality advertising is very important to our clients and they reap the benefits. Especially in luxury and high end homes it is imperative that we make sure our clients' homes are presented in the best manner in both print and digital marketing to attract the right buyers. This has been something that I have honed over the past 25 years and clients who appreciate this kind of exposure are shown examples at our first meeting so they can get a sense of what to expect. 5) Not all agents charge the same commission. Our fees are outlined when you sign the listing agreement. Our fees are based on our years of experience, our expertise, our marketing and our results. In the end, we did have a successful result with the sale of your luxury home during a very difficult market in Calgary. I hope you will give me a chance to show you our appreciation. As always, please feel free to email me at any time with your feedback or call me to chat. Thanks ever so much - Sam