How not to write a business letter
So back during my apartment hunting adventures I had a really crappy locator, right? Right. Well, it turns out the place i ended up renting from him was actually shown to me via the internet by a different locator earlier, and I’d completely forgotten about it. So, to try and right things, I put his name on the lease since he showed me first and then it turned into a giant fiasco. Later on I found out that the two locators were friends and would hash it out, but ultimately it was my apartments who made the decision as to who was paid the commission.
That didn’t stop crappy locator from sending me a really condescending, ridiculous and kinda scary email, which can be read after the jump.
I with preface this by saying I understand that you probably have no idea how the apartment locating business works. You may know that we are paid commission only without any reimbursement for gas or the time we spend with clients. With that said, the agent who should be referred on your application is the agent who actually procured your lease at the apartments, not the agent who just sent you a list of a handful of apartments that may fit you criteria and not the agent who offered you the highest rebate amount..
I don’t know if you may have eventually gone to (my apartment name) on your own, but the fact of the matter is when I actually drove you there so you could apply they only had a very few apartments left. If you had waited much longer they would have likely been leased up and you would have had to go somewhere else. I guess what I am trying to say is that I PROCURED YOUR LEASE AT (my apartment name) AND SHOULD RECEIVE CREDIT FOR IT, AND NOT ANY OTHER AGENT. (Front desk girl) should have known this and not let you change your referral on your application.
I am not going to try to bribe you to change it back. I just hope that if you use apartment locators in the future you should be considerate of the time we spend trying to help you find your apartment. Have a good day.
To clear my name, it wasn’t about a rebate and it wasn’t about me liking the other guy better, it was just and purely about doing the right thing. And let’s recall that this guy consistently made me feel like a burden, made me feel like a waste of his time and gas, and didn’t seem like he wanted to deal with me at all. So, capping this experience off with an email like that pretty much means I’ll never ever recommend anyone to Austin Cool Properties. Ever.
I’ve never used Austin Cool before, but regrettably, I used an Apartment Locator before buying a house this spring. I fell into a similar situation, I had a prior appointment with the complex the agent had shown me and therefore used a website as a reference instead of the agent (in my case they DID give a rebate and the agent did not). The agent called crying, with the exact lecture about how their business worked. In fact, she continued to call, adding in stories about her lifestyle and hardships and eventually offered me a personal check for the amount of the rebate if I’d change my application. It was all very ‘Jerry Springer’. Do yourself a favor, use apartments.com, same service, far less headache.