Residential estate agents still leave a lot to be desired when it comes to customer service, according to the results of a trial carried out by estate agency service provider Development Solutions.

The company mystery shopped with over one hundred estate agent offices by requesting additional details of one of the properties that each company had on its books. Hardly breaking their back to win the favour of this new 'customer', a whopping 43 percent did not even bother to get back in touch with the particulars of the property in question. Among those that did respond, the average response time was over four days - easily long enough for plenty of other buyers to view the property, make an offer and have it accepted. The worst offender took a completely ridiculous 86 days to offer a response, which by then was surely a waste of everyone's time.

Christopher Shaw, director of Development Solutions, said: "We are worried that agents might be relying on e-mailed enquiries rather than on good old fashioned negotiating skills to promote properties effectively. We're saying, 'look, don't get lulled into a false sense of security and think that new technology is going to do all the work for you.' This happened in the 1980's when agents relied on a good market and then it hit a slump. A lot of agents were then not geared up with the right skills, staff and training to adapt to those market changes. This is perhaps a concern now. Should conditions change for the worse, then all aspects of their business will be tested. This will not be the time to rely on new technology such as websites and search engines to do the work of competent, interactive and well-motivated staff."