Are we getting the best from our Migration Agent???

[Guest Jamie Smith]

Hi Jamie

 

It is well known that my opinion of the MARA-registered migration advice industry is that it should either be forced to pull its socks up and acquire some genuine professionalism in a hurry or it should be scrapped completely, in which case providing professional advice on matters of Aussie Immigration Law should be left to Australian-qualified barristers, solicitors and judges and not to anybody else.

 

Well that would sink your boat too. There's no comeback against forum moderators and you advocate that they/you disappear too. :huh:

 

I think you put agents on some sort of pedestal at times and try to undermine them. Don't forget that customers can unwarily contribute to the problme too -everyone can and should shop around and get say 2-3 opinions and 2-3 quotes, and then decide. They should ask the agents about their case volumes, experience with cases much like their own, success rate, prior employment if their MARN is new etc. To pay full fee to a newbie means the client has not done enough research or the agent has a fantastic guarantee clause.

 

Agents like George don't charge all that their experience allows, they're not like the (I think greedy) legal QCs who want $10,000 to even talk to you.

 

So the fact that a newbie charges as much as an experienced agent might also mean that the experienced agent is not charging their true market value as a fee. There has to be some level of fee to cover the high costs of being an agent and running a business, then the extra over and above that is their profit - or market value fee.

 

If some MARA-registered agents are so hopeless that you have to make excuses for them and to argue that since they aren't George Lombard, allowances should be made for them, the industry needs to clean itself up and to sharpen up its collective act- in a hurry.

Well the other side of things is you might be hurriedly rushing to a wrong conclusion driven by your love/hatred for the profession. I think we balance each other's opinion a wee bit.

 

 

There is simply no excuse for taking money off a client unless you are 100% sure about what you are doing and saying, and what you are doing and saying is 100% up to scratch in every respect.

Yep, and there's no excuse for bursting ionto print if you;re not sure of your words and advice either. I think it's a little more worse of a crime to speak early and get it wrong than not speak until later . People ride a rollercoaster as it is.

 

.....they have zero interest in whether or not the client gets a good service in return for the money because they do not understand that aspect of the whole thing. Sales people simply sell the product - eg the new kitchen. They neither know nor care about the quality of the installation subsequently.

Twaddle. Most agents know their busiiness relies on word of mouth referral, more so over here perhaps, but relatives are known to use the same agents overseas too.

[Guest Jamie Smith]

Jamie,

Are you saying that, even though I could pay a different agent around the same amount in fees, because they don't have the same level of experience as George, I should accept a lower level of service that what George provides?

 

Gday Jules

 

Not necessarily, it might be that George charges less than he might be worth and the other fella has it about right. I don't know the inside details about how George works, or your agent, or their exact fees and what they agreed to do. I'm just saying that fees are pretty much compressed - and it's not only about the money.

 

IMHO there have been so many shocks put through the agents' businesses with this constant series of often retroactive changes, I'm surpised any are still standing. Most are not hugely wealthy operators and probably one third are fairly new to the industry (last 2-3 years) and haven't had the experience of these shakeouts. Many would not have become agents had they known what was in store this year. The changes even affect my business as some agents are getting very slow to pay their other bills.

 

If all other industries also followed suit with scaled fees for experience, eg builders, panelbeaters, accountants and taxi drivers, then agents could be price regulated too.

 

There would however still be the stuff ups from those who get complacent or who never were any good at the beginning and just managed to survive so far because of the richness of their industry.

[jillabong]

Hi Jill

 

I assume your current contact details are accurate at the agent in question ie not changed address etc.

 

Have another read, it should be that they are obliged to keep you updated in which caser you can remind them :-)

 

Let them know that you're suprised to have heard nothing about how the SOL and C&C might affect you, and give them maybe 3-5 days to reply.

 

Hi Jamie

 

Our contact details are up to date with them, nothing has changed since we signed up.

Our contract does say that they will keep us up to date, so will remind them of this!!!

 

Thanks again for your relpy and advice, it is much appreciated :biggrin:

 

Kind Regards

 

Jill

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Jill (30), Sam (34) and William (22mnths);Agent appointed: 23 March 2009;ACS Skills Assessment: 7 July 2009;Positive Skills Assessment: 7 August 2009;SA SS Applied: 15 September 2009;All paperwork received by SA: 28 September 2009;SA SS Granted: 9 November 2009;475 Visa Application Submitted: 24 November 2009

[Guest VickyMel]

Mainly because different fees were mentioned above and because some people have reportedly been charged silly fees I thought I would post this link in case it is of interest to anyone.

 

https://www.mara.gov.au/Consumer-Information/What-does-it-cost-to-use-an-Agent-/default.aspx

 

It provides a table giving

"The following table represents the range of fees charged by 70% of registered migration agents during the period from January 2009 to December 2009. These fees include GST."

 

VickyMel

[Guest GemandJay]

Having visited two of the recent DIAC and MIA sessions on the recent changes, from speaking with many agents I can say two things with certainty:

 

a) agents are as overloaded with understanding the changes as anyone else, perhaps more so bearing in mind that the changes affect a number of their clients all in different ways and different reasons, so the workload for change is huge; and

b) agents are afraid of giving the wrong information to clients until they fully understand the issues. This is prudent, and only giving sound advice is required by the MARA code of conduct.

 

That said, everyone should get some sort of update from agents as the changes are made, even if it is just to say "wait a bit until we get clear on a few things".

 

Hi Peeps

 

I have to say if it wasn't for PIO I'd have lost the plot months and months ago, special thanks has to go to Gollywobbler for all the trouble she goes to answering any questions various people have, she is always honest and to the point but she is always there, unlike our agents. Our agents send us a general global email once a month, that's it, when I email them I feel really guilty for troubling them. My OH has 2 kids that are staying here and an ex wife who is a pain in the butt and we were advised by our agent that she would have to sign a declaration stating she has the kids and that my OH can go blah blah blah... we were dreading asking her, but luckily I put my worries on here and low and behold we didn't have to so I contacted our agent who said that was correct she wouldn't have to do it... we'd been worried sick for over a year wondering when the best time would be to get her to do it!

Thank you again Gollywobbler and all the other agents on here that do what they can to advise on any changes as soon as they know. I do appreciate how busy our agents are but the odd personal catch up would be nice...especially considering how much we've paid.

I'll hush now sorry to have go on and on

Gemma

:chatterbox:

[Guest Jamie Smith]

Hi Jamie

 

Our contact details are up to date with them, nothing has changed since we signed up.

Our contract does say that they will keep us up to date, so will remind them of this!!!

 

Thanks again for your relpy and advice, it is much appreciated :biggrin:

 

Kind Regards

 

Jill

---------------------

Jill (30), Sam (34) and William (22mnths);Agent appointed: 23 March 2009;ACS Skills Assessment: 7 July 2009;Positive Skills Assessment: 7 August 2009;SA SS Applied: 15 September 2009;All paperwork received by SA: 28 September 2009;SA SS Granted: 9 November 2009;475 Visa Application Submitted: 24 November 2009

 

No problem. Ask them to explain themselves.