Estate agent fees

You went to the agent to see the house, the owner of the property was happy to let the agent show the house.  Only afterwards did you all decide that you didnt want to pay the agent.  The agent put you in contact with the seller, you both then chose to not use the agent in the sale and do your own thing.  You owe the agent their commission.  If you go to court the agent will win. 

Modicasa is correct, we know someone ho went to view a property with 1 agent but then saw the property with a 2nd agent at a lower cost and proceeded with the 2nd agent and had to pay BOTH agents 3% plus 22% vat when the 1st agent sued.

@M Hunt

I as the purchaser never signed a contract and the vendor asked to be removed from the agents books in 2016 due to their behaviour.

in fact the vendor was not aware it was this agent until she showed up

AS the purchaser you do not have to sign a contract to enter into a contract.  The vendor cancelled their contract with the agent before you saw the house? But the agent showed up with you and the vendor said it was ok for them to be there 'as their agent' .  In which case, the agent at the point they showed you the house was the agent. You both knew it.

The Civil Code says that the agent has the right to their commission if the sale results from their 'putting the buyer and seller into contact'.  The agent did this in your case.  He has the right to his commission.   If on the other hand you had seen the house with just the agent and not met the seller, the agent possibly wouldnt have the right to his commission in this particular case. 

Thanks for your reply, do you think that €21,000 from each is fair then for a mere introduction

@Pintail no

@Zubair Awan93

yes that's my problem

So modicasa, is that fair??

You booked to see a house with an agent. By doing so you accepted their terms and conditions.  You then chose to buy the house privately and not use the agent and not let them work for you.  That was all your choice.    Presumably the 21K is 3% + IVA of the price of the house.

@Modicasa yes, so 42k euro for an introduction is ridiculous. If we had gone through the agent ant and she guided us through the process then it's still expensive but at least I could understand with geometra and nataio  introductions but for 30 minutes 42k euro ???