Your real estate agent is supposed to represent your interests
... but I just heard from someone who didn't think that was the case.
If you hired a real estate agent to represent your interests and find out that they are more interested in their interests than yours, what can you do. If you signed a contract for services to be rendered (either helping you to buy or sell a home in Charleston), you may have a problem. (Incidentally, the person who called told me up front that their contract had already expired or I wouldn't have even been able to talk with them about their situation).
While contracts don't always conveniently expire, my attitude is that I don't want to work with someone who doesn't want to work with me. Having said that, in today's more difficult Charleston real estate market, many real estate agents might desperately want or need to have a transaction even at the expense of their unhappy client. But my advice would be to ask the agent that you are unhappy with to release you from the contract.
As always, I am not offering legal advice and if you find yourself in a tough situation, my best advice would be to contact a good real estate attorney.
But the best way to avoid this whole mess might be to carefully interview a number of real estate agents before selecting one to represent your interests. And you also might ask at that point (and put it in writing) if the agreement can be terminated for any reason at any time.
Choose wisely. It's your money.