A complaint to the advertising watchdog about a property listing by Countrywide has been informally resolved.
A spokesperson for the Advertising Standards Authority said: “We received a complaint about a claim made on the Countrywide estate agents website that stated ‘Detailed planning permission granted for 13 dwellings’ on a property listing.
“The complainant, who understood there was no planning permission for the advertised property, challenged whether the claim was misleading and could be substantiated.
“We contacted the advertiser who agreed to remove the claim.”
Comments (8)
Maybe retailers should train before trying to be estate agents.
There is a difference between the two business models !
Do the ASA ever resolve complaints/issues in any way other than “informally”? Waste of time
“A complaint to the advertising watchdog about a property listing by *** has been informally resolved.”
“A complaint to the advertising watchdog about a property listing by YYY has been informally resolved.”
“A complaint to the advertising watchdog about a property listing by ZZZ has been informally resolved.”
You could set your watch by my Gran’s toilet habits.
ASA continue to offer similarly reliability with their regular dose of ‘waste matter’.
Breach of advertising standards, breach of the property misdescription act.
Bad Countrywide!……..now go sit on the naughty step for 5 minutes and don’t do it again.
Bit harsh! we tend not to use the phrase “Bad” these days; it’s a bit too negative. Let’s try something more positive that encourages learning.
You could try. “Countrywide, we understand you were only trying to do your best but in this case there was an opportunity to achieve.. The truth is a wonderful and rewarding goal we think you’d enjoy the experience.
sounds a bit too formal if you ask me Robert. Keeping it ”informal” means the ASA can save a few quid by not using headed paper.
nothing ever gets put in writing, that’s far too oppressive.
I wish this story had ended with; “the claim was amended as they in fact had planning permission for 14 dwellings” just to surprise me at the end.