Outspoken estate agent Chris Wood has posted a suggested template for a letter of complaint about Purplebricks on his website.
It is adapted from a ‘letter to claim damages for misrepresented goods or services’ issued by Citizens Advice.
In Wood’s version, the fictitious pair of Purplebricks customers have eight points on which they allege they were misrepresented and therefore want their money back.
Wood heads his latest blog with the question: “Are Purplebricks set to repay millions?”
We did approach Purplebricks – whom Wood recently spoke out against at an investor show – for comment.
https://blog.pdq-estates.co.uk/2018/05/08/are-purplebricks-set-to-repay-millions/
Comments (49)
If you bought a tv on the basis it was advertised as being 4K and you discover it is only capable of 480p, you’d be right in claiming a full refund and, if the supplier had knowingly mislead customers, they’d be accused and probably found guilty of fraud.
If any company tries to pretend to be something it isn’t, it will certainly be found out at some stage.
The Call Centre Listers should just be honest about the fact their main aim is to make as much money as possible for their owners and investors, using the quantity above quality approach combined with the minimum direct service that can be got away with, to save money!
Pretending they care about the quality of what they do, and about saving their clients money, is just disingenuous!!!
BSOS23PC
FACMOD
Personally, I don’t have a problem with PB, they are a perfectly normal and inevitable development within the industry which opens up more consumer choice. In the modern world, everywhere you look, every industry is using online portals to let consumers DIY their support, maintenance and everything they can. In time there will be no industry and no service where there is anything that we can’t do for ourselves, if it can be done that way… and the result is obviously a leaner system with narrower margins, and those who can’t afford to pay to have their hand held have an option on a cheaper solution. Because there isn’t as much money to go round in our global economy at the moment it’s frankly not even a luxury, this process of thinning HAS to continue so that we can afford to do all the same things we have always done with less and less income.
Now, there are obviously some problems with this; the development of any industry will have teething problems, and in the case of PB because the fee is payable if the property is sold or not there is rightly a lot of focus on the idea of the consumer losing out. But let’s not vilify a company without a trial, I want our society to have the Ubers and Purple Bricks and challenger banks, bring on the disruptors who open up more possibilities for everyone. I want these companies to be there to benefit those consumers who are prepared to do the research and decide it’s worth it.
Certainly no amount of mis-selling should be allowed, but honestly in this day and age you can’t buy a toaster without potentially having to know your consumer rights when things don’t go entirely smoothly. Purple Bricks do publish statistics, they might not flourish them in the faces of their customers when they aren’t so flattering… but show me a business that does. Purple Bricks might not be the best choice for everyone, but show me a business who is. They might not always tell their customers they would be better off taking their business else where, but show be a business that is always so ethical!
There have been some comparisons to gambling above, and this is fair enough in a way, I don’t disagree with any of those points particularly, but, it’s worth also remembering that most of life is a gamble, when I buy a washing machine and select an expensive one when I could buy a cheap one that alleges to have the same features and performance, I am gambling that the extra money will bring with it extended reliabilit, better long term cost in the long run, and perhaps a better ownership experience. Yes, we should do everything we can to make sure that consumers have information they need to make a good informed choice, but gambling will always be inherent to our lives.
There may be many people every day getting a bad deal out of Purple Bricks, but whilst there are people everywhere paying more than they should for every kind of product every day, and while it remains unclear there aren’t lots of people benefiting from Purple Bricks, I say bring them on.
My final word, to anyone who wants to critique a company, please, present a clear, concise and above all fair to a fault assessment of well researched data… or, very rapidly, no one is going to listen, and maybe you’ll get, very reasonably in my view, a letter from a solicitor 🙂
A very eloquent and succinct piece, I just do not know how many will actually read it all.
Maybe PIE can ask you to write a piece, rather than the boss of SpicerHaart with his weekly anti everyone rant?
“Certainly no amount of mis-selling should be allowed, but honestly in this day and age you can’t buy a toaster without potentially having to know your consumer rights when things don’t go entirely smoothly.”
And thereby lies the point.
You have more “consumer rights” when you buy a toaster than if you list your property on a NSPR basis.
If the toaster fails to brown your bread – you take it back for a refund.
The retailer cannot turn round and excuse itself of its’ obligations on the basis that “the toaster tried but in the end wasn’t up to the job you purchased it for – so tough luck”.
And just in case you want to argue the point about “the job your purchased it for” – from the PurpleBricks website:
“Instruct us to sell for £849″
That’s “…SELL…”
Not “…TRY TO SELL…”
Not “…LIST YOUR PROPERTY ON A ‘NO SALE, PAY REGARDLESS’ BASIS…”
Not “…TAKE YOUR STAKE ON OUR WHEEL OF FORTUNE / TOSS OF A COIN / (insert current unqualified number here) PERCENT CHANCE OF OUR SUCCESSFULLY SELLING YOUR PROPERTY…”
SELL.
There is a flip side to your point ……. social and economic responsibility. Is the consumer cutting their throats? The cheaper it becomes the less goes around to support business, jobs and services. Standards of service drops but the consumer wants their cake and to eat it. Just look at our High Streets and the sub-quality of many products today … where will it end? all because perfectly normal and inevitable development. Should we fear for the future of our children or grandchildren! Is society on the path of economic disaster? In our industry PB is nothing more than a low cost, non-viable business that prides itself in being a disruptor where everyone including PB and the like, agents in general and the public will loose. Someone will fill the inevitable void but not until there has been much misery.
So PB has spent many £10s of millions of other peoples money over 4 to 5 years and has yet to make a real profit.
How can it be right on that basis directors of PB have made £10s of millions from their investors?
Why don’t the Government insist that directors who cash in on their shares have to pay back any investor losses from their windfall first?
That is how the real world operates?
Why is this solution so simple?
‘That is how the real world operates?‘ It truly is the unacceptable face of capitalism.
Woodentop, I agree and disagree. Ultimately our capitalist free market liberalism doesn’t leave much room for “social and economic responsibility” in the business place. There will always be laws and regulation, they will always be constantly evolving to keep up with developing industries, and businesses will always do whatever they can within the law.
If PB (or any other organisation or individual) breaks the law I will right in line saying they should get what’s coming to them… but there can never really be a ‘spirit of the law’, that never works for long…
So what it comes down to is, is PB breaking the law, or not? Unfortunately, I think headline grabbing accusations, misleading reports and analysis, emotive and even anything that is simply a bit unclear, all this is actually noise we don’t need and detracts from clarity of what is, and isn’t lawful.
PeeBee, you make a fine, if emotive sounding, argument, that in spirit, I agree with. However, I don’t think it’s very ultimately helpful for the reasons I outline above – either they are within the law or they aren’t. Now, if they are within the law and they still offend you, of course you have every right to say so, to scream blue murder, but it’s the government you should be railing against.
and in the case of the fat cat salaries of the bankers, the legal offshore tax dodgers and companies …. all within the law but now reigned in on the basis of not being cricket. As you clearly point out as long as it is within the law but that is where many take issue with companies that flout the law, drive close to the edge of the law and are breaking the law but hide the facts so they can’t be found discovered and of course not forgetting no-one is actually looking that could make a difference. Some would say you are judged by how ethical one is. Now apply that to you know who and is it any wonder that the targets of their schemes get a little upset and cannot comprehend why it is allowed to continue? But that’s fine, it is all within the law …… or maybe just not!
Also when they claim to be ‘Proper Estate Agents’ when in fact they are a ‘For Sale By Owner’ advertising platform.
Mis-selling can be described as encouraging customers to buy products or services by the deliberate or unintentional mis-representation of the benefits and features of a product or service, or through the obscuring of particular terms and conditions in tortuous “small print.”
Now where does PB fit into that scenario? I will open with the first suggestion
#1 When it is claimed that actors pretended to be the Bruce brothers to promote PB from day one
A few tips on presenting that might help your messages of the future Chris.
1. Smile- at least once somewhere in your presentation. You look so angry and unhappy. Even if you are “fake it” when presenting
2. Practice getting rid of your “Eeehms and Aaahs” There were literally hundreds of them in your speech. Hugely distracting and I bet you don’t even know you are doing it.
3. Engage the audience, don’t talk “at them” They will fall asleep, despite you believing you have a riveting subject to talk about.get them mentally active by some interaction
4. Dump the self publicist intro. If you feel the audience need to know about your credentials, leave a leaflet on their seats about how wonderful and experienced you are, or get the organisers to bill you to the audience in advance.
5. When electronics fail you (which I am guessing they did,)don’t apologise for the lack of visuals. The audience never knew they were getting any, so you distracted them to wonder what it was they were missing.
Oh and on the subject matter, try not to sound like someone utterly obsessed. It sounded person and vindictive and I suspect did the polar opposite to the audience to that which you were trying to do.
We High Street agents all hate PB. However, they have done us all a favour by jerking us awake to the fact we need to modernise our approach. Let’s devour that lesson and get on with making our own businesses great. The time and mental effort/torture you seem to be spending on your campaign to kill off PB could be more profitably used running your own business and bringing it up to speed
But they don’t need us for them to fall on their face. They may do that all by themselves. If the profits don’t start rolling in soon,which doesn’t look likely at the moment) the investors will work it out for themselves and vote with their feet.
An honest, constructive critique is always genuinely appreciated. Thank you.
I think we should donate to get Chris some golf clubs so he can have a hobby rather than an unhealthy obsession.
Some say obsessed, I prefer the term, ‘highly focussed’. As for golf? I’d rather put my left ******** through a mangle.
Ok ‘unhealthy high focus’ same result.
Around minute 10 of the video Chris Wood claims he received a solicitors letter after he suggested PB’s completion rate was between 40 and 50%.
You can find the redacted letter on his blog (link on article above) in the article ”ATTEMPTED INTIMIDATION BY A PLC OR FAIR COMMENT?”
The tweet was in fact suggesting a 14% conversion rate ““Hilarious but have missed off choosing a DIY agent where you pay £1k up front but only have a 14% chance of selling” (15 January 2017)”
And Chris Wood’s reply ”This, again, is factually correct statement based on a report by an internationally renowned investment companies analyst.
Furthermore, independent data collected since that date, shows that PB do not complete on 88% of all transactions as publicly stated by Mr Bruce on BBCs’ MoneyBox programme but, more likely, less than 25%.”
So we’ve had 14%, less than 25% and now he’s saying he’s always suggested between 40 and 50%.
Some real hypocrisy going on as usual.
Yawn
The 14% claim was a repeated claim made, initially, by Jefferies and not me and has since been corrected by them and further information and data has been supplied by me. The comments were made in good faith based on independent data at the time and, should be taken in the context of Purplebricks PLC openly admitting that they had to audit some of their own listings following an investigation into portal juggling in the past.
The other figures are a mixture of different time periods and areas (some local and some national). The current figures for West Cornwall for Purplebricks are detailed in full in my blog and show a List to sold ratio of 33.3% with listings to withdrawn for the same period at 55%. This is based on every listing advertised on Zoopla (public domain data) for postcode areas:
TR3 TR3 6 TR3 7
TR11 TR11 2 TR11 3 TR11 4 TR11 5 TR11 9
TR12 TR12 6 TR12 7
TR13 TR13 0 TR13 3 TR13 8 TR13 9
TR14 TR14 0 TR14 7 TR14 8 TR14 9
TR17 TR17 0
TR18 TR18 2 TR18 3 TR18 4 TR18 5 TR18 9
TR19 TR19 6 TR19 7
TR20 TR20 8 TR20 9
TR26 TR26 1 TR26 2 TR26 3 TR26 9
TR27 TR27 4 TR27 5 TR27 6 TR27 9
Date range
01/01/2014 – 04/05/2018 inclusive
NOTE: Purplebricks first instruction was not registered in West Cornwall until 03/03/2015
Current status of all new instructions listed since 01.01.14 as checked on 04.05.18:
Total instructed 228
Currently For Sale 25
Exchanged 76
Total withdrawn 126
Sold/ SSTC 1
Listing to Sold (exchanged) 228 76
Listing to Withdrawn 228 126
As I wrote yesterday, the devil is ALWAYS in the detail. Great analysis Chris, please stay ‘highly focussed’.
Property Pundit….just get a room!
He’s doing more for the industry than you, that’s for sure.
MrLister
Please respond to my post above.
Thank you.
Chris you ignored the main point.
On the video you lied about the letter from the solicitors. You weren’t originally saying the conversion rate was between 40 and 50% were you? That’s what you say in the video. If we look back to the letter from the solicitors, first of all you tweet 14% and then in your comments you say “more likely, less than 25%“.
You should know better than just repeating what City Analysts say. Despite what you say on your blog they are not truly independent and you’ll find other analysts saying other things but you pick and choose to suit your agenda. Same with share price recommendations. Funny how you always re/tweet the ones suggesting to sell PB.
Just admit you lied on the video instead of deflecting. You didn’t claim between 40 and 50% conversion rate which is what you said.
Cyberduck, I agree that there are lots of inaccurate % to PB completion rate claims on both sides of the fence.
So why don’t PB publish them?
What is unquestionable is that PB’s offering is a double-headed coin toss as they gain the same fee whether they complete a deal or not.
PB is a gamble, as with any gamble, published odds are a lawful requirement.
Upon signing a contract/loan agreement are PB customers made aware of these odds?
No sale, No fee covers this risk.
Therefore, PB must be made to ‘boldly’ and ‘compellingly’ promote these odds so that their customers can make an informed decision on whether to gamble their money.
These odds must be verified by a third-party regulator.
Personally, I hope that Chris can achieve this transparency because it is simply the right thing to do.
>Personally, I hope that Chris can achieve this transparency because it is simply the right thing to do.
Well he’s not going about it the right way by lying is he?
Who in their right minds would believe him after his everchanging stance and lying about what he’s actually said in the past?
The only way PB should be more transparent is if their competitors are too. In all aspects, including commission rates. I think there would be some shocked members of the public to find out the industry average conversion rate is around 50% – that’s been kept pretty quiet.
‘The only way PB should be more transparent is if their competitors are too‘. You really are a pathetic joke. Bore off.
Quote cyberduck46: Some real hypocrisy going on as usual.
You weren’t looking in the mirror when you said that! You complain about high street agents but promote a hybrid agent who’s conduct is far from exemplary. A case of promoting your own personal agenda as it pleases you.
>You complain about high street agents
Yes, in order to show how hypocritical the posts are on here.
And that is your personal agenda, as if we all didn’t know. Where you come unstuck m8 is there are many good high street agents. Lets take it in simple steps for you to understand.
How many agents did you post there was yesterday 20,000.
How many transactions are their each year? Statistics produced by HM Revenue & Customs average 100,000 residential sales per month = 12 million per year and 10,000 per month non-residential = 120,000 per year. All of which would have an agents agreement clearly stating the fee they would pay and in the case of residential sales most will have been no sale no fee (excludes PB and any other upfront fixed fee models).
How many complaints did The Property Ombudsman resolve in 2017 = 3,553 with an average compensation of £397. The ombudsman in the annual report confirmed “TPO emphasises these complaint levels represent a very small proportion of dealings between agents and customers”.
So when you complain about high street agents, being bad and costing the public loads of money, you are talking out of your ….
Please stop from making comments on a subject you have no clue and lack of knowledge is embarrassing. You are nothing more than a TROLL with a personal and biased agenda.
Fu@king hell, this guy needs a cuddle. He has a seriously unhealthy obsession with PB.
He’s been doing it for years. One of those guys who can’t help bashing the competition day in day out. Not a very professional way to conduct business.
The professional way to beat the competition is by showing and explaining to the sellers how you personally will offer the best possible service and can be fully trusted to successfully deal with the sale and marketing of their home. Constantly slagging your competitors off on social media to the degree that Chris does shows fear, obsession and a unprofessional way of doing business. I know he has his fans but I just don’t get it. I’m a high street agent and would never do it whether it’s an online agent or a the corporate next door to me. I just hate public competition bashing.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
”The professional way to beat the competition is by showing and explaining to the sellers how you personally will offer the best possible service”
Yes, perhaps he could take out a major TV advertising campaign in between coronation street or have a hourly slot on all the top radio stations or better still still throw a couple of grand at trustpilot?
“He’s been doing it for years.”
Please, MrLister – enlighten us all.
Assuming you are referring to what the OP refers to as Mr Wood’s “unhealthy obsession with PB” (as that is your sole interest in both this article and, it seems, your reasons for posting on EYE in general) – Precisely HOW MANY “YEARS” has Chris Wood been “doing it” for?
MrLister
A response would be appreciated.
Thank you.
Mr Lister, maybe you should point that critical finger at your good lady’s employer:
“Constantly slagging your competitors off, spending millions of pounds on social media, national television advertising to the degree that Purplebricks does shows fear, obsession and a unprofessional way of doing business”
Your statement is completely hypocritical. Chris is a small voice against a Goliath of a company with seemingly limitless pockets who will stop at no lengths to belittle, insult, generalise and demean the genuine professionals in our industry.
Purplebricks MO is “public competition bashing” so I really think you should rethink the point you are trying to make.
What a great and hugely constructive first post on here – will you be around long?
If somebody donates £1 to the cause does 94p of it go to investigating the 20,000 traditional agents who make up 94% of Estate Agency? I’m sure there are plenty of dodgy practices to discover if you actually look but why not focus on the one company who is recent to the game and has taken 4-5% of the market away from Traditional Agents?
Well this is the very question, his fixation on this leads to many questions.
Also how are donation monies administered?
As we all know the answer to this is due to Purplebricks spending 10s of millions of pounds slagging off high street estate agents, running down the good that is provided, claiming to offer a better way. It is true there are many estate agents and companies in other industries out there that do not provide a very good service, that have shady tactics and underhand practices but they do not spend all that money claiming to be the answer to every vendor and buyers problems.
If Purplebricks focused on what they do and being truly transparent about exactly what they charge rather than spend every penny slating estate agents, maybe the bad press and agent sniping would go away.
………. not focus on the one company who is recent to the game …………..
Err they are not new to the game, the founders were High Street estate agents. They just changed tactics and name.
Anyone tempted to accuse a business of ‘misleading’ their investors may well be spending more time with their lawyers.
Blimey 08.08am and no comment from TheDom. Maybe his mum has forgotten to wake him up.
If you click through to the youtube link, you’ll get chance to access Dom’s very own youtube channel.
The latest project: https://www.purplebricks.co.uk/property-for-sale/3-bedroom-terraced-house-hayes-harlington-444490.
Mis sold FSBO selling packages, Make a claim!!
Do these FSBO companies give market appraisal letters or is it just a verbal figure, or do they just ask what the owner would like to market at?
It’s not just Purple Bricks misleading customers it’s also House Simple, Emoov and Tepillo.
They mislead the public as if it’s a full estate agency service when in fact it is a glorified For Sale By Owner site.
Purple Bricks, Emoov etc are disrupting each other and are misleading their Investors. This practice should be stopped.
You’re clearly just joining the bandwagon without having a clue how the likes of PB operate.
Well done for your persistence Chris.