We asked, we wondered, we scratched our heads – and now, 13 months later, we’ve finally found them.
We’re talking about the Purplebricks ratings on Feefo.
It was on December 1, 2017, that Purplebricks announced the new partnership with the review site.
The statement said then: “Purplebricks is currently working on implementation and integration with the Feefo service and will launch early in 2018.
“It will remain in partnership with Trustpilot and the information gleaned from both review websites will give Purplebricks invaluable customer insight and build on the excellent service its people deliver for customers on a day by day basis.”
There are currently some 1,400 reviews of Purplebricks on Feefo, with the oldest dating from seven months ago.
In November, we were told that the Feefo page would be going live once Purplebricks’ new website launched. This now incorporates Purplebricks’ new logo.
The average customer rating on Feefo is 4.7 stars out of a possible five.
It’s similar to the average rating on Trustpilot, where there are a lot more reviews – over 57,155 when we looked yesterday. On Trustpilot, the rating is 9.5 out of a possible ten, with 89% of reviewers giving the service an ‘excellent’ score.
https://www.feefo.com/en-GB/reviews/purple-bricks?displayFeedbackType=SERVICE&timeFrame=YEAR
Comments (38)
Feefo… You mean the review site that collects money from companies in exchange for them being able to collect reviews?
Sooo, pay them enough and negative reviews can be conveniently removed? Nah, I’d rather read reviews from an impartial source.
Purple Bricks claim they do not charge Commission, however the Oxford English Dictionary states that “A commission is “a sum”, typically a set percentage of the value involved, paid to an agent in a commercial transaction” Whilst I agree it is typically a %, a fixed sum also can be “the commission” For that reason I believe PB to be charging “a commission”, suggesting their ads are very clearly deceiving the public, in my opinion. Any feedback, thoughts appreciated.
Can someone please advise where i can find the link to “Googles” Purple Bricks rating. Seems to be one for all other estate agents? Thanks
Search on PB Solihull – or other locations.
Purplebricks came to Reviews.co.uk enquiring about using our review collection & publishing services. After much deliberation we decided they were not a good fit for our business.
https://www.reviews.co.uk/company-reviews/store/purplebricks
I think more likely they opted for the (non-compliant) ‘closed’ system operated by Feefo – where a customer can only write a review by invitation from the business – PB also appear to like to control the timing of the invitation (a lot appear to be written soon after instruction – certainly before completion) so the ability to fine-tune the timing of the invitation, which Feefo provides, will have appealed.
I got lost coming home earlier this week, the pb for sale board that has been on the corner of our road for past 18 months has been taken down, I drove right past my turning!
yet only 1 star on all agents and 2 stars on reviews.co.uk – how strange?
‘Almost perfect’…. 4.7 out of 5….. so 94%……
I wonder if I paid my staff 94% of their wages….. no, silly me!
Anyone think to ask why Countrywide ditched Feefo?
Let’s get this completely straight: if a reviews system is not completely transparent (and CMA compliant) not only will potential customers see through it, so will the media and so, perhaps most important of all, will your competitors.
The question anyone is asking now is ‘what do you look like on Google?’ where anyone can write a review whenever they want, and – most important of all – where ALL your potential customers are looking.
Anyone seen their Google reviews? Scoring 1.9 out of 5 from 81 reviews? Not so hot in Sidcup either.
“This company overvalued my property in order to gain my business. It sold – for 25% LESS than they said it was worth. I will never trust them with the most valuable transaction of my life again. This has cost me almost £100,000.”
Would you trust the opinion of somebody who sold their property at £100K less than it was worth?
Er – not ‘what it was worth’ – ‘what THEY said it was worth’ – there’s a fundamental difference.
“Would you trust the opinion of somebody who sold their property at £100K less than it was worth?”
What about someone who sold their property at £93k less than its’ original price, ducky?
Should that person’s… “opinion”… be trusted?
I think not.
Not in the slightest.
Not as long as night is dark on the far side of the moon..
Not as far as I could chuck them if they were covered in “Sting me” lotion and sealed in a Centurion tank full of wasps.
Sorry – the last bit was just wishful thinking…
I’M BACK!
I’m not accusing (as I don’t want this deleted) and this is just a suggestion.
Ros and the PIE team could you perhaps investigate these reviews further…?
I mean really dig into how they are ‘managed’ each time someone reviews a business like PB’s on Trustpilot?
I promise you’ll create some great articles from it that will spread much further than the PIE readership.
Good idea Mark.
What an absolute joke. Let the people who haven’t sold rate them as well. In 2018 PB converted just 54% of their instructions to sales in our area. Easy figures to check on RM for anyone. Just set your dates in RM Intel to Jan1st 2018 to Dec 31st and check number of sales agreed against number of instructions. So 46% of their clients are paying for nothing. I wonder what they would rate them at? It’s like going to a restaurant with your partner, paying upfront for your meal and only receiving one!! I don’t think I would give that restaurant 9.5/10
47% sold in my area
96 listed 41 sstc in the past 12 months in my area*
* TR10
TR11
TR12
TR13
TR14
TR17
TR18
TR19
TR20
TR26
TR27
The law clearly states that a) anyone should be able to write a review and b) at a time of their own choosing. It’s easy to look great if you control who’s invited and when.
Playing catch-up, but are a) and b) above really something written in UK law? Where does it say that?
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/online-reviews-and-endorsements-advice-for-businesses ‘Playing catch-up’ is correct – the regulations (which are effectively the law) have been in place for over three years now. I wonder just how many other agencies/agents are unaware of this?
Maybe they should ask their investors to review their performance?
Some great reviews in there however, like many, I believed that Feefo was only going to take reviews from people who had sold (completed) and it is very clear from reading these and from speaking to a Feefo insider last year, that many of these reviews are by people who have not yet completed.
These are a few of the obvious ones, however, reading others who are stating they have ‘sold’ through this lens and it raises more questions as to how many of these are reviews from successful sales (completions) rather than just SSTC). Not one mention of a ‘moving day’ or being in my new home in any of the reviews I read. Odd?
“So, we are now two weeks in and sold STC, respective conveyancing details swapped. Should this sale not run its course we are confident that PB will be the best option going forward to clinch future prospective buyers.”
“Very efficient and obliging service so far, if the rest of the sale goes as smoothly I will be delighted”
“I am currently selling my house with the help of Purple Bricks i have managed to secure a buyer within three days of it going live on their website.” “Hopefully the sale will continue to process smoothly “
“‘ Satisfied so far ‘ Smooth and competent service. Only disappointed that the property was removed from advertising as soon as an offer was received. In my experience it is wise to leave it on as “sold subject to contract”. (Have #PURP withdrawn it from advertising or marked it as ‘SOLD’? CW)
Well done Chris – you’ve highlighted the major flaw; the system’s just not credible, so it’s easy for a competitor to highlight that flaw and all credibility is out of the window. Pity those that fall for it tho.
Feefo is not a credible review site as people can only be invited to leave reviews. Anyone who is going through a rough time with a company simple wont have the possibility to leave a review, so what is the point in their website?
100% agree, to be honest if you cannot get five stars as a default score on feefo, you need to sack someone
That is correct but we choose to invite everyone to review us, with no exceptions, that way we genuinely find out how we are doing. Any reviews can be manipulated if you want to but whats the point?
Anyone can write a review? It’s an ‘invitation only’ site – and, as such, not compliant with the CMA regs. If I am the partner of a disgruntled ex-tenant you’re not going to ‘invite’ me so I’m going to be forced to go straight to Google to write my review. Not helpful – I’m sure you’ll agree.
Just as a matter of interest – why do you use Feefo and not Google?
Malcolm, We genuinely invite every buyer, seller, tenant and landlord to review us, that way we know what we are good at and what we can improve upon, we are not scared unlike others. The reason we use Feefo as opposed to Google is that Feefo contact the person direct and it is quick and easy for feedback to be left. Unfortunately, Google relies on the person actually having an account and logging on, therefore it requires more effort and is less likely to be completed, something that I’ve heard from others. No system is perfect but it is if used in the right spirit, as we do.
Hi Fluter, is this is true, why are there so few reviews on Feefo compared to the last few months on Trustpilot. I havent counted them up, but i would guess the reviews on TP number many many thousand in the last year compared to this comparably small number of Feefo?
Feefo have been partnered with PB for over twelve months having announced their partnership in December 2017. It is then, ‘odd’ that during the past 12 months, PURP have only secured 1,400*** reviews (117 per month on average) compared to a monthly average of around 1,583 reviews per month for the three years PB was partnered with Trustpilot.
Hi Chris, It is odd and maybe PIE could ask Purp?
Hi Arthurhouse02, I really have no idea. Maybe PB do manipulate the numbers? I am only really concerned with what we do.
Fluter if you do represent Feefo how many people roughly have you invited to submit reviews?
Our agency pays to use Feefo, we do not represent Feefo. In just under 2 years we have 110 reviews showing on our link on our website. Despite the ease of use, there are still some that do not respond and leave a review. Also, all reviews are from clients at the end of their particular journey.
You still haven’t adressed the issue of ‘when’ a customer can write a review – you control that, and that’s what makes the system non-compliant. If a tenant experiences an issue with your business nine months after moving in they cannot go to Feeo and write a review (I can see the benefit for the business in such a system – but so can the regulators).