Is it fair? Estate agency ‘told off’ over material information mistake
Fine & Country mis-labelled one of its Rightmove listings - but was it really worth the Advertising Standards Authority spending time and resources after such a minor complaints?
Estate agency Fine & Country has been the subject of a material information complaint that, although technically true, is one of the more small-minded to be referred to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
The organisation, which is tasked with policing adverts whether online, on TV, in print or on posters, has been forced to intervene after a complainant said one of Fine & Country’s Rightmove property listings was misleading.
The single complainant, who is not identified but is likely to be either a member of the public or a competing agent with an axe to grind, noticed that the Rightmove property listing had been incorrectly labelled as a ‘detached’ property when it was not.
Material information
Rather than politely pointing this out to the branch involved, the complainant contacted the ASA, which phoned the agency staff involved, saying: “We spoke with Fine & Country and they amended the ad to clarify the property wasn’t detached. As such, we consider the matter closed.”
While the ad did technically violate the ASA’s CAP code (03) by omitting material information, and would also fall under National Trading Standards’ similar ‘material information disclosure’ rules, The Neg does wonder if this kind of minor mistake in property listings is worth such scrutiny, and whether complaints like this should be followed up – particularly when sometimes they are submitted by competing agents rather than members of the public.
>More information on material information.
F&C had one job.
Just because the ASA let it go all the time with estate agents doesn’t mean from time to time you will get caught. Make an effort. The disclaimer is not a reason to mis-represent a property especially Fine and Country.
Get someone to check it before you get stuck with a quango which checks everything like the FCA.
How is this a story? The ASA received a legitimate complaint (sounds like someone at the agency had fat thumbs and ticked the wrong box) and took appropriate action. They didn’t overreact. Should they have ignored it? If they had have done, that could have been a story. ‘What’s the point in the ASA, they ignore complaints?’ Damned if they do, damned if they don’t.
These people – just like the Property Ombudman and no doubt others, have to make jobs for themselves to ‘prove’ how worthwhile they are.
I know some who got fined £500 for using a business email address (which was the only one known to someone who later became a client) as opposed to a private email address for a matter.