ASA
-
Latest property news
Emoov investigated by advertising watchdog for third time since 2015
Hybrid estate agent emoov has been investigated for a third time by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) this time over claims made on its website about how much vendors can save by using its service when compared to traditional agents. An agent in Lincolnshire complained to the ASA about the claim on an www.emoov.co.uk webpage that said “our activity around Scunthorpe…£2,672 Average Customer Saving” and “our sellers saved an average of £4,378 in fees with emoov”. The complainant also highlighted that emoov had published two different fixed fees on the page without explaining the difference, one for £795 and the other for £679. The person who contacted the ASA challenged whether the savings claims could be substantiated, and whether the different fixed fees were misleading. Promises After being contacted by the ASA, emoov agreed to take the comparative claims down and has promised not to repeat them, and now makes it clear on the page that it has only one fixed fee of £795. Emoov has been investigated by the ASA twice before for being misleading, in 2015 and 2016, both of which included complaints made to the advertising watchdog about ‘fees saved’ as well as other issues including competitor…
Read More » -
Latest property news
Purplebricks is ignoring advertising watchdog’s ruling over fee transparency, claims CIELA
Purplebricks is to be investigated by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over a ruling the watchdog published last year which upheld a complaint by the Charter for Independent Estates and Lettings Agents (CIELA) about its TV advertising. CIELA claims that Purplebricks is still not being clear about its upfront fee structure, despite the ASA saying it should do when, in October, the ASA found that Purplebricks’ ‘commisery’ TV ads had breached its Code of Broadcast Advertising. In the comments, the ASA said Purplebricks must “ensure that when making a comparison to other fee models in their ads, they made it clear that their flat fee was always payable.” Last week CIELA made a further complaint to the ASA, pointing out that several of Purplebricks’ online adverts made the same claims, and had not been amended to reflect the ASA’s earlier decision. CIELA has been told by the ASA that its complaint will not be taken forward. In an email to CIELA, it has said that “having considered your complaint, we have determined that it is not necessary to reinvestigate the issue, in light of the previous ruling. “Instead, we will refer this matter directly to our Compliance team to take…
Read More » -
Latest property news
Zoopla apologises for ‘me too’ hermit crab advert after it whips up Twitter storm
Zoopla has apologised after the latest version of its hermit crab advert campaign whipped up a Twitter storm and prompted one member of the public to complain to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The ad (pictured, right), which is currently running on the London underground and features a line of hermit crabs each answering “Me too” to the statement “I’m selling my house on Zoopla”, upset many people on social media because of its unintended link to the global #metoo movement triggered by the revelations of sexual harassment within the Hollywood film industry. Hundreds of people took to Twitter to vent their anger, calling out the portal for “for misrepresenting the hastag #metoo” as one post put it, and that it was in “poor taste” and “repulsive hijacking”. But following the complaint to the ASA, a spokesperson for the advertising watchdog disagreed, saying that “while the ad does use the phrase ‘me too’ we consider that viewers of the ad are likely to interpret its use as the crabs all agreeing to sell their houses on Zoopla, rather than a reference to recent sexual harassment claims and the resulting #metoo campaign”. Several Twitter accounts also rose to the defence of the…
Read More » -
Latest property news
Two property company’s websites investigated by advertising watchdog
How creative can an agent get about its company’s history? That question has been put under the spotlight after an agent in North London was reported this week to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for claiming on its property website that it has been in business for a decade even though it was not incorporated until October 2015, Companies House records show. Huddletons, which operates out of an office above a restaurant in Camden and one director, appears to have changed its website to reflect the ASA request to amend its claim, now stating the more subtle point that it “has developed organically over the past decade from concept through to where it currently stands as a business”. Huddleton is not listed on either the NAEA or ARLA websites as a member but it is signed up to the Property Redress Scheme. But the company is not the only one investigated this week by the ASA over claims made on its website. Builder Crest Nicholson had an advert for one of its developments challenged by a complainant, who said an image was misleading because it showed a detached property when, on further investigation, it turned out to be semi-detached. “The…
Read More » -
Latest property news
Two agents investigated by ASA over misleading online property ad complaints
Two agents have been investigated by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) this week for misleading online property ads following complaints from the public. The more serious of the two was a complaint about two digital adverts by Lincoln-based agency Mundys Property Services. One featured the claim that it offered “100% tenant satisfaction – Let with confidence – 100% of our tenants would be happy to let through Mundys again” and a second that included the text “Mundys… A customer survey about our services produced a 100% satisfaction rating”. The claims were based on a 2013 survey of tenants moving into properties let by the company. The complainant challenged whether the “100% satisfaction” claims were misleading because the survey didn’t canvass the tenants about the company’s overall service. After being approached by the ASA, Mundys said they would removed the ads and would not use the claims again – although at the time of publication the ad remains on one of its website home pages (pictured, left). Online property ads In a less serious case, Reeds Rains Ltd was referred to the watchdog after a complainant spotted a listing on Rightmove for a rented property that featured an expired 50% discount…
Read More » -
Latest property news
Phew! Property auction guide prices are not misleading, says advertising watchdog
A complaint against leading auctioneer SDL Auctions by a member of the public to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that its listed property auction guide prices were misleading has not been upheld. In an important judgement for the property auction industry, the ASA did not agree with the complainant, who had attended an SDL auction in Birmingham on the 6th July. The complaint in effect challenged the bedrock of the auctioneering industry – that houses often sell for much more than their guide price, and that guide prices are often changed during the run-up to auctions as vendors change their minds on their desire reserve price. £1 properties During the auction, at which several properties were offered with a guide price of £1, the complainant said many properties offered at the auction sold for significantly more than the guide price, and challenged whether the auction brochure’s guide prices were therefore misleading. After examining SDL Auctions’ catalogues for the auction and other paperwork, the ASA has concluded that because the company defined the difference between a guide price and a reserve price prominently in its catalogues, and because it routinely updates properties’ guide prices during the run-up to auctions to keep…
Read More » -
Latest property news
Purplebricks agrees to clarify what ‘pay nothing upfront’ means on its website
It has been a busy week for the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) which has had to deal with three property firms referred to it by members of the public, including Purplebricks. This will be the fifth time this year the hybrid agency has been dealt with by the ASA and the tenth time overall since 2015. This time the hybrid agency has agreed to add a clickable but tiny ‘information’ symbol (see below) on its ‘What’s included in our fixed fee’ page next to the words ‘A choice to pay nothing upfront’. A member of the public complained that this could be misleading because, if a vendor chooses to pay later they either have to use Purplebricks’ Advanced Conveyancing Services or, if they don’t, pay an administration fee of £360 including VAT. After being contacted by the ASA, Purplebricks inserted the pop-up information button containing the words explaining this, and the case was resolved informally. Two other agents The other agents featuring in this week’s ASA cases include Property Collection Worldwide and Space4Living. Cambridge-based the Property Collection Worldwide had been reported for claiming to be the “UK’s leading estate agents’ marketing specialists”, a claim that when challenged it agreed to…
Read More » -
Latest property news
Independent estate agent challenged over speed-of-sale claims
Independent estate agent Curchods has got into hot water with the advertising watchdog over two direct mailshots it sent out recently. In both the mailshots the company, which has its headquarters in West Horsley and operates 21 branches across Surrey, made claims about how fast it could sell properties and exchange contracts, and also the total value of its property sales over the past 12 months. But a single complainant – presumably a local competitor – challenged whether theses claims could be substantiated, and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) approached Curchods – which is owned by parent company Simpsons Estate Agents Ltd – to investigate. Curchods, which is one of Surrey’s oldest estate agent brands with a history stretching back 75 years, agreed to withdraw the marketing material containing the claims about average speed of contract exchange. Also, the company agreed to insert qualifications into other material about the number of sales per hour it achieves and was able to prove to the ASA the number of sales it had made over the past year. On this basis, the ASA says the complaint was informally resolved. Brexit worries Curchods’ parent company Simpson Estate Agents bought the sales operation of local…
Read More » -
Latest property news
Online agent YOPA investigated again by advertising watchdog
Online agent YOPA has been investigated by the advertising watchdog just two weeks after being reported for potentially misleading claims on its website. This time the London-based sales and lettings agency was reported by a member of the public for a mailshot sent to them that advertised its sales service but, they claimed, wasn’t clearly marked as marketing material. After being approached by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), YOPA has now promised not to repeat the mailshot and that future advertising of this kind would be clearly marked as such in future. YOPA has been reported five times since it started two years ago including three times this year and once in 2016 and 2015 all of which have been informally resolved, although this hasn’t deterred investors – both Savills and LSL have put substantial amounts of money into the firm. Online agents Among the online agents, Emoov leads the pack for complaints to the ASA with ten referred to the watchdog so far including two serious complaints, one of which was upheld and another upheld in part, and eight informally resolved cases. Not far behind it is Purplebricks, which has had been referred to the ASA nine times including…
Read More » -
Latest property news
Watchdog investigates two property companies over website and text adverts
Two property companies have been investigated by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) this week, one over charges made to a tenant and the other over the costs of calling a number listed within an advertisement. James Park Homes, which operates sites in Lincolnshire, the Lake District and Nottinghamshire, was referred to the watchdog after a park home resident complained that their monthly bills, despite being listed on the company’s website to include water rates, instead had the charge added on top. The ASA approached James Park Homes about the adverts and the company has promised that in future they will be accurate – and that any qualifications and limitations relating to ad claims will be clear in the future. Builder Linden Homes was also referred to the ASA over a text sent to existing customers asking them to call an 0845 number. The person complaining said the text did not make it clear how much the number would cost to call, which it complained was misleading under the ASA’s advertising code. The ASA raised these concerns with the company, which has given assurances that the 0845 number is no longer in use and that its systems have been updated to…
Read More »
