Mystery surrounds an estate agent which announced that it had gone bankrupt nearly two years ago.
JB Property, in Waltham Abbey, closed its office in September 2012, and two weeks later said on its website that it had filed for bankruptcy.
Not long after, on October 31, 2012, the OFT said it had imposed an £8,866 fine on Michael Adkins, trading as JB Property Services, for failing to comply with anti money-laundering regulations.
The day before, a highly negative review was posted on Allagents, and for some time it looked as though it would be the last rating ever for the firm.
But last month on April 2, a five-star rating appeared, naming Michael Adkins as helpful. Similarly positive reviews followed throughout April and into this month.
However, a review at the top says: “Michael Adkin of JB Properties ran off in September 2012 with a substantial amount of money owed to tenants, landlords, prospective buyers, etc.
“He is currently going through the bankruptcy process with people left little/no chance of getting their money back. I am one of those people to the tune of £2,200.
“Some reviews have recently been written which are very misleading which is why I am leaving a review now. Please, please, please AVOID AT ALL COSTS.”
On another review site, netanagent.com, another new comment was posted late last week giving a very positive view of JB Property’s “ultra quick service”.
However, a search for the firm’s website, www.jbproperty.co.uk, told us that it could not be found.
According to the local newspaper, the bankruptcy message which appeared on JB Property’s website at the time read: “We would like to inform all customers that JB Property Services has filed for bankruptcy.
“We apologise for any and all inconvenience to all of our clients at this difficult time.
“Due to recent property sales and rentals that have fallen through due to property prices fluctuating, the recession and increasing decline in property investment, JB Property Services has unfortunately gone into administration and will no longer be taking new clients.
“All existing clients will be contacted on a case-by-case basis within the next 28 days in order to address payments.
“We are wholeheartedly apologetic for not informing customers sooner and while we understand that our clients are in a complicated situation we will presently ensure that all due monies are rectified.
“Please refrain from contacting us directly as we currently have an administration backlog, however we are processing payments as fast as possible against our directives.
“We will directly contact all clients shortly to inform them of the situation and to explain the stages from this point onwards, so please bear with us in this challenging climate.”
The local paper says the estate agent’s former offices are still shut and agents in the town are mystified as to what is going on.
There are similarly named companies with no connections to the Waltham Abbey estate agent.
This story highlights how review websites are open to abuse. AllAgents is terrible and their failure to have a moderating process allows anything to get posted with no chance to have it removed, well unless you pay them of course.
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Yes CLG. That's exactly it.
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Check out the company heading up the reviews (5 stars) and make your own mind up about the value of this shoddy website.
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marcH
Don't worry – the "value" of this site has already been well debated and documented.
But… some people believe what they read – regardless of the source and validity of the content.
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