An agent which carried a testimonial on its site without making it clear that it was written by one of their own directors was reported to the Advertising Standards Authority.
Residential lettings and management company Oyster Estates, which displays a number of logos on its site including ARLA, and is based in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, agreed to an amendment.
The case has now been closed.
A spokesperson for the ASA said: “Claims on the website www.oysterestates.co.uk were presented as a testimonial from Monairit Properties Ltd.
“The claims stated: ‘…I’m sure because Oyster understand what we are trying to achieve our bankers have always been happy to lend against the portfolio. The funding of new projects as a result of Oyster’s involvement and the myriad of other local businesses they have a relationship with, puts us in the special position of responsible local community housing – Simon Royall. Monairit Properties Ltd shareholder.’
“The complainant challenged whether the testimonial was misleading because it failed to make clear that Mr Simon Royall was also the director of Oyster Estates.
“We contacted the advertiser and advised them to make clear that the testimonial had been provided by one of their director’s other companies.
“The advertiser agreed to this amend and we resolved the case informally.”
Three other property-related complaints were also resolved informally after the advertisers agreed to make changes.
Galliard Homes
An ad for a property development outside of London stated the time it took to reach London by train alongside the location details of the property. The complainant felt the ad was misleading because they believed the time to be inaccurate and faster than the journey would realistically take. The ASA contacted the advertiser and advised them to amend the times to the average train time, not the fastest.
Gloucestershire Property Online
Its website featured text that stated: “From humble beginnings we have successfully sold properties in every postcode in Gloucestershire.” The complainant challenged whether the claim was misleading and could be substantiated. The advertiser agreed to remove the claim.
Watersons
A leaflet for an estate agent, Watersons Independent Estate Agents in Sale, Cheshire, featured text that stated: “Properties SOLD by WATERSONS That Other Agents Could Not Sell” and below was a list of all the properties they had sold. Competitors Reeds Rains challenged whether the claims were misleading, could be substantiated and were verifiable. The advertiser said it would remove the claim.
Regarding the first article
There will be countless bogus reviews
So hard to police of course
Rather than truly highlighting the scale of cheating this highlights how stupid the agent is in reviewing his own agency – schoolboy error
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Resolved informally, resolved informally, resolved informally, and resolved informally.
If anything else is resolved informally I’m going to shoot someone.
For goodness sake, get the cane out of the cupboard and make us fear breaking the law, as we should!
Otherwise, dissolve the business as you’re not actually doing anything.
The word ‘authority’ is in the name already. Why not show some for a change you cretinous whelps.
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They have no authority.
They were created to give MPs’ business buddies free reign. Sorry – deregulation to make business more efficient etc etc.
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Did you know
I am the best estate agent in Britain, Sorry the World, no I meant the universe.
I must be god !
LOL
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Local street with three estate agents.
First agent claims “The best estate agent in the country”
Second agent, not to be outdone claims “The best estate agent in the world”
Third agent peers at his competitors windows, thinks for a moment then comes up with his strapline. “The best agent in this street”
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Wasn’t it yesterday that ARLA said something along the lines they have the only creditable agents. I disagreed then and still do.
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