Agency reviews platform allAgents.co.uk could be heading for another spat with Purplebricks.
The reviews website is urging the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and Trading Standards to launch an immediate investigation into the consistently high 5-star reviews of Purplebricks on Trustpilot.
It comes in the wake of the Panorama documentary that highlighted cases of over-valuing and upselling at Purplebricks, claims that the online agent denies.
Joanna Irvine, customer experience manager at allAgents, said: “For a number of years, we have been requesting an investigation into these dubious reviews, yet Trustpilot has consistently ignored our concerns.
“The BBC documentary highlighted several alarming practices from this estate agent, including the deliberate overvaluing of properties to secure listings.
“Based on customer feedback, Purplebricks has a 40% sales valuation accuracy on our website, indicating that three in five properties are being overvalued. This is simply unacceptable for a firm that purports to have ‘best local knowledge’.”
She questioned why Purplebricks has such a high rating on Trustpilot given the poor reviews on the allAgents platform.
Allagents.co.uk acknowledged the 2023 Strike acquisition of Purplebricks with cautious optimism, but claimed that “nothing has changed.” Irvine added: “Perhaps it’s time to revert to the old ‘no sale, no fee’ basis and dedicate the next 12 months to focusing on customer experiences.”
This latest development reignites a long-standing dispute between allAgents and Purplebricks, which previously saw Purplebricks threaten legal action against the review website prior to its USA launch, demanding the removal of negative reviews.
Regarding the claims of conditional selling taking place within the Connells Group, which the brand denies, Irvine added: “This unethical practice, where an estate agent pressures a prospective buyer to use their in-house services, can easily be resolved. Simply ban agents from cross-selling financial products to buyers.”
Purplebricks has previously denied claims of fake reviews and declined to comment.
Allagents has a Trustpilot score of 1.7 compared with 3.9 at Purplebricks.
