A new complaint about a Spicerhaart advert has been made to the watchdog Advertising Standards Authority.
The complaint has been made by another agent, who said: “This advert appears in our local paper and strongly suggests that they can get the best possible price in the fastest possible time. How on earth can they substantiate this?
“I have complained to the ASA, but even if they uphold the complaint, I doubt Spicerhaart will get more than yet another slap on the wrist.
“However, the damage this kind of advert does to other local agents can be considerable if people actually believe it.”
Spicerhaart has had a number of other complaints upheld against it by the ASA, including ads which claimed it to be the ‘Number One’ agent and a piece of marketing literature which looked like a hand-written note, asking the home-owner to contact the agent as a matter of urgency.
Of the latest complaint, a company spokesman said: “Haart works closely with the ASA and we are not aware of a complaint in relation to this particular advertisement.
“The ASA carefully reviews claims before proceeding to investigate and prefers not to become involved in tit for tat complaints between agents. So, the fact that a complaint has been made does not mean there will be an investigation.
“The advertisement is simply stating what every agent knows to be true: the better a property is marketed, the quicker it is likely to sell and the more it is likely to sell for. This is just plain common sense and underlines haart’s commitment to offering every customer the best possible marketing of their home.”
Comments
The advert is misleading. You can be as technical as you like but the standard is "what the average man in the street interprets". He will take it at face value, as will many potential vendors that get stitched up by misleading adverts. Spicerharrt must be getting desperate for new instructions to have to mislead!
I can't see the full details of the advert nor do I have access to it. However, are they directly saying they will get you the highest price and the quickest sale time than any other agent? It sounds not and they could well be highlighting their "personal" approach and delivering their best efforts to the client. In which case, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this ad. People love a moan and I can understand that to a certain degree, but this is just nit picking!
"Works closely with the ASA" Eh what!
The "Tesco's" of the property world will get their way with most things just as Tesco itself does - big is beautiful to Government. It is the way of the world gents.
In more than a dozen years of writing advertising, brochure and PR copy for agents, I can say that virtually all of them claim to get "the best price in the shortest possible time." Whenever I have queried the validity of this claim, I have received the same answer - "Ah well, the best price is the one that someone is actually ready and willing to pay." While that may be strictly true, it is certainly not the way the public interprets the word "best!" Personally, I think it would do the industry a power of good if all such misleading claims were banned. And while we're on the subject of "small print," what about the positively microscopic "subject to contract" that appears on most agents; SOLD boards...?
I didn't think you guys believed that anybody read local newspapers anymore so what's the problem????
Most local agents have standards and are careful about only placing fair adverts - many corporates seem to get away with saying whaatever they like ie
- top selling agent
- only £99 for HIPs (when the cost of getting out of the contract with this agent is over £600)
- Our upfront cost for hips is 0 (then very small print explaining the cost)
And although when complaints are made the Advertising Standards Authority ASA do stop the adverts, the problem is they only seem to tell the agent off and no more and the same agents then break the rules again and again and again - I would suggest all agents with standards should do as this agent has and whistle blow to try and clean up our industry and get rid of these cowboy adverts
If they are bullish enough to believe they are the best, then fair enough. However, that is some claim and one that cannot be substantiated I would wager without vital statistics. It may be the truth for one or two branches, but not the entire network.
The complaining agent has a chip on his shoulder, perhaps he can get the best possible price in the fastest possible time!! Good luck Spiceheart