Allagents, the ‘come whine with me’ property agent ratings website, is due to announce its awards any moment now.
Nothing was up on their website when we last looked, so EAT thought we’d do a spot of our own judging.
Based on how customer reviews have rated and slated agents over the last year (to be fair, there’s as much praising as whining) on the site, it looks as though we’d not be able to place Countrywide or any of their brands for an award in either lettings or sales.
Indeed, the chains appear to need to do a lot to win the hearts and minds of their customers, if Allagents’ current listings are anything to go by. Bairstow Eves, Countrywide, Your Move and Reeds Rains all feature in the worst ten rated agents for sales, despite regularly scooping top prizes in other award schemes.
As for the independents, it’s notable that those in London in particular seem to have got their respective heads around how to make a ratings site work in their favour.
(In short, you don’t complain about allegedly fake reviews from your competitors, you aren’t even personally tempted in that direction, and you simply encourage your most satisfied clients to praise you to the hilt, whilst praying hard that your most churlish won’t let rip, but taking their criticisms positively on board, so it’s simple really.)
The current ratings are interesting: Paramount Properties, with just one office in north London, has clearly got the knack of achieving every first place possible well and truly licked, and Ludlow Thompson, with several London offices, is another that obviously embraces the whole notion of consumer ratings.
However, it’s interesting to note that C J Hole, Ellis & Co, Whitegates and Parkers (all four of them Xperience agents) are in the top ten, along with Streets Ahead (London) – whose vendor was impressed by the valuer not only taking his shoes off but having clean socks too – Conran Estates (London), My London Home (yes, you’ve guessed it, London), and Bradleys Estate Agents – a sizeable chain in the West Country.
Allagents did say there would be awards for the best online agent. However, we have chickened out of the judging here.
More on this when (and if) we get it.
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Comments
Thing is, they are not really exposing rogue agents, if you were that crap you would be out of business by now. This award thing is playground hype, no one cares apart from the struggling agent who will put the 'look at us we won an award!!'.
If its a property award, granted, but its not.
@paul
I sense from your comment that you are against review websites exposing rogue agents!
I assume your agency is not up for an award then :)
se agent: I would never book a holiday abroad without referring to trip advisor first
Its idiots like you that ruin businesses, just because someone did not like the way the towels were laid on the bed, or the view from their room was crap coz they booked the cheapest room, did you holiday before the internet was invented?
se agent -
You talk like the internet is the ONLY way to gain instructions, or to sell property for that matter.
Maybe you have not sold property (or anything else for that matter...) pre-technology. That would explain a lot.
Pity really - you might have enjoyed it. It involved actually talking to people. Interacting with flesh and blood, not a keyboard and screen. Sometimes, however, you had to cheat and use a phone, which, believe it or not, was attached to the wall by a chord! Those were the days of REAL selling. Your vendors then did a sales job for you, by telling others about how good (or bad...) you were - and if the former, you gained additional instructions. No-one anonymously falsely damned you, as there was nowhere to do it.
People bought from people.
Then again... form what I read here you would probably have absolutely hated those times.
These awards are pointless really, the whole site is, vendors dont rely on review sites, we could all make a website called for example, TheTopAgentsAwards2012.co.uk, stick a page on the web, put yourself no1 with some competitors 2 and 3, then put it on your site that you are no1.
Its a load of rubbish, all agents talk about allagents but i bet the public don't.
@Ska
'It's very different with property transactions as it's something we do very infrequently whilst being ignorant to huge parts of the process. Add into the equation that moving home is invariably stressful and expensive'
That's the main reason why it's so important that we have review sites like AA. In fact I would go a stage further and state that a prospective vendor only has themselves to blame if they ignored a review site like allagents and burnt their fingers.
Why would anyone leave the biggest asset they own to a rogue agent or someone that's not competent to deal with it for them.
I would never book a holiday abroad without referring to trip advisor first
My worry with review sites such as this is that, on the whole, the people writing the reviews are doing so with insufficient knowledge or experience to make them valid.
I've been criticised this week buy a buyer who's accused my firm of "gazumping" her when in fact we are legally obliged to pass on a higher offer whilst also being criticised by a vendor who, after having his property down valued by £20k by the mortgage surveyor, said it was my fault for choosing to sell to a buyer who couldn't afford it!
If these people were aware of the All Agents site, we could, unfairly, have received very negative reviews.
It's different if you’re reviewing a restaurant or holiday as we all have enough experience of these things for it to be valid. It's very different with property transactions as it's something we do very infrequently whilst being ignorant to huge parts of the process. Add into the equation that moving home is invariably stressful and expensive and it's easy to see why agents are on a hiding to nothing.
What Countrywide not winning an award??
How can this possibly be when they come up trumps in the estas ?
Allagents are the best thing that's happened to the industry and should be getting applauded for what they have achieved in only one year of being in business.
We have here a business model that offers an award scheme, a property portal, league tables and all of it is free of charge.
Forget about rightmove and zoopla, this site has got it all.
They're pretty useless to be fair. To join the transparent thing you're forced to put their logo in a more prominent position than your own on your website, ridiculous.
What about an award for the nicest board, best pictures, fit staff, open on Fridays, use rightmove, members of the NAEA, sold a flat, let a property, must be loads more worthless topics!
Oh and able to add 10 +4!
Its a shame they are not doing supplier awards. Though good luck to everyone. I really do believe a free customer review award scheme like this is what the public really want to see
@Morons - I figure everyone has the right to voice an opinion - with the possible exception of you
We are rated higher than 10th place in league tables - but dont have a ranking!! How does that work?
Very fuuny we are rated and we are not agents!! Could they have a few more awards!?
Too many Londons ?
The inaugural award categories are as follows:
Estate Agents - Sales
London E & EC England East Best London Estate Agent
London N Midlands Best UK Estate Agent
London NW Northern Best Transparent Estate Agent
London SE South East
London SW South West
London W & WC Scotland
Geater London North Wales
Greater LondonSouth N. Ireland
Best small Sales chain 2 -5 Offices
Best medium Sales chain 6 - 25 Offices
Best large Sales chain 26+ offices
Letting Agents - Lettings
London E & EC England East Best London Letting Agent
London N Midlands Best UK Letting Agent
London NW Northern Best Transparent Letting Agent
London SE South East
London SW South West
London W & WC Scotland
Geater London North Wales
Greater LondonSouth N. Ireland
Best small Letting chain 2 -5 Offices
Best medium Letting chain 6 - 25 Offices
Best large Letting chain 26+ offices
Other categories:
Best Mortgage Advisor
Best Franchise Group
We have agreed to publish the results exclusively in Estateagenttoday and Lettingagenttoday, so please ensure you get your copy and become one of the first to hear about them. DONT MISS IT.
Have you won an award?
If you would like to discuss promoting your profile, call our business development team on 07531860637 or contact us through our website.
What do agents thinks of us?
Read our own reviews at http://www.allagents.co.uk/testimonials/
@Morons
I think an agent showing respect for a Vendors home when they walk through the door is a perfectly legitimate opinion to voice.
Maybe I’m old fashioned.
Self promotion.
Ros, do you know what all the categories are?
It Looks like the independents have now got a competitive edge over the corporates at last....
If you base the decision on which agent to instruct on them taking their shoes off and having clean socks, you should not be allowed to voice an opinion on anything at all let alone estate agents.