Beware of misleading purple bricks

Fshorty30

I was selling my fathers house as he has altzheimers -(I don’t have power of attorney ) and was going with a high st estate agent but the seller was dragging their feet and I was sceptical the sale would continue- I saw an ad on tv regarding purple bricks and read some reviews on Trust pilot - ( who I certainly DONT trust - which I’ll mention later ) and contacted them. A sales advisor visited me and led to me to the conclusion that it was no sale no fee and insisted I’d have nothing to lose if going with them to see what interest they could accumulate. He encouraged me to complete an online application which I did and I gave them the keys. In the meantime the original buyer came through and the sale progressed- I advised purple bricks ( this was about 4 weeks later ) and they happily returned the keys. 6 months later I have received a letter informing me that I am liable to pay £1199- i was astonished and upon speaking to them they are insistent that when I completed my online application this explains that a fee is payable regardless of sale or not and I am also entering into an agreement on behalf of the owner- I have since googled purple bricks and found many disgruntled customers -interestingly purple bricks always refer you to “trust pilot “ for their reviews - I have since discovered purple bricks actually pay trust pilot a subscription which explains a lot. I am at my wits end because I think I may be liable to pay this money although no physical signature from myself or my dad was obtained and I was misled by original sales man - who never mentioned this to me upon our 1 st meeting - I have already paid another agent £2000 and really don’t want to try to explain to my poor father that more money is needed for another agent - please advise anyone !!!! I am going to write to the financial ombudsman but was wondering if anyone else can offer some well appreciated advise ?

poppy10_2

Purple Bricks' business model is that you pay their fee regardless of whether they manage to sell your home for you or not. They do make this clear from the start and it would have been on the documentation of the online application you made. The financial ombudsman will not be of any help. This isn't even a case of "read the small print", it's made obvious from the beginning of the process.

They sell a low proportion of the homes they take on, as once they have your money there is no incentive for them to do any further work to sell it as they won't get any more money.

Trustpilot reviews are generally a joke, and PB's in particular are well known to be completely useless. If you pay enough money you can get a 5 star rating on TrustPilot no matter how scammy your company

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-43907695

Thrugelmir

Fshorty30 wrote: »

A sales advisor visited me and led to me to the conclusion that it was no sale no fee and insisted I’d have nothing to lose if going with them to see what interest they could accumulate. He encouraged me to complete an online application which I did and I gave them the keys.

Are you happy to swear to this under oath? As totally contrary to their entire business model.

G_M

I have just googled PBs.

I found their website at 20.58. Looking at their home page and clicking 'selling', I found this in large type by.... 20.59!

We don't charge a percentage of the sale price, instead we simply charge a fair fixed fee.
We feel this is a much fairer way to sell your home.
UK postcodes£899 (inc. VAT)
London & surrounding postcodes£1,399 (inc. VAT)


Pay on instruction or up to 10 months later (same price)

There are further pages highlighted prominantly:

• oes Purplebricks work?
• What will it cost?
• What's included in my fee?
• Meet your Local Property Experts
• What to expect from your free valuation

• Flexible payment options
• Listed on Rightmove, Zoopla & more
• Photos, floor plans, adverts included
• Do I need to manage my viewings?
• Support through the entire sales process

I don't much like PBs, but I cannot in all honesty see that they've misled you. You simply signed up without doing the most basic of research into what you were agreeing to.

Yellow_mango

The only advice I can offer is to read things before you sign them in future. Consider it a lesson learned.

ACG

The financial ombudsman deals with financial advice firms.

You might be better trying the property ombudsman https://www.tpos.co.uk but if the paperwork is crystal clear, I am not sure you have much hope. If there is evidence they have told you about the fee in writing and a he said/she said scenario, I think they are going to stand by whatever is in writing.

You could maybe complain to purple bricks about the advisor and see if they do anything.

G_M

There's also a useful FAQs page which says:

What happens if I do not sell my property?

Answer: Should your property be on the market longer than expected, we will help you review your options and conduct a full marketing review of your property every 28 days. We look at everything such as all of your previous viewings and feedback, ways to boost your viewings and we will re-evaluate the local market including details of what is selling in the area. If you decided to pay later and your property still hasn’t sold after ten months, you will, at this point, need to pay the total fee but we will still market the property for you until it has sold.

Keep_pedalling

Without POA you can’t sell his house regardless of which estate agent you use. If he still has capacity your next step should be to apply for LPA without any further delay. If he does not have the capacity then you need to apply to the courts for deputyship.

martin1959

Assuming PB have registered Head Office in England you could always risk £40 and issue a Moneyclaim summons against them. As a business, they will have to travel to your local court to defend the case, and they may decide it is not worth it, and just pay your claim.
The law is different if their HO is in Scotland.

Fshorty30

Thanks for this and I too thought because I haven’t got POA I wouldn’t have been liable but I found this on purple bricks contract so wonder would I still be held accountable and have to pay
“All owners of the Property
When you Instruct Purplebricks you confirm that you do so with the knowledge, consent and agreement of each and all of the legal owners and occupiers and those who have an interest in the marketing and/or sale of the Property. Further, you confirm that you have all relevant authorities and authorisations as are necessary or required to enable you to take advantage of the Products and Services. It is a condition of your acceptance that you do so on behalf of all legal owners of the Property.”

Marvel1

First time visiting purple bricks:
Googled purple bricks, give me official site:
https://www.purplebricks.co.uk/

Top menu - Selling:
I selected What will it cost?
https://www.purplebricks.co.uk/sell-my-house#fee-checker

Saw -

Pay on instruction or up to 10 months later (same price)

I didn't really understand that part.


Back to top menu Selling and then How does Purplebricks work?
https://www.purplebricks.co.uk/how-does-purplebricks-work

Step 4 and 5 made it clearer:

4. Instruct us and get on the market
We have two simple payment options. If you pay on instruction we charge just £899 or £1,399 in London and surrounding postcodes. Alternatively, you can defer your payment for up to 10 months from instruction if you use our conveyancing service partner. VAT is included.

5. Photography, floor plans, descriptions
Once you’ve instructed we’ll arrange professional photography, create floorplans and work with you to create a description that captures the essence of your home and its most attractive selling points. A ‘For Sale’ board will also go up. All of this included in our fee.