Consumers often turn to us when they have a complaint about a particular agent or landlord and want us to take action against them. This article will explain what to do in these situations to help our consumers contact the right people.



What does an agent/landlord complaint look like?

We receive a mixture of complaints from our consumers. The majority of the time, they relate to the way in which a property is advertised on Rightmove as they feel misled. In these instances, our specialist Data Quality Team can investigate further and if necessary, have a conversation with the agent in question and take appropriate action.


Complaints we receive can also relate to the service provided by the agent/landlord or their behaviour towards a consumer which are disputes that we can't get involved in. Some examples of these types of complaints are:

  • Discriminating comments/behaviours
  • Eviction notice
  • Loss of deposit
  • Property valuation
  • Fees and agent/landlord contract
  • Delays in the marketing of a property
  • The overall level of service
  • Neighbouring tenants
  • Rental property repairs


What can we do to help with agent complaints?

When a complaint relates to something other than the way a property is marketed on Rightmove, we're very limited on the action we can take. The reason for this is that we're not a Governing Body which means we don't have any regulatory or enforcement powers over agents or landlords. 


Have a read of the article Governing Bodies for more information on this.


We always need to signpost consumers to raise a formal complaint with the agent involved with the sale or rental of the property initially. Once the consumer has gone through the agent's in-house complaints procedure, they can escalate it to the appropriate Governing Body if the outcome of their complaint isn't satisfactory.


Whilst advising the consumer to raise a complaint with the agent directly, we can also share with them which Governing Body to contact in case they need the details moving forward. It will save them time from getting back in contact with us.


You can search the member's list on the Governing Bodies website to see if the agent in question is registered with them. These are linked below.

Search:


The Property Ombudsman: https://www.tpos.co.uk/find-a-member

The Property Redress Scheme: https://www.theprs.co.uk/consumer/members/


Each website has an online complaints form which we can share with consumers to help them get started. These are linked below along with the phone numbers for both Governing Bodies.

Contact Information:


The Property Ombudsman: https://selfserve.tpos.co.uk/ - 01722 333306

The Property Redress Scheme: https://www.theprs.co.uk/Complain - 0333 321 9418


For our own records and due diligence, we should always make the Account Manager aware of the complaint we've received. Avoid sharing the consumer's personal details with the AM (name, email address, phone number) so that we don't accidentally breach GDPR if they do need to speak with the branch.


What can we do to help with landlord complaints?

In the same way that we signpost consumers to raise a complaint with the appropriate agent, we'd advise them to raise a complaint with their landlord directly. They will have their own complaints procedure to follow.


Governing Bodies don't cover landlords in the same way as agents so if the outcome of the complaint with the landlord isn't satisfactory, we'd advise the consumer to contact their local MP or local councillor for further support.