eg: DL3 7JA

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eg: Smith & Son


How do I choose a firm?

Don't be impressed by a few high ratings:

  • Look for a consistent pattern of references (every quarter) for a reasonable period of time (at least 6 months).
  • Expect to see the occasional low rating.  You can't please everybody.
  • Read the work descriptions and comments to get a flavour for the firm's reputation.
  • Treat the information we provide as a starting point and raise any questions with the firm.

 

Our work with the Ombudsman for Estate Agents suggests a pattern which we expect applies to most businesses:

  • Consumers (buyers and sellers) tell us that the vast majority of OEA member firms meet most of the code requirements most of the time, as required by the OFT's Consumer Code Approval Scheme.
  • The top 10% of firms stand out from the rest with consistently higher ratings for Satisfaction, although this reaches a "glass ceiling" of roughly 9 out of 10.
  • These same firms also achieve the highest response rates, because their loyal customers are more likely to make the effort to reply to our survey.

 

So: A large number of responses is likely to indicate a firm with very happy customers, and is also most likely to be representative.

  

The top 10% of firms have high response rates as well as high Satisfaction (OEA Survey results*)

Firms achieve a wide range of response rates.  A large proportion (purple bars = 52%) achieve up to 20%, but the top 10% (green bars) achieve over 40%.

 

The level of reported compliance is very consistent, in spite of the wide variation in response rates.

 

 

There is a clear difference between the average level of satisfaction (9 = Very Happy) achieved by the top 10% of firms when compared with other firms.

 

*: These charts reflect our survey work for the Ombudsman for Estate Agents over 5 years from 2003 to 2008, with over 21,000+ responses for 4,000+ firms.