The Problem With Zillow...
I could not get past the fourth line without seeing the video, and I had no way of removing it from the textbox. So, here is what I was going to send to Zillow and company:
Hi Sara,
While I appreciate you responding to Leesa's post and addressing those of us who saw the necessity of rebloggin g her post, you made a statement that needs rectifying.
You wrote in your response that "And if it is helpful for your clients to ever hear from a Zillow employee that you should ultimately work with a professional and not use our Zestimates as anything other than a starting point, here is a good video to pass along to them."
The first problem I have is that you utterly ignored the whole premise of Leesa's post, which was that consumers should not be using Zillow as a starting point, period. Especially for those of us who have been working diligently to establish ourselves as the local experts on-line through our blogging, consumers using Zillow's Zestimates poses a battle which we should not have to engage in with those customers. While skillful agents can overcome the objections to our pricing vs Zillow's estimates, it is a waste of precious time and energy to do so.
The second problem is, passing along a video after the damage has already been done is certainly helpful, but why not address the problem by not doing the damage to begin with? Providing consumers information on homes for sale is one thing, but engaging in comparative price analysis is not something that Zillow should be engaging in, simply because you do not have the local expertise to accurately give sellers a price range in which to sell their homes. You acknowledge that your Zestimates come in at less than desirable margins of error, yet you insist on providing that information to consumers, to the detriment of the very local agents whom you purport to be ultimately sending those consumers to.
Finally, providing listing agents the ability to "add a paragraph or two" correcting or explaining inaccurate information sounds like you are deliberately creating more work for the agents who are using your site to market their properties. This is particularly problematic, considering the fact that you want agents to pay for the use of your service.
If Zillow is going to take the time to respond to criticisms of its programs and services, then Zillow would do well to actually address those problems, not just brush them aside...
Honestly, I do not know which is worse - not responding to a criticism at all, or answering criticisms without addressing the root of the problem. Leesa Finley recently wrote I Am A Local Real Estate Expert - Zillow Is Not, which garnered a decent number of reblogs from those of us who genuinely feel that Zillow does the majority of us a disservice when it comes to presenting local information, when we attempt to service the public and are confronted by our potential buyers and sellers with inaccurate information from...you guessed it, Zillow. Sara Bonert of Zillow left a very detailed response to Leesa's post, which she then replicated on all of the reblogs of Leesa's post, mine included. I have to say that I found that response...wanting...and so I went to leave Ms. Bonert an e-mail message addressing what I saw as the major drawback of her response.
But when you can't even leave a private message without being bombarded with a marketing gimmick, then that tells you how really responsive a company is to legitimate criticisms. When I attempted to leave Ms. Bonert a message via her ActiveRain e-mail, this is what I was confronted with:
But when you can't even leave a private message without being bombarded with a marketing gimmick, then that tells you how really responsive a company is to legitimate criticisms. When I attempted to leave Ms. Bonert a message via her ActiveRain e-mail, this is what I was confronted with:
I could not get past the fourth line without seeing the video, and I had no way of removing it from the textbox. So, here is what I was going to send to Zillow and company:
Hi Sara,
While I appreciate you responding to Leesa's post and addressing those of us who saw the necessity of rebloggin g her post, you made a statement that needs rectifying.
You wrote in your response that "And if it is helpful for your clients to ever hear from a Zillow employee that you should ultimately work with a professional and not use our Zestimates as anything other than a starting point, here is a good video to pass along to them."
The first problem I have is that you utterly ignored the whole premise of Leesa's post, which was that consumers should not be using Zillow as a starting point, period. Especially for those of us who have been working diligently to establish ourselves as the local experts on-line through our blogging, consumers using Zillow's Zestimates poses a battle which we should not have to engage in with those customers. While skillful agents can overcome the objections to our pricing vs Zillow's estimates, it is a waste of precious time and energy to do so.
The second problem is, passing along a video after the damage has already been done is certainly helpful, but why not address the problem by not doing the damage to begin with? Providing consumers information on homes for sale is one thing, but engaging in comparative price analysis is not something that Zillow should be engaging in, simply because you do not have the local expertise to accurately give sellers a price range in which to sell their homes. You acknowledge that your Zestimates come in at less than desirable margins of error, yet you insist on providing that information to consumers, to the detriment of the very local agents whom you purport to be ultimately sending those consumers to.
Finally, providing listing agents the ability to "add a paragraph or two" correcting or explaining inaccurate information sounds like you are deliberately creating more work for the agents who are using your site to market their properties. This is particularly problematic, considering the fact that you want agents to pay for the use of your service.
If Zillow is going to take the time to respond to criticisms of its programs and services, then Zillow would do well to actually address those problems, not just brush them aside...
Courtesy of William James Walton, Sr. , Realtor, WEICHERT, REALTORS® - Briotti Group
Serving northern New Haven and southeastern Litchfield Counties (Waterbury, Wolcott, Prospect, Naugatuck, Middlebury, Southbury, Watertown, Thomaston and Plymouth)
Call William James Walton, Sr. Real Estate Agent with WEICHERT, REALTORS® - Briotti Group (203) 558-7463 for help with your real estate needs -buying or selling - in Waterbury, Watertown, Wolcott, Middlebury, Southbury, Prospect, Naugatuck, Plymouth and Thomaston
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