Real Estate sales agents in the Southeastern region of the United States who bought zip code leads from Zillow—you were probably ripped off. Help our agent Community, let’s get our collective Zillow stories to the Attorney General. Here is their scam.
For any number of reasons an agent buys into the Zillow lead program. Within weeks they realize the leads are far fewer than expected and of much poorer in quality than promised. The salesperson who wouldn’t leave them alone for weeks prior to signing the Zillow commitment contract, is unaware and shocked to hear of any problems?
The standard Zillow corporate response to agent complaints is to actually blame the agent. You didn’t do this or that and you need more “reviews”! Please share with us any other industry on planet earth that when confronted with poor performance blames their customer base. Zillow does this as a corporate policy.
A word about the vaunted Zillow agent review feature. They are all FAKE! Zillow presenters across the Country routinely tell the agent audiences to have their friends write reviews for them to; “get ya started”. The Zillow pitch is actually, “you and I know they are fake, but the consumer doesn’t”. This by the way is the cornerstone of the Zillow lead program.
Once a client voices enough displeasure in Zillow that they considering leaving, Zillow sales management then crosses a line that defies professionalism. Zillow’s first step is to NEVER commit anything to the written word. They ratchet up the pressure for a “few minutes of your time”. They demand to ONLY “talk” to you. What they have to say and propose is both illegal and unprofessional.
Think of Zillow as the illegal version of an Amway scam. “We have to speak in person to really understand the benefits of the program”. Below are actual, unedited pleas from Zillow sales management.
“Give me a chance and talk to me. Please? I promise and give you my word- I will not try to sell you anything- that is not my job”. (This is of course a lie)
“If you give me to opportunity and a chance to explain a couple things I think you will look at things differently. (Again, things can’t be explained in written form, it HAS to be verbal ONLY)
“Please give me a 5 minute conversation and I can almost guarantee your views will change”. (In this example, the Zillow sales agent boldly claimed they would make some lead manipulation adjustments to make it right)
“… seeing results from the campaign will change your thoughts on Zillow. You don’t see it now but you will and I can almost promise you that”. (No one in sales makes promises of good fortune. This is meant only as a teaser to get the client to the all-important high pressure audio only phone call)
“I think it is unfair especially since you never gave me the opportunity to help you”. (The “help” turns out to be references, mentioned only in the audio meetings, of the sales agent performing lead manipulation on the agent’s behalf)
The funny part about the audio only Zillow meetings, they actually go over the expenses of all the other agents buying zip codes in your area. Unprofessional—you bet. Sleazy—no doubt! The comic element appears when Zillow salespeople compare all their client’s expenses against each other. Isn’t that like pointing out the winner of the biggest idiot contest?
There is nothing wrong with buying leads. There is a lot wrong with the way Zillow does it. They are ripping off agents and misleading their contribution and value.
Help us put a stop to the illegal practices of Zillow. They have been preying on our community for years without any controls.
Share with us your Zillow experiences. Has a sales rep, ever offered you leads off the bottom of the deck? Has a Zillow sale agent ever offered to throw a few extra leads your way? How have Zillow sales reps lied to you? Have you ever received emails like the ones highlighted above? What did your Zillow rep say you were doing wrong? Has Zillow every admitted error to any agent—ANYWHERE?
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