ComplaintsforCarpenter Realtors

• Initial Complaint

  05/09/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  We entered into a listing agreement with ***** and *********************************** on January 20, 2023 and since May 4, 2023 have requested to be released from our listing agreement with this agency and they have ignored that request and/or stated their policy is to not release clients. There is no language in the agreement or ******* Code which states we do not have the right to terminate. The managing broker is ***********************.

• Initial Complaint

  12/08/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I hired a real estate agent to list my house for sale. I have decided to pull the listing for the winter/holidays. Since my listing went inactive in MLS, Carpenter agents have been calling/texting me from multiple offices over multiple days trying to steal my listing from the realtor's office I am working with. They are calling my unlisted, ************ number. I never give it out and am on the do not call list. I contacted them and had to argue my way to speaking with a regional manager - went through their online portal and 4 people to get to her. She said she would call all the offices and ask them to stop calling. That was yesterday, my second day of receiving calls. I have just now gotten a call this morning again from another of their agents - what I only assume will be my first of the day. This business practice is, in my opinion, at a minimum unethical and is quite a nuisance. I don't want the calls and I am very certain everyone else who took their house off the market doesn't want the spam calls either. It's too much and very persistent. They have an A+ rating on your site, are accredited I see, and I believe are undeserving of both. This is a bad business practice they are employing to win clients. Seems they would be better served trying to be good at their jobs and an ethically upstanding company and getting clients that way instead of by more nefarious means.

  Business response

  12/21/2022

  First, I apologize to ***************** that he was offended by several of our real estate agents contacting him.  However, thats what we do we routinely call people who own homes to see if we can be of help in servicing their real estate needs.

  
  Second, ***************** does not understand that were not trying to steal his listing.  As a 50+ year member of the Metropolitan ************ Board of Realtors (*****) we are bound by a written code of ethics prescribed by the ******************** of Realtors.  Article ****************************************************************************************** exclusive brokerage relationship agreements that other Realtors have with their clients.  ***************** stated in his complaint that his listing (with ***********************************************) is inactive.  In fact, the status of the listing in the ***** Broker Listing Cooperative (BLC) of which both ******* and Carpenter are members shows it to be expired (see attached).  With an expired status, solicitation of the listing by another real estate broker is not forbidden and is therefore not in violation of the code of ethics.
  

  I dont know what business ***************** is in, but its been my personal experience over a 48-year career that no business survives without selling something.  In our case, we sell real estate by successfully bringing buyers and seller together, and we do it quite well.  The fact that his home is located in a highly desirable area and in an equally desirable price range is a compelling reason for our agents to contact him.  He has a choice to politely tell them hes not interested because he already has a relationship with another broker or to merely hang up on them.  Good agents are accustomed to being rejected.
  

  In any event, we did via written notice on December 7, 2022 ask all of our salespeople to stop contacting ******************  While we expect that will be the case,another thing to keep in mind is that real estate agents are independent contractors, not our employees, and we therefore dont have 100% control over their actions.  If this were a situation where they had actually been doing something either illegal (as referenced by the term nefarious in the complaint) or unethical, they would be subject to having their contracts with us terminated, but that clearly isnt the case here.
  

  I sincerely hope that when ***************** does put his home back on the market with ******* (presumably sometime next year) that the same tenacity weve shown in soliciting his listing will result in our being able to produce a qualified buyer for his home.

  Customer response

  12/21/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and do not believe the response fits the intent of the complaint I've made.  Here is why:
  
  I want to reiterate that this business is soliciting business from an unlisted, ************ number multiple times a day.  These calls have still not stopped.  I am on the national do not call registry and do not want the sales calls.  I should not be subjected to 'rejecting' realtor's requests multiple times a day.  This is obviously a Carpenter company policy/practice that they engage in as other real estate agencies that reached out did so via mail, letter, card, etc., and not by spamming my phone and having every person associated with their company call me directly.  Even if it is not illegal, it is a very bad business practice.  Especially when you consider that the pitch to win the business seems to be some variant of 'let me tell you what your realtor did wrong and why I can do it much better'.  I understand sales are the goal, but, as I said in my complaint, maybe the focus should be on advertising, training, being good sales people and generally becoming better agents rather than being so tenacious in trying to 'poach' clients.  Whether I have a signed agreement with another company or not, Carpenter would have no way to know that.  I advised them I decided to pull my listing off the market for the holidays, not that I ended my relationship with my previous real estate agency.  Would these calls still fall into the 'good code of ethics' Carpenter mentions in their response if they knew that I was still an official customer of another agency?  Doubt it.  Carpenter is arguing some semantics, mentioning my use of 'inactive' in RMLS language, but at the end of the day that doesn't matter.  My private phone ringing a lot, over several days, after specifically reaching out to the company (having to talk to multiple people even) to ask them to stop is just not acceptable, whether technically legal or not.  Carpenter is the only company doing this.  I have never had any real estate company engage in such a practice in any market before and, having bought and sold many houses over many decades in many states, this was a first.  This is very unwelcome and, at best, is just an abhorrent business practice.  My most recent call from a Carpenter agent was yesterday so it seems that neither giving my number out for calls, being on the do not call list so I don't get solicited all the time, asking them to stop directly, nor filing this complaint has worked.  Illegal or not, unethical or not, however you decide to slice it up, it reflects very poorly on the company and its associated sales people.  How did Carpenter get an unlisted ************ number anyway to send to every agent across their multiple offices?  What is the difference in this and getting calls from a company trying to sell items and receiving them while on the do not call list?  Isn't that what it is for?  I believe that is actually illegal.  At any rate, BBB can keep promoting this business as upstanding and an A+ if you so choose, but you are now aware that they are not that company so, I guess it is what it is.
  
  

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩