Zillow Group, Inc.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:
The business Zillow has continuously put me off and made multiple excuses with invalid cause, they have yet to offer any solution to me. Please reopen this...

matter of the case. Thank you for your help regarding this. 
Sincerely,[redacted]

To Whom It May Concern:
Zillow tracks every call to the company from every client, and we have no record of [redacted] calling or speaking with anyone in the company between the dates of 5/25 and 8/1. We will cancel [redacted] today and issue a partial refund.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: Peter failed to make any contact between my request to cancel and the date that I was forced to escalate this to the Zillow resolution team; in additiom, said terms and conditions state quite clearly that a "month-to-month" which I was told I was on may be canceled at any time.  
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Because the specifics of the Zestimate calculation are proprietary, we cannot provide more information on an individual Zestimate or specific reasons for an individual change. This estimate is the product of a computer-generated program. It may fluctuate when any new information is made available or if there are updates to the Zestimate algorithm model. It's likely that when this individual posted their home for sale, they edited some of the facts about the home. As a result, this triggers the Zestimate algorithm to recalculate an estimate based off the new facts. Again, we would like to stress that the Zestimate is not an appraisal and we make every effort to educate our users that the Zestimate is only an estimate.  It is a starting point and does not consider all the market intricacies that can determine the actual price a house will sell for. We make this clear to all users on our site (http://www.zillow.com/zestimate/).  We have already shared this individual's feedback to our developers but we do not have an option to manually change or remove an individual Zestimate in the manner this individual is requesting.Regarding the yellow banner on the top of this listing, this banner was added as part of our new listing verification process and is currently present on all listings that are manually posted to Zillow by an owner or an agent.  Our goal is to educate potential buyers and renters to make informed decisions about listings they are interested in, and to provide information on how to identify a scam or other suspicious listing as they correspond with listing owners.  Currently, we do not have a feature to remove this banner from listings.Lastly, Zillow's business is primarily funded through advertising as outlined in our Terms of Use Section 4 (https://www.zillow.com/corp/Terms.htm). This allows us to offer services like providing For Sale By Owner listings to consumers free of charge. If this individual no longer wishes to have their property listed For Sale By Owner on Zillow, we ask that they please let us know and we can cancel the active listing.Beyond this, there is no further action we can take at this time.

Zillow receives property information from public records provided by third-party data providers and from user-provided submissions. Property pages are not managed by Zillow directly. On occasion, this information can get misreported to us which looks to be the case here. This is why we provide...

homeowners with tools to edit a number of facts that appear on a property page. However, we have gone ahead and updated the home facts mentioned within this complaint on behalf of the homeowner as requested. If this individual needs to make additional changes in the future, they can learn more about editing home facts here: https://zillow.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/212561918-How-do-I-correct-the-bedr...⇄

The original desired resolution for this complaint was to update the square footage for this home, which has already been completed. The rejection reason addresses a separate issue but we're happy to provide additional information.  Regarding the Zestimate, this is an estimate calculated by a computer-generated algorithm. As a result, we cannot manually change or remove individual Zestimates. The Zestimate is calculated from public and user-submitted data for each individual home, taking into account items such as home facts (beds, baths, sq ft), sale history, and tax history. Past sales data and tax history are provided by public records and will not be removed from our site.  Most upgrade information is not in the public records and is not easily quantifiable. We do not know about home updates and remodels unless they have been reported to the local tax assessor, so these items are not used in Zestimate calculations. While we do utilize user-submitted data that is measurable (e.g., additional bedroom count, bath count, and square footage), there is no way for us to systematically gather and verify the type of remodel or build information where the value is based upon how the final product appeals to the buyer. Because of this, the algorithm can't use that information. Although Zillow strives to provide accurate estimates, the Zestimate is meant only to serve as a starting point in determining a home's value. It is not intended to replace a comparative market analysis or an appraisal, as they can take into account market intricacies that the Zestimate cannot. We encourage buyers, sellers, and homeowners to supplement Zillow's information by doing other research such as:* Getting a comparative market analysis (CMA) from a real estate agent* Getting an appraisal from a professional appraiser* Visiting the house (whenever possible) We understand that some homes may be unique in ways that are not well captured by existing data and our current Zestimate model. To provide more information on a home, we encourage homeowners to include an Owner’s Estimate in the Zestimate Details section of a property page. This provides the opportunity for the homeowner to explain what they feel your home is worth given its unique features. While we monitor customer feedback for systematic issues with the Zestimate formula, we do not change or remove individual Zestimates in response to customer feedback. Reports of possible issues with Zestimates are recorded to help with efforts to improve the algorithm as a whole in the future. To learn more about the Zestimate, please visit this link: http://www.zillow.com/zestimate/.

We apologize for the frustration this has caused this individual. We attempted to reach out to her by phone today and left a message to discuss it further. Additionally, our team was in correspondence with her via email last week regarding the issue and notifying her it had been resolved. See attached transcript. As we mentioned previously, the listings on our site are not posted or managed directly by Zillow. Rather, we provide a platform that hosts listings provided by others. We received a listing feed from Hudson & Marshall on 06/07/2017 and we removed the listing on 06/30/2017. See attached.  There is currently no foreclosure information listed on our site so there is no further action we can take at this time. If this individual would like to discuss the matter further, we encourage them to give our Consumer Care Team a call back at the number we provided in the voicemail or reply back to our email correspondence.  We appreciate this individual bringing this to our attention and allowing us the opportunity to correct it. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused in the meantime.

Zillow receives property information from public records gathered by a third-party data collector from each county and from homeowner-provided submissions. On occasion, some data can get misreported to us. After verifying with county records directly, we have updated the property type to reflect as...

a single family home.With regards to the Zestimate, this is an estimate that is automatically calculated by a computer-­generated algorithm using the data available for each home. The algorithm uses public and user­-submitted data, taking into account items such as home facts, sales history, and tax history. As a result, we cannot manually change or remove an individual Zestimate.Although Zillow strives to provide accurate home valuations, the Zestimate value is meant only to serve as a starting point in determining a home's value. The Zestimate is not intended to replace a comparative market analysis or an appraisal, as they can take into account market intricacies that the Zestimate cannot. Zillow makes this clear on each property page and our website (http://www.zillow.com/zestimate/).People ultimately have more fundamental reasons that drive what they choose to buy or not buy. Our data shows that half of all sales are generally above the Zestimate.  Zillow encourages buyers, sellers, and homeowners to supplement our information by doing other research such as getting a comparative market analysis (CMA) from a real estate agent; getting an appraisal from a professional appraiser; visiting the house (when possible). We understand that some homes may be unique in ways that are not well captured by existing data and our current Zestimate model. To provide more information on a home, we encourage homeowners to include their estimated value by providing an owner's estimate in the Zestimate Details section of the property page. This provides the opportunity to explain what they feel the home is worth given its unique features.While we monitor customer feedback for system wide issues with the algorithm, we cannot change or remove individual Zestimates in response to customer feedback. Reports of possible issues with Zestimates are recorded to help with efforts to improve the Zestimate algorithm as a whole in the future. If this individual has any additional questions in the future, we encourage them to reach out to our Consumer Care Team via our help center: www.zillow.com/help.

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:
It is the same statements from Zillow as before and does not correct the problem and is not acceptable. We want the entire problem they caused to be corrected.
I will use the example below as a good reason why they should correct the situation. If a bank made an error and moved your money to another account and also reduced your balance, wouldn't you expect a complete correction? If the bank said that it can move the money back to your account but cannot fix the reduced total, I am sure anyone would say that is ridiculous and unacceptable. This is a good analogy to the solution Zillow has proposed.
I find their response bureaucratic and does not address the issue raised in my complaint. 
Sincerely,[redacted]

We apologize for any confusion or frustration.  Listings are sent to Zillow through a variety of sources such as partners, brokers, agents, third-party listing feed providers, and in some cases, directly from an MLS. We received a For Sale for the property in question through a real estate...

agent's listing feed: https://www.cbhunter.com/Property/[redacted].  We have removed this active For Sale listing from Zillow as requested. Please note that the listing may still be actively posted on the real estate agent's website. Zillow does not have access to the agent's website so this individual may also need to contact the managing brokerage to remove the listing from their site. if this individual needs to reach out to us in the future, we encourage them to contact our Consumer Care Team through our Help Center at www.zillow.com/help.

Revdex.com:Thank you very much, I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.  Sincerely, [redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because: please put my house back to default which it originally was then. I can't imagine that adding sf. To a home will will then in turn drop your home value by 70k plus! My neighbors are both very much higher than mine with less of a home. We just had a house sell for 210$ a sf. In this neighborhood and its 500sf more than my home. Something is broken in the way you collect data. This site plays a vital role in selling a home if people are looking to see what's on the market. Your under valuing home tremendously giving the consumer mixed reviews on what the house is actually worth. Please take my estimate off your site or change it for the data in my neighborhood. I got it for 90$ a sf because I bought it from family. As soon as I claimed the home and changed sf to what my appraiser said it was my home value plummeted. I should have never claimed it! This needs to be changed as quickly as possible. Or take me off this site and put value unknown or something I don't care. But don't undervalue my home by multiples of thousands. Completely ridiculous. Do I need to turn in the analysis I just received on my home with the comps that recently sold? Obviously there data polls aren't doing a very accurate job.Sincerely,[redacted]

Revdex.com:
It took a month and several emails requesting Zillow to stop posting false open houses every weekend. And correct the other false information. It wasn't until I filed this complaint with Revdex.com that they fixed part of the problem.  That doesn't resolve all the problems caused by their false advertising.

Zillow is a media company displaying listing and home data on behalf of agents, property managers, and homeowners. Zillow does not directly manage listings that appear on our site.  The listing data that appears on Zillow is a reflection of the information sent to our site from a third-party...

listing feed. The listing data for this home was sent to Zillow from a third-party feed from A-1 Reallty Design.  Zillow does not have access to A-1 Reallty Design's listing feed to make changes to this data. However, the real estate agent should be able to make these changes or will need to contact their listing source to make the changes on his or her behalf. If there is an error in the feed sent to us by the listing agency, the error will get transferred onto Zillow.  It is important that the listing agency verify the listing data is submitted correctly.  In reviewing the listing in question, it appears that this issue has already been resolved. The square footage we've received from the listing feed shows as 2,112 sq ft (screenshot attached). If this individual needs assistance in the future, we recommend contacting our Consumer Care Team directly via our Help Center: www.zillow.com/help.

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response...

because:The 1 star reviews does not meet the Zillow review guideline requirements below to post a review. The reviewers were not a seller or buyer. The Zillow Ratings Review Moderation Team does not appear to have evaluated the review before it was published as it is not meeting the review guidelines below. Can anyone write a review?Only buyers and sellers who have communicated, or worked with an agent can write a review and submit a rating on that agent. Note that we do provide a Service Provided category for "Never responded to my inquiry" for cases where a Reviewer contacts an agent but does not receive a response. So, reviews may be left for cases of "attempted contact". Reviewers must register and create a profile on Zillow, then indicate the appropriate "Service Provided" option: the agent helped them buy or sell a home, or both, they shopped but didn't buy, listed but didn't sell, etc. A review cannot be submitted for an agent "on the other side" of the transaction. For example, we would not permit a review from a home buyer left for the agent representing the home seller. Zillow will determine whether such a relationship exists at our discretion and based solely on information contained in the review itself, or upon subsequent requests for clarification from the Reviewer, where we deem such clarification necessary.Are these reviews moderated before they are posted?Absolutely. A dedicated team of specially trained moderators will evaluate all reviews before they are published. Reviews must adhere to Zillow's Good Neighbor Policy and Review Guidelines, which means all contributed content must be respectful and appropriate. Content that we feel is inappropriate, off-topic, or not useful will not be published.
Sincerely,
[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:
The problem has not been resolved. The response I have received is insufficient and non-conclusive. This issue has been on going for over 4 years and there has been no attempt to fix it other than these pathetic responses. Stop finger pointing and blaming the developer, stop telling the consumer to update the information over and over again. Do your job and fix the problem!! All hands on deck, no new projects, no new CEO's or MNA's just fix your company's website or go out of business.  
Your request ([redacted]) has been updated. To add additional comments, reply to this email.
 
[redacted]
(Zillow Help Center)
Jun 9, 10:05 AM PDT
Hello,I apologize for the headache that this is causing. We have found this issue to be occurring with multiple pages and the developers are in an continued investigation and hope to resolve soon. I will keep this ticket open and reconnect with you once it is resolved.In the mean time, I appreciate your patience.Â
Thank you for using Zillow.
Kind Regards,
[redacted]Zillow Consumer Care Lead
 
Sincerely,[redacted]

To Whom It May Concern:Zillow Group sells impressions to connect home shoppers with a buyer's agent. It is always free for the listing agent to advertise their listings on the country's largest and most trafficked online real estate website, and if a consumer is interested in a home, the listing...

agent will always be involved in the transaction. I have also reviewed the conversation our representative had with [redacted], and there was no mention of this until [redacted] sent a follow up email, thus he was never promised we would change this. The call agent button will continue to route calls to a Premier Agent. If the consumer wishes to contact the listing agent, they may do so by clicking the listing agent's name.

Hello,I have researched the clients profile and both [redacted] and Zillow to confirm they are receiving their contact email and text message notifications correctly. The agents profile on currently has 10 published reviews. We recently merged the [redacted] and Zillow profiles together and have adopted the...

Zillow moderation process. All [redacted] published reviews had to go through the Zillow review moderation process and technical checks.  The review process is a series of technical checks that we have in place to authenticate each review to protect both the agent and the consumer alike. A review can be rejected for several reasons if it doesn’t meet our guidelines. I have included some common reasons below.- The review doesn’t contain enough information to be useful to others. We would like specific examples of why you’re so great, so others can know too.- The review was posted in or near the agent’s home or office- The review is self-promoting (it has contact information for the reviewer)- The review was posted from out of the country- The review has inappropriate language- The review was written by another agent- While there are many technical checks reviews undergo before they are posted, these are reasons we see more often than others. I have also included a link to our review guidelines below. Please let me know if you have any further questions about the review process.http://www.zillow.com/wikipages/Review-Guidelines/If the reviews didn't met the above technical checks they were not merged over to the Zillow Group profiles. In regards to being compensated for this situation, Zillow Group will not compensate agents for the reviews that did not make it through the moderation process. The agent is able to email[redacted]@zillow.com to receive all the reviews that didn't make it through moderation so they can reach out to those specific clients and have them resubmit the review on Zillow. Please let me know if the information above doesn't answer and solve the clients request and questions. Thanks

To Whom It May Concern:
I have deleted [redacted] profiles from Zillow and Trulia. If she has any questions she can email [email protected].

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:
The property is not for sale and there is no reason for anything to be displayed on a site that is about buying and selling properties. If the property goes for sale you are welcome to the information.
I also reject the idea that the sold price must be prominently displayed for three years at the top of my properties page. Since the majority of properties do not have this displayed at the top of the page, I request this be removed immediately.
I also reject the Zillow page of my property showing up in Google search results. Other property sites have excluded it from online searches and I expect the same.
I'm also frustrated that the customer service team never reads what is typed and throws out their textbook answer.
I understand you have the right to publish public information but when it goes against the wishes of the person directly involved, I wonder where MY rights stand.
 
Sincerely,[redacted]