Tawfik Ahdab
Senior Member
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2003
- Professional Status
- Certified Residential Appraiser
- State
- Oregon
http://www.fool.com/news/commentary/2006/commentary06052510.htm?ref=foolwatch
"I'm not just a bear this week. I'm also a dissatisfied patron. When I first wrote about HouseValues (Nasdaq: SOLD), it was in connection with the model-altering launch of Zillow back in February.
I logged in to HouseValues.com and went through the paces. I had to. The landing page was a gateway to three pages of cumbersome queries. The 31 questions along the way bordered on the intrusive. Why should I provide a phone number? Why is one question answerable only if you concede to sell your house in a year or less? Why did I jump through all of those hoops without any instant gratification?
My experience isn't necessarily indicative of the HouseValues process, but I wound up with an estimate eventually, along with a string of emails that were ultimately fed into my spam filter topped by an unsolicited photographer snapping a picture of my home.
That's just creepy.
The whole process didn't sit well in my book, and that was with me knowing all along that HouseValues is just a scam in a consumer-friendly disguise for generating local leads for real estate agents."
"I'm not just a bear this week. I'm also a dissatisfied patron. When I first wrote about HouseValues (Nasdaq: SOLD), it was in connection with the model-altering launch of Zillow back in February.
I logged in to HouseValues.com and went through the paces. I had to. The landing page was a gateway to three pages of cumbersome queries. The 31 questions along the way bordered on the intrusive. Why should I provide a phone number? Why is one question answerable only if you concede to sell your house in a year or less? Why did I jump through all of those hoops without any instant gratification?
My experience isn't necessarily indicative of the HouseValues process, but I wound up with an estimate eventually, along with a string of emails that were ultimately fed into my spam filter topped by an unsolicited photographer snapping a picture of my home.
That's just creepy.
The whole process didn't sit well in my book, and that was with me knowing all along that HouseValues is just a scam in a consumer-friendly disguise for generating local leads for real estate agents."
