Complaints? About My BLOG?

Opinion

4 minute read

March 18, 2008

I figured it was only a matter of time…

It seems that an agent from another company has complained about my blog and its content.

Would I be over-doing it to tell the story in its entirety?

I sure hope he reads this…

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I’m still steaming mad, and this all went down on Friday afternoon.

I promised myself I would write this post Monday night, and then give myself 24 hours to change my mind and see if I still wanted to post what I’ve written.

As you can tell, nothing has changed…

My issue has not so much to do with the fact that another agent complained about my blog and its content, but rather the way he went about ratting me out to the authorities.

As much as I’d love to write his name, an easy-to-decipher alias or his brokerage, I’m going to refer to him as “B.L.”

I came to the office on Friday afternoon, and I was informed by a staff member that “I was in trouble.”  It seems that an agent from another brokerage had written letters to our manager, the manager next door, as well as the President and Vice-Presidents of our company!

His issue was with a post I had written about a house he had for sale in the Avenue Road area.  That post has since been removed, but I will tell you that the house was a pile of rotting garbage…

He alleged that my writing about his listing was “unauthorized advertising” and called me “offensive” in addition to a few other choice words, and demanded that my blog post be removed.

Before I refute this claim of “unauthorized advertising,” let me tell you my biggest concern with this situation.

B.L. did not call me, email me, or contact me in any way.  He simply went over my head, and complained about me.

But B.L. didn’t just stop at management; he complained all the way to the top—the owners of my company!

Had B.L. simply called me and asked me to remove my blog post, I would have obliged.  But he didn’t have the balls to get me on the phone, and instead, he ratted me out to the principal when everybody else was on afternoon recess…

Clearly, the only solution to this problem…..is for B.L. and myself to fight in the Octagon!

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What’s that?  I’m being ridiculous?  Maybe even childish, perhaps?

I would destroy B.L. in the Octagon with a flurry of well placed kicks & strikes, before submitting him with a rear-naked choke at 0:32 of the 1st Round…

Anyways….

The Real Estate & Business Brokers Act, 2002 defines “advertising” as:
…”any activity, public notice or representation authorized, made by or on behalf of a registrant that promotes a registrant or the business, services or real estate trades of a registrant in any medium including print, radio, television or publication on the Internet.”

My personal opinion is that my blog is not a self-promotional tool for my real estate business.  I’m not promoting my services, but rather finding an outlet for my voice, which is loud, sarcastic, witty, observant, and needs to be heard on a regular basis.

This blog started as a hobby, more than anything.  I enjoy creative writing, and I also enjoy my days as a Realtor in Toronto.  So I combined the two and decided to create a forum where I can regale the general public (initially consisting of my mother and my close friends, but now reaching 2000 unique visitors per month) with stories from my day-to-day life in this thriving industry of Real Estate.

B.L. didn’t like that I had negative things to say about his listing.  But the fact of the matter is, the house was a waste of money in my opinion.  And that is what my blog is all about—my opinion.

Advertising guidelines in the Real Estate & Business Brokers Act have a serious grey area with regards to what constitutes “advertising.”

It takes all kinds in this business.  You have 45,000 Realtors in Ontario, all of different cultures, ages, sexual orientations, tax brackets & affluence.  Everybody had different reasons for getting into this business, and Realtors have different objectives and goals while running their businesses as self-employed individuals.

I’m 27 years old, and B.L. is probably in his mid-40’s.  My blog caters mainly to that 22 – 38 year old demographic; those people who mostly work in an office, perhaps long hours behind a desk.  And we know that you people spend 25% of your time at work surfing the Internet or doing un-work related tasks!

For him to call me “offensive” means that I am offensive to his particular tastes.

And just what does “offensive” mean in this world we live in today?

Have you turned on the TV lately?

Tried watching a drama between 8PM -10PM?

Everything is about drugs, death, sex, crime…

“Hey Gil Grissom, I found semen on the dead body!”

SEMEN!

Yes, every TV show these days involves one level of semen or another, usually found by a crack-team of lab-rats as they race to solve crimes under the leadership of a former movie-actor who flamed out and settled for the lead yet another TV spin-off.

The world we live in today has no shortage of rich, 16-year-old girls dressed like poor, Jarvis-walking hookers.

The number one TV show is about a “lovable” serial killer!

The most-visited Internet websites are about porn, porn, porno, naked women, and porn….in that order!

And I am somehow “offensive” to a particular Realtor because I chose to voice my opinion about his listing?

Meh.

I am who I am, and that is why I got into this business.  Everybody in this industry runs their business differently, and as a 27-year-old, overly-sarcastic, quick-witted, somewhat cynical participant in the business of real estate, I have chosen my path, and it’s different from many others.

As for the blog going forward, well, I might make a few changes and err on the side of caution from now on.  I still believe there are some serious grey areas but perhaps it’s best not to push the envelope.

And if B.L. is reading this, like his clients do (that is actually how he heard that I wrote about his listing!), I challenge him to a fight in the Octagon!  Ugh….sorry that is just me acting my age again.  I challenge him to pickup the phone and call me like a real man, or perhaps like a confident Realtor who has been in the business for 20 years and can fight his own battles.

B.L., you may have more money and more clients than me, but there is one thing that I have that you’ll never have again:

A full, thick head of my own natural hair…

Written By David Fleming

David Fleming is the author of Toronto Realty Blog, founded in 2007. He combined his passion for writing and real estate to create a space for honest information and two-way communication in a complex and dynamic market. David is a licensed Broker and the Broker of Record for Bosley – Toronto Realty Group

Find Out More About David Read More Posts

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2 Comments

  1. Lindsay

    at 2:14 pm

    OMG dave. youre hilarious.

  2. Amber Jordan

    at 11:55 am

    I think that you went on a little too long of a rant……

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