k*****a
发帖数: 1518 | 1 Real estate firm apologizes after employees pose as buyers in news stories
Andrea Woo
Vancouver — The Globe and Mail
Published Thursday, Feb. 14 2013, 4:22 PM EST
Last updated Thursday, Feb. 14 2013, 11:15 PM EST
A Vancouver real estate marketing company is apologizing for having two
employees pose as prospective home buyers in televised newscasts on a
supposed spike in sales around the Lunar New Year.
The two young women – presented as house-hunting sisters whose parents
would be in town from China for the New Year to help them purchase a condo
– are in fact an administrative assistant and a sales assistant with MAC
Marketing Solutions, president Cameron McNeill confirmed to The Globe and
Mail.
“All I can say is that I deeply apologize for having misled the media for
being there,” said Mr. McNeill, who said he was out of town over the Family
Day long weekend, when the news segments aired. “We were busy and I don’t
know if the girls were put up to it, or just put on the spot, or if it
happened spontaneously. Regardless, it was wrong and I take full
responsibility, on my own shoulders.”
The news segments were on the supposed spike in sales activity in the weeks
around Lunar New Year – a pattern Mr. McNeill insists is “100 per cent
true.” In one news segment, the women tour a suite in downtown Vancouver’s
Maddox condo development – which is being marketed by MAC. One woman tells
the camera they cannot afford to buy on their own and must rely on
assistance from their parents.
“We definitely like it here, but we have to talk to our parents,” she says
. “Maybe tomorrow we will bring them here. … If we like this place, we
have to tell them and they make the decision. Usually, Chinese people like
to buy during this time.”
In reality, the women are not even related.
The misrepresentation was first spotted by the local online community and
then dissected on local blogs and message boards. Some noticed a Google
search of one of the women’s names turned up her Facebook and LinkedIn
pages – both since deleted – which stated she worked at MAC.
Mr. McNeill said there have been discussions about the incident within the
company, but it is not yet known who is behind it. When asked if the ploy
may lead to terminations at the company, he said it would depend on the
depth of responsibility.
“If it was blatant and on the hands of one person, then I think there might
be some severe repercussions, but it’s hard for me to answer that without
knowing all the details surrounding it,” he said.
This is the latest in a number of questionable marketing tactics to be
exposed within Metro Vancouver’s real estate community. During a media
blitz announcing the Groupon-style sale of units at a Surrey condo
development last year, one woman identified to a television news crew as an
eager local investor was in fact a sales manager for Key Marketing, the
company behind the scheme.
That same company has also taken groups of Chinese buyers on helicopter
tours of Metro Vancouver properties, and at least one of those trips was
believed to be misleading. Garth Turner, a business journalist and former
politician, reported the Chinese buyers on a Feburary, 2011, trip – on
which several media outlets were invited – were in fact local real-estate
agents and brokers and the trip was meant to promote a new condo development.
Cam Good, president of The Key, which includes Key Marketing, was a partner
at MAC Marketing Solutions from 2004 to 2009, according to his LinkedIn page.
According to 2011 data by the Landcor Data Corporation, 75 per cent of those
who purchased Metro Vancouver condos as investment properties are from
Metro Vancouver. About 3 per cent are from the U.S. and 2 per cent are from
other countries.
The Real Estate Council of B.C will be investigating the matter. | k*****a
发帖数: 1518 | 2 Original CTV news report, with video
_gen/derivatives/landscape_960/image.jpeg
Sisters Amanda (left) and Chris Lee (right) are scouting for condos before
their parents visit from China to help them buy one. (CTV)
http://bc.ctvnews.ca/year-of-the-snake-nets-condo-sales-develop
Years of the Snake nets condo sales: developers
CTV British Columbia
Published Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013 5:33PM PST
Last Updated Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013 3:22PM PST
CTV News has learned that elements of this story are false. Click here for
an update.
Chinese visitors are arriving in B.C. just in time to ring in the Year of
the Snake – and Vancouver condo developers are getting a boost because of
it.
Many developers know that catering to offshore buyers during Chinese New
Year is crucial for sales.
“We know that the sales activity in and around the Chinese New Year is
really very good, so we decided to reopen after Christmas and stay open for
about eight weeks,” said Madonna McLafferty, sales manager for Evergreen
condos in Coquitlam.
McLafferty said Bosa, the condo developer, didn’t sell as many homes last
year around this time, “but based on how we’re seeing things come together
for this year I think we’ll see a better year for real estate sales.”
Chris Lee, who moved to Vancouver from China two years ago, said she and her
sister are looking to buy a hip downtown condo, and now that their parents
are in town for two weeks celebrating Chinese New Year, they have financial
help.
“If we like this place we have to tell them and they make the decision,”
Lee said. “Usually Chinese people like to buy during this time.”
Condo developers embraced the influx of offshore buyers, with some companies
bringing in additional Chinese-speaking staff to help sell units.
“The sales team is well diversified,” said Nic Jenson, a condo marketer
for Cressey Developments’ Maddox building.
“There's family and friends that come through, they show their moms, they
show their brothers, their sisters, their friends, and now that the decision
makers are in town we expect sales to start going through in the next
couple of weeks,” Jenson said.
But potential Vancouver should put aside fears that affluent offshore buyers
will snap up a large share of the condo market, driving up price, he said.
“Don’t kid yourself. These people do live here, they’ve got family here,
they’ve got children here,” Jenson said. “Whether they choose to live
here now or use it as a rental…it’s an extremely attractive investment for
everyone.”
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Shannon Paterson
newscasts
【在 k*****a 的大作中提到】
: Real estate firm apologizes after employees pose as buyers in news stories
: Andrea Woo
: Vancouver — The Globe and Mail
: Published Thursday, Feb. 14 2013, 4:22 PM EST
: Last updated Thursday, Feb. 14 2013, 11:15 PM EST
: A Vancouver real estate marketing company is apologizing for having two
: employees pose as prospective home buyers in televised newscasts on a
: supposed spike in sales around the Lunar New Year.
: The two young women – presented as house-hunting sisters whose parents
: would be in town from China for the New Year to help them purchase a condo
| k*****a
发帖数: 1518 | 3 CTV report after the fraud was revealed
_gen/derivatives/landscape_960/image.jpeg
MAC Marketing Solutions said these two women, who claimed to be sisters
looking to buy a condo, are actually MAC employees. (CTV)
http://bc.ctvnews.ca/condo-marketing-company-admits-it-duped-me
Condo marketing company admits it duped media
CTV British Columbia
Published Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013 3:02PM PST
Last Updated Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013 8:54PM PST
A Vancouver real estate marketing company is apologizing after two employees
posed as potential home buyers for a story that appeared on CTV News last
week.
The women were filmed in a story that aired last Saturday about a spike in
offshore Chinese home buyers around the Lunar New Year.
In it, two women claiming to be sisters can be seen walking with a
salesperson around a showroom for Cressey Developments’ Maddox building,
seemingly taking notes. They gave their names as Chris and Amanda Lee.
MAC Marketing Solutions said these two women, who claimed to be sisters
looking to buy a condo, are actually MAC employees. (CTV)
At one point, one of the women says her parents are visiting from China to
help her and her sister buy a condo. “Usually Chinese people like to buy
during this time,” she said.
Talk erupted online that one of the sisters was actually an employee of MAC
Marketing Solutions, the company responsible for marketing the unit the
women were supposedly looking at purchasing.
MAC president Cam McNeill later confirmed that both women filmed in the
segment are in fact MAC employees – and aren’t even sisters.
“I don’t have a full explanation of how things went down, I deeply regret
for the fact that it didn’t make it more clear to you that the two women in
the story were MAC employees,” McNeill told CTV News.
McNeill declined to comment on whether the names the two women used are
their real names to respect their privacy.
He said though he was out of town when the story was filmed, he takes full
responsibility for the blunder.
“We’re trying to understand how this happened right now, and so I’m just
trying my best to be open with you and just say that I’m very sorry that it
happened,” he said.
McNeill maintained that the theme of the story – that Lower Mainland condo
sites saw a spike in Chinese buyers around Lunar New Year – was completely
true.
“I think that the ladies probably fit the profile of the story,” he said.
“At the moment I don’t know whose idea that was; I don’t even know if
they took it upon themselves to make that up.”
For more on this story, watch CTV News at Six.
【在 k*****a 的大作中提到】
: Original CTV news report, with video
: _gen/derivatives/landscape_960/image.jpeg
: Sisters Amanda (left) and Chris Lee (right) are scouting for condos before
: their parents visit from China to help them buy one. (CTV)
: http://bc.ctvnews.ca/year-of-the-snake-nets-condo-sales-develop
: Years of the Snake nets condo sales: developers
: CTV British Columbia
: Published Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013 5:33PM PST
: Last Updated Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013 3:22PM PST
: CTV News has learned that elements of this story are false. Click here for
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