Claim: Purplebricks Canada offers staff PTO for fake good reviews

Purplebricks headquarters in the UK has declined to comment on a claim that its Canadian arm is offering employees paid days off if they leave fake five-star reviews on Facebook and Google.

In Canada, Purplebricks has emphasized that it was an isolated and misguided initiative, which was a one-off last March.

According to Forbes the 200-strong staff in Canada were sent an email by the marketing department, in which they were told to ask their family and friends to leave glowing online reviews, “whether or not” they were Purplebricks customers.

The email said:

“No need to fabricate stories, just an ‘I think Purplebricks is great,’ or ‘Purplebricks is the future of real estate’ would be fantastic!'”.

The employees then had to take screenshots of the reviews they “helped generate” as proof and send them back to the company’s marketing department.

“The staff member who accumulates the most reviews from family and friends will win a PAID DAY OFF!"

The marketing department however discouraged staff from posting reviews themselves, as fake reviews “could get us into hot water!”

The email explained that when real estate broker platform ComFree was acquired by Purplebricks, in 2018, they “weren’t able to bring our stellar Facebook and Google reviews with us”.

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