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Finally the English have come to terms with the concept of complaining – and about time too, after years of shrugging off poor service in shops, poor food in restaurants … and poor communications from estate agents. The figures speak for themselves: in 2010 the Property Ombudsman Scheme received 1338 complaints.

Even though that averages out at just over three and a half complaints per day throughout the year it’s still a good sign. Those three and a half complaints per day are the most the Ombudsman has received in a year since the scheme started over twenty years ago. Those complaints were split roughly down the middle between sales agents (646) and rental agents (672). And what were they about?

In reverse order, there was duty of care, then complaints about commissions/fees, then advertising and marketing, in at number two we had the way estate agents handled complaints but right up at the top of the list – especially in the South East – were complaints about poor communications.

Whether those complaints had been brought on by deliberate attempts to misdescribe the features of a property, like describing a loft conversion ignoring building regulations as a ‘habitable room’ … or accidental misdescriptions like single glazing referred to as double glazing … or unverified information from the seller like the availability of parking in front of the property … it doesn’t really matter – the complainants have a perfect right to feel aggrieved, and to do something about it.

But now it’s time to give Christopher Hamer, the Property Ombudsman, and everyone else working with him a bit of respite and some time to catch their breath, because complaints are never taken lightly in his department and dealing with them can be quite a lengthy process. And it’s also time to clean up the popular image high street agencies have inflicted upon themselves for such a long time. But how to do that?

It’s time for traditional estate agents to take a leaf out of an online agency’s book. Let’s use eMoov as an example. Essentially an online agency, eMoov is staffed by people with thorough training in every aspect of estate agency – and that includes an intimate knowledge of the Property Misdescriptions Act 1991. You can talk to eMoov staff every day of the week, from 2am to 8pm, about anything to do with selling your home, from the state of the property market in general to specific answers about where to find the best mortgage.

And when it comes to communications, eMoov staff will liase with people who want to view your property … they’ll receive offers … negotiate the best price … and, of course, keep in constant touch with both parties during the selling process – and all for a fraction of the fee you’d find yourself being charged by a traditional high street agency. No cause for complaint there, then.

Choosing High Street estate agents means paying high estate agents fees. Using eMoov, the UK’s leading online estate agents instead will get your estate sold by displaying it to 170 million web users each month. No extortionate commissions, no percentage fees, no sole agency tie ins. Just loads of fixed, low cost estate agents fees which might even make you start to like estate agents again. Well, some of them.