Hello All,
I would like to hear from other people who have had any dealing with this company, but in the interim, this is my upsetting story …
Sorry for the long read …
I signed up to DDP with a fee amount of $14,900 with an agreement that DDP would present (as per my brief) properties that are positively geared.
Of the 9 properties put forward, only 3 met the brief with the first being passed as I felt it was not right/overpriced, the second I placed an offer, only for it to be knocked back and what I believe taken off the market by the vendor (this property I found later was actually listed on the open market for all to review and offer anyway, therefore why was I paying DDP for something I could have found myself) and the third was a new build that was supposed to be ready in July 2016, only to find out by contacting the agent/developer direct that the property has not been started and would not likely be ready until December 2016!
Moral to the story … As an amateur property investor, and owner of 4 properties, I feel that the DDP staff and/or service provided to me was substandard, and showed how very little the property team I was assigned understood my brief (which was not hard – positively geared!).
Further concerns I have on this company is that many reviews on their Face Book page have had poor reviews removed by DDP (which is illegal according to fair trading and being looked in to) and to add to this, clients who have requested such refunds that have been given by DDP, come with conditions that any poor feedback is to be removed.
So when you look on their website and Face Book page, when it is possible for DDP to manipulate the review system, if a company has to go to that sort of length, what else do you think they are hiding?
Many of their staff are also active property investors which was never disclosed at the time I signed up either, which looking back, if I knew this, I may not have signed up, as to me this is a conflict of interest.
I have requested a portion of my money Back, DDP have offered what I deem as fair, but it comes with an 11 page deed which is basically an 11 page gag order in my opinion, which means they will not give the refund unless I remove all reviews I have placed in forums and/or social media sites. I have chosen not to accept the deed, as I feel that it is not right, as a review system is designed to provide the consumer with an insight on the general satisfaction people are having with the business so they can make an informed decision.
My wife found DDP via a Face Book advertisement, and when you visit their page, the rating is always around mid to high 4 out of 5 stars. With that rating, who wouldn’t make contact seeking further information right.
Since posting my initial poor review on their Face Book page, I have been inundated by many other unhappy current and/or ex DDP clients with various stories of their own.
Thank you all for taking the time to read this, I will continue to post my experience in the hope that Mr Zaki Ameer will change his mind about removing what I call the “gag” clause (clause 4.5 if I’m not mistaken)
Would love to hear anyone else’s story on their experience and the length you have had to go to in an effort to get your money back, please feel free to private message me also.
In closing of my story, I have lodged a formal complaint with the Department of Fair Trading, NSW Consumer & Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) and also the Property Investor Professionals of Australia (PIPA). Fair Trading have already been to see them in December, and are returning again in February 2017.
The review is not about me saying to people to stay away from this company, it is just my experience and you need to review and make your own decision based on your circumstances.
All I can say is that my experience with these people was unacceptable, and I want my money back!
Stay safe investors!Hi I too was a client of DDP. My contract has now expired but in the 12 months I was contracted to them I was sent three houses that werenin areas I specifically told them I did not wish to invest in. These three houses were also priced outside the range of my finances. The spreadsheets on these houses that were sent by DDP were also incorrect so as not to allow myself to make an informed decision as to the properties viability even if we could afford them
I asked for my money back as it was clearto me that DDP could not supply a property that suited my buying brief. This again is something they did not obtain from me as is stipulated in their terms and conditions. After requesting this refund DDP did everything in their power to ignore my requests, letters of demand from my solicitor and numerous emails. They after some time had their solicitor writebyo me and threaten legal action for defamation should I post any bad review about them on social media. Left with little option I complained to both NSW fsir trading and NCAT (NSW civil and administrative tribunal). During the proceeding months after lodging my complaint i tried to negotiate a amicable settlement with DDP. Every offer I made was rejected. I ended up attending NCAT along with a representative of DDP who at mediation refused to negotiate any settlement. A hearing was set down and all parties were required to submitt evidence. DDP failed to submit any evidence as per the directions of the tribunal and failed to attend the hearing. An order was made against them to which they appealed citing the reason that the tribunals decison was unfair to them. Unfair I say, they shoul have complied with the legal directions and they should have attended the court to give evidence but they chose not to. They have now appealed the tribunals decision citing these reasons as well as making an application to stay the order of the tribunal until after the appeal has been heard, citing reasons for the stay as, “we cannot afford to pay the amount ordered”. This would lend me to believe the company is in financial difficulties, although this is hard to believe as the owner is always jetsetting around the world. This company has shown it believes it is above the law by thumbing its nise at court directions and treats their clients as fools. They are happy to take the $14900 fee upfront to act as a buyers agent before any house is even found and negotiated on. They have also blocked me from commenting on their facebook site as I liked a bad review and i have seen the bad reviews drop from the high teens down to single figures after they were removed by DDP of the people who put them on were threatened with legal action. I would suggest any one looking at using this company have a hard think about it and look at other options for similar products before a decision is made. These views are my views only and are based on the facts of my matter. DDP may be suited to some people but they definitely are not to my needs.I saw this forum about DDP and felt the need to reply and warn everyone. I used to work at DDP in their Sydney CBD office. Everyone was on commission only there. The Discovery Team aka call centre team were paid for each incoming lead they converted into an appointment. The F2F sales team were paid a commission of the 14k investors paid. There were only 2 people at the time making six figures. Everyone else followed someone a so called visionary who visited the office once a fortnight, gave a Grant Cardone speech then left for another fortnight. DDP recieve a lot of complaints and I feel sorry for the people who part with their hard earned cash to join this mob.
How funny; I’ve just been contacted on LinkedIn by their HR manager offering me a sales consultant position at their company. It looks like they’re looking to expand aggressively this year. And from the sounds of things, that means a lot more unsatisfied/angry clients.
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This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by
brandontp.
I paid a deposit to DDP in April 2017, fortunately it wasn’t the full deposit they were asking for. I paid on the proviso that if I couldn’t obtain finance I would get a refund. As it turned out, I wasn’t able to get finance so I asked for a refund, which I still haven’t received. I have had phone calls with DDP and have emails saying that they would pay the refund but they never do. I have made complaints to the NSW Office of Fair Trading and am just about to lodge a claim with the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal to force them to pay.
From what I can see in other reviews, it seems that they are fine when everything goes well, but if you need a refund there are problems. I have always believed the measure of any business is what they do when things go wrong and DDP are not good. There are quite a few others that offer the same service as DDP to take the risk with these guys.
Hi everyone,
I want to get the message clear to all potential investors out there, please, please, please, save your time and hard earned money and stay as far away as you can from this scumbags. I’ve been burnt, went thru depression, lost my family and even contemplated suicide because of Zaki Ameer.
If you are interested, here’s a summary of what happened to me – a warning to you to stay clear.
As all other users have mentioned, none of the properties offered met our brief, plus these properties are also listed in any mainstream property websites such as Domain / RealEstate.com.
If they are, I wondered why am I contracting DDP when I can look up these properties myself. A change in our personal circumstance required us to pull out o f this contract less any cost incurred by DDP and offered us a refund of what I deem is a fair amount, agreed to it, and got it in writing from Zaki and his accountant – I’ve even agreed to receive the remaining cash back in instalments without interest.
Its been now an 18 month battle and still haven’t seen a single penny from DDP despite an NCAT order, a NSW judgement court order and a NSW notice of motion for Writ – Levy of Property notice for DDP – all have been blatantly ignored by DDP.
It is an ongoing battle, but I am not going to give until I receive every single penny of my refund back.
Here’s a chronology of events – a warning for all potential customers of DDP – stay away please.
Aug 2017 – Zaki Ameer agreed to refund my deposit less cost via email – I agreed to the amount.
Sep 2017 – no news / no calls answered / no emails replied
Oct 2017 – 1 email from Zaki – saying accounts dept will contact me for my bank details
Nov 2017 – accounts send me an email – saying they will bank in 10 instalments weekly (laughable for a company to claim to have millions in investment property) – and I said ok, whatever, as long as I get my agreed refund back….then…total silence
Feb – having not heard from anyone, I posted on DDP’s FB page – a negative comment
Feb 2018 – Immediately received email from Zaki that I posted something on DDP’s FB page and he’s asked me to take it down if I want my refund back!!
Mar 2018 – DDP removes my ability to comment on their page
Apr 2018 – I lodged a complaint with NSW Fair Trading – they advised me to go to NCAT
May 2018 – NCAT orders DDP to pay me the full agreed refund and additional costs
– DDP and Zaki completely ignores this
June 2018 – Lodged a case with NSW Local Courts – Local courts ordered DDP to pay me the full refund with costs
– DDP and Zaki completely ignores the Court Order (isn’t this a crime?)
Oct 2018 – Applied for Writ for the levy of property from Local Courts NSW
– Sherrifs turned up at Edgecliffe Centre – registed business address and found that no occupants / employees / associates of DDP were on site and that they are there only occasionally – left a calling card but DDP never called back.-
This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by
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