Aris and Dimitra T, Greek-Australian lawyers and established family law firm partners, did not expect that they would fall victims to racism after making an offer on a property they were interested in. But that is exactly what happened when their property negotiation resulted in a bizarre rant by prominent Adelaide real estate agent Jock Gilbert.
Unfortunately for the careless agent, the offensive and unprofessional SMS was sent to the wrong recipient and rather than being directed to the vendor client, it was sent to the buyer that made the offer in the first place.
He referred to the 46-year-old lawyer as a “stupid Greek”, and the couple were none too impressed by the insulting text they mistakenly received.
“Aris and I have been negotiating with Jock Gilbert to purchase a house,” Dimitra posted on her private Facebook page.
“Last Sunday, my husband received the following text message from Jock addressed to the name of his vendor (verbatim save for the prices being hidden and the name of the vendor:
“Hi ****
Our Greek friend is living up to expectations with h(sic) inefficiency and stupidity
‘He has come to $*** which is way too far away from reality
I ask you to please reject this offer – he has also said he will not pay $****
If he were at $*** I would be in a dilemma wanting to reject as I don’t like this man but also thinking it would not be too bad a deal – settlement would be 110 days
I will touch base after today’s Open
Jock”
“Enough said, I think,” Dimitra added in her post which since then has been shared by various friends, as has the redacted version she added to the review section of Gilbert’s own page.
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Aris responded to Gilbert with a text of his own:
“When firing off an SMS like that one, you really need to check to see that you are sending it to the correct recipient. Thanks for giving me a look in to how you operate and regard my dealings with you. You have shown me your true colours and frankly, they are dirty. You should be ashamed of yourself. Offer withdrawn.”
Gilbert responded:
“I apologise to you Aris most sincerely but also accept that it is a huge mistake by not checking. Life is full of experiences and yes I have stuffed up badly here and feel pretty ashamed – that, I assure you Jock G”.
Dimitra told Neos Kosmos that the narrative “speaks for itself”.
“I just find the context of the message and the comment about being Greek irrelevant and offensive,” she said. “It pretty much made it look like Greeks are stupid and inefficient. To me, whenever someone uses a nationality as an adjective, there is an element of racism to it. I am proud of my heritage, but I am also proud of my nationality, and it does bother me to be identified in such manner but at the same time I am really pleased with the support we have received from people of all nationalities who condemn the behaviour.”
Aris said that in “situations like this you really have to take a stand”.
He added that his offer was “not unreasonable” and was only five per cent below the amount the vendor would have been urged to accept.
Neos Kosmos contacted Mr Gilbert who said he did not wish to comment on the messy exchange although he did note that “prices were left out, as you know [but] that’s all I’m going to say. I’m not going to comment any further.”
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Born and raised in Australia from migrant parents that left Greece in the 1950’s Dimitra says that she could not believe what had happened.
“Our parents have worked hard here in Australia and so have we. I love the country of my ancestors and I am a proud Greek and a proud Australian. Aris and I were born here, and I find it rather hurtful to be stereotyped in this manner,” she said.
“We are raising children of our own teaching them to be respectful and accepting of everyone. As far as I know Mr Gilbert also has children of his own and I can’t help but wonder whether those kinds of attitudes have been passed on to them.
“As much as we don’t like being caught in these situations, I do feel that we need to call out and condemn those behaviours that have no place in our society.”